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.
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