Wait, Weight! Bowflex!

In other news (I just want to prove I don't sit around watching movies ALL the time), I've lost a substantial amount of weight recently. After the most recent Hickoids tour, which I DIDN'T document here this time (hmmmm......should I? After all this time?), I realized I'd lost some weight in the Euro-heat wave and from moving equipment every day. Well, now I'm trying to keep it off. Riding the recumbent bike every possible day now and focussing on that a bit more than the Bowflex. But I'm still Bowflexing it up, yes sir. Keeping with it....

"Night of the Hunted"/"The Wild Blue Yonder"/"Eaten Alive"/"The Innkeepers"/"V/H/S"/"Mother of Tears"

Okay, back for a bit. Next up: "Night of the Hunted," a Jean Rollin-directed French production from 1980. Now, I'm an admitted Euro-trash fan, and this flick was pretty much up my alley. Not the greatest of them, but good nonetheless. Reminded me of "Shivers" and probably a few other 70s horror/sci-fi offerings. And I seemed to have liked it more than most reviewers, but then I dig the cheapy Euro scene from that time.

Next, "The Wild Blue Yonder." I have to admit to being a recent Herzog convert. With the exception of "Fitzcarraldo," I hadn't seen any of his stuff until the last year or so. And now I'm a big fan....officially hooked. But I have to say that "The Wild Blue Yonder" is the first Herzog film I've seen that I can't wholly recommend. I liked a lot of it, but the concept did seem really forced. If you watch it for the NASA footage and music, good. Brad Dourif is the only actor in the piece, and he addresses the camera as an alien whose race helped settle the Earth. Dourif is one of my all-time favorite actors, but even I felt like he was really struggling here to put something across that isn't even very definite. Strange film. At least it's only 78 minutes, which works in its favor.

"Eaten Alive" is Tobe Hooper's directorial follow-up to "Texas Chain Saw Massacre." Marilyn Burns, screamer deluxe, also makes an appearance. Good fun....not a great picture, but good fun. Crazy cast, too: Neville Brand, Mel Ferrer, Robert Englund and Carolyn Jones, in addition to Ms. Burns and others. Wacky. Dark Sky released a great DVD edition of this....seek it out.

Okay, next up is the best movie I've seen in a very long time, but I'll admit to a subjective opinion there. "The Innkeepers," from young horror buck Ti West. Horror being my favorite genre of film, I quite often give a decent rating to something that really isn't very good, just because I become a giggly fanboy at spooks and such. But this one.....it's just flippin' great! Fantastic lead performances, great atmosphere, pacing straight out of the 70s (which apparently annoys a lot of folk; this movie doesn't score very high on IMDB)....I ate this right up. As a matter of fact, immediately after watching this one, I ordered "House of the Devil," which was West's flick made the year before "The Innkeepers." I'll be reviewing that one soon, too, methinks. I have a heterosexual crush on Ti West. There, I said it.

Watched "Blow Out," the 1981 Brian DePalma film for the fourth time, I believe. Great, off-kilter film, with an ending that, as people love to say, could never be released today! You probably know all about this one, so I'll save some keystrokes.

And now, "V/H/S." If you haven't heard of this one, it's a combination found-footage/anthology horror film. I'll admit to liking it, although it has a number of almost mind-numbingly bad things about it. But I like it. I guess it has some good things, too. One of the directors who contributed to it is my new director crush, Ti West, mentioned above. His segment is definitely the most methodically-paced of the bunch. Be prepared to turn your "asshole meter" down for this one, as almost every male character (and a couple of the females) are moronic frat-jerks. I get the feeling that some of the other directors are at least slightly-moronic frat-jerks themselves. And yet I liked it. There are some genuinely creepy moments in it, once the constant barrages of "dude" and "fuck" simmer down a bit. Try it out....and stay with it past the forty-minute mark before deciding. The first couple of groups of jerks will try your patience, guaranteed.

Just now, I finished "Mother of Tears," an Argento piece from 2007. It's the third part of his Mother trilogy, begun by "Suspiria" and "Inferno." Long-delayed, I guess. What a pleasant surprise! I'd read some pretty unflattering reviews of this one and had held off seeing it as a result....although I am a big Argento fan. Well, I needn't have waited. Not a perfect picture, but very entertaining, and almost up to the level of the first two, I thought. It's a little disquieting to see Argento make what amounts to a "modern" horror film, with overloud sound effects and whatnot, but this one works. Yes, his daughter Asia stars in it, and her performance is all over the place. No matter, good film. Enjoy.

All right, that's the last time I wait this long to write about movies I've been a-watching.

Until later.

"The Last Horror Film"/"Melancholia"/"Susana"/"The Texas Chain Saw Massacre"

Jeez....well, there went THAT streak. Just as well; didn't think much of my recent musings. But I have watched a fair number of flicks in between posts. Yes, I just looked at the roster. Wow. Uh, okay. Here we go.

"The Last Horror Film" (1982) is something from David Winters, a guy mainly known as a choreographer, although he's directed a seventies Alice Cooper documentary and a few episodes of "The Monkees." This one was a fairly low-budget affair, re-teaming Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro, from "Maniac." According to a special feature on the DVD (Bill Lustig interview, if I recall), Caroline Munro's husband had put in money to get "Maniac" finished up. Later, the couple thought, "hey, let's make a movie set in Cannes and give ourselves a free trip there as a result!" And that's how this movie happened. It's actually a lot of fun, with Spinell sweating on the celluloid, as he was so good at doing. The film elements are not in good shape, and the DVD's video was presented at the 1.33:1 ratio. Nevertheless, the final thirty minutes or so of the flick are damned entertaining.

Next up: "Melancholia." Since I'd recently finished "Antichrist," I figured I'd give the next in Von Trier's Depression Trilogy (yep) a spin. Less traumatic than "Antichrist," but I'm still on the fence about how I felt about it. Might write more about this one (and "Antichrist") later. Maybe.

Let's see....."Susana." A 1953 Luis Buñuel-helmed effort from Mexico. In my quest to view all of Buñuel's stuff at least once, this one came up. It was entertaining, most definitely, but there's almost a silly aura about the whole production. Not many of the types of shots we expect from Buñuel....maybe some insects here and there....and a finish that almost defines anti-climactic, but still watchable and somewhat memorable. I suppose you could look at it as an early version of "Fatal Attraction."

And now a classic. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," 1974's classic horror, direct from the part of Texas I live in. TCSM is one of those movies that just gets better each time I watch it. I've probably seen it seven or eight times now, and I still remember seeing it the first time in the early eighties and not thinking much of it. Now I think it's one of the best horror movies ever made. Period. My wife and I even went out to eat at the TCSM house, which was moved to Kingsland and is now a restaurant. Great food, Leatherface Lemonade, the works. Dig it!

I've got several more to jot about......more later.........

"Antichrist"/"Nurse"

I've watched a few things over the last few days but haven't written about any of them. Maybe that's for the best; the first WAS "Antichrist." Those of you who've seen it might have imagined I'd have watched something really silly after that, and I did. "Nurse." Or "Nurse 3D," as it reads on the box. Only I don't have 3D capabilities on my current viewing equipment. Well, not the modern stuff; I can watch the red/green polarized version 3D....I have a few of those....but not this newer variety.

"Antichrist." Where do you start with that one? I'm still processing it. Might even watch it again soon for further absorption. But I did like it. And I didn't find it nearly as disturbing as most people seem to. Jeez, wonder what says about me?

"Nurse." Not a well-reviewed film, but I had a lot of fun watching it. If you want some old-fashioned B-movie entertainment, with terrible CGI blood splatters and copious nudity, put it on. You'll have a good time.

That's all I'm writing for now. It's late, and I'm only writing this now due to some insomnia. Maybe I'll write more on them tomorrow; maybe not....probably on to other flicks tomorrow. Okay, lights out.

"Who Can Kill a Child?"

Who can kill a child? Well, if they're the little giggling shits populating this small Spanish island....me!

"¿Quien Puede Matar a un Niño?" is a 1976 Spanish production directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador. Serrador is mostly known for this film and 1969's "La Residencia," stateside known as "The House that Screamed." This is a well-shot production, probably made for peanuts. There's not much in the way of a cast, and everything was shot on location. Cheap. But a good kind of cheap. Some reviews say it's a little too long...it might be, but not overly so. There's a great, creepy atmosphere once our protagonist couple gets to the island, and almost the entire film takes place in blazing daylight. "Creepy" and "daylight" usually don't go together....good movie-making here. The kids all look genuine and probably were. There were two choices for language on the Dark Sky DVD, an original Spanish release one and an English one. The English one is really an English/Spanish mix, with the lead characters, British tourists, speaking in their native tongue. Seems like their actual voices, too. The audio mix on the DVD is uneven, with the dialog sometimes being very low in the mix, but the English one is the one to go with.

I haven't seen "La Residencia" yet, but its place moved up the list several notches after viewing this one. A hearty recommendation, but you may have trouble if you think children can do no wrong....the little angels.

"Smiles of a Summer Night"

The latest watch....more furreign viewin'.....Ingmar Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night."

Bergman's been an acquired taste for me. I really liked "Seventh Seal" and "Virgin Spring," but after those, my enthusiasm slowed after watching "Wild Strawberries" and "The Magician." They were okay, but not what I'd consider essential. And "Wild Strawberries" is considered to be one of his classics. That WAS four years ago that I watched it; maybe I should try again. Since then, I've watched "Persona," "Fanny and Alexander," "Cries and Whispers" and "Summer With Monika," all of which I liked, so maybe I'm back on track. Now that I'm reading that last bit back, guess I've watched a lot of his stuff, even when I thought I might not care for it. Hmm. Maybe I'm just a slight masochist. Slight.

And so, "Smiles of a Summer Night." this is one of those "relationship movies." And it's a comedy, something Bergman's not really known for, although I'll admit my surprise at the humor included in "Seventh Seal." In many ways, this movie plays out like a more modern American romantic comedy, albeit a good one. The setting is turn-of-the-century Sweden, but other than one fella having both a wife and a mistress, the plot seems fairly modern in tone.

Overall, the film's pretty light, and there's a neat wrap-up with a bow on it. Despite that, I enjoyed this movie immensely. And that's about all I have to say right now. Drink up!