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NIGHT OF THE DEMONS – Collector’s Edition 4K Review
The 1988 cult classic gets the Shout Factory Special Treatment
Review disc provided by Shout Studios, images captured by reviewer and subject to copyright. These days, it seems you can’t throw a rock without hitting a cult genre film that’s being pulled from the mists of time and given a lavish special edition release from a boutique label – and that just rocks, because it means we get to see glorious schlock like Kevin S. Tenney’s demonsploitation romp Night of the Demons look better than it has in 35 years.
The film was a fairly serious hit given its budget, and helped to put independent studio Republic Pictures on the playing field in a serious way. From an original script by Joe Augustyn (who’s idea for the demonic creatures in question was that of spirits who’ve never had physical form and so view possessing humans as the ultimate amusement park ride), the film primarily follows high school good girl Judy (Cathy Podewell) and her peers as they experience an evening of. . . well, it’s in the title.
Review disc provided by Shout Studios, images captured by reviewer and subject to copyright. The titular night of said misfortune just so happens to be Halloween, when the borders between this world and the others are at their thinnest. Angela Franklin (Amelia Kinkade) has invited some of her fellow students to join her for a part in Hull House for what sounds like an innocent night of ’80s teenage debauchery but escalates to gooey terror. An abandoned funeral parlor that’s the subject of local gruesome folklore (including the murder of the Hull family) and supposedly restless spirits, Hull House as a location starts creepy and turns downright malicious as the night goes on. After a disastrous seance unleashes a mischievous demon in the house, guests start getting possessed and either meet a gruesome fate or attempt to murder their schoolmates – generally both.
Review disc provided by Shout Studios, images captured by reviewer and subject to copyright. It’s easy to see why Night of the Demons has gained a following, even apart from the very ably executed (if somewhat familiar) Evil Dead-esque monster face / murder business once the dark magic kicks into high gear. The film arguably spends a bit too long in table setting while wrangling its ensemble cast so that they’re all in the same place for monster shenanigans, but this patience also allows the movie to really wrap its hands around some genre tropes that it upends even as it revels in others. None of the characters quite pop the way Ashley Williams does in Sam Raimi’s big breakout, but Tenney and screenwriter Joe Augustyn do an impressive job of balancing dynamics and locations among their large ensemble, and make solid use of the locations and levels in the house.
Night of the Demons is at its best when its doing things like the grossest possible version of “cat got your tongue” or letting pulp horror star Linnea Quigley have a breakdown while applying makeup or throwing people off roofs to be impaled by rusty spikes, and less so when it’s lingering on strobe light dance scenes or shouty “teens” trading insults. It feels like more time could have been spent with fleshing out the motivations of characters like Angela (the goth putting one over on some of the popular kids). But it’s got both the “commitment to the bit” spirit and the genuine talent behind its makeup effects, and gets to the finish line in time for a genuinely solid finale. It’s not quite a Lost Classic, but it goes down real easy as a way to start ringing in the season of the witch.
Presentation:
Review disc provided by Shout Studios, images captured by reviewer and subject to copyright. Shout Studios / Scream Factory really did a hell of a job on this restoration, even compared to the previous HD release. The film can’t escape the era in which is was filmed or the obviously limited budget, but the 4K transfer (evidently from a the original Unrated negatives) lets the blacks of the film’s many shadows soak through nicely as well as bringing out the tones of the various types of viscera or the blues of Judy’s Alice in Wonderland dress. And in spite of how rich the detail is up close, this is an example of a make-up heavy film where the illusion still holds up in the face of Ultra HD. The audio is equally limited by its time and means, but the disc delivers the same clean mix from the 2014 Blu-ray release that spotlights the growly demons voices and booming music while never losing dialogue clarity.
Review disc provided by Shout Studios, images captured by reviewer and subject to copyright. Bonus Content:
Shout Studios and Scream Factory really rolled out the red carpet for this 2-disc set, with both the 4K disc and the Blu-ray each coming with a suite of extras that remind me of the DVD special features heyday of the naughties.
Review disc provided by Shout Studios, images captured by reviewer and subject to copyright. Disc 1 (4K UHD):
Audio Commentary – With Director Kevin Tenney, Actors Cathy Podewell, Billy Gallo, And Hal Havins, And Special Make-Up Effects Creator Steve Johnson
Audio Commentary – With Director Kevin Tenney, Producer Jeff Geoffray, And Executive Producer Walter Josten
Audio Commentary – With Director Kevin Tenney, Actors Linnea Quigley And Phillip Tanzini, And Casting Director Tedra Gabriel
See You In Hell (35 minutes ) – Interview With Writer/Producer Joe Augustyn
Contortions And Coffins (18 min) – Interview With Actor Jill Terashita
The Perfect Punk (9 min) – Interview With Special Effects Artist Nick Benson
International Cut (90 min) – Standard-definition of the workprint of the film
Disc 2 (Blu-Ray):
You’re Invited (72 minutes) – The Making Of NIGHT OF THE DEMONS: A Documentary
Amelia Kinkade, Protean (23 min) – An Interview With Actor Amelia Kinkade
My Demon Nights – An Interview With Pulp Scream Queen Linnea Quigley
Allison Barron’s Demon Memories (4 min)
THE HALLOWEEN PARTY Workprint (88 minutes) – Standard Definition Workprint With Alternate Title
THE HALLOWEEN PARTY Alternate Opening Title Sequence (4 min)
Alternate R-Rated Scenes (3 minutes)
A Short NIGHT OF THE DEMONS (8 min) – distribution promo
Video Trailer
TV Spots
Radio Spot
Promo Reel
Still Galleries – Behind-The-Scenes, Special Effects And Makeup, Stills, Posters, And Storyboards
Yeah, look at all that good fucking food – you love to see it.
Review disc provided by Shout Studios, images captured by reviewer and subject to copyright. Night of the Demons: Collectors Edition is available on 4K UHD and Blu-Ray from Shout Studios and Scream Factory.
I’m not sure I should RSVP. Get it at Amazon: Night of the Demons Scream Factory 4K UHD Blu-ray
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THE ROYAL HOTEL is a Modern Western of Misogynist Menace
(L to R:) Jessica Henwick and Julia Garner in The Royal Hotel. Courtesy of NEON. Greeting the viewer at the open of Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel is a club mix of Men at Work’s “Down Under,” immediately setting the scene. Canadian tourists Hanna (Julia Garner in her second collaboration with the Australian director after The Assistant) and Liv (Jessica Henwick, Glass Onion) are in their twenties and blithely partying away their last dime in Sydney. The only work they can find is bartending at a pub in a mining town hours from anywhere. To most women/non-male identifying folks, this place would sound like bad news. And it is!
From the alcoholic pub owner’s (a barely recognizable Hugo Weaving) randomly tossing out the c-word at the gals in their first meeting to the sexist jokes continually cracked by the rowdy male customers, the misogyny kicks off and rarely takes a break. It’s a nightmarish situation for the two women and makes for uncomfortable viewing, especially for anyone who keenly knows how hard such disparaging language and behavior hits. Toxic masculinity, rape culture and loneliness, along with access to lots of alcohol, make for an intense combination.
While they aren’t the only women in the pub, it seems the few others are either ignoring it to just get by or join in the harassment themself. Cook Carol (Ursula Yovich) tries to speak up for the younger women, but is preoccupied by the downward spiral of her partner Billy (Weaving). Carol seems to be keeping things in check, so what happens if she’s not there?
(L to R:) Toby Wallace, Hugo Weaving and Jessica Henwick in The Royal Hotel. Courtesy of NEON. Green’s adaptation (co-written with Oscar Redding) of 2016 documentary Hotel Coolgardie is a low-key thriller. An overwhelming feeling of malice and danger pervades the film. At any moment, one of these creepy guys could attack. Garner’s Hanna is aware of her surroundings and upset by the behavior of the miners in the pub — and is thus bestowed with a misogynist nickname because of her angry response. Her fury and rage rise as days pass. Garland seamlessly transitions in her role from a more trusting person at the start of the film to a vengeful woman. Meanwhile Liv is frustratingly oblivious to the situation and slower on the uptake. Henwick instills her character with such a naive and easygoing nature that the viewer (and Hanna) constantly worries for her.
The Royal Hotel kept this critic on the edge of my seat, not because of any possible jump scare, but due to the constant threat of violence and harassment to the young women on screen. Green’s film is a disturbing, almost exhausting, experience, but I hope people make time to sit with it.
The Royal Hotel opens in select cities Friday, October 6.
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THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER is a Loving But Hollow Cover of a Classic
Photos courtesy of Universal In the world of horror, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist sits in rarefied air. It is not only an unimpeachable piece of genre filmmaking but an example of top end 70s filmmaking at its finest. It was nominated for Best Picture. It is continuously in argument for the greatest horror film ever made, often in a category unto itself.
Thus it makes sense that there have been several stop and start attempts to capitalize on the success of the original masterpiece, to spin it off into a venerated horror series. After all, that’s the whole business model of horror: endless sequels and remakes and reimaginings that extend the legacy of the original. In most cases the original remains the blueprint for a reason, but the distance between the best and worst isn’t such a significant gulf. But when the original in a venerated piece of cinema with appeal that pushes past just genre enthusiasts? Well, it seems increasingly foolhardy to attempt to extend the legacy.
And yet here we are again, with a new sequel, The Exorcist: Believer, this time from David Gordon Green, who most recently helmed the newest Halloween trilogy. And while those films have had divided reactions, it’s not hard to see why Green, a clear scholar of the horror genre, would make sense if you are going to start up the Exorcist machine again. Unfortunately, like all who have attempted to approach it before him, Green’s attempt to meet the grandeur of its predecessor falls well short of the goal.
This is not to say that Green is without ideas. He pulls out of the original source material a sense of parental dread and centers his entry on this conceit: the anxiety of your children growing distant, unknowable to you as they edge into adolescence, rendering you completely helpless to protect them. There are elements of this in the original, but Green puts it front and center in his interpretation. At least, he does until the final act, which muddles the metaphor and becomes much more text than subtext.
The parent in question is Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.), a widower and single father who is raising his teenage daughter Angela on his own after his wife died tragically in the Port-au-Prince earthquake. Victor holds onto his daughter with a tight rope, and clings to the memory of his wife. So when he agrees to let her go to her friend Katherine’s house to study, and both girls go missing, his worst fears come true.
What follows hits very familiar beats: Victor, along with Katherine’s family, engage in a three day search for the girls. Eventually they finally show up miles away with no memory of what happened while they were missing. But both girls seem changed, prone to sudden violent outbursts. Initially skeptical but eager to heal his daughter, Victor is eventually convinced that Angela and Katherine are both possessed by some evil spirit. He seeks out the only person he knows of who has had a similar experience: Ellen Bursytn’s Chris MacNeil, from the original Exorcist.
All of these events are played at a fairly patient pace, which can feel glacial at times. But Odom, and to a certain degree Katherine’s parents as played by Norbert Leo Butz and Jennifer Nettles, carry the weight of the circumstance convincingly. Parents will recognize the panic and pain they are experiencing, and the sense of both relief and concern when the girls are found in their unsettling state.
The issue with Green’s take on the material isn’t necessarily that it is slow; the original Exorcist can require patience at times as well.The biggest issues are in the details and eventual execution. Green’s script, worked on with his usual collaborators, asks for an expansive cast, especially as the movie transitions into its final act where the actual exorcism commences. But other than Victor, and to a lesser extent Ann Dowd’s turn as a concerned nurse, most of the characters are loose sketches, none are given enough space to have a sense of interiority or an existence outside of their most basic plot functions. There is a significant attempt to make us care about the characters who are pulled together by circumstances, but we only get to know most of them on the most cursory level.
Perhaps more embarrassing, the film shifts in its final act to make a larger statement about religion. But the depictions of various religious ceremonies throughout are confused, blending aspects of various sects of Christianity into a general mish-mash. Katherine’s family is presented as members of a large, unnamed protestant church, but take communion in a style nearly identical to Catholic mass. A throwaway moment depicts charismatic Pentecostals, but never ties their beliefs into the narrative. Most hilariously, Ellen Burstyn’s central premise is that exorcism is not just a Christian phenomenon but appears in religions across the world, across time. But the exorcism presented in the film is rooted firmly, and solely, in Christ-centric doctrine, leading the well-intentioned egalitarianism to feel hollow.
“Hollow” in general is a good description for Believer, as it runs through the motions of Satanic panic nightmare, but never really adds anything to platter, but rather revisions on the genre. Perhaps that is an unfair expectation, but that is precisely the pedigree you are putting upon yourself when you try to make a film that is a direct sequel to The Exorcist. It is hard to see the benefit Green and company have to connect themselves to that legacy, other than the potential financial boom. And without getting into spoilers, but the film’s final act tidies up what few loose ends there are. The fact this is the first in a promised trilogy doesn’t suggest itself from the contents of the film itself.
The end result reminds of a cover band, perhaps one with more reverence for the source material than others. But the end result is always going to feel like an imitation, gesturing towards the source material with admiration. The details still shine through though, and the imitation is never going to have the verve of the original, no matter how many times you let people take a crack at it. Sometimes it is best to leave well enough alone.
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FANTASTIC FEST 2023: SPOOKTACULAR! is a Charming Look at the Once Great Horror Theme Park
Being a fan of both family owned rural amusement parks and horror attractions, Quinn Monahan’s Spooktacular! made me feel actual regret upon seeing the greatness that once was Spooky World. The doc, reminiscent of The American Scream, is the story of David Bertolino who started his spooky empire when he purchased a former dairy farm in Berlin, Massachusetts that was originally intended as simply a haunted hayride, but which grew from 1991 to 1998 into what is now the template for homemade horror attractions across the US. The doc is a more clinical deconstruction of not only how the park was founded and grew over the years, but how it eventually incurred a backlash from the small town it resided in, culminating in the park relocating, and ultimately closing.
Before hitting play I hadn’t heard of Spooky World. From its genesis as Spooky Hayrides, Quinn Monahan takes you through how founder David Bertolino with six acres of land and a small loan of $150,000 immediately tapped into the horror zeitgeist with his month-long celebration of all things Halloween. Within a year they had cars backed up 800 deep from the freeway all to get into their attraction, which took the area, and later the nation by storm with its then patented mix of fun attractions for casual attendees and families, and the scary goods for horror aficionados. As new haunts were added, another big draw was celebrity guests, the likes of Linda Blair, Tom Savini and Elvira who were on hand doing autograph sessions. It was a pure genius move that brought even more crowds to what was later renamed Spooky World, to give Bertolino the aspirational latitude to grow the park which he did.
The story is thankfully told by most of the players involved rather in their own words, with some perspective added – given it’s been nearly 3 decades since the park ceased operations. While the story is interesting, it lacks a humanity. While the workers offer some of the more colorful bits, Bertolino, while engaging, is very matter of fact and sometimes appears disconnected when discussing not just the good times, but some of the more unflattering stories around the lengths he would go to promote Spooky World. He’s just not a good interview, and that really hurts the documentary as a whole since he’s set up as one of the main voices in the chorus. Personally, his wife felt a bit more authentic here. That said while the doc is rather competently constructed, the film also leans too heavily onto clips of Vincent Price that while adding flourishes to illustrate the story, don’t add much value.
For fans of haunted attractions this is easily a MUST watch or for those who have memories of Spooky World, of which I am very jealous. For casual viewers, there’s just not a great hook here to latch onto which is the biggest downside, but it is overall an enjoyable and brisk watch, which could be its salvation for most. Horror fans will no doubt enjoy the cameos by Savini, who at one point had his own haunted attraction at the park and a few other celebs who graced the autograph tables at Spooky World over the years. While Savini is one of the most entertaining floating head presented, it’s hard not to notice it appears his interview was done in his car over what appears to be facetime, which is a bit distracting. While we may never walk the hallowed halloween grounds at Spooky World, thanks to director Quinn Monahan we can still experience it just a little bit thanks to this doc.
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Fantastic Fest 2023: DREAM SCENARIO and Nic Cage
Nicolas Cage is one of cinema’s greatest treasures. In his new film Dream Scenario he plays an extremely normal, unremarkable man that finds out the world at large is dreaming about him.
Cage’s Paul Matthews hates himself so much that he projects himself into other people’s subconscious. What they dream about is what he most fears: that he’s pathetic, ineffective, and hapless: so in dreams he stands idly by and watches, doing nothing to help those in peril. It’s harmless though – he becomes a sensation as the collective unconscious sees someone that’s mild and slightly funny looking, bumbling around in their dreams.
If the whole world dreamed about you, you’d quickly become one of the most famous people alive. Paul doesn’t handle this newfound fame well. An incident shifts his internalized perspective and eventually his self hatred focuses on a different flaw; he begins to view himself as a monster and, as before, that manifests in the dreams of others (but this time with dire consequences).
Dream Scenario is an A24 film from writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself) and producer Ari Aster. “A24 and Aster” sells a lot of what the film is about, blending comedy and drama with (mild) horror elements. There’s an anxious undercurrent permeating the whole affair. Kaufman will probably be the biggest comparison, but his Adaptation is different enough both in tone (Dream Scenario is sweeter) and Cage’s performance.
Cage brings so much depth and angst to an unremarkable man. He shows that even the most mundane person has a rich inner life. We’re all the main character of our own story and with that comes a baseline of neurosis and vanity, and Cage taps into that as he deteriorates throughout the movie. The lack of accurate self perception is painful: he considers himself such a loser but he has a loving family, a beautiful home, and a great job, so it becomes a deeply sad movie as he devolves.
There’s some surprises in the cast I won’t spoil but everyone is delightful. The dream sequences are both hilarious and frightening. There’s also a 15 minute stretch in the middle that’s one of the best things to hit screens this year, with a punchline so funny I cried laughing. It’s a near total package.
Near total because the ending – it’s nearly there but introduces some new ideas that aren’t fully fleshed out and distract from the emotional resolution. I felt moved by the time credits rolled but the lack of focus in the home stretch prevented it from being the absolute best thing I saw at Fantastic Fest; however, it’s still excellent and one of the year’s best.
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THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER Needs to Believe In Itself
David Gordon Green injects new life into an already troubled horror franchise–but will that be enough to do battle with skeptics?
Stills courtesy of Universal Pictures. To praise and vitriol alike, David Gordon Green has always marched to the beat of his own drum when it comes to the attempted reinvention of classic horror franchises. His Halloween trilogy daringly explored ideas of the inherent virology of evil and even the potential scapegoating of Michael Myers, all captured with the off-kilter weirdness and earnest character exploration of his previous indie features. To a franchise as beloved yet beaten-to-death as Halloween, Green’s films were a provocative shot in the arm–one that refused to compromise its vision even as the fan community went from rapturous to rabid in the wake of Halloween Kills and Ends.
When it was announced that Green and his returning creative team would be tackling a sequel trilogy to The Exorcist, reactions were understandably polarized–which fueled an unerring optimism in me that powered me through the months of scrutiny and negative speculation that followed. Much like Halloween, The Exorcist has seen its fair share of disappointing follow-ups, as well as some thunderously ambitious attempts to reinvigorate and redefine its identity in the horror canon. While it’s a valid argument to say that such a towering and, yeah, perfect horror film didn’t need any of its sequels or prequels, each of The Exorcist’s subsequent installments still brought something new and interesting to the table. The Exorcist III has received a deserved reappraisal in the last few decades, but I’d argue that The Heretic and even both attempts at the Exorcist prequel all offer gonzo stylistic and thematic flourishes that live up to any attempt to escape the shadow of its iconic first iteration. With such a frenzied and polarizing history–who better to attempt a new take on The Exorcist series than David Gordon Green?
Set decades after the first Exorcist film (akin to DGG’s Halloween, assume only the first film is canon), Believer follows photographer Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) as he raises his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) as a single father after his wife passed in childbirth during the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Victor is deeply agnostic, contrasting with many in his Georgia neighborhood, including the very Christian family of Angela’s friend, Katherine (Olivia O’Neill). However, everyone’s faith is tested when Angela and Katherine disappear into the woods of their middle school–and it’s pushed to the brink when the two girls reappear three days later covered in scars and, eventually, spouting obscenities and making unholy contortions. At the urging of their nurse and neighbor Ann (Ann Dowd), Victor seeks out a new ally that may help explain what’s happening to the girls–Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn).
Green’s film is, as you’d expect, deeply divisive. The Exorcist: Believer frequently feels at war with itself, with a pacing that feels both patient and panicked throughout. Any film would struggle to match up to Friedkin’s 1973 original–but where Green’s film shines strongest is when it doesn’t try to do so. The first half of the film is remarkably deliberately paced, evoking the slow and steady buildup of dread and terror of The Exorcist. Green, cinematographer Michael Simmonds, and editor Timothy Alverson employ unsettlingly slow zooms amidst sparingly-used surreal cuts of alien and unnatural sights, preferring their action kept unseen while we linger in empty hallways. The feeling of something lurking in the shadows or seeping under our skin is rampant throughout this section. One can’t help but feel the Believer team playing with our expectations much like Friedkin and Blatty did with the original film. Where The Exorcist played with the idea that its audience had no reference for demonic possession, grounding us in the mystery of what the hell is happening to Regan, Believer wholly knows it exists in a post-Exorcist world, teasing out what we know is coming in deliciously tense ways. A standout scene innocuously plays out as Victor brushes his teeth and interacts with Angela as the lights flicker–a scene that anxiously plays out over an unbroken take yet audaciously doesn’t pay off with subliminal imagery or another notch of possession tropes. It’s a creepy-as-fuck moment that lingers in the air, and completely justifies Green and crew’s approach to the entire film.
Believer also recognizes just how much it exists in a world where the hegemony of Christianity has thankfully fractured, acknowledging and incorporating ideas of demonic possession across myriad cultures and belief systems into its thematic explorations and climactic rituals. Working in influences from other sects of Christianity like Pentecostalism to Voodoo and other West African religions, there’s a pantheistic earnestness to not place Roman Catholicism on a pedestal as Angela and Katherine’s sole method of deliverance. Rather than otherizing other faiths, Believer rightfully believes the consideration of other faiths isn’t just valid, but necessary. When the fate of more than one soul hangs in the balance, it’s best not to place all your eggs in one basket, right?
Performances are also game across the board, notably Odom Jr. as the lead. Victor is a bitter widower, but he doesn’t let it overshadow the current joy he gets from being a father in the present–and both sides of him come to a reckoning as he finds himself embracing a faith he didn’t think was ever necessary in his life. Both Jewett and O’Neill are wonderfully creepy ghouls as they descend into possession, but they thankfully get some spare opening moments to get us attached to Angela and Katherine as young girls exploring with forces they don’t understand. While Burstyn’s screentime is short and arguably ill-utilized, she finds some scenery to chew on as she guides audiences through Chris’ regret-tinged life since the events of the first film. Ann Dowd is expectedly a natural standout in what would otherwise be a throwaway performance–Nurse Ann has her own past demons to deal with, and they come to the fore in gruesome ways that lead her to a starring role in the film’s climactic exorcism.
Where Believer falters, however, is how much time it spends teasing out interesting ideas of pantheism, the validity of agnosticism, and eventually the cruel choices living with the reality of demonic possession can inflict on its bystanders–yet struggles to develop them into meaningful conclusions by the end of nearly two hours’ worth of screentime. The compulsion to bring in characters and references to the franchise threatens to derail what’s most interesting about Believer, notably a Force Awakens-style subplot about Chris’ dysfunctional relationship with her infamous missing daughter that sputters in and out of much more immediate concerns. What happens to Chris early on–no, not a death, thankfully–is also a testament to Burstyn’s commitment to playing even the most disappointing schlock well, even if it is in service of funding an actors’ scholarship program at the end of the day.
For all of the goodwill earned in its patient, creeping buildup, Believer’s climactic exorcism feels wholly uninterested in itself. While blending usage of the Roman Ritual, speaking in tongues, and gris-gris talismans in getting rid of the unnamed demons possessing the two girls, many of Believer‘s exorcism beats are over as soon as they’re introduced, playing much like a “greatest hits” of Exorcism tropes eager to get to the next potentially crowd-pleasing visual rather than let any of these horrors effectively hit the audience. What’s more, many of these moments lack the visual excitement or thematic weight as the preceding hour-and-a-half, potentially squandering whatever interest Green and company have earned up to that point. It feels too tame in some sequences, opting for hurried, stakes-less CGI rather than impactful, consequential imagery, or directions that stop far short of a satisfying payoff before being distracted with other potential ideas. Major kudos to both Odom Jr. and Dowd for saving what’s possible of the film’s ending, as they attempt to find a more consistent character tempo to a climax that sometimes feels re-shot to Hell and back.
Yes, Believer does have its moments that rank among the most mediocre of the one horror franchise that feels like it shouldn’t even be a franchise. However, even as I write this review, it feels like much of the filmgoing community are eager to memeify this film’s failings into oblivion before it even has a chance to find its audience. For me, Exorcist: Believer has just as much worthy of praise as it does damnation; the film contains some of the most nail-biting dread that Green has managed in his nascent career as a horror auteur, and I’m legitimately intrigued to see how Odom Jr. and other characters may develop over the course of what is bizarrely an already-greenlit trilogy. This Exorcist sequel may falter in its first steps. Still, I sincerely hope Green and crew continue to hold fast to what draws them to this film–it’s a spark that managed to resonate with me even in its most dark and cynically corporate Hollywood moments, and one that shouldn’t be dampened in the pursuit of appeasing those who most want this film to fail anyway.
Bring on Deceiver in 2025.
The Exorcist: Believer hits theaters on October 6, 2023 courtesy of Universal Pictures.
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Fantastic Fest 2023: JACKDAW is DRIVE Channeled Through Tony Scott
What do you get when you take Tony Scott’s early sensibility, a dash of Refn’s Drive, and a healthy portion of motocross for good measure? Well you got yourself a stew called Jackdaw.
Set in the aforementioned Scott’s home countryside of industrial Northern England, Jackdaw follows a former motocross champ resorting to a life of crime to support his younger brother. The job goes sideways and the audience is treated to an intense 90 minute thriller that weaves in and out of a beautifully lit rust belt, mostly on the back of a motorbike.
It’s set in a familial backdrop where our characters have to chase or run from their past, and our lead Jack Dawson is aptly played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Similarly to Gosling in Drive, he’s not doing a lot of emoting here, but keeping that stoicism engaging is a deceptively hard task. There’s a fine line between icy mystery and dull self seriousness, and Jackson-Cohen aligns himself on the right side.
The rest of the cast works well, but for the most part they’re not really why you’re here (though a surprising turn from a Game of Thrones veteran is very welcome). You also don’t really come to Jackdaw for an intricate plot: it’s pretty straightforward and while there’s fun double-crossing it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel.
You come to Jackdaw mainly for the aesthetic. The comparison to Tony Scott isn’t just visual, it’s also how the movie functions on feeling and immersion in a place. Top Gun’s plot isn’t what sells that movie, it’s the vibes – which are similarly applied here.
The movie starts stronger than it finishes and the whole thing coasts mostly on those aforementioned vibes, but they’re pretty great – so why not lean into it.
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LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR is a Fantastically Moving Modern Day Fairytale
Last week saw the Blu-ray release of Keiichi Hara’s feature length anime adaption Lonely Castle In The Mirror on Blu-ray thanks to the folks over at GKIDS. The film which started as a book and was adapted into a manga, and finally a film tells the fairytale adventure of 7 first year students who are summoned via a magical portal in their mirrors to a gorgeous castle in the middle of the ocean. Once there they meet a young girl in a wolf mask known as the Wolf Queen who informs her guests that from the hours of 9am to 5pm they are invited to the castle to socialize and to search for a magic key. That key will grant the finder one wish, but there are two catches. Once they make the wish their memories of the castle will be erased, and if they come to the castle outside of the designated time, they will be eaten by a wolf, along with all the other children who are forced to share the fate.
The gorgeously animated film primarily focuses on Kokoro, a painfully shy teen who when the film begins is afraid to go to school. We don’t know why, but it’s to the point her parents are exploring other schools and options. After being recruited, at first she is hesitant to visit the castle, but the more she visits and gets to know the other kids, the more she begins to realize that there’s something similar about the other children and her situation. While the thread of the narrative is this somewhat convoluted fairytale – something the characters go even as far to comment on. The emotional journey of these characters together as they are allowed to open up to one another and their struggles with being bullied at school is what makes the film as moving as it is. In their downtime looking for the key they create friendships that make the castle not only a refuge, but bridge to the children finding their way back to their respective lives.
Lonely Castle In The Mirror is a socially aware spectacle that attempts to tackle not only bullying and different kinds of abuse. But how living in a society where speaking out or sticking up for yourself is frowned upon, often traps the victims in these cycles and prevents them from getting help. The film manages to mull through these weighty themes thankfully in a way that’s not preachy or feels like an afterschool special, which is probably why the property is so popular. This is probably because Kokoro is portrayed as grounded and her emotional struggle in the film feels very genuine in how she reacts and and internalizes her struggle. Its how those around Kokoro react to her that also surprised me and really felt like the property was not trying to talk down to the film’s intended audience, allowing her to find her own way to happiness.
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FANTASTIC FEST 2023: KILLING ROMANCE is an Exquisitely Entertaining Candy Colored K-Dramedy
Killing Romance is Lee Won-suk’s candy colored K-drama musical that may go down as my favorite new film I saw at Fantastic Fest this year. Romance stars Lee Hanee as Hwa Yeo-rae, a woman who garnered a place in the pop culture zeitgeist for being able to chug a watermelon soft drink in record time. She quickly transitioned from spokeswoman to idol, and finally starred in a sci-fi epic. While that film made a ton of money, Yeo-rae was ridiculed and mocked due to her performance, which landed her in the arms of the vain and abusive developer Jonathan Na (Lee Sun-kyun) on the secluded fictional tropical island of Qualla . After 7 years of self imposed exile Yeo-rae returns to Seoul, where John irons out plans for an amusement park. She’s then recognized by her stoner neighbor Kim Beom-woo (Gong Myoung), who’s a hardcore Yeo-rae superfan and will do anything for her return, including killing her husband.
Before you start thinking this is just the Korean musical version of To Die For, things don’t quite go as planned for Yeo-rae, which is a testament to Sun-kyun, who here is such a great villain. The actor not only spends the film hamming it up whenever he can with arsenal fake styled mustaches, but also dropping his infectious catchphrase “It’s Goooood!” whenever he gets a chance. Beom-woo eventually has second thoughts about killing Yeo-rae’s husband and saves his life, which endears the awkward 20 something slacker to Jonathan, while Yeo-rae is left stuck with a man who aside from committing ACTUAL MURDER, makes her stand in a corner while he pelts her with tangerines when she displeases him. The film uses the absurdist musical comedy elements to offset these darker tones, while still not completely erasing how terrible Jonathan is.
The film itself at times feels like a feature length K-pop video, it’s shot in that super bright style and also characters here are larger than life and can break into song at any moment. There’s even a scene where the film goes into full on Karaoke mode for scene towards the end. Speaking of the music, it’s catchy as hell, and as I write this I hope to rid myself of Yeo-rae’s bad girl soft drink theme song, which has firmly embedded itself in my cranial cavity. The performances here are surprisingly nuanced and deliver some really engaging melodrama to really keep you vested in all of the characters. It’s a hard juggling act considering how truly garish Jonathan is at times. But for the most part you’re still able to enjoy yourself, which is the point even when the film dips into the truly absurd. My personal favorite of these outlandish flourishes being, a running gag where Beom-woo has been studying for his entrance exams for so long and failing, that he’s manifested the ability to talk to animals.
I don’t want to delve too far into the particulars of the film for fear of spoiling some of the more hilarious bits, of which there are quite a few. But Killing Romance is charming, hilarious and sometimes even surprisingly heartfelt, when it comes to Yeo-rae’s introspective moments when she’s reflecting back on her career. There’s some thematic ruminations on the shelf life of idols and female performers in generaI that I found rather moving mixed in the comedy and drama. Thankfully the film sidesteps the creepiness of that older woman grooming a younger man to kill her husband trope that I was basically expecting in the first act to find its own way into this weird and wonderful melodrama that I can’t recommend enough. I thoroughly enjoyed Killing Romance, I laughed, I got teary eyed and I had a lot of fun watching this cast of misfits trying to find happiness amongst some of the best cinematic ear worms I’ve been treated to all year.
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25 Years Later HALLOWEEN: H20 Hits 4K Limited Edition Steelbook
Curiously timed to the film’s 25th anniversary, Halloween: 20 Years Later (henceforth H20) makes the move to 4KUHD this spooky season. Coming on the heels of the recently wrapped David Gordon Green trilogy that put a bow on the saga of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, or as much of a bow as can be put on any long-running franchise. Knowing how that part of the story plays out makes revisiting H20 an interesting prospect.
Positioning itself as a direct sequel to Halloween ll, H20 picks up with Laurie Strode (Academy Award winner, but not for this film, Jamie Lee Curtis) having faked her death and relocated to California where she’s living under the name Keri Tate and leading a quiet life as headmistress of a private school where she can keep a close eye on her son John (Josh Hartnett). In short order the school is cleared out for the weekend, leaving Laurie with her boyfriend and colleague Will (Adam Arkin) behind for a romantic weekend together. Also looking for a little romance are John, his girlfriend Molly (Michelle Williams), and their friends Charlie (Adam Hann-Byrd) and Sarah (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe). Also looking to take advantage of the quiet campus is Michael Myers (Chris Durand) and he’s not there for an amorous time.
As a post-Scream slasher, H20 walks a wobbly path. It’s fast-paced, with a handful of noteworthy kills and effective fake-outs. With Scream writer Kevin Williamson on board as a producer, his influence on H20 is undeniable (and there are a couple Scream references worked in for good measure). As a slasher, H20 hits the notes it needs to. Its highlights include a tense bit of business with a hand in a garbage disposal and Sarah’s unfortunate run in with Michael, which delivers the film’s gnarliest violence. As a Halloween movie, it works because of Jamie Lee Curtis’ performance. She gets to go deeper into the PTSD angle of Laurie’s character in Green’s trilogy, but this first at-bat with it is effective in its own right. In H20, Laurie sees Michael everywhere she goes and the threat of him haunts every aspect of her life. The way Laurie snaps at John when she catches him off-campus during lunch is an incisive bit of acting by Curtis, letting a lifetime’s worth of terror and anger seep out a very brief exchange. The handful of scenes where Laurie gets to confront her anxieties head on are the film’s strongest moments. With a sub-90 minute runtime, H20 doesn’t have much room for thematic depth, but Curtis makes the most of what she gets.
The overall result is a perfectly fine meat-and-potatoes slasher served with a heavy dose of meta commentary and humor. That aspect is what elevates it above the sluggish Halloween 4-6. H20 is not a laugh riot by any means, but its also not self-serious to the point of parody. Most of the humor comes via LL Cool J’s campus security guard Ronny. Ronny spends most of the movie in his little security post at the front gate and he spends all of his time on the phone with his wife. While keeping a bunch of rich white kids safe is his day job, Ronny dreams of writing romance novels. He’s constantly reading his work to his wife who is the kind of tough crowd every aspiring writer needs. When Ronny describes a woman as having “tumultuous, round, melon breasts,” that’s hilarious. And it’s funnier when his wife makes fun of him for it. Honestly, it’s a real disappointment that there isn’t a special feature with more of Ronny reading his work. Two quick scenes between Janet Leigh and daughter Jamie Lee Curtis prove surprisingly poignant and give the film something unique, even if it’s brief. Two generations of family coming together, two generations of horror icons sharing the screen (while packing in an impressive number of Psycho references into very little screen time).
H20 is one of my favorite entries in the series. It scratches a particular nostalgic itch by transporting me back to a time when I was excited by each new slasher that followed in the wake of Scream. I first saw Scream as a 12 year old with very lenient parents when it came to video store rentals. That was the first horror film I ever watched and it sent me down a path that would take me to movies from all over the world, and every kind of cinematic fright from the visceral to psychological to unnerving to disturbing to existential and everything in between. H20 arrived in that sweet spot where I was still susceptible to every trick it throws at an audience for a jump. More importantly, I wanted that feeling. I wanted to be scared out of my wits. At this point I can’t remember if H20 delivered what I was looking for when I watched it back in 1998. But I do have many fond memories of watching it while home sick throughout middle and high school, and those are the kind of memories more obvious nostalgia plays can’t match.
Starting with an ice skate to the face and finishing with a decapitation, Halloween: H20 remains a fun slasher and a slightly above average Halloween entry. The newly available 4K UHD comes with no special features, but does come in a slick looking Limited Editon Steelbook with a handsome transparent slipcover with printed accents, as well as a digital copy.
