Heathers (1988)

"Extremely Very"

A late 1980s comedy that's deliciously quirky and dark, Michael Lehmann's HEATHERS gets a splendid dual format DVD & Blu-ray presentation from Arrow. The film is celebrating its 30th anniversary, but fans will be delighted to learn it has dated in all the right ways. 

Veronica (Winona Ryder) has achieved her aspiration to be in the top clique in her high school, the other three members of which are all named Heather. The girls specialise in playing practical jokes on those they deem beneath them (ie everyone), wearing fabulous clothes (for the late 1980s which means they are, indeed, fabulous) and, of course, behaving like supreme bitches whenever they can.

When Veronica hooks up with loner / Jack Nicholson impersonator Jason Dean (Christian Slater) and explains how she wants to stop one of the Heathers (Kim Chandler) from telling the school about an unfortunate incident at a recent party, it's the start of a run of murders dressed up to look like suicides. How the school reacts to the suicides forms a major part of HEATHERS' satire, culminating as it does in a plot to destroy the entire school.

Which is just one of the reasons HEATHERS wouldn't get made today. In fact, according to the interview with director Lehmann on this disc, it wasn't the kind of film to get made very easily back then, either. Now, however, this tale of American school kids shooting each other and taping dynamite to school buildings is far too close to the truth for the subject matter to be treated in such a wittily acerbic manner.

And HEATHERS is very witty indeed. Daniel Waters' script is eminently quotable, and even composer David Newman pays tribute to it in his interview on the disc, saying that he composed a more textural than thematic score because the dialogue was melody enough. Michael Lehmann's direction is extremely stylish, and I especially liked the use of different coloured lighting depending on which Heather we are with.  

Arrow's Blu-ray comes packed with extras. As well as the above we get a commentary track from Lehmann, Waters and producer Denise Di Novi. There are more interviews with production designer Jon Hutman, art director Kara Lindstrom, casting director Julie Selzer, and actress Lisanne Falk. There's a new appraisal from John Ross Bowie (Kripke in The Big Bang Theory), an archival making of featurette, trailers and a reversible sleeve. 

The transfer itself is a new restoration from a 4K scan and is presented in 1080p for Blu-ray. You also get sound options of original mono and 5.1 DTS-HD.

Michael Lehmann's HEATHERS is out on dual format from Arrow Films on Monday 10th September 2018

Miss Leslie's Dolls (1973)

"Bonkers Grindhouse Treasure"

Oh yes, if you like completely crazy low budget movies from the early 1970s that look as if they were shot for a couple of dollars because the rest of the budget went on whatever substances everyone was 'experimenting with' then MISS LESLIE'S DOLLS is just the kind of whacked out weirdo looniness for you. 

Three girls and one man end up stranded in a thunderstorm when their car breaks down. They take refuge at the only house in the area, one which is next to a graveyard filled with suspiciously wooden and uniform-looking crosses.

Careful with that axe, Eugenie

The house is owned by Miss Leslie. I can't do a better description of Miss Leslie than Network's press release does so here it is: 'less a mild mannered spinster and more an axe-wielding homicidal cross-dresser intent on transferring his spirit into the nubile body of any young girl foolish enough to come visiting'.

Can you hear me, mother?

There's the plot, then. Except, as with all the best insane movies, that's only a fraction of the appeal of this one. Miss Leslie is obviously a man dressed up, but she has been dubbed with a female voice. The dolls of the title are her failed experiments which have now been arranged in an artful tableaux like something out of an early Harrison Marks film. 

The dolls in all their glory

There's a bit of nudity, some in and out of bed shenanigans, and a dream sequence near the end that is so batshit crazy you get the feeling that was what the director actually wanted to make and just did all the other mad stuff to make the dream look not quite so mad. It almost works but not quite. 

I can quite honesly say I've never seen anything quite like MISS LESLIE'S DOLLS. Imagine if David Lynch had the technical competence of Herschell Gordon Lewis and you'll be part of the way there, and if that mixture sounds appealing this is a piece of loony obscurity you need in your life.

If you've read this far down you should be expecting something like this

Network's DVD & Blu-ray (a worldwide premiere no less) doesn't contain any extras, but considering that prints of this would hardly have been treated with any special care this looks really good for its age. A bit like Miss Leslie herself, in fact. Mad, bad and dangerous to buy. Go for it. 

MISS LESLIE'S DOLLS is out now on Blu-ray and DVD 

from Network, and it's getting a digital release on 

1st October 2018

Revenge (2018)

"Very French"

Oh yes. In fact so French is REVENGE they could have called it 'Je Crache Sur Votre Tombe' if Meir Zarchi's 1978 classic hadn't already been given the English version of that title by Jerry Gross. How French is it? Well there's plenty of over the top violence, some impressive artistic imagery and (of course) a scene of someone having a wee. And yes, it's very much like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, except really rather more ludicrous.

Rich, naughty (and for quite a bit of this, naked) Richard (Kevin Janssens) brings girlfriend Jen (Matilda Lutz) to an isolated Moroccan desert retreat for a bit of 'I Promise I'm Going To Leave My Wife & Kids Honest' bottom fondling and general all-round adulterousness. 

But then his two rich friends turn up.

They're there a day early for a planned hunting trip, for which Jen was supposed to be gone. But she isn't. Richard goes off to do something and Jen ends up being raped by Stan (Vincent Columbe). Richard offers to pay Jen off but she's having none of it and runs off into the desert. Things take a turn for the worse and Jen becomes a hate-fuelled revenge machine who remorselessly tracks the three men down.

I don't want to give too much away about what actually happens, but while the opening act of REVENGE is absolutely fine, once our heroine becomes imperilled things move swiftly from unbelievable to frankly daft. As long as you're okay with her surviving injuries that would kill The Rock never mind a twenty-something supermodel, that the catastrophic internal bleeding from said injuries can be sorted out by cauterising with a tin can, and with the idea that Jen can suddenly acquire a working knowledge of the firearms the men have brought with them (and be a very good shot) then you won't spend too much of REVENGE scratching your head. Like the movie gun that has never-ending bullets you'll also marvel at how certain characters seem to be able to bleed at least twice their own blood volume and still live.

Stylistically the film looks beautiful, with landscapes, close-ups and interiors all rendered in glowing colours. Composer Rob (best known for the MANIAC remake) gives us a pounding electronic score, and the performances are all suitable intense. REVENGE is gory, intense, but ultimately a bit silly. Je Crache Sur Votre Tombe? Not really. Maybe more of a melodramatic sneeze. 

REVENGE is out from Vertigo Releasing on Digital HD from 

Friday 7th September 2018

Hatchet 4: Victor Crowley (2017)

After premiering in the UK at last year's Frightfest, the latest in Adam Green's saga about the dungaree-wearing backwoods lunatic who likes chopping people up with the above-mentioned title item gets a UK DVD release courtesy of Thunderbird.

Andrew Yong (Parry Shen), lone survivor of previous films, is busy appearing on talk shows and attending signings of his ghost written account of his experiences. After his agent Kathleen (Felissa Rose from SLEEPAWAY CAMP) secures him a 'million dollar deal', Andrew boards the scuzziest, cheapest-looking private jet ever.

It crash lands in a certain swamp where film-maker Chloe (Katie Booth) and her 'crew' of Alex (Chase Williamson) and Rose (Laura Ortiz) have mistakenly brought lunatic hatchet-wielding killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) back to life by playing youtube videos of the voodoo chant required to resurrect him. What happens then is by the numbers, with too little happening far too late. 

HATCHET III was surprisingly good, rattling along and with several iconic guest appearances from the likes of Sid Haig and Caroline Williams to keep the fans happy. VICTOR CROWLEY features an excruciatingly overlong 'sign my penis' gag, an embarrassing cameo from Green and his frequent collaborator Joe Lynch as airline pilots, and all other attempts at humour are on the same level.

VICTOR CROWLEY also suffers greatly from looking like it had a budget way too small for even a backwoods slasher like this, and there's very little in the way of any kind of endearing style to compensate. Add in an ending that's so abrupt you wonder if they ran out of film and you need to be especially forgiving with this one. 

Thunderbird's DVD comes with two commentary tracks, one with cast members Shen, Ortiz and Dave Sheridan, and the other with select members of the crew. Writer and director Green is present on both. There's also an interview with Green, a behind the scenes making of, and a trailer.

Adam Green's HATCHET 4: VICTOR CROWLEY 

is out on UK DVD from Thunderbird on

Monday 3rd September 2018

Assault (1971)

"Gorgeous Restoration of a British 'Giallo' "

Well, if it was Italian they'd be calling it a giallo. It's from the right period, has a faceless maniac who rapes and kills, and they wear black leather gloves while they're doing it. There's no J&B but hey -  you can't have everything.

We do, however, have Frank Finlay as a police inspector investigating the rape of local schoolgirl Lesley-Anne Down. (A similar fate would befall Miss Down in the Michael J Bird-written Out of the Unknown TV episode 'To Lay A Ghost' with even more disturbing consequences but fortunately for the actress this didn't become a trend). The attack has left her mute and an inmate of the local hospital where she's being looked after by psychiatrist James Laurenson.

When a second girl is found raped and murdered the police find they may have an eyewitness in the form of school art teacher Suzy Kendall (yet again saddled with one of the worst wardrobes in 1970s horror film history, and that's saying something), who concocts an elaborate plan to catch the killer by getting the local newspaper editor (a wonderfully sleazy Freddie Jones) to print a story suggesting her painting of the killer will be revealed in four days' time. But despite keeping watch will the police be able to stop Suzy being the next victim?

ASSAULT might be considered part of a sub-sub-genre of early 1970s British horror cinema which also includes Robert Fuest's AND SOON THE DARKNESS (1970) and the ASSAULT team's REVENGE (1971). ASSAULT isn't quite as grim, gloomy and hysterical as REVENGE but you can tell that writer John Kruse, director Sidney Hayers and CARRY ON producer Peter Rogers are working up to it with their very British attempt at the kind of lurid crime thriller the Italians made their own for the next couple of years. Composer Eric Rogers, also best known for the CARRY ONs, provides a music score that's especially over the top and comes across a bit like CARRY ON SLASHING.

The cast is an interesting mix of familiar UK faces, among them James Cosmo in an early role, deliciously sleazy / slightly mad Tony Beckley as the husband of headmistress Dilys Hamlett, Anthony Ainley from BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW as the head of the hospital, the ubiquitous Marianne Stone as a hospital matron, and a very young David Essex as a biker in need of some cotton wool.

Network's restoration (in association with the BFI) looks fantastic - there's no way this film could have looked this good when it played in cinemas. Extras are limited to a trailer and still gallery but this is such a beautifully presented piece of lurid early 1970s British exploitation cinema that it's worth the price anyway. 

Sidney Hayers' ASSAULT is out now on UK Blu-ray 

from Network

Frightfest Presents (2018 / 2019)

In the wake of Frightfest 2018, Signature Entertainment has teamed up with the festival organisers to release six of the titles that premiered there this year. According to Signature this forms Phase 1 of what is presumably a programme intended to provide us with further releases as well. So what did I think of this first batch? Well some are very good indeed and only one is not very good at all, which is a pretty good hit rate. Here is my personal ranking of the six, starting with the best and ending with the not best:

Pimped

       If Harold Pinter and David Lynch (or possibly Nicolas Winding Refn) decided to do a Robert Bloch-style psycho noir, the result could well be something like PIMPED. Bored Sarah (Ella Scott Lynch) goes out for a night on the town and meets Lewis (Benedict Samuel). Unknown to Sarah, Lewis procures girls for his socially dysfunctional rich friend Kenny (Robin Goldsworthy) to have sex with. Unknown to Lewis, Sarah has an imaginary friend who encourages her to kill. What happens when these individuals' two twisted worlds collide is explored with serious amounts of style in David Barker's feature debut. I wasn't expecting anything from this and I ended up loving it. The leads are extremely watchable and the ending is just right. One of the best of Frightfest 2018 and highly recommended. 

Secret Santa

        A Christmas family get-together degenerates rapidly into psycho loony murderous mayhem for reasons that eventually become explained in this utterly entertaining piece of daft splatter. Director Adam Marcus is best known for FRIDAY THE 13TH PART IX: JASON GOES TO HELL but this is much better and far more entertaining. The sharp script by Marcus and Debra Sullivan contains enough barbed wit to allow SECRET SANTA to be compared favourably to the best of John Waters. If the movies of Mr Waters, plus a healthy dose of splattery violence appeal then don't miss this. One of the bloodiest, craziest and most enjoyable films of Frightfest 2018 and an ideal Xmas treat for those who tend towards cynicism during the festive period.

Lifechanger

        In which we are witness to the life of our chatty (by voiceover) central character whose name we never learn. But then that's because he / she has the habit of stealing people's bodies (leaving the originals as dried out corpses) and living in them until they start to fall apart. Unfortunately that particular problem is starting to accelerate, meaning when the film starts the body switching is now almost on a daily basis. Also complicating matters is the fact that our lead is in love, and his / her repeated attempts to get together with the lady in question adds a satisfying complexity to this strange, original and thoughtful drama.

The Dark

        An even more serious offering is this, director Justin P Lange's feature debut that expands on his short film of the same name. Despite its often grim theme and scenes of bloodshed, there's something of fairy tale about THE DARK, featuring as it does two young leads and a myth about a beast living in the forest in which they find themselves being pursued. I'm being deliberately vague because this is a film that works best if you don't know too much about it going in, suffice to say that THE DARK features some excellent makeup effects, good performances and skilful direction that means Mr Lange is a talent to watch. 

Boar

        It's time for some giant animatronic monster pig on the loose fun with a cast of familiar genre faces. John Jarratt (WOLF CREEK & PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK) Bill Moseley (TCM 2, DEVIL'S REJECTS etc etc), Roger Ward (MAD MAX) and Steve Bisley (MAD MAX as well) are among the stars appearing in director Chris Sun's tale of a giant boar on the rampage in rural Australia. What could be smashing down fences and eating livestock? And locals? It soon turns out it's not the best time to go camping / drinking / having a family day out as the monster of the title has a field (sorry) day having a jolly old chomp. BOAR can't quite decide if it wants to treat its plot seriously or go full Joe Dante PIRANHA (my preferred option, of course) but you have to have time for any film where they've built a life-size gigantic pig for the action scenes rather than rely on too much CGI.

Fright Fest

        Or AMERICAN FRIGHT FEST as the title card would have it, presumably to distance itself from our dear old UK original. Here we have the mayor of a small American town proposing a novel way of generating income by turning the town's long-closed asylum into a horror amusement attraction 'directed'  by coke-addled horror has-been director Spencer Crowe (Dylan Walsh). On opening night what nobody (least of all the actors employed in the scary 'roles' as part of the attraction) realises is that earlier in the day Spencer caused an accident that resulted in the release of a couple of dangerous psychopathic criminals who are determined to become part of Fright Fest. Sound fun? Well it probably is but only if you're very very forgiving, because FRIGHT FEST is the only genuine dud in this batch of six films. Urgently in need of some of the electric shock therapy that gets dealt out in the movie, it's pretty bland and lifeless stuff that will have any but the least demanding horror fan looking at their watch by the thirty minute mark.

...and finally here are the proposed release dates for the movies. According to Signature this is when these movies will receive their 'Home Entertainment Release' which will presumably be VOD. I'll update this post with any additions or alterations as they are announced:

THE DARK - October 2018

SECRET SANTA - November 2018

LIFECHANGER - Early 2019

FRIGHT FEST - Early 2019

BOAR - no date yet

PIMPED - no date yet

Frightfest Day Five - Monday

The Field Guide to Evil

Oh dear oh dear. The latest anthology movie from Ant Timpson (THE ABCS OF DEATH) is feeble in the extreme, offering a snapshot of crappy short horror stories from around the world, all based on local myths and legends. Highlights are the one from India which manages a pleasingly disturbing vibe reminiscent of the fiction of Clark Ashton Smith, and Peter Strickland's final foot fetish fairytale segment. On the whole, though, there's a real lack of knowing when and how to end a story here. But at least now I know what a goat looks like on an IMAX screen. 


Possum

Follow seriously disturbed Sean Harris and his attempts to destroy the hideous spider puppet-thing he calls Possum. Does it really even exist? Does anyone else we meet in this? Or are we just in the lead character's head all the time? Bleak, grim, disturbing and very slow paced, some will think POSSUM is marvellously horrific (I certainly did) and others will hate it for the very same reasons. I don't, however, think I need to see it ever again. The story is like something from Ramsey Campbell and the visual style is a cross between Jose Larraz and 1970s public information films - all disquieting landscapes and horrible 1970s suburbia. Fans will be pleased to learn that Matthew Holness has plans for his next project to be even more grim and depressing.

The Golem

Lithuania 1649 and the plague is on the increase, but not in the small isolated Jewish village where Hanna (Hani Furstenberg) is busy studying the Kabbala when she should be busy having a child. When the neighbouring gentiles bring one of their plague-ridden number to be cured, and threaten to destroy the village when she isn't, it's time for Hanna to create the traditional creature of clay of the title to defend her home. But of course it doesn't all quite go to plan. A well-made film from the team who gave us JERUZALEM with probably the best music score of the festival, THE GOLEM feels mainstream enough to get a general release, and makes the planned JERUZALEM 2 an interesting prospect. 

Climax

THE CRAZIES goes to the disco...eventually. But first we have to put up with an awful lot of chit-chat, disco dancing and twirly Steadicam work before someone spikes the punch of a bunch of dancers and they all go mental. The final act of the movie lies somewhere between a thing of nightmare and someone down the local nightclub at 2am holding his video camera upside down. Not as shocking as it probably wanted to be and feeling as if it was probably shot in a couple of days Jess Franco-style, Gaspar Noe's film was nevertheless an interesting and very European way of ending the festival.

And that's it for another year! It was one of the best Frightfests for some time, with at least two brilliant films most days & I'm sure some of them will be appearing in my top ten round up at the end of the year. For now though...

...I'm not finished at all! Because Signature are launching their Frightfest Presents label, releasing some of the movies premiered at the festival. There are six planned for the first phase and none of them were part of my festival viewing. I have seen them, though, and they will make up my next set of Frightfest reviews which will be posted in a bit.