Dead Within (2014)

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

It’s always nice when a director is bold enough to take the zombie genre and try to transform it in to something completely unique. While “Dead Within” doesn’t re-invent the wheel, it’s definitely a gripping view of the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. And I don’t speak particularly of the walking dead, so much as what happens when survivors have to live with one another and with the guilt and shock of the lengths they’ve gone through to survive. Is it worth surviving the end of the world if you aren’t really living? Can you really trust anyone once the world has resorted to the survival of the fittest? Can you justify murdering potential infected to your conscience? How do you outrun your fading sanity and crushing guilt when you’re stuck in a small room in dead silence?

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Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I really enjoy what director Frank Oz does with “Little Shop of Horrors.” Rather than simply ignoring the cheesiness and camp value of the original, he embraces it. He also injects a pulpy comic book atmosphere, along with sixties pop and soul that compliments the tale perfectly. While I’ve always had a weak spot for Roger Corman’s original, Frank Oz succeeds in giving “Little Shop of Horrors” the campy adaptation that it deserves with a brilliant cast, and great tunes. This is a movie that always played on local TV as a kid and I always ignored it for reasons I don’t quite remember. In either case it’s no masterpiece, but it’s a fine and fun horror comedy.

Star Rick Moranis plays Seymour Krelborn, the workaday loser in the slums of his city who works at a flower shop. After fawning over his co-worker Audrey, he decides to take some initiative after financial concerns from his boss and brings in a rare flower. The flower was hit by lightning during a solar eclipse, and Seymour immediately buys it for the sake of the novelty. After pricking his finger, he realizes the plant is alive and hungry for human blood. Soon enough the need for blood transforms in to hunger for human meat, and Seymour must either feed the plant, or lose it and his fame. Nicknamed Audrey II, the vicious plant that turns in to a villain for Seymour, is a wonderful monster. The puppetry matched with Levi Stubbs’ performance make it a menacing foe that is so much more dangerous than it initially looks. Moranis plays Seymour as a mentally unbalanced but very desperate loner who is in love with Audrey and finds she is incapable of being with anyone but her abusive boyfriend.

Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello pretty much steals the film for the screen time he’s given as an over the top biker who works as a dentist for the thrill of torturing patients. Martin is hysterical in the role of the heel, and he even shares a hilarious scene with Bill Murray as the masochistic patient anxious to be tortured. Along with Murray and Martin, there are some great cameos by John Candy, Jim Belushi, and Christopher Guest, all of whom lend a high comedy pedigree to Moranis’ already charming performance. Keeping the film ironic and somewhat meta is the excellent musical numbers, all of which serve as a means of forwarding the narrative, and occasionally challenging the motives of Seymour and his man eating plant. The trio of Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell and Michelle Weeks are impressive, delivering some excellent musical numbers of their own, including the opening title track. “Little Shop of Horrors” is a pulp pop twist on the original Roger Corman horror comedy that’s funny, fun, catchy, and well worth its reputation.

City of Rott (2014)

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

F. Sudol follows up his gritty and disgusting animated zombie thriller “City of Rott” with a sequel that’s now computer animated, wider in scope, and continues the narrative of the original. Sudol seems to have an interesting fascination with rogue warriors and the elderly, propping much of his heroes up in the same molds, and a refreshing change of pace from the typical sexy warriors we see in post apocalyptic entertainment.

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Mosquito (1995)

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

“You’re living science fact!”

An alien ship crash lands in a swamp in the wilderness. But that’s unimportant–giant mosquitoes! What about the aliens, you say? Who cares? Giant Mosquitoes! It’s too bad we never saw what happened when humans drank alien blood. Do they too become gigantic? I think we deserve an answer. Director Gary Jones’ “Mosquito” is pure mid-nineties STV junk, but damn is it a good time. If you’re going to name a movie “Mosquito” (and it’s not a metaphor) you’d better serve us some giant mosquitoes, and director Jones supplies the goods.

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Skeeter (1993)

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I almost want to sue the producers of “Skeeter” for false advertising, but then, what’s the use? And why bother? “Skeeter” really is better off being a very obscure and god awful horror film. Why even name a movie “Skeeter” if you’re only going to include four very short attacks by giant mosquitoes, most of whom seem anxious to take off before we really get in to the chaos?

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The Shift (2015)

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

It’s pretty astonishing how much story Francesco Calabrese is able to tell and establish in just eight minutes. “The Shift” is both a horror film and a meta-film at once, exploring a very picturesque scene draped in pure terror. “The Shift” is set in the sixties. Or at least, the neighborhood we view looks very much of its time and Betty has just decided that it’s the sixties. In either case, all is not serene when we fade in to “The Shift.” When Joe returns home from work, he is knocked out awakens to find the ginger haired beauty Betty awaiting him.

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ABCs of Death 2 (2014)

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I had a real fondness for “ABC’s of Death,” mainly because it was so bold and creative, even when it was very polarizing. Sure there were junky segments like “M is for Miscarriage,” but it was a fun experiment, overall. I’d love to think of “ABC’s of Death 2” as a home run, but it’s a poor follow-up. Much of the segments have something of a self-importance this time around, and the more compelling shorts are few and far between. The tonal inconsistencies are just about gone this time around, but that also leaves the film feeling oddly monotonous. I found myself counting the minutes rather than really enjoying the segments and experience, which is sad considering there’s prime talent behind this project.

As I mentioned, the terrible segments just outweighed the good, and took down what should have been a great follow up. Some of the worst segments of the bunch include “C is for Capital Punishment,” an abrupt and rushed thriller about a man accused of murder in a small town, “Deloused” which seemed like random imagery and nonsense in a stop motion aesthetic, and “Equilibrium” which felt downright misogynistic. Not to mention it went on way too long just to get to the punch line. “Invincible” from Erik Matti is downright irritating, while “Youth” and “Zygote” felt like sanctimonious social commentary without much of a point. I’m all for horror with substance, but horror that’s actually menacing and leading in to something.

Among my favorites though was Evan Katz’s hilarious and sick “Amateur,” the utterly hilarious “Badger” from Julian Barrett, and the creepy approach to tentacle porn “Torture Porn” from the Soska Sisters. Vincenzo Natali provides audiences with a creepy short entitled “Utopia” about the perfect society, while “Knell” is a creepy silent short about the end of the world and one girl witnessing it all. “Masticate” from Robert Boocheck is a funny short with a great surprise ending, while “Falling” is a neat tale about irony and war time. I also shockingly loved Steven Kostanski’s “Wish” about two boys warped in to their favorite universe in the vein of “He-Man” and find out how utterly barbaric it is.

My two favorite segments that made “The ABC’s of Death 2” so worth the money spent is Juan Martinez Moreno’s excellent “Split,” about a young woman who is stalked by a hammer wielding maniac while her husband listens over the phone. The surprise ending is just genius. “Vacation” is pure dark comedy and madness personified as director Jerome Sable sets on a young man talking to his girlfriend over a phone cam during a vacation with his best friend. When his friend yanks the phone, he shows how the mundane getaway is anything but. I really wish I’d have appreciated “The ABC’s of Death 2” as much as the original. While there are a slew of talented filmmakers on board for the follow-up, the segments just lack variety and innovation resulting in a humdrum sequel.