Review - When the Wind Blows (1986 - Dir. Jimmy T. Murakami)

I mentioned recently in my review of Dr Strangelove that the threat of nuclear war was all too real for me in my teenage years. I'm not surprised when I was watching stuff like When the Wind Blows.

James and Hilda Bloggs are your average elderly couple. They lived through World War II and all of the hardships that that entailed. He's gone out to work all is life, while she's stayed at home looking after the house and children (I'm inferring this from the dialogue, their age and her love of clean cushions). Finally he reaches retirement age and what happens? A nuclear war is on the cards between Russia and America. Typical. In preparation, he nips out and procures some government pamphlets on surviving the nuclear holocaust. Everyone loves a good pamphlet.

This surely must be up there as one of the most upsetting and depressing animations. The book was by Raymond Briggs but this isn't The Snowman. Watching a couple of pensioners try to cope with a nuclear bomb and the aftermath is not pleasant viewing despite often being really funny. The humour is often bittersweet. Laughter would occur followed by a realisation of the implications, resulting in yet more depression.

The main source of humour comes from Hilda and her relentless drive towards wanting to have a neat tidy house and keep up appearances. Couple this with Jim's relentless drive towards following governmental instructions, such as, building a shelter out of the house's doors or whitewashing the windows, and you can see where the two may clash. (As a side note, I can't see anyone following governmental instructions now. They'd have to use reverse psychology on us.) 

You may have twigged that the characters are pretty one dimensional, and yes, they are. In the latter half, it almost becomes a little tiresome to hear Hilda make a completely naive comment about what the neighbours will think if they pop round, or hear Jim talk, naively again, about popping out to the shops to get supplies. I say almost, because it is their complete belief in normality resuming that makes the film so upsetting. When a chink appears in their armour at the very end of the film it is even more powerful. A mention has to go to Peggy Ashcroft and John Mills for their perfect voice work.

The film is made using a mixture of styles: the backgrounds are all models and shot using stop-motion animation and the two characters are traditional cel-drawn animation. The model backgrounds allow the camera greater freedom of movement, giving it a different and more depressing feel than usual. Watching Jim sweep up real rubbish makes it all so much more realistic. The whole film looks very atmospheric and bleak (I was bound to love this, wasn't I?).

As a teenager, I always hoped that if they did start dropping bombs, that they landed right on top of my house. I worked out that they'd probably bomb Sheffield so I'd be on the edge of the blast. I didn't really want to suffer the after effects of the bomb. Watching this again now makes it all too obvious to me why I had these thoughts.
9/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Threads, Barefoot Gen.

Review - Army of Darkness (1992 - Dir. Sam Raimi)

"Hiya you guys! It's me, Friendly Terry Wogan, coming at you live from Children in Need. And what a treat we've got lined up for you tonight."

"Sam Raimi had a big hit with his family favourites: The Evil Dead and its sequel Evil Dead 2, so he's decided to make yet another zany sequel just for us here at Children in Need! Cheers matey! Obviously he's had to tone it down very, very, very slightly so that we don't offend the Queen and all the little kiddies watching, but it's still chock full of Evil Dead goodness."

"We all love The Three Stooges here at Children in Need and so does Mr Raimi. He's hinted at his love for those gormless buffoons in the previous two film - although they were maybe a bit too rough for my liking - but here he's really gone for it and packed in loads of humourous Stooge inspired gags. Ho ho, how I laughed at the 'hand down the middle of the face/finger poke in the eyes' gag. It's amazing!"

"The Evil Dead was one of my top mates Mary Whitehouse's favourite films but she always had one little quibble with it: it looked a bit too grainy - and more importantly - a bit too dirty. Thankfully Mr Raimi has sorted all of that out and everything and everybody looks really shiny in this Children in Need exclusive version. Bruce Campbell's hair is particularly spick and span and well greased. The special make up effects have been given a good scrub too so there's no fear of catching any sort of unpleasant disease off the grimy screen."

"One crazy boss here at the BBC was a tad worried about us showing this, so we checked it out with evlkeith's mum. It got a big two thumbs up from her... apart from the ending. Oh dear, she didn't like the down ending and demanded that it have a nice happy ending. Mr Raimi couldn't have been more accommodating. He was straight back in the studio shooting an altogether more agreeable upbeat ending."

"Being a BBC production, Mr Raimi had to scale back his ambitions slightly. He would have obviously preferred to have used Ray Harryhausen style stop-motion animation on the skeletons but, hey-ho, he couldn't have done it all like that. So he had to make do with a bit of animation, plus puppets and blokes in skeleton suits." 

"He has managed to get in a bit better acting talent though. Way better than those low budget friends of his. Bridget Fonda makes a cameo, and Jeremy Paxman, but Embeth Davidtz (Schindler's List) has a much larger role as Brucie's love interest. She's lush!"

"Coming up at 7 o'clock we've got the cast of Casualty and the BBC newsreaders dancing Gangnam Stylee in transparent PVC lederhosen, but now it's time to unveil Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness. Yo kids! You're gonna love it! Bitchin'!"

NB The above may not be an accurate transcription of what Mr Wogan actually said on Children in Need. 

4/10 (for the Director's Cut with the proper down ending.)
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Darkman, My Name is Bruce.

Review - From Beyond (1986 - Dir. Stuart Gordon)

When I recently rewatched Re-Animator, I was a little disappointed by it. My memory of the film, on its first release, was so much better. Whereas I saw From Beyond on video in the eighties and I could hardly remember a thing about it. Strange how watching it now, it's actually a pretty good film.

Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft this is Stuart Gordon's second foray into Lovecraft territory (but not his last) after the aforementioned Re-Animator. I say it is based on a short story but in reality the nine page story forms the prologue to the film where we meet Crawford Tillinghast (the always excellent Jeffrey Combs) and Dr Edward Petorius (Ted Sorel) both larking around with a strange electrical machine that can stimulate the pineal gland in the human brain, allowing them to gain a sixth sense and 'see' the world around them as it really is. Funnily enough, this involves floating fish and creatures that rip your head off. The Beyond was never going to be filled with marshmallows, cushions and My Little Ponies, was it? Getting the prologue out of the way so quickly allows the director space to slightly embellish on the facts of the original story. And embellish he does...

Barbara Crampton. Leather gear. Not in the original story. But should have been.

Yep. Barbara Crampton appears again in a Stuart Gordon film but this time her role is reversed with that of Jeffrey Combs. She plays an ambitious psychologist, willing to go to any lengths to get what she wants. Her desires gradually drag her from fulfilling her job professionally into total insanity. Combs, meanwhile, is along for the ride (a ride which includes developing a filthy little head proboscis and an appetite for sucking human eyeballs out of their sockets - another embellishment).

Another horror icon appears in the form of Ken Foree. He plays an everyman kind of guy who even gets to prance around in just his undercrackers. A much lighter role than his one in Dawn of the Dead  then.

The cinematography and effects look stunning even now (well, most of them). Inspired by The Thing, the main creature is a mass of pulsating, morphing flesh. The creature's head, suspended on its spindly neck, is so convincing that it was a while before I actually considered how they'd accomplished the effect. It's fairly simple, but really effective. The stop-motion animation doesn't fare as well under not-co-close scrutiny. But as with films like The Gate and Hardcover it all adds to the atmosphere and appeal.

The recent Blu-ray from Second Sight is a joy to behold. The image quality and colours are a showcase for the Blu-ray format and the extras complete a very comprehensive package. (There's even an interview with Barbara Crampton looking back at the film, and she's still as gorgeous as ever. Maybe her involvement in these films has led her to become privvy to a Lovecraftian youth potion?) 

So, From Beyond is far better than I remember and goes to prove that it's sometimes worth going back and seeing initially forgettable films again. (Can't see that I'll bother with Ong-Bak 2 though.)
7/10
evlkeith



If you liked this you could also try:
Re-Animator, Dagon, The Whisperer in Darkness.

Review - Screamers (1995 - Dir. Christian Duguay)

I got this as a freebie with Screamers: The Hunting, the 2009 sequel. Plus, I got it from Poundland. Two films for a pound: you can't go wrong. Okay, if it was The Sound of Music and Grease for a pound, that would be spectacularly bad. But it wasn't. So we're fine. Phew.

Screamers is pretty much Tremors, but without the humour or charismatic leads. Peter Weller (Robocop) is top of the billing and that explains the lack of comedy. As discussed previously in the Buckaroo Banzai review, Weller suffers from a rare condition known as 'Chronic Stiff Face' which prevents him from showing any emotion or revealing a glimmer of personality. This role doesn't suit him too badly: as a military kind of guy, he can almost get away with bland-facing it through the film.

On a mining planet, in the not too distant future, a war is waging between the Alliance and the New Economic Bloc (America and Russia in other words). Crafty scientists from the Alliance have developed a new type of weapon that burrows under the ground, pops out and severs important appendages with its in-built circular saw. Mmm, nifty. A message is delivered to Joe Hendriksson (Weller) informing him that peace talks will be taking place at the NEB base. So, off he trots with Ace Jefferson (Andrew Lauer) in tow.

Screamers plays out like a template for the new Battlestar Galactica series. The screamers are referred to as 'toasters' and, as they discover that there are screamer upgrades that can resemble humans, a familiar sense of paranoia creeps in. It won't be a surprise to find out that there are some 'shock' revelations and that people get killed who don't turn out to be screamers.  It's a shame watching it now as it felt quite fresh when it first came out.

I love static matte paintings (watch The Thing for some stunners) and their use in Screamers for enhancing locations is effective. I also love stop-motion animation; even though it's a bit jerky, you know it actually uses real-world objects. The screamer walking across the desk is a treat, with its whirring blade. The sequel will probably have CGI screamers, I'm guessing. What about using stop-motion and using a computer to smooth it all out? That would look cool.

If you have seen this before, it's probably not as good as you remember it. If you haven't, it's definitely worth a look for a quid. (Maybe buy it with the sequel: how bad can it be? Plus it works out cheaper.) If you can't be bothered, watch Tremors instead.

4/10

evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:

Tremors, Death Machine, Fortress, Hardware, Runaway.

Review - Hardcover (UK) / I,Madman (US) (1989 - Dir. Tibor Takács)

I can see how the meeting between Randall William Cook and the studio suits went for this film: "Now, Randall, can I call you Randy? Great. Now, Randy, I know you're not very happy about your stop-motion effects not being used in The Thing, so you can be the main villain in this new film we've got planned called I, Madman. What, you want to do some effects too? Okay, you betcha, we'll shoehorn an unnecessary weird dog creature into the script. Is that cool? Er... look, I'm going to have to say 'no' to the fifty naked Brazilian dancing girls, playing volleyball on a huge bouncy castle whilst simultaneously eating hotdogs, dripping with mustard, in a very suggestive manner. You're really pushing it now Randy."
 
Possibly not strictly how it went. 
  

He does make a severely creepy doctor/author though, one of the unsung villains of the late 80s. Dr Kessler goes round hacking features off unsuspecting members of the public and sewing them on to his self-inflicted facial wounds. General antisocial behaviour, that kind of thing. His antics are documented in two books read by our heroine Virginia (Jenny Wright - Near Dark) that gradually find a way of creeping into her reality. Her unbelieving cop boyfriend, Richard (Clayton Rohner - The Relic), rounds off our package of cuddly characters.

This is a very atmospheric film and the lighting and feel recall Dario Argento's Inferno. There are some genuine scares: Dr Kessler lurking around the bottom of stairs, Dr Kessler standing menacingly in the gloom at the end of a long corridor, Dr Kessler slamming a hypodermic needle into his victim's arm, Dr Kessler... oh, you get the idea, he's a scary fellow. He is also very photogenic in a disturbing way; there are loads of brilliant images involving our facially curtailed doctor.
  
Jenny Wright is a bit drippy as Virginia and Richard is basically a lovely haircut. This doesn't detract from the film too much, as they form a strong contrast for Dr Kessler and his unsavoury actions.
  

Now, we get to the dog creature. It pops up in the opening minutes and then again in the bonkers finale. It does smell suspiciously of someone trying to cram some stop-motion effects into a film that didn't need it. They were possibly trying to appeal to the audience that enjoyed The Gate from the same director. It's still a laugh when it starts charging about and the effects are well done. There is a slight blurring to some of its movements, that looks great. We really need more stop-motion in current films; smoothed out with CGI it would probably be more convincing than pure CGI creatures.
  
Sadly, this is only available on VHS or Region 1 DVD. Definitely worth getting hold of it, if you can. It's a diamond in the rough of Direct-To-Video horror.
7/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
The Gate, Phantasm, Inferno, Waxwork.