Feature - Celluloid Screams 2013

It's that time of year again, a time of bloodletting, sleep deprivation and pasties. Yep, Celluloid Screams is back for the fifth year running. And this year it has an allnighter.

As luck would have it, the allnighter fits in perfectly with my quest this year to watch one zombie film per week. I've already reviewed The Return of the Living Dead this year, and I'm saving The Beyond for a special occasion. 

I don't know quite how I'm going to keep awake (maybe some Opera style tape and pins are in order) but I'm really looking forward to seeing The Beyond at four o'clock in the morning. Life doesn't get much better than that. I've never seen it before on the big screen and the thought of seeing the ending with its stunning marriage of visuals and soundtrack, is sending me a bit giddy.

I try not to look too much at the new films that are showing, but I did happen to catch the fact that The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears is directed by the same people as Amer, which is a film that I didn't really like but it has a strange pull on me, that makes me want to watch it again. Frank Henenlotter is making a guest appearance, along with showings of Basket Case, Basket Case 2 and Frankenhooker. I've never really been that interested in seeing the latter but I'll give it a go.

In the past I've written full reviews of every film. I was able to do this because I always had a week off after the weekend's antics. This year I'm only going to have one day off (and I'll probably spend the majority of that sleeping). If there is anything really great (or bad) it will get the full treatment, but the more average specimens may get shorter reviews.

I'm going to make a conscious effort this year not to go too overboard on the ratings. I have been guilty in the past of slightly over-inflating some of the films' scores (for example, Excision should have been a 7 rather than an 8). I think this is because when I'm watching so many films at the same time, I tend to rate them against each other, rather than against every film I've seen. So please bear in mind that our usual rating system applies. An average film gets an average rating of 5/10. A good film would get 7 or 8/10, and an excellent film, 10/10. (I hear the word 'awesome' bandied around far too often for films that are quite good. I can't think of one film that I'd describe as 'awesome'. I'd be tempted to use it for the endings of two of my favourite films, The Wicker Man and the aforementioned The Beyond, but there's no way I'd say that the whole of either fills me with awe.)

Minor rant over. So there are 18 films in total (one of them the customary secret film) and 20 short films, and surely one of them has got to be a classic. I didn't buy any of the films from Celluloid Screams 2012, unlike in previous years, and I found the offerings a bit disappointing on the whole. Ah well, I live in hope for this year...

evlkeith

NB I tried to post every review at the same time and Blogger had a bit of a hard time coping with it. I'll post the first six tonight, six tomorrow and quite predictably six the day after that. 

Review - Motivational Growth (2013 - Dir. Don Thacker)

Things seemed to be off to a good start with this one because of one main fact: chiptune soundtrack. Regular readers of our sister blog Into the Valley of the Obscure will be aware of my love of all things bleepy so I was a happy man. Add to this some fake footage of a 16 bit style game that looked really cool and I was a very happy man. (In fact, to make this review 100 times better try putting on this top chiptune action as you read the rest.)

That's better.

Ian Folivor (Adrian DiGiovanni) lives a reclusive life in a small flat. The flat looks suspiciously like one of the houses I lived in when I was a student. Rubbish is everywhere and the walls are mouldy and grimy. His only friend is the telly which he calls Kent. All he does is sit around in his pants all day watching Kent. Then one day his life changes when he has an accident in the bathroom and a mound of mould (voiced by the legendary Jeffrey Combs) starts talking to him and controlling his life. As so often happens.

My main thought about Motivational Growth is that it would have been better as a short film. The material seems stretched to fit a feature length format. Part of the problem is not The Mold puppet (as a Farscape fan I'm happy to watch puppets for hours) but the way that it's used. There are way too many conversations between Ian and The Mold, all shot virtually the same way. The same angles and lighting are used time and time again and I've got to admit that it started to bore me. There is only so much time that I can spend watching a bloke talking to mould.

It does have its moments of humour though. Ian's encounter with his dream girl is one of the highlights as is the way that The Mold always gets a bit tetchy when he called Mold. 

It's not that I really didn't like this but I can't say that I liked it either (although you may enjoy some of its weirder aspects). So despite a good start to the film, the whole film wasn't that great a start to the festival.
4/10
evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:
Basket Case, Basket Case 2.

Review - Basket Case (1982 - Dir. Frank Henenlotter)

It's been a long time since I've seen Basket Case. So long ago it was on VHS. The reason why I've never upgraded to a DVD of it is because I felt that it was quite funny and quite horrific, (more bloody than gory) but 'quite' isn't enough to get me to part with my cash.

Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) checks into a hotel carrying just a basket. The basket contains a grizzly secret, his deformed brother, Belial. They are on a mission to get revenge on the doctors that caused them such grief. Being a handsome fellow, Duane gets plenty of attention from the lovely ladies. Things aren't all fun and games though, because Belial is Intensely jealous when Duane gets down with the ladies. And Belial has got rather sharp teeth.

On watching it again, I feel exactly the same. What it does have going for it though is a grimy, sleazy atmosphere that you only seem to get in films pre-1990. It's almost made to be watched on VHS rather than in hi-def on a shiny Blu-ray.

Another positive is Duane's hair. It is so big and luxurious. He looks a bit like Doncaster Rovers legend Colin Douglas. Let's compare (sorry the picture's such a low quality but Dougie comes from an era when photos were less prevalent):

It's also got a great ending that uses viewpoints very cleverly. And it's really seedy. Which is a bonus. 

I have to say I prefer the Belial puppet from this first film. It helps in creating the dirty atmosphere and crops up in a fair few iconic shots.The puppet used in the second is better technically but visually not as interesting. But Basket Case 2 does have some advantages over its precursor which we'll find out about in the next review.
4/10
evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:
Basket Case 2, Brain Damage.

Review - Basket Case 2 (1990 - Dir. Frank Henenlotter)

Despite having a fatal accident at the end of the first one Duane (minus the beautiful hair) and Belial are back for some more basket related fun. This time they end up in a sanctuary for mutants where they make some lovely new friends. You'd think that they'd hit the jackpot but the happy times are about to end due to the involvement of a pesky reporter.

In Basket Case 2 there is less of an emphasis on blood and more on comedy, which is not that bad an idea considering the first wasn't really one for the gore hounds. A lot of the humour comes from the mutants running around in a camp fashion during moments of stress. The film as a whole is more polished and technically proficient than the first which actually works against it in terms of the atmosphere.

There is a large chunk in the middle where nothing much really happens and I have to admit to starting to struggle to keep awake. Luckily things pick up with a nice twisty surprise and another good ending.

Was it me or did I happen to see David Emge's name in the credits as Half Moon? Bit of a comedown from Dawn of the Dead. 

Anyway, that's the first evening of Celluloid Screams 2013 done and it's been a fairly average evening. Fours across the board. Surely there has to be something better tomorrow...

4/10

evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:

Basket Case, Brain Damage.

Review - Painless (2012 - Dir. Juan Carlos Medina)

Ah, things are starting to pick up. This is similar in style to The Devil's Backbone. It is split between modern times and ye olden days, from about 1930 to 1960, so it manages to cover the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Intriguingly, the story centres around a group of children who can't feel any pain (great for trips to the dentist and bum cavity biopsies) and a modern day fellow, David, who has a life threatening disease. He tries to find a cure but comes across a few problems. The children meanwhile are locked in an asylum to protect others and themselves. The mystery then is how the two stories are linked.

It has a gentle pace but answers are slowly revealed to keep the interest, and I was engaged all the way through. This is helped by a strong central performance by Àlex Brendemühl as David. He plays it with an intensity that shows the strength of his desire to find the truth. The two main children do a great job too despite them not having much to say. 

Watching something with a bit of a budget was quite pleasant for a change. Not that it's mainstream by any stretch of the imagination. It gets very dark by the end (and not in the way that each subsequent Harry Potter film was described as 'darker', Potter never executed anyone with a pistol, though things would have been improved immeasurably if he'd taken out Dobby). Where was I? Oh yeah, it gets dark. And it's got a great ending too; visually and emotionally powerful.

After I'd seen this I thought that it was good although I wasn't that bothered about watching it again. But it seems to be one of those films that gets under my skin and demands further viewings. It could well end up on my list to Santa next year. Best film of the festival so far.
7/10
evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:
The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth.

  

Review - Claymania: The Films of Lee Hardcastle (Dir. Lee Hardcastle)

Not a feature film this time but a collection of shorts from Lee Hardcastle. Probably most famous for T is for Toilet from The ABCs of Death (a film I just can't be bothered to watch.) It's the kind of animation that would have been made if Peter Jackson (from his splatter period) had directed the Morph segments from Take Hart. Plus they're Northern which is a bonus.

The highlight for me due to its northern humour and gormless northern main character has to be An Alien Claymation. It's got a great ending too. And for your delectation here it is:

There were many other great shorts, including his most recent offering, the sequel to T is for Toilet, Ghost Burger which is an epic 23 minutes long. This just made me want to see a full feature by him.

I'll pop the other ones on for you to have a look at. Hopefully I can remember them all. There are loads more on YouTube including his 60 second versions of famous films. It would be a bit harsh to rate these against features so I'll rate them against other shorts.

8/10

evlkeith