-
ZOMBIE: Screen Comparisons Reveal Superior New Blu Release
Lucio Fulci’s quintessential grindhouse classic Zombie AKA Zombi 2 AKA Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) hit Blu-ray in a stunning new 4K restoration from the original camera negatives thanks to Blue Underground. The Italian gore-fest that was originally intended simply as a quasi-sequel/prequel to George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was a modest success on its original 42nd Street release. But over the years, thanks to Fulci’s visceral and audacious take on origin of the zombie outbreak, it’s earned a surprisingly loyal following among horror fans, who have had to deal with heavily censored versions or finding a copy at all. This is thanks to the film being classified as a Video Nasty or some countries just outright banning it in its Wizard Video VHS heyday, which has only added to the film’s mystique.
Zombie, for those that have never seen it, begins in the New York harbor, where an abandoned ship drifts toward the shore. It’s boarded by the police only to find the sole occupant a zombie who tears into the jugular of one of the officers. This attack triggers a series of events in keeping with the traditions of the genre, as we discover the boat belonged to a missing scientist. His daughter Anne (Tisa Farrow), after finding a note aboard the craft, travels with journalist Peter West (Ian McCulloch) to the mysterious cursed island of Matul in search of her father, where they meet Dr. David Menard (Richard Johnson). Menard has been researching ancient voodoo rites and the living dead who are slowly taking over the island in an attempt to understand and replicate the phenomenon. Almost as soon as Anne discovers the fate of her father, who was overtaken by the same affliction, the island is quickly overrun, and Anne and Peter must fight their way back to their boat.
Zombie was probably best known for its legendary scene featuring a stuntman zombie fighting a live tiger shark that was added without Fulci’s consent, and it’s still hard to watch the eye gouging scene. But over the last few years the film been sort of reappraised by film scholars. This is thanks not only to Fulci’s overall vision for the film, but Fabio Frizzi’s score, which is also included on CD with this release. Its iconic droning rhythms add an ambiance of doom to the already nihilistic narrative at hand. Zombie is easily one of my favorites of the crowded zombie sub-genre, thanks to everything I mentioned above and the striking zombie creature designs that were definitely something that originated here. The creatures are just caked in dirt and makeup, and it’s a very unique look that oddly enough with the zombie boom was never replicated.
Now I am going to be completely honest here, because I know why you’re probably reading this review. When Bill Lustig announced this 4K restoration, to be released on Blu-ray, I was more than a bit apprehensive wondering why they were choosing to release this film on Blu-ray again. But seeing is believing here folks. It’s definitely very apparent, even comparing the previous 2K Blue Underground disc, that a tremendous amount of work was done here. The first thing that becomes readily apparent is the film has been color corrected and a white balance has been applied to throughout, getting rid of that murky brownish tint that plagued the previous B.U. disc. Outdoor scenes are brighter and colors are more vibrant, and the film has a much more balanced contrast throughout.
Check out some examples below:
Top: Blue Underground 2k Remaster Blu-ray – Bottom: New 4K Remaster
Top: Blue Underground 2k Remaster Blu-ray — Bottom: New 4K Remaster
Top: Blue Underground 2k Remaster Blu-ray — Bottom: New 4K Remaster
Top: Blue Underground 2k Remaster Blu-ray — Bottom: New 4K Remaster
Top: Blue Underground 2k Remaster Blu-ray — Bottom: New 4K Remaster
Top: Blue Underground 2k Remaster Blu-ray — Bottom: New 4K Remaster
The biggest and most pleasing change with this new scan, since it’s been almost a decade since the previous disc, is a staggering new clarity to the image. Don’t mistake this for just someone turning up the sharpness all the way in the previous transfer either; there are plenty of details that were previously lost that are now present, like Tisa Farrow’s freckles, compared to the previous scan where her face just appeared to be a flesh colored mess. In the infamous eye gouging scene with Olga Karlatos, you can see every bead of sweat coming down her face and every jagged splinter of the razor-sharp piece of wood coming her way. That clarity is present throughout the film, which comparing the two releases you can see they really went back and not only scanned the film 4K, but cleaned it up and tweaked it a bit as well.
Given the extras and this new transfer, this may be the last time you need to buy Zombie on physical media. Having seen the film at numerous rep screenings, usually screened with a battered faded print, I can honestly say the film has never looked this good. Given the quality of this transfer, and the source, even if the film was put on UHD I think the difference here would be almost unnoticeable. Blue Underground has crafted a disc that feels less like a double dip with a new slipcover or steelbook and more like a definitive release that fans should feel good about picking up for once. The added soundtrack is a nice touch and only help makes this a comprehensive package, one I feel like a lot of genre fans will be seeing under the tree this holiday season.
Disc 1 (Blu-ray) Feature Film + Extras:
·NEW! Audio Commentary #1 with Troy Howarth, Author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films
·Audio Commentary #2 with Star Ian McCulloch and Diabolik Magazine Editor Jason J. Slater
·NEW! When The Earth Spits Out The Dead — Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci
·Theatrical Trailers
· TV Spots
·Radio Spots
·Poster & Still Gallery
·Guillermo del Toro Intro
Disc 2 (Blu-ray) Extras:
·Zombie Wasteland — Interviews with Stars Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, & Al Cliver, and Actor/Stuntman Ottaviano Dell’Acqua
·Flesh Eaters on Film — Interview with Co-Producer Fabrizio De Angelis
·Deadtime Stories — Interviews with Co-Writers Elisa Briganti and (Uncredited) Dardano Sacchetti
·World of the Dead — Interviews with Cinematographer Sergio Salvati and Production & Costume Designer Walter Patriarca
·Zombi Italiano — Interviews with Special Make-Up Effects Artists Gianetto De Rossi & Maurizio Trani and Special Effects Artist Gino De Rossi
·Notes on a Headstone — Interview with Composer Fabio Frizzi
· All in the Family — Interview with Antonella Fulci
·Zombie Lover — Award-Winning Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro talks about one of his favorite films
-
Criterion Review: Unboxing INGMAR BERGMAN’S CINEMA
A look at the release honoring the director’s 100th birthday
Sometimes it’s hard to truly appreciate the contribution of a filmmaker to cinema. You can recall films and moments, but to take in the scale of a long career brimming with achievement is harder to grasp. Well, Criterion have paid tribute to the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman on what would have been his 100th birthday, with an imposing, monolithic release that serves as a hefty and yet elegant reminder of his work. 39 films were selected from his prolific body of work, restored and arranged within this release as a film festival, organized around various themes and moments within his life and career. All this is supported by a host of extra features and a handsomely produced book to give further insights to his craft.
We’ll be delving into the release over the next month or so to give more detailed coverage, but for now, take a look at what is undoubtedly one of Criterion’s finest releases.
In honor of Ingmar Bergman’s one hundredth birthday, the Criterion Collection is proud to present the most comprehensive collection of his films ever released on home video. One of the most revelatory voices to emerge from the postwar explosion of international art-house cinema, Bergman was a master storyteller who startled the world with his stark intensity and naked pursuit of the most profound metaphysical and spiritual questions. The struggles of faith and morality, the nature of dreams, and the agonies and ecstasies of human relationships — Bergman explored these subjects in films ranging from comedies whose lightness and complexity belie their brooding hearts to groundbreaking formal experiments and excruciatingly intimate explorations of family life.
Arranged as a film festival with opening and closing nights bookending double features and centerpieces, this selection spans six decades and thirty-nine films — including such celebrated classics as The Seventh Seal, Persona, and Fanny and Alexander alongside previously unavailable works like Dreams, The Rite, and Brink of Life. Accompanied by a 248-page book with essays on each program, as well as by more than thirty hours of supplemental features, Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema traces themes and images across Bergman’s career, blazing trails through the master’s unequaled body of work for longtime fans and newcomers alike.
Special Features
- Thirty-nine films, including eighteen never before released by Criterion
- Digital restorations of the films, including a new 4K restoration of The Seventh Seal and new 2K restorations of Crisis, Persona, Fanny and Alexander, and many others, with uncompressed monaural and stereo soundtracks
- Eleven introductions by director Ingmar Bergman
- Six audio commentaries
- Over five hours of interviews with Bergman
- Interviews with Bergman’s collaborators, including actors Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Bergman, Erland Josephson, Gunnel Lindblom, Liv Ullmann, and Max von Sydow and cinematographer Sven Nykvist
- Daniel and Karin’s Face, two rarely seen documentary shorts by Bergman
- Documentaries about the making of Autumn Sonata, Fanny and Alexander, The Magic Flute, The Serpent’s Egg, The Touch, and Winter Light
- Extensive programs about Bergman’s life and work, including Bergman Island, . . . But Film Is My Mistress, Laterna Magica, Liv & Ingmar, and others
- Behind-the-scenes footage, video essays, trailers, stills galleries, and more
- PLUS: A lavishly illustrated 248-page book, featuring essays on the films by critics, scholars, and authors including Cowie, Alexander Chee, Molly Haskell, Karan Mahajan, Fernanda Solórzano, and many others, along with selections from remarks and texts by Bergman himself
Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema is available now from Criterion
https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/1427-ingmar-bergman-s-cinema
-
Two Cents Listens to THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
An unfinished film about an unfinished film, The Other Side of the Wind has long tormented film fans as a tantalizingly close but never realized almost. Orson Welles conceived of the film in 1961 following the death of Ernest Hemingway, inspiring Welles for a story about a similarly man’s-man film director who reaches the end of their days desperate and alone.
Welles also conceived of an innovative way to shoot the story, utilizing multiple film stocks and cameras to capture a faux-documentary aesthetic. The film would follow aging director J.J. “Jake” Hannaford (the legendary John Huston) on the last day of his life as he invites hordes of press, friends, and industry luminaries to his house so he can show a rough cut of his new film, titled, of course, The Other Side of the Wind.
Shot piecemeal (as was customary for Welles during the latter, financially-strapped segment of his career), The Other Side of the Wind was assembled over a period of years, with Welles sometimes shooting one person’s half of a conversation a full four years before bringing in Huston for the conversation’s other half. Tax troubles and money woes kept stalling out production, with Welles often having to resort to trickery (read: flat out criminal lying) to grease wheels and keep things moving.
Welles would eventually succeed in editing together 40 minutes of completed film, but legal and financial woes forbid its completion. Welles passed away in 1985, seemingly leaving the film to be one more frustrating ‘almost’ in the career of the ever-cursed auteur, alongside the likes of his unfinished Don Quixote and his vanished Merchant of Venice. But through the valiant efforts of producers and film historians, The Other Side of the Wind was eventually freed from the morass and edited to something like completion in accordance with notes and guidance left by Welles.
The completed The Other Side of the Wind played at festivals before finally being distributed by Netflix, receiving both accolades and dismissal from audiences. We put it to the Two Cents team to decided whether this was one lost film that should never have been found. — Brendan
Next Week’s Pick:
We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore. Powerful and damning, Network is writer Paddy Chayefsky and director Sidney Lumet’s scathing analysis of the intersection of news and entertainment. — Austin
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review on any MCU film to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests
Full disclosure: I saw a big chunk of Other Side of the Wind years ago at a Welles event while at NYU. What I saw then was rough, unedited, and not very good. The assembled version released on Netflix this year has been edited into a mostly coherent narrative, but it’s still rough and still not very good. Movies about directors are a tried and true genre in filmmaking, both Hollywood and otherwise. But I would much rather watch 8 1/2, Day for Night, All That Jazz, or even Contempt again than revisit The Other Side of the Wind. The film’s faux documentary format seems designed to conceal (or at least excuse) its sporadic, troubled production. Instead it leads to sluggish and disjointed pacing, and it makes an already meandering narrative feel even longer. On top of that, the film-within-a-film is laughably bad and works primarily as an excuse to show off Oja Kodar’s body as often as possible. I’ve heard it suggested that what I see as flaws are in fact deliberate choices; both the film and the film-within-a-film are a kind of parody of the sort of films I listed above. If that is the case, it’s not very funny and any potential for satire is mostly weighed down by its own self-importance. Also, just as an aside, I am endlessly creeped out by older directors who go out of their way to get their wives/girlfriends/lovers naked on film.
The cast is mostly good. John Huston is alternately charismatic and disturbing as the main character — but we never get much more than a superficial sense of who he is. Peter Bogdanovich is surprisingly good as one of Huston’s protégés, and often his performance alongside Huston’s are the only things giving the film any sense of momentum. I’m glad this film exists even as an approximation of what Welles’ version might have been. But ultimately I don’t think any potential editing or reworking could have made this into a “good” movie.The Other Side of the Wind goes through the motions of exploring the life of a director near the end of his career, but is unwilling or unable to offer anything like insight into the character or his creative process. (@T_Lawson)
The Team
You know, if it wasn’t for the existence of F for Fake, I might have more patience with The Other Side of the Wind. Were it not for that 1975 Orson Welles film, I might be willing to appreciate Wind as an experimental effort, a noble attempt to grapple with a new format and style. Heck, just because an experiment is a failure doesn’t mean the experiment wasn’t worth the effort.
Unfortunately, F for Fake does exist, and it is so much exponentially better that I can’t even shrug at Wind as a misbegotten attempt. F for Fake plays with image and form just as much as this film, but with a palpable sense of play, and fun,a trickster delighting in showing you the trick, while still tricking you. Here, I couldn’t tell you what the mockumentary approach adds or how it enhances the story of a doomed director grappling with a doomed film.
The problem is, that story isn’t at all engaging. Huston is a magnetic film presence, but J.J. Hannaford is a miserable, uninteresting caricature of an over-the-hill bastard, and none of the circle of grotesques that surround him are all that compelling either. It doesn’t help that the film-within-the-film is a laughably terrible parody of then-contemporary European art films, which just makes all the bad behavior and misery even less justifiable. When you factor in the massive doses of misogyny and homophobia, the resultant stew is near-choked on misanthropy and more or less useless beyond as a historical relic of an ugly moment in Hollywood, and a low moment for a master. (@theTrueBrendanF)
I’m sure there will be those who will slam The Other Side of the Wind as one of the most up front criticisms of Hollywood ever put to film. Not only does Welles illustrate his evaluation of the industry through the director’s struggle to maintain creative freedom in the face of studio battles and almost mind-numbing adoration, but also in the array of thinly-veiled versions of real-life people who have been turned into characters for the film. Among those supposedly ripe for cinematic reinvention are the likes of critic Pauline Kael, studio executive Robert Evans and legendary actress Marlene Dietrich. No one gets a more “on the nose” treatment however than Bogdanovich’s hot shot director who is forever entranced by the glow of his mentor’s legacy.
Beyond the individual send ups, The Other Side of the Wind takes on the state of the movie industry itself through a collection of raw footage showing prominent names of the day including Henry Jaglom and Dennis Hopper discussing their craft in relation to self and society, echoing the strong self-analytical quality running rampant in the era of the great auteur. With sequences featuring midgets, guests shooting up mannequins with rifles and a subtle homosexual subplot (one of many), The Other Side of the Wind almost feels like a warped Hollywood version of the classic French classical music piece “Carnival of the Animals,” through it’s wild and unpredictable nature that results in a fascinating visual melody.
You can further thoughts on the film by Frank HERE. (@FrankFilmGeek)
I’m going to cheat a bit here and use my space this week to highlight not The Other Side of the Wind, but its critical and necessary companion film, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead. As can be gathered from the reviews of my companions, The Other Side of the Wind is baffling and strange by design. They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, also available on Netflix, is a documentary that explores the making, breaking, and forsaking of Orson Welles and his final film. The frustrated man of fragility and excess, a has-been living legend who sought to make another masterpiece which would serve as both his comeback and an autobiography of sorts. Told by those close to the production, it’s a fascinating and sometimes tragic look at the heartbeat and mindset of a tortured genius in his final, waning years. (@VforVashaw)
Next week’s pick: Network
-
WINDTALKERS Director’s Cut: A John Woo War Epic Gets A Definitive Blu-ray Release
Woo directs the hell out of a subpar script
As a certified John Woo fanatic, this Ultimate Edition Blu-ray release of Windtalkers from the MVD Marquee Collection featuring 2 different cuts of the film, 3 different audio commentary tracks, and loads of bonus features was destination viewing for me. Having not revisited the film since its 2002 theatrical release, my feeling was that it couldn’t possibly be as bad as filmdom seems to have condemned it to being. I remembered liking it, myself. I felt fairly confident that I’d rediscover a lot to like in Windtalkers.
And I did! There is a lot to like in Windtalkers, and John Woo’s direction is right at the top of that list. Woo’s trademark “heroic bloodshed” style of action choreography results in some truly harrowing combat sequences that feel somewhat novel in just how “Woo-ey” they are, even though we’re definitely in the trenches with the United States fighting forces during World War II. It’s occasionally jarring, but gives off that Woo energy like no one else can. The director’s cut seems to have focused almost entirely on re-inserting combat set pieces, which results in a 153 minute cut of the film.
Also easy to enjoy in Windtalkers is the cast. Adam Beach has never gotten his due in Hollywood. He’s a charming and handsome Native actor who, despite becoming one of his generation’s most prominent Native actors, has never crossed over into the mainstream quite as much as he really should have. Hopefully by the end of his career he’ll rank among the Wes Studis and Graham Greenes of the world, but Beach had the potential to break out far beyond exclusively Native roles (and maybe he still will). Regardless, Windtalkers was one of his biggest Hollywood leading roles, and he’s quite a green and idealistic young man to follow into battle. Of course, Beach takes a real back seat to one Nicolas Cage, whom I love dearly and who performs quite adequately here. Cage’s Joe Enders is physically and emotionally damaged by the experience of losing many of his men in combat. But he’s thrown back into service none the less when he’s conscripted to protect the “uncracked by the Japanese” Navajo code language at all costs, meaning it’s his job to ensure that Beach’s Ben Yahzee never falls into enemy hands… meaning the code is more important than Yahzee’s life.
Beach and Cage take the lead, but much like Saving Private Ryan, there’s a massive “who’s who” of supporting cast here, all given plenty of screen time in this director’s cut, if still not particularly memorably. In the trenches with our guys we’ve got Mark Ruffalo, Martin Henderson, Noah Emmerich, and even Christian Slater re-teaming with Woo after Broken Arrow and playing a pretty significant back-up lead. Also in brief roles are Jason Isaacs, Peter Stormare, and Frances O’Connor. It’s worth mentioning all these actors and the great direction from Woo because the film’s strengths begin to falter after these merits.
Honestly, the big culprit in making Windtalkers a largely unmemorable and unimpactful experience is the screenplay from John Rice and Joe Batteer (Blown Away). Windtalkers starts out really well with all the pieces in place for an early 2000s Hollywood war epic, and you expect it to deliver some powerful messages, tap into a fascinating element of WWII in the Navajo code, and tow the “war is hell” line. Sadly, the script largely squanders all of that and relegates most everyone but Cage’s character into the background. It could have worked to do a thorough and incisive exploration of the Navajo people and their role in the winning of WWII through just two main leads, but the script doesn’t really do the work needed to make their journey’s compelling. This is never more clearly understood than in the film’s finale, where the movie just kind of ends when Cage’s arc concludes and it’s made clear that Yahzee was truly second fiddle in this story ostensibly about him!
All the blame can’t be laid at the screenwriters’ feet however. For as good as John Woo’s direction is, and for as much as I love his “heroic bloodshed” aesthetic, Windtalkers simply feels like a mismatch for his trademark style. It’s not that Woo can’t do war films. His two part Red Cliff epic is a stunning and grand vision that reminded the world of Woo’s mastery of the medium. There’s just something about Woo’s theatrics paired against the most massive war this planet has ever known that doesn’t quite gel. It’s a great director doing what he does best but ultimately not really doing justice to the Navajo code talkers story. I wish this story of the heroism of the Navajo had a better movie to represent itself to the world than Windtalkers.
To be clear, Windtalkers is fine. The director’s cut shows that Woo does war just like the best of them with relentless and thrilling battles and skirmishes throughout. It’s just that the central narrative of Enders and Yahzee never compels us in the way a three hour epic must. It’s quite possible that the theatrical cut works better, and maybe some of those commentary tracks would enlighten us further as to the intents and variations between the different cuts, but despite this incredibly stacked home video release, a few bonus features and a three hour film were all I could commit to in my Windtalkers revisit.
And I’m Out.
-
FINAL SCORE: The DIE HARD Formula is Alive and Well [Blu Review]
Dave Bautista continues his march to stardom
It’s Die Hard in a soccer stadium and every single person involved with the creation of this film knows it. That’s a good thing; as that self-awareness leads to a highly entertaining riff on an oft-repeated classic that winds up landing Final Score among the very best Die Hard clones in recent memory.
Following the Die Hard template is no kind of guarantor for quality. It’s actually a challenging formula to get right. Die Hard doesn’t work because it is about a bunch of bad guys taking hostages in a high rise and a hero single-handedly taking them down. It works because that scenario plays out with a smart and snappy script and the character work from the actors endears you to everyone. The phenomenal direction, pacing, and action set pieces are icing on the cake and skyrocket Die Hard to the upper tiers of the action cinema pantheon.
I’m not here to tell you that Final Score is one of the greatest action films ever made. But it’s certainly one of the best of its ilk, and of this year. This is a situation where a film delivers literally everything it was promising you it would, sticking the landing, and asking “are you not entertained?”.
Dave Bautista plays former soldier and current private contractor Michael Knox. Knox has lost most of his closest friends in battle and has taken his best friend’s teenage daughter Danni (Lara Peake) under his wing as his niece. Convincing her mother to let him take Danni to a major soccer match in the UK, the situation quickly deteriorates as terrorists take over the stadium and threaten to blow it up. Smartly eschewing any middle eastern or Muslim villainy, we’re instead told of a past civil war in a fictional eastern european country that has echoes of the Bosnian civil war from the 1990s. The always excellent Ray Stevenson takes on the lead villain role here as Gen. Arkady, the fallen military leader of the civil war who has spent decades in prison after his own brother, the leader of the war, was killed.
Arkady and his loyal gang of former revolutionaries are a delicious bunch of villains given just enough dimensionality to make them memorable and formidable opponents to Knox. Ray Stevenson is a consummate performer who has impressed in role after role since I first discovered him in HBO’s Rome. He’s perhaps been a little bit forced to pick up roles in the action genre after his iconic turn as Frank Castle aka The Punisher in Punisher: War Zone, but he never slums it. Arkady feels competent, determined, and frightening. His determination is personal, as the cause for this soccer siege is the recent discovery that his brother was not, indeed, dead, but rather cut a deal with the British government to bring his stymied revolution to an end. Arkady, the true believer, wants his revenge on his brother, and wants the revolution to continue. Then you’ve got a classic villain pairing of “inhumanly large” henchman (recent action cinema standout Martyn Ford) and his equally badass villainess girlfriend (Alexandra Dinu) who make eyes at each other while they’re killing everyone in sight. They’re straight out of Die Hard 3, and that’s okay by me.
Bautista and Peake’s characters have a sweet and potty-mouthed rapport, with just enough backstory on what happened to Danni’s father to give these two a meaningful bond that propels Knox to do some pretty extreme things to save the day and get Danni out of this stadium alive. Bautista has long since proven himself as a compelling screen presence and character actor, but here he continues to make the case for himself as a full on leading man. He’s a giant bruiser, but he’s got charisma and character. At this point, Bautista is a star. Then, in the “Sgt. Al Powell” role of assisting Knox in his unlikely battle against the bad guys, British actor Amit Shah plays Faisal, an adequately humorous stadium security guard who rises to the occasion, cracking wise throughout. Add to this mix some cops and agents outside the stadium trying to manage and contain an international incident, and throw in a little Pierce Brosnan in a key/mysterious role, and you’ve got yourself a really entertaining cast of characters.
Director Scott Mann (The Tournament) and writers Jonathan Frank and The Brothers Lynch (David and Keith) also had an extremely unique and challenging opportunity with the setting of their Die Hard homage: a real live soccer stadium that was scheduled for demolition. As I watched Final Score I kept feeling like it looked like a million bucks. Sure the scale was not on par with Die Hard or a major studio film. But it also looks like a real movie, with production value beyond what I would have expected for a project like this in 2018. It turns out the production was able to film in the real stadium during the final few matches played there, and was also able to film on location for most of the action sequences and set pieces. Cliche though it might be, the stadium becomes its own character in the film. Set pieces are designed around the unique architecture and nooks and crannies of an aging footy stadium. And the film is stronger for it. Motorcycles speed through hallways lined by hotdog stands. Heroes and villains punch each other over the rails of the nosebleed seats, landing with thuds on the tier below. And in the absolute best case scenario, at one point someone gets their face deep fried in one of the stadium kitchens. The setting is crucial for Die Hard clones, and this takes full advantage of that situation in a hugely satisfying way.
It all builds up to some fairly grand spectacle with a finale that feels appropriately outsized. The characters follow their arcs to their natural conclusions. The set pieces land with strong direction and fist-pumping excitement. Dave Bautista seems to effortlessly get you rooting for him. None of it rises to the level of high art, but all of it works together to create a highly enjoyable action spectacle, which is all anyone is hoping for when they press play on Final Score.
The Package
Fortunately this is not a barebones release, and you get some behind the scenes material here, as well as a commentary track. The unique situation of the soccer stadium and its imminent demolition really adds a fascinating ticking clock to this film production and makes the bonus material on this release surprisingly thrilling and unique. Final Score is a very rewatchable film with some standout bonus material that more than justifies a recommendation that the curious pick up this Blu-ray release instead of simply renting the film on a VOD service. I predict Final Score will have a longer shelf life than lots of other action films as it will forever be placing on “best of” lists for Die Hard clones of note. Pull the trigger on Final Score. You’ll get everything you hoped for!
And I’m Out.
Final Score is available on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Nov. 13th, 2018 from Lionsgate
-
Two Cents Voyages Through A WRINKLE IN TIME
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time traveled a circuitous path towards publication, but since its release in 1962 the book has been a benchmark for young readers, inspiring/delighting/terrifying children of all ages, across multiple generations. The story of troubled Margaret “Meg” Murry and her travels across a fantastical galaxy alongside her prodigy brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin O’Keefe in search of her long-vanished father has tantalized readers for years and years, especially the mystical Missuses, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which.
This year’s feature film adaptation traveled no less circuitous a path. Disney initially purchased the rights to the book in 2010, with the original plan to approach the film with a lower budget and profile ala the studio’s Bridge to Terabithia adaptation. But in the hands of screenwriter Jennifer Lee (co-writer/co-director of Frozen) and director Ava DuVernay (fresh off Selma, and with this film becoming the first woman of color to direct a film budgeted over $100 million), A Wrinkle in Time took on the dimensions of an epic.
Following the plot of the novel closely, Time opens with Meg (Storm Reid) struggling to cope with the ongoing absence of her father (Chris Pine) after he vanished when Meg was young and her adopted brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) was just an infant. Joined by Calvin (Levi Miller), the kids are recruited by Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Who (Mindy Kaling), and Which (Oprah) to rescue Meg’s father from the terrible might of the evil IT, a disembodied malevolence that seeks to devour the universe whole.
Wholly divisive upon release, A Wrinkle in Time inspired both passionate fans and ardent oppositions, with an unfortunate number of detractors attacking the film along gendered and racial lines. Now a little ways away from the film’s initial release, we thought it would be a good idea to travel once more through the tesser and decide whether or not A Wrinkle in Time is worth the trip, or should be ironed out.
Next Week’s Pick:
Proving that not even death can keep a good raconteur down, Orson Welles is once more stoking fierce critical conversation with the release of a ‘new’ movie. The Other Side of the Wind began filming in 1970 and concluded filming in 1976 but legal red tape and the miasma of misfortune that seemed to haunt Welles from project to project kept the film from both completion and release.
But just as the mighty Unicron cannot be deterred from his infinite journey across the cosmos, so to did Wind work its way towards release. After years of arbitration and restorations, Netflix finally released a completed version of the film this month.
The final product divided film fans, with some declaring it a final masterpiece from one of cinema’s great auteurs, while others finding it as ramshackle and sloppily assembled as you would expect from the decade-spanning production.
Masterpiece or misfire? You tell us.
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review on any MCU film to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests
I don’t like to compare source material to adaptations. It’s unfair, considering the different strengths and possibilities offered by different media — and it’s far too easy to fall into the trap of correlating “accuracy” with “quality.” That said, Ava DuVernay’s film adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time is better — or at least more important — than the book. The novel, while influential in its own right (and certainly entertaining), is fairly dated (read: very WASPy) in its view of the world.
By contrast this is the first live-action movie with a nine-figure budget directed by a woman of color, and the production is infused with an attention toward empowering its diverse cast. It is important that the Drs. Murry are an interracial couple with multiple PhDs between them, and that Meg is a black female character given agency in a mainstream genre film. It is also important that her brother Charles is adopted. While A Wrinkle in Time is oriented toward the Big Ideas its genre suggests, at its core is a story about family and belonging. The film goes out of its way to depict a more inclusive, expansive vision of family than is typical of mainstream fare, and the film is all the better for it.
This inclusiveness expands beyond the family to the more fantastic characters of the film. The novel’s explicitly Christian references are elided; the underlying values are there, but released from the limitations of a singular faith. And, ultimately, the science fiction is quite good. It’s refreshing to watch a YA genre film that is not so cynical or dystopian in its view of human nature — in fact one that offers something of an antithesis to that worldview. The adventure is exciting because the characters are engaging. Is it perfect? No. But it is better and more entertaining than a lot of other films of its ilk. I desperately wish we could get more stories with this version of the Murry family, although I imagine that isn’t likely.
P.S. I could easily spend the entire 110-minute runtime just staring into Chris Pine’s dreamy blue eyes (@T_Lawson)
The Team
When this big screen adaptation of a book I remember really enjoying as a child was announced, I was very excited. As trailers began to leak out, I became even more excited. Then, scheduling conflicts prevented me from seeing it in a theater and I mostly forgot about it. I’m not sure how or why this happened but I’d put off seeing this until this past week.
This film is further evidence that lackluster reviews need not deter me nor anyone else from seeing a film. In other words, I really enjoyed it. The visuals are fantastic, the story is compelling, and the cast is impressive. It may not be Hogwarts level blow-me-away fantasy, but it’s fun, entertaining, and has an impactful message.
I’m already looking forward to a second watch in the near future. This is a can’t miss film for folks interested in films filled with childlike awe and flights of fancy. (@thepaintedman)
I think DuVernay and Lee made one crucial miscalculation in their approach to adapting this book: L’Engle was a wonderful writer, but dear God was her dialogue never meant to be spoken aloud by actual human lips. No actor alive could make those lines feel like they were something a person might say, and it’s an especially an uphill battle for child actors.
Fortunately, DuVernay has no interest in the naturalistic style of performance and filmmaking that so many others working in genre these days chase, that Nolan-esque adherence to reality that has become shorthand for ‘good’ for many in the audience. A Wrinkle in Time is gloriously abstract, with an aesthetic that closer recalls the psychedelia of ’60s sci-fi than anything we’re familiar with in a post-CGI world. While I can sort of understand why some (many?) tripped over this, if you meet A Wrinkle in Time at the same achingly sincere wave-length along which the film is operating, it is a tremendously powerful journey without a cynical bone in its body. DuVernay steers hard into the themes of empowerment and self-actualization that so defined the book, and the sequences where the film’s imagery realizes these emotions to their fullest (such as Meg’s final, rapturous leap through the tesser) are almost transcendent in their immediacy and power.
Regardless of its other strengths and failures, A Wrinkle in Time is a movie that exists to tell little kids (especially girls [especially girls of color]) that they are beautiful, powerful, and have it within them to change the world with their minds and hearts. And by God is that something worth celebrating.(@theTrueBrendanF)
Unlike some of our other film clubbers this week, I haven’t read the original novel (though it’s always piqued my interest) and I appreciate their insights in that respect.
While this is primarily a film aimed at kids, aspects of its story feel resonated directly with me — father of two, a precocious girl and younger boy. It’s oddly a little all over the place, but all the family stuff is phenomenal and endearing. Without spoiling the context, there’s a specific point in the film where a character cries out in discovery, “Love is the frequency!”, that will go down as one of my favorite movie moments of the year.
The film is so imaginative and strange that some of the weirder stuff just comes off as… kooky. Lettuce dragon? Giant Oprah? Sometimes it’s a bit much. But the movie is full of genuine wonder and emotional heft, and a beautiful work of artistry overall. (@VforVashaw)
Next week’s pick:
-
Two Cents Gets Pulped When THE NIGHT COMES FOR US
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
Holy shit.
The Night Comes For Us comes to us from director Timo Tjahjanto, the acclaimed filmmaker behind films like Macabre, Killers, and the recent Headshot. But none of those films prepared audiences for the batshit bloodbath that is The Night Comes For Us, a film that repeatedly reduces human beings into damp piles of meat, filled end-to-end with ludicrously ambitious action set-pieces before climaxing in a one-on-one fistfight so lengthy, so complex, so audacious, it took weeks to film.
Joe Taslim stars as Ito, a legendary criminal enforcer and member of the ‘Six Seas’, an elite group of killers for the fearsome triad. But Ito’s amoral existence finally reaches the breaking point when he takes part in the massacre of a small village and discovers one small girl among the bloodied ruins. Unwilling/unable to snuff out so innocent a life, Ito turns on his own people and rescues the child.
Getting out just isn’t that easy, though, and Ito soon finds himself hounded by an unending onslaught of thugs and killers after both him and the girl, a group that includes his former friend Arian (Iko Uwais, who also choreographed the film). Soon, Ito and his small band of allies find themselves fighting tooth and nail to escape the bloodbath that Jakarta has devolved into. But if Ito wants out, he’s going to need to carve his way free with his wits, his fists, and just… just so many machetes.
Also starring Julie Estelle as an unnamed, deadly Operative, The Night Comes For Us is planned as the first film in a trilogy. After it blew the roof off the joint at the recent Fantastic Fest, we can only hope those future entries come sooner rather than later.
But did everyone feel that way, or is this one whirlwind ride of gore and mayhem that not everyone wants to take? — Brendan
Next Week’s Pick:
Based on Madeleine L’Engle’s celebrated novel, Disney’s adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time didn’t manage to grab the box office spotlight despite a star-studded cast and the direction of Ava DuVernay. Perhaps audiences bristled at the fantasy’s film’s immediately weird aesthetics —it looks wacky as heck — but with the film now on Netflix, we are more than ready to give this a watch and we want you to join us! — Austin
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review on any MCU film to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests
David Jaffe
Timo Tjahjanto’s action masterpiece The Night Comes For Us is bar none the most violent movie I’ve ever seen (or at least it feels like it). I’ve never seen a pool ball used that way. It keeps one upping the fights until the end. When I saw it at Fantastic Fest, we all vocally reacted to each and every punch. We fell in love with White Boy Bobby and Ito and the Operator and all the other characters. The plot is threadbare but when the action is this good, who cares? Get ready for the most violent and insane action film of your life. This is a movie to be watched on as loud as you can on the biggest screen you can see it on with as many friends as possible. Strap in and enjoy. (@FilmAddictDavid)
The Team
I mean…holy fuck.
I thought I was ready. I’ve seen the Raids, I’ve seen other Tjahjanto joints before, so obviously The Night Comes For Us couldn’t have too many surprises, could it? Turns out, yeah, it could, because this is unlike any other action film I’ve ever seen. Tjahjanto takes him at first laying out the pieces of this particular underworld, letting you get a sense of who knows who and the general shape of things.
And then, well, he feeds it into a lawnmower and lets red fountains coat the screen. You’d have to go back to an Evil Dead sequel or maybe even Dead Alive to find a movie that takes this much pleasure from sustained bodily destruction, as Tjahjanto rains down every act of flesh-devastation he can imagine. As shot by Gunnar Nimpuno and cut by Arifin Cuunk, with choreography from Uwais himself, every fight sequence is electrifying, all the moreso because you enter each one thinking, “There’s no way they could top the last one.” Yet sure enough, Tjahjanto finds some fresh way to pulverize a human body in a way that makes you jump, laugh, cheer, or gasp.
Wading through this mayhem is an accomplished leading man performance by Joe Taslim and a deft villainous turn by Iko Uwais. Both men know exactly what is required of them in a film this relentless and understand how to find the quiet beats that illustrate a character between beatdowns. But, honestly, nothing I say here can prepare you for just how relentless this thing is. Go see it. (@theTrueBrendanF)
The Raid films have a place in my heart forever, and have become somewhat of a benchmark for what modern action cinema can achieve. Those films also essentially birthed an industry in Indonesia and put a host of Indonesian talent out there onto the international market for all of us to experience. The Night Comes For Us is the remarkable next level for that group of talent. We’ve already known that several breakout careers were born out of The Raid. But this film reshuffles the deck, doubles down on its inherent Indonesian-ness, and inherits the title as the latest international contender to show the world what action cinema can be. It’s hard to say where this film will rank among the action pantheon, but it’s certainly a new benchmark in rip-roaring, crowd-pleasing, on screen violence. (@Ed_Travis)
Save for one innocent, the little girl around whom the conflict revolves, every character in this film is a bad guy. The only difference in who you root for is that when faced with a chance to do something right comes along, some of them make the choice to do it.
This thing is unbelievably wild and violent, and there’s no chance to get complacent with its violent twists and turns. The film offers up characters and dispatches them with reckless abandon. What really stood out to me is that our protagonists aren’t invincible supermen who get through their fights relatively unscathed — even when they survive, they’re stabbed, shot, mangled, and broken. And without giving too much away, there’s one character beat that I was expecting and hoping for — it even gets teased a bit, but things don’t go at all the way I envisioned.
Also, give Julie Estelle her own franchise, stat. (@VforVashaw)
Next week’s pick:
-
BELIEVER: South Korea’s Slick Remake of Johnnie To’s DRUG WAR [Blu Review]
How to catch the devil? With style.
With one of the best trailers of 2018, and some fantastic pedigree as a Korean remake of Johnnie To’s Drug War, Believer became a hotly anticipated film as soon as its US marketing campaign kicked off.
Taking place in a somewhat mythical version of modern crime syndicates, Believer establishes a “Keyser Soze” type of situation with a fabled drug lord known only as Mr. Lee, whom no one has ever seen, but who pulls all the strings and can’t be touched. Our lead character, Det. Won Ho (Jin-Woong Cho), is obsessed with discovering the identity of Mr. Lee and quickly finds an in-road into the organization when Mr. Lee blows up his entire board of directors, but accidentally leaves one alive. With a board member of Mr. Lee’s organization alive but presumed dead, Det. Won Ho feels confident he can crack this case wide open… until she dies right under his nose and presumably at the devious hand of Mr. Lee. This leaves him with only one option: to question the only other (human) survivor of the board room blast, low level enforcer Rak (Jun-yeol Ryu). These two will dive ever deeper into Mr. Lee’s organization, with Won Ho becoming more desperate at every turn, in an unlikely attempt to bring down a legend.
The mystery at the core of Believer is what makes it kind of fun and sets it apart from the dozens of other crime syndicate films coming out of Asia these days. But it doesn’t distinguish it so much as to make Believer into some kind of modern classic. I had seen and enjoyed To’s Drug War a while back, and while I didn’t recall every last detail and set piece, it did seem like To’s version set up a lot of the intricacies and set pieces with a little more clarity. There was a tension and intentionality that truly kept your pulse quickening in Drug War. Some of those redone set pieces (that have a bit of a Mission: Impossible vibe with characters playing other characters because the contact has never seen their face, etc) have a lot of the same audacity as they did in Drug War, but aren’t executed with quite as much confidence. That said, Believer is extremely slick. It looks great, feels expensive, and therefore occasionally feels like the glossier younger cousin of Drug War that’s more handsome but not quite as smart.
Fans of crime films or Korean cinema will find a lot to enjoy here, with the creepily handsome Jun-yeol Ryu playing the quiet, out-of-his-depth Rak quite well. Lead star Jin-Woong Cho also does a fine job as the obsessed detective, but when one has seen the original film, some of the desperation found in Honglei Sun’s lead performance in Drug War isn’t quite as revelatory. It’s a strong script, however, filled with colorful supporting characters, a propulsive mystery, gorgeous cinematography, and a throbbing score. Believer doesn’t quite live up to its truly remarkable trailer, but you could do a lot worse than to spend a couple of hours trying to take down the mythical Mr. Lee.
The Package
Totally bare bones, Well Go USA opts to give you both a Blu-ray and a DVD for a combo pack, but nothing in terms of special features at all. At this point, it seems like a physical media package that solely includes the HD movie itself is begging people to simply rent it versus buying it. But those who really enjoy owning physical media for themselves will find a gorgeous and entertaining Korean crime film in Believer. I definitely recommend that the curious check it out, but there’s no need to urgently blind-buy this disc.
And I’m Out.
Believer is now available on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack from Well Go USA
-
I AM VENGEANCE: WWE Breakout Stu Bennett Has Chops
Another action star to keep your eye on
There’s not a single new idea to be found in I Am Vengeance, the latest action vehicle for rising star Stu Bennett (formerly of WWE fame as Wade Barrett). And you know what? Who needs new ideas when a little film like I Am Vengeance can hew closely to action cinema templates and keep you entertained for a cool ninety minutes with an exciting star and an engaging plot?
Very much akin to a British version of Walking Tall, with Bennett’s John Gold rolling into the small town of Devotion and finding it rotten to the core with drugs, corruption, and a very unwelcoming local pub; Gold is going to have to clean house if he’s going to find the people responsible for killing his best friend. Fortunately, Gold has all the skills he needs to take out the trash. Like Zatoichi or Jack Reacher or Kwai Chang Caine, Gold saunters into this town as a mystery and slowly reveals his remarkable skills as he rights all the unjust wrongs before tearing off into the sunset in his black muscle car to inevitably encounter another adventure in a town that needs some un-corruptin’. It’s very familiar, but it happens to be one of my favorite tropes, with a British vibe this time, so you won’t find me complaining.
Not being a WWE fan, I discovered Stu Bennett via his co-starring turn against Scott Adkins in 2016’s Eliminators, which I very much enjoyed. I Am Vengeance sold me on checking it out with Bennett, a pretty energetic and enjoyable trailer, and the presence of Gary Daniels as the heavy. Now on the other side of Eliminators and I Am Vengeance, I’m pretty sold on Bennett as an action hero. He’s obviously got the physical presence. WWE guys are nothing if not hulking brutes who lumber real good. But what Vengeance proves is that he’s also got knack for comedic dialog and even a little heart, too. Mind you, I’m not saying the guy is Oscar caliber. I’m just saying I’m more inclined to check out his stuff after two projects that display his burgeoning talent far more than they display his lack of it. Lots of guys have tried their hands at action stardom and proven far less capable.
Daniels, a major action cinema veteran of a couple decades now also gets to vamp it up as the lead villain in I Am Vengeance. He plays Hatcher, a special forces commander heading up this elite and corrupt unit who have taken up residence in this small British town for inexplicable reasons that Gold will soon uncover. (It’s drugs. Or something). He seems to be having a great time and looks fantastic, with plenty of vitality left for further high octane roles like this. Anna Shaffer (a background player in multiple Harry Potter films) fills out the female lead role as plucky pub server (and drug addict) Sandra. She’s embroiled in the mystery somehow, but also acts as a bit of a sidekick to Gold. It’s a fairly thankless role, but she makes the most of it. There’s also a bit of a love interest (which will have to remain unrequited, because heroes of this mold are wanderers who can never settle in) in Rose, played by Sapphire Elia. It’s also a thankless role but does serve to inject just a little bit of humanity into Gold, giving him like half a dimension on top of “killing machine but good guy”.
The Britishness of I Am Vengeance is probably its second greatest strength behind Bennett himself. It’s funny to see this template applied to the British countryside. It’s an unabashed American western that’s unafraid to also be super British. Everyone speaks with an accent, the pub is central to the whole thing, and it’s enjoyable seeing an American muscle car charge through the Devotion letting its influences fly.
It must also be noted that writer/director Ross Boyask does solid work overall and becomes another name to look out for. The script is certainly stronger than the direction, but it can’t be ignored that Bennett wouldn’t have looked so promising if the script or direction had let him down. Vengeance suffers from a lot of the same issues that other movies of its budget and ilk suffer, such as drab lighting, unexciting cinematography, and the general low budget making itself known from time to time with flat supporting actors or barren shooting locations. This stuff is par for the course with direct to video action at this point, however. A discerning fan must look past these shortcoming if they’re ever going to enjoy movies in this corner of the market. I can look past those things, and I found a solid time at the movies. Which is great, because Boyask and Bennett are currently filming a sequel with Vinnie Jones even as I type, and I’ll be there to check that one out for sure.
And I’m Out.
I Am Vengeance is available on Digital/DVD/Blu-ray Oct. 23rd, 2018 from Lionsgate and Saban Films.
-
Trick or Treat 2018: Two Cents Turns the Heat Up with Dario Argento’s INFERNO
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
Dario Argento was a known quantity throughout the 70’s, but the surprise success of his seminal Suspiria with American audiences in 1977 afforded Argento previously unknown resources to indulge his darkest imaginings.
Working again with (uncredited) collaborator Daria Nicolodi, Argento quickly went to work on what he dubbed “The Three Mothers trilogy”, with each film following a different witch-queen as she assailed the world of mortals and sanity (Suspiria is about the Mother of Sighs, and the decades-delayed follow-up would be about, and named for, The Mother of Tears).
For the Mother of Darkness, Argento prepared Inferno. Along with Nicoldi helping to craft the story, Argento brought in multiple generations of horror masters to help him realize a surreal journey into an underground world of monstrous alchemists and hidden witches, all existing just out of sight of the sane world of day. The legendary Mario Bava assisted on the film’s designs and special effects and even stepped in to direct when Argento was laid low due to illness, while future cult icons William Maniac Lustig and Lamberto Demons Bava (son of Mario) also had roles in the production.
Inferno follows brother and sister, Mark (Leigh McCloskey) and Rose (Irene Miracle), as they investigate the old apartment building that Rose has taken residence in in New York City. Rose becomes convinced that ancient evil lurks beneath her domicile, and it’s not very long before madness and murder begin following the duo wherever they go. But can they unlock the secrets of “Mater Tenebrarum”, or will doom catch them first?
Despite Suspiria’s popularity, Fox buried Inferno for five years before allowing a paltry theatrical run in 1985. Contemporary reviews were mixed, with many comparing the film unfavorably to Argento’s earlier triumphs. Argento himself would later identify Inferno as his least favorite of his work, owing to both this reception and the grueling film shoot (marked by illness). But today, Inferno has a devoted cult following, with many citing the film as perhaps Argento’s masterpiece, and the crown jewel in the “Three Mothers” saga.
With a new Suspiria heading our way, we thought it only fitting that this Halloween season be marked with a trip into the nightmare realm of Dario Argento, and his Inferno.
Next Week’s Pick:
We’re finishing out the season strong with one of the greats. One of the most influential and beloved horror films of all time, low budget shocker The Evil Dead pioneered the “cabin in the woods” trope, launched the careers of star Bruce Campbell and brothers (director) Sam and (actor) Ted Raimi, and was followed by two sequels, a remake, and even a TV series which recently ended its three season run. Go back to the cabin — or dare we hope, for the first time? — with us as we watch: THE EVIL DEAD!
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review on any MCU film to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests
It had been a few years since I revisited Inferno, so I fired up Shudder (seriously, thank goodness for that awesomely curated streaming service) and gave it a fresh look. I like this movie a lot, although I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite Argento. There are some impressive kills — more gruesome than Suspiria — and for better or worse more plot and exposition. In fact the story of Inferno is almost like a matryoshka doll, with each mystery opening only to reveal another — Rose investigates the Three Mothers; Sara investigates Rose’s investigation; and ultimately Mark is left to investigate everything. In addition Inferno retains the awesomely vivid colors and production design of its predecessor. Unfortunately Leigh McCloskey as Mark is no Jessica Harper, and his character seems increasingly dense as he takes far longer than the viewer does to put the various pieces of the plot together. Also the score by Keith Emerson usually left me wishing for Goblin, although the cue that plays in the film’s last 15 minutes or so is quite good. Overall Inferno is a film that certainly follows Suspiria in concept and style, but without quite reaching the same heights as that earlier film. That said, above-average Argento is still worthy of attention. In many ways it feels like a transitional film, as I can see in certain sequences hints at the style/tone of Argento’s slightly later film Phenomena. If you must watch one Dario Argento film, watch Suspiria — but if you enjoy Suspiria, you’ll probably enjoy Inferno too.
Verdict: Treat (@T_Lawson)
Brendan Agnew (The Norman Nerd):
Yeah, it’s…preeeeeeeeeeetty good?
I’m at a bit of a loss as to why Dario Argento’s Inferno didn’t quite work its magic on me. Make no mistake, I still enjoyed my time in the twisted tale of the second of The Three Mothers, with its deliberately dizzying dream logic and fantastical imagery. The sense of stepping into the otherworldly is intoxicating, with sequences of “falling” through holes and walking through surreally small doors recalling something like Alice stumbling through a hellish Wonderland. There are plenty of sequences where psychedelic experiences brush up against something so nasty that they can’t help but come to a sticky end, and Argento plays those notes just as skillfully as he did in Suspiria — and with even more gory abandon.
But some of that movie’s secret sauce just felt missing here. I know it’s arguably gauche to compare (even if being a thematic sequel invites comparison), but so much of my intoxication with that earlier film came from how deftly it set up and stuck to a specific main character perspective and central setting. Inferno seems to take digressions more often with characters you get to know just enough to wonder why you don’t spend more time with them rather than…I think his name was Mark? Look, he’s boring. His lack of direct action through much of the film helps differentiate Inferno from Suspiria in that one feels like confronting a mystery where here the “hero” is mostly just trying to survive the storm, but it’s also less involving (even if watching him get tossed about is quite fun).
Such complaints aside, this film is a head trip still very much worth taking, and the sort of alluring nightmare that I’m in no real hurry to awaken from.
Verdict: Treat (@BLCAgnew)
The Team
It seems my trend of enjoying Argento films that don’t involve any of the “three mothers” and caring very little for said moms continues. I love Deep Red, love Phenomena, really enjoy Opera… but Suspiria and, now also, Inferno do nothing for me. I know, I know, it’s an unpopular take, but I just can’t figure out how to get myself to care. I didn’t hate it, but Inferno really did nothing for me.
I can’t put my finger on what didn’t jive for me. It’s similar to my feelings on Suspiria. The elements seem to add up to being something I’d enjoy, but I can’t seem to find anything that grabs me. The acting felt strong, in that giallo overacting kind of way. The imagery and shots were well crafted. I just don’t get it.
Thus, I’m sorry to say, for me this is a TRICK.
Verdict: Trick (@thepaintedman)
There is exactly one way in which Inferno lags behind Suspiria: Argento’s band, Goblin, didn’t do the score. If Inferno had a signature sound that banged as hard as the iconic lullaby from Hell that was such an indelible part of Suspiria, I’d have no problem calling this the superior film. As it is, Keith Emerson’s score does a solid enough job at underlining the spooky goings on, but it doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from every other keyboard-heavy horror score of that era.
And that’s a shame because, as I mentioned, I think in every other way this film might just be Argento’s masterpiece. He’s often praised/criticized for the ‘dream-like’ nature of his films, but Inferno to me is one of the few to actually feel like a bad dream that you have wandered into and cannot find your way out of. The film has no true protagonist, and it’d be a stretch to say it even has a plot. What it has is sequences of terror and death that unfold with a rhyme and rhythm unlike anything else in horror. At times, Inferno feels almost like an anthology film, repeatedly wandering off from the siblings allegedly at the center of the film so it might follow their neighbors down alleys that grow stranger and darker the longer you walk. For anyone who prizes structure and coherence in their horror, I can see why Inferno would likely drive you crazy, but somehow the combination of Argento and Bava working in tandem creates a dread-laced haze in which I am happy to wander.
Verdict: Treat (@theTrueBrendanF)
Inferno was one of the first films I ever watched in the giallo/Italian horror realm years ago, and may have even been my first Argento. As such, I didn’t have any framework of the “Three Mothers” or his other films (including Suspiria, which I didn’t actually watch until last year).
Coming back for seconds all these years later, I couldn’t really recall much about it — the celebrated underwater scene was etched in my memory, but beyond that I just had a vague recollection of really enjoying it, without remembering too many particulars.
But Inferno truly is a great film, both horrific and nightmarish, and stylish to boot, in Argento’s classic aesthetic. It definitely recalls Suspiria to be sure, though it changes things up a bit — there’s no central protagonist, which gives it a less distinct narrative, but adds more of a sense of delirious chaos. The series of revelations of what’s going on at the evil site provides more questions than answers (What’s with the underwater room and the hot dog vendor??), but that’s all just part of its mysterious, fever-dream charm.
Verdict: Treat (@VforVashaw)
Two Cents Verdict: Treat!
Next week’s pick:
