This Week In Film (6/28/21 - 7/4/21)

June 28, 2021 - July 4, 2021

• We're All Going To The World's Fair • Events Transpiring Before, During, and After a High School Basketball Game • Winterbeast • Broadcast Signal Intrusion • Zola • Smooth Talk • Surf II • Vicious Fun • Ghoulies III • Jaws • Cruel Jaws • Fear Street 1994 • Batman The Long Halloween Part 1 • Night Moves • Manhunter • Body Double • The Return Of The Living Dead •

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Hello readers. The quote that always gets stuck in my head around this time of year is from Dazed And Confused (1993): "Okay guys, one more thing, this summer when you're being inundated with all this American bicentennial Fourth Of July brouhaha, don't forget what you're celebrating, and that's the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn't want to pay their taxes." But that's not what I came here to tell you about...

Welcome to This Week In Film where we create a weekly rundown of the random sh*t we watch. There’s a HIGH / LOW at the end of this entry, so if words aren't really your thing, you can scroll quickly, look at pictures, and skip to my favorite viewings of the week.

Lets begin...

OVERVIEW:

*****

First things first, as it is the week of the 4th of July, lets list out our favorite Independence Day films:

TOP 5 4TH OF JULY MOVIES:

1. JAWS
2. RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
3. INDEPENDENCE DAY
4. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
5. CAPE FEAR

*With an honorable mention to De Palma's BLOW OUT.

 

WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR (2021)

dir: Jane Schoenbrun

@ChattFilmFest (Chattanooga Film Festival 2021)

Anna Cobb's performance in We're All Going To The World's Fair garnered the attention of Call Me By Your Name (2017) and Suspiria (2018) director Luca Guadagnino. From here nearly one-woman performance in World's Fair, it's clear that she'll fit right into Luca's new film Bones and All.

The premise is simple enough. Casey (Cobb) is your average Generation Z kid who spends all her time online. She becomes fascinated with a new online challenge and gives it a try. The challenge will supposedly change the physiology of the participant. What follows forces us to question if the changes we witness in Casey are real or just in her head.

Casey is more susceptible to the lure of this challenge due to her problems at home. We never see her parents, but assume that only her father is in the picture. And he's seldom home. This allows Casey nothing but time to obsess about the challenge and her own depression. She uploads videos of her "transformation" to document each incident or as a cry for help. Her only relationship is with a series of Youtube videos that she finds comfort in.

...The World's Fair is a slow burn and evidence of low budget filmmaking done right. With limitations in budget, you use your strengths. In this case Anna Cobb's performance pushes beyond the binds of the budgetary restrictions to show a teenager succumbing to the hold of depression. 

EVENTS TRANSPIRING BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER A HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GAME (2020)

dir: Ted Stenson

@ChattFilmFest (Chattanooga Film Festival 2021)

What we believe will be a slice-of-life documentary style film about a basketball game, quickly becomes something radically different. Middleview High School is gearing up for a game against an undefeated team, but this isn't our focus as the title leads us to think. Instead, we are privy to several predicaments that cross paths with one another.

Set in 1999, the glue that holds the film together is discussions of The Matrix (1999). While a referee tries to find his wife's dog that he's lost, an assistant coach tries to shake things up with a complicated play, theater students try to decide on a protest after being canceled by the school, and the players debate themes of existentialism that may or may not be in The Matrix. Each set of dilemmas play out in dialogue. We don't even get to see the basketball game. And this is what sets the film apart from others. The comedy that comes out of these conversations is gold.

While watching Events Transpiring... I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. Not for High School life, as I was a Junior when The Matrix came out, or for basketball or theater. I was nostalgic for Richard Linklater. The film gives off that same dopamine rush of Dazed and Confused, Slacker, Waking Life, and to some extent Before Sunrise. The comedic dialogue in these films doesn't come from telling jokes or trying to be funny, but from conversations between people attempting to figure our their situation and how they connect with the world. As a debut feature film, Ted Stenson knocks this one out of the park, er, dribbles it down the court, makes a three-pointer. Shoots and scores! You know, sports!

 

WINTERBEAST (1992)

dir: Christopher Thies

"Something's going on, something's going wrong."

As part of Music Box Theatre's Vinegar Syndrome week they gave us this gift. To get people in the door, the write-up includes the term "unclassifiable." That sure is one way of putting it. The blurb also tells us is took five years to shoot and was shot on 8mm and 16mm. And describes Winterbeast as, "a one of a kind piece of outsider art-horror filmmaking..." With descriptors such as these, how could we not want to see it?

In the search for forgotten gems of horror, you have to sit through plenty of bad acting, terrible scripts, rough cinematography, and horrid effects. But sometimes, you get all of these things at once. Now when this happens you can gently place that film on your bad-great list. These films are amazing in their ineptitude. They are ultimately fun romps that you want to infect your friends with. But other times, you just want to erase the experience altogether. That's where Winterbeast falls. 95% of the film is terrible and not worth the effort of tracking it down, but there is a 5% that I've never seen before. The director decided to mix his stop motion claymation beasts with his real life actors. Okay, we've seen that before. Evil Dead 2 (1987) utilizes this effect when a demon dissolves. But we've never seen cutting between the claymation beast to actors then back to the claymation beast with a claymation human in their hands. Now, I know you're thinking King Kong did it when he grabbed Fay Wray but that was 1933 and it looked a hell of a lot better than it does in Winterbeast. These absurd effects may pique your interest, and if they do, I say good luck to you.

Maybe I can be a little nicer to the film. There's an element of Jaws (1975) at play. The Wild Goose Lodge is having its grand opening and some hikers have gone missing. Bill our head ranger wants to close the lodge, but the lodge owner (the weird Mr. Sheldon) doesn't want to disturb his business. The previously mentioned claymation demons are nice to look at, and if it wasn't for their interaction with the live actors this film would be a Lee Hardcastle predecessor. There's a fight at the lodge that nearly results in the complete destruction of the set. It's fun to keep asking yourself: What the f*ck are the rules to this film? There's a creepy scene featuring someone in clown mask playing with dead bodies and singing. All of this adds up to what the tagline for the film says, "It must be seen to be believed." Or not.

"Everything I've seen, I've seen with these two eyes."

BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION (2021)

dir: Jacob Gentry

In 2007, Jacob Gentry, David Bruckner, and Dan Bush came together and made The Signal. The three of them injected humor, gore, and intricate narrative. In doing so, a masterpiece was born. A calling card for the three guys. Bush would go on to The Vault (2017), Bruckner went on to V/H/S (2012), Southbound (2015), and The Ritual (2017), while Gentry's trajectory was vastly different. Hot off The Signal, MTV came to Gentry and asked him to make a horror version of one of their teen shows. The result was My Super Psycho Sweet 16 (2009). This locked Gentry into two sequels and kept him busy until 2012. The trilogy is highly sought after and should one day be given the Scream Factory seal of approval. Gentry continued with Synchronicity (2015) and now with Broadcast Signal Intrusion.

While a follow up to The Signal would be incredible, don't let the title fool you. Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a different beast altogether. Here, Gentry, uses the true story of how two Chicago broadcasts were interrupted one night in the 1980s, and the perpetrators were never caught. Dubbed, The Max Headroom signal hijacking, occurred on the night of November 22, 1987 on WGN during a sports broadcast and later that night on WTTW during a Doctor Who broadcast. The two incidents showed someone wearing a Max Headroom mask spouting near gibberish. Gentry uses this as a springboard to craft a neo-noir story focusing on grief and obsession.

We follow James (Harry Shum Jr. - Mike Chang from Glee) who is a video archivist / rare camera expert. While archiving station videos he sees the interruption and the mask that is used in the pirate broadcast resembles nightmares he's been having. He connects the broadcast with his missing wife which leads him down the rabbit hole where he may discover more than he bargained for. The film feels like well-done noir where nothing is what it seems. Like Chinatown (1974) or The Long Goodbye (1973), sometimes not all the loose strands tie together, but that's the point. There's a bit of pessimism and nihilism that's been missing from a good mystery for a few years, Gentry goes for it and it pays off.

ZOLA (2021)

dir: Janicza Bravo based on tweets by Aziah “Zola” King

Post By: Katie Huhn

“Y'all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out???????? It's kind of long but full of suspense.” This is how Aziah “Zola” King’s Twitter thread begins. Upon reading it, we get the details of a so-called “ho trip” gone wrong after Zola decides to go on a road trip with a new friend who brings her boyfriend and roommate in tow.

From the first trailer we were hooked, especially after seeing the shining A24 logo. Shaun and I immediately went to read the entire Twitter thread and hopped on this rollercoaster King created for us. We consumed every line of King’s piece, which flowed seamlessly into a world we are unfamiliar with. For this reason, King’s story is important; this perspective doesn’t a get enough air play. Zola is a woman of color who works in the service industry and dances on the side. She shares her flirtatiousness, confidence, and vulnerability with us and Jessica (Twitter) / Stefani (Film), the new friend. After reading the thread herself, Janicza Bravo felt it was her calling to authentically put Zola’s story on the silver screen. 

Taylour Paige nails Zola’s fierceness, assertiveness, and advocacy with such lovely zeal. Plus she’s is gorgeous! And Riley Keough is the embodiment of cringe, with the character’s problematic cultural appropriation. The director and rest of the cast helped ease Keough's transition into what she named a demon character. But this demon has a child and backstory that can be sympathized with; I don’t want to give too much away. Colman Domingo (Euphoria) is amazing as always with a tricky and terrifying character whose layers astound. And Nicholas Braun from Succession is the antithesis to Domingo's character, with his childlike honesty and gullibility. This aspect of Braun's character becomes the driving force for key plot elements.

Bottom line is don’t sleep on this one. This story is important and compelling because it’s true and original and represents an underrepresented portion of the working class. It was also told with care and authenticity by a woman of color, and I am grateful for its existence. 

SMOOTH TALK (1985)

dir: Joyce Chopra

Post by: Katie Huhn

We already reviewed this film last week, but I had not yet watched it. I have read the Joyce Carol Oates short story that inspired the film, “Where Are Going, Where Have You Been?” What a visceral short story, made more unnerving by the details noticed by a little girl’s mind. Oates and Chopra both do a great job of encapsulating a teenage girl’s mind, stuck between wanting the sexual experiences of a woman but being too much of a girl to understand what it means to be that vulnerable with another person. In the film, Connie is disenfranchised at home by her mother and sister. Out with her friends, shopping and flirting with boys, she has agency. She can wear what she wants and go with any guy she wants. Then Arnold Friend pushes his way into her life, and from the first glimpse of him, we can tell things will never be the same for Connie. Laura Dern’s performance felt true to adolescence and trying to come into one’s own identity, separate from family. And considering Joyce Chopra’s point of view, with her extensive background in documentary films about women from all walks of life, we understand why the film is so poignant. Chopra is an expert at revealing the plights of girls and women, and we would highly recommend checking out not just Smooth Talk but also some of her other bodies of work, such as Joyce at 34 and Girls at 12. 

SURF II (1983)

dir: Randall M. Badat

"You guys are nude, very impressive."

Despite the title being Surf 2, there was never a first Surf movie. Don't worry, that's not going to be the only thing that confuses you during Surf II's one hour and twenty-six minute runtime. I could spend all the time writing about how bad the film is, but you already know that. Without seeing a second of this film, you know it's a bad movie. That's like saying, I had no idea Class Of Nuke Em' High would be bad. You want to know what kind of bad. Is it bad-good? Is it great exploitation? Is it fun? These are the real questions. But it's not up to me to answer those particular questions because of subjectivity. I can point you in the right direction though.

The soundtrack includes: Circle Jerks, Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo, Beach Boys, Deserters, Talk Talk, Stray Cats, Deltones, Untouchables, and Johnnie Ray. Thusly, the soundtrack boasts its fair share of punk and surf music. We get a scene where Jocko, our favorite teen turned zombie punk, is lip singing Johnnie Ray's "Cry" in all its heartfelt slow-paced glory. This moment is priceless. Nearly worth the price of admission right there. Jocko is played by Tom Villard who'd go on to star in Popcorn (1991). Speaking of cast, we also get Terry Kiser or for us horror nerds, Dr. Crews from Friday The 13th VII: The New Blood (1988). We get a young Eric Stoltz seemingly to continue his small part from Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982). Saving the best for last, we get a starring role for everyone's favorite 80's geek Eddie Deezen (Grease, Grease II, Zapped, Critters 2, Assault of the Killer Bimbos).

Chief Boyardee closes the beach due to some missing kids, but Daddy-O, the school principle, wants it re-opened. The surfers lead the charge and head into the water with ample amounts of gratuitous surfing footage. All the while, a wronged nerd is holed up in his underwater base creating zombie punk surfers using a formula spiked in Buzz Cola. He's gonna make all the surfers into his army or see them fail the surf contest. There's a gross-out eating contest, a frog racing sequence, party at the cinema, party at the beach, nudity, an exploding underwater laboratory, and wall to wall great music. If that sounds like something you'd be in to.

VICIOUS FUN (2020)

dir: Cody Calahan

A title that works as a review. That's it, my job is done here. The film Vicious Fun was indeed vicious fun. It's not as lazy as it looks. Are you a fan of 1980's horror films? Are you a fan of those synth-y soundtracks in the vain of a John Carpenter film? How about gore? Do you like gore? Self help groups? Having answered yes to many of those questions, you will find Vicious Fun to be... vicious fun. Okay, fine, the plot.

A horror film critic who's in love with his roommate decides to stalk her new boyfriend. This leads him to getting belligerently drunk at a bar, passing out in a closet, and waking up after the bar has been shut down. He stumbles into what appears to be an AA meeting; however, he quickly learns it is a group for serial killers. The film critic, if he's found out will be murdered, so he must use his horror knowledge to save himself.

I did wish that there would have been more horror intelligence rather than awkwardness in our critic. Also, the support group makes up for less than ten minutes of the film. Just long enough to learn the strengths and psuedo-references to the killers in attendance. There is a blatant Jason Voorhees type killer, but I'll let you guess the rest - also, I'm not entirely sure about anyone else. Besides the lack of cell phones and the over use of cops with mustaches and our lead killer, the film is timeless. This goes to show that you don't need overt 80's references to make an 80's throwback film. Now, I would have liked a good mall excursion or a trip to the video store, but it didn't need it. The small budget kept the film to a total of five locations and they made the most of them. The killers are all interesting as well as the non-killers. It's a good time. There are ample amounts of horror and humor for all of us genre fans. I just wish there was some shorthand way of reviewing this film. Like two words that would sum up everything you need to know. Almost like a witty review that would somehow use the title of the film that was being reviewed in it's actual review. I guess we can leave that up to big horror critics.

GHOULIES III: GHOULIES GO TO COLLEGE (1990)

dir: John Carl Buechler

"Your local library, visit us periodically."

Before one can comment on Ghoulies 3, you must remark upon the genius director behind it first. John Carl Buechler passed away in 2019 and left a horror legacy behind him. Buechler ran the make-up effects department for Roger Corman's New World Pictures until forming his own effects house Mechanical Imageries Inc. His effects credits include: Ghoulies (1984), Re-Animator (1985), Ghoulies II (1987), Troll (1986), Terrorvision (1986), Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers (1988), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Halloween: Curse Of Michael Myers (1995),  and Hatchet (2006). Along with effects, Buechler also directed Troll, Cellar Dweller (1988), and most notably, Friday The 13th VII: The New Blood (1988). If we can collectively bring back the Snyder Cut of Justice League (2021) then there is no reason not to release the Buechler cut of F13 7. We've seen parts of the footage in it's workprint glory, put the footage back in and make some money. Regardless, now we know the genius behind Ghoulies III, lets dive in.

Its Prank Week at Glazier College campus USA and the fraternities are at it again to win the prank crown. By my calculation there are only two frats on this campus, Beta Zeta Theta led by that damn Skip Carter and the Gammas led by the intolerable Jeremy Heilman. The two houses will stop at nothing to win the title of best yankers. Wait what? Yes, my notes have them referring to pulling pranks as 'yanks.' As in we got better yanks than them. Or the best yank of all. "It's prank week, let's go yank!" Professor Quentin Ragnar played effortlessly by the always amazing Kevin McCarthy is teacher of Humanities, dean of students, and hater of yanks. A Ghoulish Tales comic book is found hidden in a bathroom wall near a gothic porcelain thrown. Eventually, Professor Ragnar comes to confiscate the book and unwittingly summons the Ghoulies. When he learns his power over the creatures, he uses them to destroy that damn Skip Carter and Prank Week.

Ghoulies Go To College attempts to be Animal House (1978) with puppets. The film feels like it was made for kids. Not only do the Ghoulies talk and act like the Three Stooges, but their kills assume the look of Looney Tunes cartoons. One needs to look no further than Miss Boggs' stretchy tongue or Veronica's suction face after her death by plunger. I'd like to assume that since the creatures were summoned by a dark arts book in the first two films they were more serious. Here they were summoned by a comic book, so they try their damndest to be comical. It all works if you are a kid tip-toeing into the waters of horror. But then again their are 11 sets of boobs and a bush, which was fine for 80's kids but might night work for Generation Alpha.

Bottom line: It's a lot of fun, extremely dated, the kills are cartoonish, we get to see Matthew Lillard's on screen debut, Richard Kind is the voice of a Ghoulie, the Billy Idol wannabe from Pump Up The Volume plays a good stoner role, Ram from Heathers is here, Kevin McCarthy is everything, and there's a panty raid scene. Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go To College, It's a Yanking good time!

JAWS (1975)

dir: Steven Spielberg

What makes Jaws the ultimate 4th of July film? Besides it taking place during the 4th of July weekend, its all the male characters that provide a glimpse of the American way. Mayor - piece of sh*t - Vaughn who represents King Capitalism is the most ineffectual. He won't close the beach for fear of non-profits. Nor does he want to sign the form to allow the hiring of Quint. He is the worst type of America, he is big business only worried about the bottom line. Vaughn matters in the big picture only in that he is the sole reason the shark continues to feed. Let the shark represent any American fear. Communism. Socialism. Any threat to the 'norm.' Let's look at the soul of America as represented in the trio of soldiers who go out to destroy the threat. Quint is the proletariat, our working class hero with years of experience and hard earned respect for predators. Hooper is our bourgeoisie man of means. He lives in the wealth of society with gadgets and the leisurely time to gain an education. The lower and upper class face off against the apex predator, but neither can strip away their ego. It takes the middle class figure of elected authority, Chief Brody, a man who wears his vulnerability on his sleeve to take down the shark. Why does Brody succeed where Quint and Hooper fail?

On the 4th of July it is important to view this film through the lens of American values. Vaughn fails because he doesn't see people as people, only as customers in Amity. Quint fails because his belief system is old fashioned, through years of experience he thinks he can catch this shark. He's worked his whole life on the sea, and no new perspective can counterbalance his. Hooper fails because his cockiness is not earned. He is a man of book smarts without years of his own instincts kicking in to survive. This brings us to Brody. Brody ultimately succeeds because he is of a malleable mindset. He adapts to his situation and learns what he can from the past. He has no stubbornness, because he doesn't know any better. He isn't ashamed of his fear of water, boats, or sharks. His lack of willfulness is what prevails. And that's what America is all about. It's about people who do not fear progressing into the future. It is in remembering the past and using those lessons for the future. It is knowing that nothing is knowable. To be vulnerable is to grow. Happy Independence Day 'Merica!

 

CRUEL JAWS (1995)

dir: Bruno Mattei

Reviewed Originally [2/22/21 - 2/28/21]

Review Here

"I want you to find the tallest skyscraper you can and throw yourself off and then go f*ck yourself!"

Perfect for a 4th of July weekend celebration. What do you follow up the greatest shark movie ever made with? One of the worst shark movies ever made. Obviously, I'm not including films like Sharktopus (2010) or the Sharknado franchise either. I'm speaking specifically about the slate of copycats trying to cash in on the success of Jaws (1975). I have a special spot reserved for Cruel Jaws. And now, having seen a lot of the films that it steals footage from, I felt it was time to unleash it upon an unsuspecting public. For our backyard movies setup, the crowd was too familiar with Jaws as we had screened it last year. But instead of Jaws 2 or Independence Day or even Uncle Sam, I wanted to give them a gift. One that they wouldn't soon forget.

Even for a deep-dive horror audience, Cruel Jaws can be a difficult watch, but seeing an audience with no background in sharksploitation or terrible Italian dubbing, this was a blast. At first they thought I was punishing them for something they were unaware of, but a couple close-talking scenes later and they understood. I was giving them gold. I was upset that my order from the Severin sale didn't come in time, because I wanted to rock the Cruel Jaws bandana I bought. There's always next time.

FEAR STREET PART ONE 1994 (2021)

dir: Leigh Janiak

I want to keep this write-up short because I'm too excited to see how this trilogy plays out. This is everything one could want in a slasher film throwback. The film is modeled on the late nineties slasher resurgence beginning with Scream (1996) and ending with Valentine (2001). It is sleek, polished, well acted, and with great death scenes, kick*ss masks, and clever plotting. From what we can tell of the the second film 1978 we're going to get our 80's slasher film in the guise of a Friday The 13th 2 homage (due to the bagface faux-Jason). This film and the idea of all three of these occurring as an event on Netflix gives us hope for the Netflix horror future. While Shudder will always be the streaming service I call home, if other services could jump on the bandwagon of event entertainment we'd all be happier. I've always wanted live channels on Netflix. What Shudder did for The Last Drive-In shouldn't be that astounding (it is, and I love it), but all streamers should have live channels. This is how we connect the streaming generation to the theater generation. I digress...

If you haven't seen Part One you have a week to finish your homework. Be a part of the cool kids club and enjoy some good Slasher nostalgia.

BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN PART ONE (2021)

dir: Chris Palmer

I'm a sucker for anything that says Batman on it. Not that I didn't know what I was getting out of this adaptation, but that if it is part of the Batman ecosystem, I'm there. Katie and I use Batman: The Animated Series as our fall asleep show. The theme is soothing. The colors are all drab. It's a lullaby for weirdos.

Here we get a villain called Holiday. It's not Calendar Man, but we do get a nice scene with him. This villain kills on Holidays and has been going after the mafia family. It's up to Batman, Gordon, and Harvey Dent to stop this serial killer. We get Joker and Catwoman along the way. The animation is excellent. Jensen Ackles is voice acting the hell out of Batman/Bruce Wayne, as is Troy Baker as the clown prince of Gotham. Both of them have enormous shoes to fill as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill remain the most iconic voices for those characters.

The cliffhanger ending does as it was intended. I was yelling at the screen for more.

NIGHT MOVES (1975)

dir: Arthur Penn

Arthur Penn, known as the man who gave Hollywood violence. In Penn's Bonny and Clyde (1967) the couple are shot at the end, and it was supposedly the first Hollywood film to feature the agony of violent bloodshed. By the time Night Moves came along, Hollywood was an entirely different beast. It was being run by youth and rebels. The biggest film of all time came out the same year as Night Moves, Jaws. But Penn wanted to do a noir film. Not any noir film, but one with his friend Gene Hackman. Hackman had already been Jimmy Doyle in The French Connection (1971) and Harry Caul in The Conversation (1974). He was more than ready to portray Harry Moseby.

Night Moves is an odd film even in the neo-noir subgenre. These films like Altman's The Last Goodbye (1973) or Polanski's Chinatown (1974) or Coppola's The Conversation all feature a detective character who gets a case that has more at stake then the facts that were initially provided. In each instance the gumshoe unravels a plot much larger in significance than they are. And it was normally a sign of the times - Vietnam era - that these detectives failed in the face of the larger enemy. Arthur Penn gives Harry Moseby something that Harry Caul, J.J. Gittes, or Philip Marlowe don't have, a wife at home. This provides the true depth of Night Moves. Moseby is suffering an identity crisis. Without Paula at home, he would become one of these other men who are eventually destroyed by obsession.

We viewed this as part of CriterionChannel.com month devoted to Neo-Noir. See a fast-talking bullsh*t artist in James Woods character along with a young Melanie Griffith who uses men as acts of revenge in Arthur Penn's great Noir film that leaves you bewildered in its final moments.

MANHUNTER (1986)

dir: Michael Mann

I saw this film only a few times prior to reading Red Dragon. Now when I attempt to watch it, I'm left only remembering my experience reading the book. I'm thinking about what was left out. I'm thinking about the heist of the painting or the romance that blossoms for Francis or the constant battle he has with the Red Dragon. It remains as my favorite Thomas Harris book. But I wish I could go back to the time prior to reading the book. If only I could experience the film, as it is, again. I wasn't brought up in a world where Brian Cox was our only Dr. Hannibal Lecktor. My parents never brought home Manhunter, but they sure as hell brought home Silence of the Lambs (1991). Anthony Hopkins was my Lecter, as he was for everyone. Even today with the superb job done by Mads Mikkelsen, you'd be hard pressed to find someone that prefers anyone to Hopkins. And anyone who says Gaspard Ulliel (Hannibal Rising (2007)) is their favorite Lector, is trolling you and shouldn't be acknowledged. What I'm getting at is that Manhunter is in a precarious position as a film. A mere five years before Hannibal the cannibal would be a household name. A story about a serial killer whose mental illness drives him to commit acts he doesn't want to commit but switched to a near motiveless Tooth Fairy killer in the film. A detective who has a near supernatural ability to empathize with anyone living or dead that's demoted in the film to an intelligent agent that caught a few killers. The film is like the book but with the soul ripped from the pages, lit on fire, and used to light a producer's cigar. Without the book, Manhunter is great. In one of those alternate timelines where there was no Thomas Harris, no Hannibal after this film, and this was it - the film is perfect. But who would want to live in that timeline?

We viewed this as part of CriterionChannel.com month devoted to Neo-Noir.

BODY DOUBLE (1984)

dir: Brian De Palma

I gotta say, I'm a fan of breasts in the credits. They can be in the beginning credits, but I enjoy them more in the end credits. We caught the end of Eurotrip (2004) the other day and they reserved some extra boob shots while the credits are scrolling. This reminded me of Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) were Sybil Danning's shirt ripping sequence is looped 17 times or the photo sequence from The Hangover (2009) has more than an eyeful too. Knowing that De Palma is always the student of cinema, we have to assume this scene that plays with the credits has multiple reasons. To those of you not familiar with this ending, our lead Jake has gotten his role as vampire back, and the scene is one where he has to bite a woman while she is showering. To show us a body double, De Palma has a breast double come in for the scene. With the body double there's a close up of the breasts in the shower and blood running down her chest. De Palma gives the audience this sequence to keep them in the seats for the credits and to close his film with an actual body double. This is an example of the brilliance of Brian De Palma.

In Body Double we follow Jake whose wife is cheating on him, he's failing as an actor, and he suffers from claustrophobia. But things are about to look up. Upon a chance encounter with a fellow actor, he stumbles into a house-sitting gig. The house has everything. An elevator overlooking the hills, state-of-the-art entertainment system, a full bar, and a telescope with a glorious view. Through the telescope Jake becomes obsessed with a woman who performs nightly, solo sex acts. It is here we realize not only do we get Vertigo (1958), but we get Rear Window (1954) and maybe a little Dial M (1954) later if we're lucky. Jake finally meets the woman across the street, but it may be too late as he can't do anything to stop her death. It is now up to Jake to put the pieces together with the help of a porn star (Melanie Griffith) that has a striking resemblance to the dead woman.

We viewed this as part of CriterionChannel.com month devoted to Neo-Noir. It's De Palma, how can you go wrong?

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)

dir: Dan O'Bannon

No 4th of July celebration is complete without your annual viewing of Return of the Living Dead. The first title card that comes up lets us know that the events portrayed in this film are all true, the second title card reads: July 3rd, 1984 5:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time. So, as it goes, we know exactly when we are supposed to watch this punk rock zombie classic every year.

With this year's viewing I thought about how many horror connections can be made to this film. I was thinking about Linnea Quigley (Trash) firstly, but Thom Mathews (Freddy) in Friday The 13th VI: Jason Lives, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. (Spider) is in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985), Don Calfa (Ernie) in Chopper Chicks In Zombietown (1989), James Kern (Frank) in Poltergeist (1982), Clu Gulager (Bert) in Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985), Brian Peck (Scuz) was in Return of the Living Dead 2 and 3, John Philbin (Chuck) in Children of the Corn (1984), and Mark Venturini (Suicide) in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. I may be a weirdo, but I love these connections. The IMDB trivia is just as fascinating and the More Brains documentary is excellent. Dan O'Bannon concocted the perfect brew. Originally, the creators of Night Of The Living Dead (less George) John Russo and Russell Streiner wanted a serious sequel to Night as they had the rights to use "Living Dead" in a title. When Dan came on he immediately injected the dark humor and punk aspects that were apropos of the time. These aspects made the film timeless. That and the fact that everyone dies at the end and the cycle will begin again and continue until the wold is over. But that's only implied.

From a young age, I knew these were the scariest zombies ever conceived. Looking back, I was correct. Am I'm still right. There is no other zombie as scary. Not only do they run, but they cannot be killed. There is no magical bullet to the head or decapitation. Even if you cut up the pieces, the pieces will still come after you. Even if you burn the body, the smoke will cause more infection. You mix an un-killable threat with a band of punks and geezers, the comedy with elevate the experience every time.

*****

High: The best viewing this week hands down was Zola.

BEST VIEWING: ZOLA

Low: The worst viewing this week, without any doubt: Winterbeast. Unbearable.

WORST VIEWING: WINTERBEAST