Reviews_of_the_Dead

Now this was a film that I learned about when looking at the filmography of Flying Lotus, who co-wrote and directed this. He did a segment in one of the V/H/S/ films and I saw that he did this one. I then pulled the trigger to celebrate Black Appreciation in Horror for my podcast, Journey with a Cinephile.

Synopsis: events unfold after devastating earthquake in Los Angeles.

Now what the synopsis gives is something we get in the beginning. This is an anthology with surreal transitions between them. I'd say this is in the vein of Trick r' Treat where we have one director, a trio of writers that crafted what we get here. These stories have cross-over, but there isn't much in the way of an overall narrative. It is more about the visuals.

Due to this information, I didn't take much notes. I did write down the four shorts that tell this story. The first is Royal which features a couple, Missy (Iesha Coston) and Kenneth (Oumi Zumi). They live together and from a line, they might also be siblings. He is into auto-asphyxias. After she gets him off by choking with a belt, he wonders what he can do for her. It turns out, she has this odd pimple on her neck that is alive, voiced by David Firth.

The next story I'll give details to is Mr. Quiggle. This one has moving parts to it. There is a woman who finds out she is pregnant. She has white eyes and hangs with two creatures that have television faces. Phil (Tim Heidecker) is the one who impregnated the woman. She makes a choice and goes to a clinic. It is here that she meets another who came to this place to eliminate a phobia. Mr. Quiggle has a disgusting way to help.

Smear is the next story to discuss where we have a deformed boy who goes to school. He passes gas in the classroom and is kicked out by the teacher. On his walk home, he finds an odd, living plant that he starts to feed feces too.

Then the final story we get is Sock. This follows a mother who can't find her child. She hears it crying. That's when a voice tells her that she needs to go into the wall. She fears this as she believes a demon lives there. She is enticed in and it becomes a nightmare as she tries to survive.

That should give an idea of these stories we get here. I'll be honest that this is a difficult one to discuss. Going back to what I've said is that this is an anthology in the vein of a Trick r' Treat. Same creative team is behind each of these. We shift in and out of stories periodically. There is a bit of a cross-over at times, whether we see a character in one and then in the background of another. There is also this through line of older televisions. This earthquake that hit Los Angeles and referenced in the beginning has something to do with it as well, but I'm not fully sure what.

Now that I've fleshed that out more, let me delve deeper into this. Since we do have the same creative team, I'm treating this as one movie with four individual stories within. If I have a big gripe here, this goes for style and visuals over substance. There are interesting ideas explored. We have social commentary with Phil telling the woman he impregnated that she can't get an abortion. She feels it is her body, her choice. Rightly so. We have this weird creature living inside of Doctor Clinton (George Clinton). The guy that comes to him for help embraces it in the grossest way. The best way that I can describe this is the nightmarish quality of Mad God with the absurdity of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! I remember that show being gross at times but elevate that to 11. Having a more coherent narrative would help me as I'm not the target audience for something like this.

That's not to say that I hated this completely. The visuals are great. It feels like a music video at times. That doesn't shock me knowing that Flying Lotus was behind this. From my limited knowledge, he's a musical artist and from what I've looked into, his music videos tend to be surreal like this. I love bringing this world to life that feels like ours, but also a nightmare. The different characters are interesting and the looks given to them are as well. Credit here to the cinematography and framing. The effects used are great as well. It looks to be a combination of practical and CGI. The sound design and music also add to the atmosphere that is needed.

I then want to discuss the acting performances. This is where it gets difficult since I'm not fully sure who is playing who. Coston and Zumi were fine in their segment. Firth's accent brings something to the thing that he plays. I liked Clinton as this doctor who hides a secret. Cameos by Heidecker, Buress, Donnell Rawlings and Lexington Steele worked. None of the acting is bad here. Everyone is playing a character that fits into the world that was built so credit to everyone for that.

Even though this is a shorter review, I don't think there is more that I can go into. I'll say in conclusion; this won't be for everyone. If you enjoy juvenile dick, fart and poop jokes, plus ones that go more gross, then I think you'll enjoy this. It isn't as visually stunning as Mad God, but it plays in a similar way. It still has a nightmare quality. It is well made in capturing that through the cinematography, framing and sound design. The acting performances fit what was needed. If what I said here sounds interesting, give it a shot. Might be one to watch under the influence of substances since it is a trip.

My Rating: 5 out of 10.

This was a film that I sought out right after college. The reason would have been that it is a version of a story that I had on DVD in a box set. My guess was that the film was In the Year 2889, which is a direct remake. I saw this one years ago and I've also seen other versions of the story. It is interesting to revisit this after the passing of its director, Roger Corman, and as a more seasoned cinephile. This was also a Voyage through the FiVes rewatch.

Synopsis: in a post-apocalyptic world after an atomic war, seven desperate people find themselves in a protected valley in the home of a survivalist and his daughter.

This film informs us that we are starting on the day that the world ends. Nuclear war has broken out and that is what the cause of it is. It then shows us survivors as they're trying to find refuge. Everyone is converging on a valley that is surrounded by hills. Living there is Jim Madison (Paul Birch) with his daughter, Louise (Lori Nelson). He is a survivalist and has been planning for something like this to happen. It gets revealed that he worked on the atomic bomb team. He has enough supplies for himself, Louise and her fiancé alive. It should last long enough to start farming.

Her fiancé didn't make it though. Instead, others are converging. There is a couple of Tony Lamont (Mike Conners) and Ruby (Adele Jergens). She was a burlesque dancer and he's rough around the edges. Another guy is Radek (Paul Dubov) who has radiation burns on his face. He falls, not having the strength to continue. Rick (Richard Denning) shows up and helps him. There is also an older man, Pete (Raymond Hatton) with his donkey named Diablo. They all end up at the house. Jim wants to turn them away, but Louise gives them refuge.

This decision will use up their resources much quicker. Jim takes a liking to Rick, as does Louise. Tony has his eye on Louise and this bothers Ruby. She does befriend the younger woman though. This group settles into a semblance of normalcy as they wait and try to survive this new world.

There are bigger fears though. The first is the rain. Within this valley, they are protected from the radiation. The rain could infect the land and what little food that is available. Radek also shows interesting side effects. This jumps a few weeks into the future and he hasn't eaten or drank since coming here. Rick follows him, seeing that he's eating infected meat and leaving the valley. He comes back one night, having been wounded. He warns Rick there is something worse than him outside of their area.

Being confined here drives everyone to being stir crazy. Tony doesn't like to be told what to do or the fact that Louise is attracted to Rick. Ruby wants to leave the valley, as does Pete. Jim just wants to protect his daughter and hopefully help jumpstart the return of the human race. Louise is terrified by these strange sounds that seem like she's the only one that can hear them.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this is an interesting film to come out during the 1950s. Being more versed in cinema, especially the horror genre, this is a low budget take on what would happen if nuclear war hit and left the world as a wasteland. We are seeing it on a microlevel, where these survivors all converge in one house. It knows what its limitations are with the budget and utilized what they could.

Now that I have that set up, let me delve deeper. I've alluded to this, but I love the simple set up we have to real fears from the era. Nuclear war is something that was always in the back of everyone's mind. We have a simple approach to having an isolated house. I love the science that being in this valley with the hills surrounding it, that prevents the radiation from infecting the area. The wind is helping keep it away. The weather though could turn at any time, potentially raining down on them. This traps everyone here if they want to survive and gives a grounded fear.

Them being trapped also creates madness. They're getting stir crazy. We have Tony and Ruby who are more 'worldly'. Tony cracks a comment about not being cut out to be a farmer. He's used to getting his way. These two can't just sit still, wait out the radiation in hopes that they can rebuild. There is that fear of the unknown, as it may never happen. I get that, I've been in that mindset. This creates tension as well.

This doesn't even include yet what the effects of the radiation would be. I like that we have this Radek character as our baseline. We see that his exposure is driving him crazy on a faster basis. Jim reveals things that he knows from testing about animals that were changed. That sets the stage for this creature that is stalking them. There are subtle things with the writing here that clicked for me when Louise could hear it. I love what they're implying as to who this monster used to be.

Let me then shift over to filmmaking. This looks good. It feels apocalyptic by using this isolated house. It is crazy how easy something like this can be. The cinematography and framing don't stand out, but captures what they did. This is limited to the effects and they're cheap. They are practical though which adds charm. I love the look of the monster despite the things I've said. Other than that, sound design added to the atmosphere and the music was fine.

I want to then end out with the acting performances. It is interesting that we have Denning, since he was in Creature from the Black Lagoon around this time as well. He has a good look and presence as our lead. Nelson is cute. I don't love she's portrayed as the damsel in distress, but that's the era. Birch works as her father. His plans are being altered and I see myself there. Connors works as a villain. Jergens, Hatton and Dubov do well in rounding out the survivors. The acting isn't great, but they bring their characters to life.

In conclusion, this is an interesting low budget effort. It utilized a good setting and the isolation there adds to the atmosphere. We have a solid cast of characters that are led by Denning. It is grounded in the fears and then to add that, having them be stalked by something. The cinematography and framing were good. The effects are cheap, but done practical so there is charm there. Not a great film, but definitely explores fun ideas.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

This was a documentary that I found while searching on Tubi. This is one that I watched while working, treating it like a podcast and if something was especially interesting, I would watch. What intrigued me to see this was that it is something interesting I'm doing with Journey with a Cinephile. I've been watching films dating back 100 years so this helped frame things a bit more.

Something that I didn't know ahead of coming into watching this was the history of Universal and how it became a company. I did know that horror films were their niche which helped them grow into what they are today. The monsters from that era set them apart with the success of The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula and Frankenstein. It was also interesting to hear from Sara Karloff, Carla Laemmle and Bela Lugosi Jr., since their respective family members aren't alive to share experiences.

What also works here is showing different clips or interviews from the era. There are also experts that share their knowledge, which since I'm working my way through these movies and covering them on the podcast, it is just added information that deepens my appreciation. This is quite informative, whether you are a novice just getting into the classics or someone who grew up with these titles, just wanting to know even more.

This is well made, I found it entertaining and it flew by, which is all you can ask for when watching a documentary.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.