Sayonara Cinema

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VANISHING POINT (1971) Kowalski. He’s a man on the edge of society, who’s love affair with speed has landed him a job transporting cars from one city to another. His latest job is to deliver a white super-charged Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco. Although he has two days to deliver, he makes a double or nothing bet with his friend that he can do it in fifteen hours.

With a handful up uppers, Kowalski takes to the highways, and quickly becomes the target of the police. As he zips from Colorado to Nevada and into California, he ditches one state police armada for the next. With him in spirit, is the blind DJ Super Soul, who has picked up the story and taken to Kowalski’s cause. Super Soul sees him as the “last free American spirit”, and divulges information to Kowalski about the police on the air waves. Along his journey, Kowalski meets others like him on the fringes of America, trying to live out their lives and days as they see fit, and rallying to what very well may be Kowalski’s last run against the wind.

Much like EASY RIDER, VANISHING POINT remains in the minds of those that were around to see it upon its initial release as a document of a bygone time, of a world filled with order and chaos, where sometimes just trying to disappear is the only logical choice of action and the only side to choose was your own. Within Kowalski, played with a quiet intensity by Barry Newman, the viewer sees that the only side to choose that does not bring disappointment or heartbreak is your own, and that solitary is the only place where you can truly be free. During Kowalski’s drive, flashbacks flesh out his character, that shows him both on the side of law enforcement and the fading hippie counter-culture, and the disappointment he finds in both.

However, in the today’s age, VANISHING POINT remains as the best damn car chase film out there. Sure, there are films which have one or two intense chase scenes, BULLITT and THE FRENCH CONNECTION come to mind, and even the under-appreciated Charlie Sheen headliner THE CHASE and this year’s DEATH PROOF (which is more than just an homage to this film) that attempt to rival the throne, but for sheer fuel-injected excitement from beginning to end, VANISHING POINT arguably remains at the top. As to why no other film in over thirty-five years has taken the crown, it comes down to the brilliance of director Richard C. Sarafian who goes to great lengths to show the speed of the vehicles, and the risk the drivers are taking. And in what could very well be seen as a “fuck you” to all previous chase/racing movies, Sarafian’s opening chase sequence to set the pace of his movie would have easily been seen as the “final chase” of any other movie.

Beyond the multiple car chase sequences that make up this film, is the characters that inhabit the movie and what they each symbolize. If Kowalski’s almost dialogue-less character, who lives by a “action speaks louder than words” philosophy, than Super Soul is the yin to his yang, whose non-stop and energetic vocal broadcasting is what defines him. Super Soul is a blind DJ, who immediately recognizes the importance of what Kowalski is, even if Kowalski himself does not. Super Soul acts as both a spiritual guide for Kowalski’s lost soul and a narrator for the viewer, as he gives us clues to what makes Kowalski who he is, and also provides the soundtrack to the movie. The other important character that drifts into Kowalski’s world is motorcyclist Angel, who comes it at the end of the movie, who would have easily been accepted into the arms of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. His assistance in helping Kowalski can be seen as a passing of the torch from one hero of anti-establishment to the next. Angel has made his peace with the road, and now it is Kowalski’s time to make his.

Part of the charm and staying power of VANISHING POINT is its ability to transcend its own time. Although it remains as an important piece of early 70’s cinema and a document of the time, it’s general points about freedom of the individual are timeless, and each generation that follows can find undertones within the film they can interpret for their own rebellion. But VANISHING POINT can also just be one hell of an adrenaline rush, and said undertones are subtle enough that they do not weight down the ride. You can read as much as you want into Kowalski’s Challenger outrunning a police helicopter on an open stretch of desert highway, or you can just sit back in amazement at the real-time speed to took the stunt driver to pull off that feat. And that is the simplistic brilliance found within Malcolm Hart’s story and Guillermo Cain’s screenplay, and what keeps VANISHING POINT in the pole position of chase cinema.

Cru Jones is a small town high school student, obsessed with BMX riding, and spends every waking moment riding, perfecting tricks, and getting into mischief. When a corporate sponsorship decides that Helltrack - the ultimate BMX track - would be perfect for Cru’s small town atmosphere, Cru sees his chance to make something of himeslf. The sponsors decide to have a open invite for all the local racers, and the winner will get to ride with the professionals. Cru easily wins the open, but when the vile head of Helltrack realizes that Cru may actually win the race, instead of the star of Team Mongoose who previously was a shoe-in to win, Cru learns what happens when you become a wrench in the cog of a money making machine.

I’ve stared at a blank word document more times than I remember trying to figure out how to review this obscure gem. I’ve always wanted to write about it, but I’ve realized that I can not neatly fit it into what most of my long time readers will no doubt know as my “format” - a spoiler free synopsis followed by input on director, cast, writer, followed by a little bit on the genre said film is in, and then a quaint wrap up. Does anyone really care that Hal Needham directed this? That a pre-Full House Lori Loughlin is the romantic lead? How much blatent product placement is spread through the entire movie? And sadly, since this film is almost impossible to find as the VHS and laserdisc are long out of print and the red tape trying to figure out who the hell owns the now bankrupt Embassy will ensure this never sees DVD, anyone who even wants to see it won’t be able to. So instead, you get a passionate and nigh obsessive story about me and my relationship with this movie.

Now, when I was a kid I had a babysitter who lived across the street and had RAD on video. Every time she came over, my brother and I required that she bring this movie and Super Mario Bros 2 for the Nintendo, which she had to beat. I absolutely loved this movie, and as kid it probably ranked higher than STAR WARS, GOONIES or TOP GUN as most frequently watched movie. And that is saying a lot. I loved watching all the riders performing their tricks, especially the opening and closing title sequences featuring silhouetted bikers on a dusk lit road. The characters were clearly defined as good and bad, and it was a blast just waiting for the first shot of the Helltrack race, as twenty bikes drop down and impossibly steep ramp. And I just knew, I just knew, that Cru would win the race in the end. And he always did!

I had a BMX at the time, a low-grade model that specifically had a sticker on it saying it was not meant for ramp use. After seeing RAD for the first time, the following day I took a screwdriver and completely removed the front brakes on the bike, so I could freely spin the handle bars like I saw in the movie. But instead of pulling off the move, all I got was a face full of gravel. Ramps proved just a fruitless, and back then with helmets being mildly “recommended” rather than the requirements they are today, you can guess a few headaches were roundly received. I never did get any BMX skills under my belt. Hell, I never even figured out how to bunny hop. But every time I got on that bike, I was Cru Jones. Real Life’s “Send Me An Angel” hummed through my head. I was convinced I would meet a girl also riding her bike. Every ditch and bump, every small downward slope was part of Helltrack.

Cut to 2000. DVD is still in its early growth, and I have had a mission for the past five years - to get a copy of RAD and EWOKS: THE BATTLE FOR ENDOR for my very own. Frustrated that they hadn’t been released yet on DVD (why wouldn’t they?! I kept asking) I was about to give up hope. Then, as if handed the Holy Grail itself, my friend informed me that a video store was going out of business and he had seen RAD there. The fact that I was at work didn’t stop me. And with a “I’ll be back in an hour or two” I was off like a shot in my teal green 1993 Chevy Beretta (with matching teal hubcaps no less) to the promised land. Twenty-five minutes and six dollars later, I had not one, but both VHS I had been searching for in my hands! Three dollars a piece and they were all mine! That night I sat down with my roommate and we watched RAD. I was nine years old again, and I loved every minute. My quest was complete.

I sold the RAD tape on Half.com for fifty-five bucks later that year, as I school finances to pay. It was a very tough, but sadly necessary decision (BATTLE FOR ENDER, by the way, went for twenty-three). Soon after, I picked up a less-than-reputable laserdisc-to-DVD transfer, which sits on my shelf to this day smiling as happy as a kid whose just taken the training wheels off a bicycle for the first time. There will never be a quality DVD with a widescreen transfer. There will never be a commentary by Hal Needham with the cast and crew. There will never be a lame, photoshopped cover featuring Lori Loughlin’s head instead of the awesome original poster. There will never be a “where are they now?” documentary, or a featurette on the BMX fad. And in a way, that is how it should be.

EL TOPO (1970) In the desolate and barren desert wastelands, roams El Topo, a wild gunslinger, clad exclusively in black, and assisted by his seven-year-old and completely nude boy apprentice. When he comes into a village being ravaged by a ruthless and savage group of bandits, El Topo instinctively saves the village, and meets Mara. For saving her, Mara throws herself to El Topo. El Topo leaves the boy with the villages remaining monks, and heads off with Mara. Mara tells El Topo that the only way she will love him, is if he finds the four master gunfighters in the desert and defeats them.

Though no easy task, El Topo eventually finds the four gunfighters, but in the end is betrayed by Mara and left for dead. When El Topo finally awakens back to consciousness, he finds that untold years have passed, and that he is in the care of a deformed and inbred horde that is forced to live inside a mountain. The only way out is through a tiny hole at the very top of the mountain. El Topo sets out to create a surface level tunnel, so that all of the clan may leave and live in the nearby town, unaware that this is the worst decision he will ever make.

Forget THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, this is the original, the unbeatable, and the pinnacle of the “midnight movie” Thrust upon the United States and the world when John Lennon and Yoko Ono saw Alejandro Jodorwsky’s underground film and persuaded a friend to distribute it worldwide, EL TOPO took audiences unaware, became a jewel in the crown of film critics, and soon became a must-see in the early seventies.

EL TOPO is a hallucinogenic western that is difficult to follow, challenging to decipher, and filled with cryptic symbols and spiritual overtones that will have the movie mulling in afterthought long after the credits have rolled. However, the film does have a clue to help interpret El Topo’s journey, which is found in the powerful and simple narrative opening - “The mole [which translates to el topo in Spanish] digs tunnels under the earth, looking for the sun. Sometimes he gets to the surface. When he sees the sun, he is blinded.” Jodorowsky, who also wrote the screenplay and stars as El Topo, uses this short speech as an allegory over and over again, sometimes via metaphor and sometimes literal, thorough out the movie. It is the constant the keeps the film’s themes going, and with it the rest of the clues to understanding will fall into place.

Jodorowsky’s tale is that of a spiritual journey, of a man who is in search of something to make his life feel complete. As such, religious symbols and mystical elements play an important part of the film. Most of the film centers around Christian fixtures - including the cross, monks, mass, prayer, and divine faith. The film is divided into chapters named after books of the Bible, and El Topo is even crucified in a most unique way at one point. However, it is never quite clarified that El Topo is in fact searching for the Christian God, as the film also works in The All Seeing Eye (an eye inside a triangle, similar to the one a dollar bill), the element of fire, and meditation.

EL TOPO truly takes full advantage of film as a visual medium. Jodorowsky fills the screen with wild scenes of bloodshed and death, sex that is hedonistic, violent, sensual and taboo, visually arresting characters, the most memorable being an armless man with a legless man strapped to his back holding a gun. He sets out to shock with imagery that is designed to trigger an emotional response in all but the most soulless viewers. Jodorowsky also casts a spell over the entire film with his camerawork and editing, as he blurs reality to the point that what is on screen could very well be reality, a character’s imagination, a vision of the future, or an aid to define the theme of the current sequence.

As mentioned before, EL TOPO is a very difficult piece of cinema to watch, but do not succumb to frustration so easily. Part of the wonderment of the film is its ability to mean multiple things as once, and to be seen by people in different ways depending on what they bring into the movie as a viewer. In that sense, the viewer goes on very much the same journey that El Topo does. And what you take out of the viewing may very well be a reminder and definition of just who you are. To that end, EL TOPO is more like a motion painting rather than a motion picture, and a piece of artwork that is worthy of the utmost respect.

THE WOODS (2006) Heather is a rebellious teen who has been brought to an isolated all-girls school deep within an old forest in an attempt for her to learn some control over herself. Heather is none too keen on the idea, and attempts to worm her way out of it, but to no avail. She meets the headmistress Ms. Traverse, befriends shy Marcy, and likewise becomes the object of torment by the school’s alpha student, Samantha. On her first night sleeping there, Heather has a horrific nightmare, as she has visions of the surrounding woods and begins to hear voices. And though no one will come out and say it, Heather feels an aura of the supernatural lingering around the school as days turn to weeks. When a student goes missing, and Heather learns of the legend of the school, she begins to suspect that there might be some truth behind it. As her intuitive nature leads her on, Heather comes to realize that school may in fact be run by a sisterhood of witches.

Lucky McKee quickly followed up his 2002 sleeper horror hit MAY with this supernatural ode to witchcraft, sisterhood, and rebellion. However, as McKee’s film is drenched in a European-styled slow building suspense and filled with three-dimensional fleshed out characters, rather than the long haired ghosts and torture chambers, fans had to wait almost three years for his film to be quietly ushered onto DVD. It is quite a shame, as McKee’s film seems an attempt to bring back into the horror spotlight a more lyrical and dreamlike tempo which has been widely absent from modern American screens, and has more than a passing resemblance and paid respect to SUSPIRIA.

Within cinema and before that in storytelling reaching back into Shakespeare’s MacBeth and beyond, the woods and forests have always been a source of the unknown, of horrors untold, of mysteries waiting to unfold, of spooks and spectres, witches and warlocks. In modern days, forests have housed unstoppable killers and unseen evil forces. McKee taps into this subconscious fear of the woods quite aptly here, sending his characters into the underbrush both in day and night, and allowing his camera to idle through the shadows and silhouettes of the treetops. The effect is both hauntingly calming and frightening. McKee even goes so far as to bring in Bruce Campbell in a supporting role, and actor who will always be synonymous with haunted forests, to ratchet up the filmviewer’s embedded terror of what lurks beyond the tree line.

David Ross, who makes his writing debut here, makes a stylistic choice to set his tale in 1965. This decision gives the film a unique twist on the story as it plays out. Given the year and the isolation of the school, the setting has a very natural and earthy feel to it. Technology is given very little screen time, and much of that is during Heather’s car ride in. The classrooms, and especially the dormitory, doesn’t look like they have been updated in the one-hundred plus years of the school’s operation, and give the setting more of a haunted castle aura than that of a learning institution. Second, is the dawn of rebellion that was blossoming in the mid-60’s youth, and the distrust for all authority. This subtext plays a crucial part of Heather’s being, and adds texture to her anti-authoritarian stance against both the teachers and her parents.

Ross also takes his time to give depth to his supporting cast. He keeps the horror and suspense subdued through most of the first hour, limiting it to a few nightmares of Heather’s, and a fantastically paced goose bump covered ghost story that one of the students tells as to explain what lies in wait in the woods and its connection to the history of the school. But when he unleashed the woods in the final act, they are more terrifying and lifelike than ever before seen. Though most of the gripping, thrashing, and constricting plant life is CGI, it is wonderfully brought to the screen and meshes with the physical set and actors, serving to enhance rather than distract. And when Heather finally gets a hold of an axe, it brings forth a quick and satisfying bloodletting that plays not only for shock, but as a logical conclusion to the story that is multiple layers thick.

Just as the extreme and graphic horror of the last few years was a backlash against the watered-down “near beer” horror, so too does it seem that character driven horror seems to be clawing at the throats of the James Wans and Eli Roths over the past year or so. And though THE WOODS did not get the widespread initial recognition it should have, perhaps it be looked back upon fondly as a forebearer of what is soon to come. Or it may just have to sit and wait patiently on the rental rack, waiting for the next unsuspecting soul to get too close, so that THE WOODS may grab its next victim.

DEATH WISH (1974) Amongst the rampant crime rates, countless poor and piling trash, meek Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) makes it day by day working for a housing development company and spending time with his loving wife. His peaceful life is destroyed though, when a gang of hoods breaks into his home and attacks his wife and visiting daughter. After the attack, Paul attempts to hang on to his life by keeping busy and constantly checking on his daughter’s health. When the police are unable to apprehend the unknown criminals, Paul finds his thoughts turning to vengeance.

Taking to the streets at night, Paul sets himself up time and time again as easy prey for would-be muggers. But when the muggers make their move, Paul instead pulls his hidden gun and kills the muggers. His actions quickly spread through tabloids and he becomes a media sensation. The police begin a citywide manhunt for the vigilante, hoping to stop him from killing again, before the entire city populous churns into a murderous frenzy in the name of self defense.

Based on the book of the same name, DEATH WISH takes a very harsh and real look at what drives a man to turn to vigilantism as a way to cope with pain, loss, and a sense of helplessness. Director Michael Winner spends over half the movie building up Paul Kersey before letting him lose into the streets. Before Paul turns to the gun, he tries using the cops, turns to escapism as he flies to Tucson for a business trip, and even to the bottle. It is only when all else fails, and he sees his family crumble away forever that he finally loads his revolver.

The film itself, though running just over ninety minutes, tries to encompass a rounded view of vigilantism and how people cope as victims of crime. Paul’s daughter runs from her pain within herself, and eventually becomes catatonic. Paul’s son-in-law offers a cowardly “cut and run” excuse. The mayor even get a piece of the action when he secretly learns that mugging rates have gone down significantly during Paul’s midnight outings. The police are even reluctant to arrest him, partially due to not wanting to create a martyr, and more so because they secretly admire what he is doing.

Charles Bronson, in arguably his greatest role, which would also typecast him for the rest of life, brings a depth and pain to the screen that is heartbreaking to watch unfold even when he finds solace in the gun. It is perhaps even more painful after he resorts to the gun. It is a slow transformation, taking almost thirty minutes, and incorporates not just an emotional range that allows the viewer to gain a true understanding and compassion for him, but takes the time to explain both his hesitation and proficiency with firearms. Bronson, though not quite the everyman as originally written in the book due to his stocky frame, is given weaknesses such as glasses to differentiate him from the more rugged Bronson characters in THE DIRTY DOZEN and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. It is no mistake though that he is given a six-shooter, as he takes down the lawless thieves one by one like a gunslinger in the wild west.

The landscape that Michael Winner paints of New York is a frightening image, still to this day. Upon its theatrical release, it must have been a shocking sight for both urban viewers, and even more horrific to suburbia to witness what had be fallen the Greatest City On Earth. Winner pulls no punches here as he takes his time to paint the small details in his concrete jungle. His attack sequence in the apartment, a vital element to the story, is portrayed with an especially visceral touch as he shows the true and very real evil that lurks the streets. Taken as a period piece today, it is among the top films of its time to give an honest portrayal of just what New York City was like in one of its darkest times, and should prove as a warning of history repeating itself, should crime once again take a vice-like grip on the Big Apple.

DEATH WISH still elicits the same gut emotional reactions now as it did over thirty years ago, and is still a top contender in the vigilante subgenre due to the time it takes to hone the main character into an all too believable person in an all too real situation. He is flesh and blood and not invincible, and Winner takes time to show us that as well. It also remains relevant even in today’s debates and conversations, as it brings up universal thoughts and conflicting opinions on how to deal with crime, criminals, and punishment. No one would ever want to be in Paul Kersey’s shoes, but deep down inside us all, there is a part that would all too willingly lace up those shoes and walk the shadowed sidewalks if need be.

CANNIBAL FLESH RIOT (2006) Stash and Hub are two ghouls, who roam graveyards at night looking for the freshly buried corpses to dig back up and chow down on. These two, who bicker and argue like a married couple and are more friends due to circumstance, have chosen tonight to feast on the recently deceased Mr. Hickle. As they make their way through the patchwork of tombstones looking for the plot, they make idle chat. But when Stash and Hub finally come to their destination, they soon discover that some cemeteries aren’t too keen on letting their permanent residents be taken away as a late night snack!

While the current trend in horror has been to cull through 70’s shock cinema, writer and director Gris Grimly goes back to the spooky and gothic low-budget flicks of the 50’s and even the 30’s to bring his twisted and comical tale to life. The movie, while shot on video, is put through the “grindhouse” wringer to give it a wonderful and inviting feel. Through post-production work, the black and white film is laced with scratches and dirt specks and frames are purposefully removed to give the film a jittery motion. Grimly incorporates the classic yet underused iris shutter to fade out and into one scene to the next, cue cards to move along the narrative, and even Tex Avery style sound effects to give a cartoonish tone to the rather morbid material.

Grimly further takes this stylized approach with both his set decoration and camera work. The graveyard is littered with oddly shaped tombstones with even stranger fonts marking the grave’s occupant. The graveyard is also inhabited by comical bats brought to life by string and more rolling fog than even John Carpenter would have the nerve to use. Grimly’s camera is often off-set at an acute angle, and uses fish eye lenses to give a twisted and warped view into the fiend-filled world.

The protagonists here, Stash and Hub, take their comical appearances from Laurel and Hardy, after of course being given a greasy southern gas station attendant overhaul. The pair even look like they could’ve just walked off a Cramps record album. Grimly’s rotted humor shines magnificently through the pairs’ dialog, as much of the film is just them wandering through the PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE inspired graveyard talking with one another. And just what do two ghouls who’ve been creeping around for decade discuss? Well, Stash speaks of the culinary variety that can be had with a finely carved corpse, especially with the almost limitless amounts of spices and condiments available in the world. Hub meanwhile, seems fixated on commercials that present anthropomorphic food like the California Raisins to make the product more appealing.

Rounding out the fiendish short film is a musical score by Peter Sandorff of Nekromantix and Denmark’s Hola Ghost, which further cements this movie as being a psychobilly’s ultimate wet dream. Gris Grimly has set up massively cool project here, which will be sure to please fans of horrific 1930’s creepers and grim 1950’s horror. CANNIBAL FLESH RIOT is currently making the festival rounds, with a full package DVD release planned for July.

www.cannibalfleshriot.com

NIGHT OF THE HELL HAMSTERS (2006) On a dark and stormy night, Karl arrives at the house where his girlfriend Julie is babysitting. When Julie discovers that Karl has forgotten the Ouija board he promised to bring, she simply makes a makeshift board out of an alphabet puzzle, a shot glass, and a drop of Karl’s blood. Karl calls upon a spirit with what he believes to be a made-up nonsense name. Unfortunately for Karl, his choice brings about a demonic force that possesses the family hamsters, and turns them into blood-thirsty critters with glowing eyes and a mischievous laugh. Karl is quickly taken out of commission, and Julie must take up the mantle of “final girl” if she is to survive the razor-sharp incisors of the hellish housepets!

In this ridiculously fantastic splatstick short film, first time director Paul Campion (whose visual effects resume includes work on LORD OF THE RINGS and SIN CITY) pulls out all the stops to weave elements of THE EVIL DEAD 2, THE BIRDS, GREMLINS, and especially the brief “killer rabbit” scene in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, all while taking production cues out of the official Ed Wood Jr. playbook. He even gets a little character development out of his actors before drenching them in red food colored karo syrup.

Now, Paul O’Neill and Stephanie Ratcliff to a fine job in their roles here, but it is the hamsters who obviously are the objects of affection in this little production. Post-possession, the real hamsters are replaced with obvious furry fakes, who are animated by easily visible fishing line and the puppeteering abilities of O’Neill and Ratcliff as they wrestle with the critters. These little furballs are not without a sense of humor either, as they laugh at Julie as she stumbles around trying to find them, or are compelled to roll around in a hamster ball before going in for the kill.

Minute for minute, HELL HAMSTERS holds up on the gore-o-meter with the likes of Sam Rami’s DEAD trilogy and Peter Jackson’s early film entries, as fingers are bitten off, hamsters are squashed and decapitated, and poor Julie gets a hemoglobin facial that would make Ron Jeremy or Peter North envious.

Campion has a winner on his hands here which has been making the festival rounds for eager fans waiting to get a glimpse at the madness he has built up. This will hopefully lead to more good ol’ fashioned splatterrific fun or even a feature length redux of this short film. Hopefully this will find its way onto a short film compilation. This needs to be seen and lauded, as there are not very many things out there that only last fifteen minutes which are more enjoyable than…. NIGHT OF THE HELL HAMSTERS!

http://www.nightofthehellhamsters.com/

BRAINSCAN (1994) Michael (Edward Fulong) is the high school weirdo, a horror and video game fanatic who spend his time dwelling in his bedroom reading Fangoria and spying on the girl next door. When he receives a new video game in the mail, Brainscan, he is dubious of the game’s claim that it is the ultimate in fear. The game, and interactive CD-Rom that you play in your subconscious while hypnotized, forces you to act and think like a killer. After Michael plays the game, in which he murders a strange for no apparent reason, he discovers that someone in his neighborhood was killed in the exact same way. It is then that Trickster, a punked-out digital demon, literally emerges from the monitor to explain to Michael just what he has gotten himself into. Trickster acts as mentor, tormentor, and guide for Michael, as he pushes him to continue to play the game, and thus commit more murders. An out of town detective, Hayden (Frank Langella), is on the case of the murders though, and his intuition is pointing straight at Michael. To survive, Michael must play, but at what cost to him humanity and sanity?

It is 1994. Freddy is dead, Jason is in Hell, Michael hasn’t been seen in Haddonfield in over five years. The corporate world of horror needs a new gimmick-driven character. Enter Trickster, brought to the screen by complete unknown and eager-to-please T. Ryder Smith. This glammed-out, video game playing, alternative rock loving, quick-witted fiend is the perfect boardroom created hybrid for the early teen crowd to champion as their new hero. And in a time when interactive gaming and virtual reality was just getting off the ground, what better way to win his way in hearts of the youth than as some demented master of ceremonies to a deadly digital game of life and death? I guess someone forgot to mention that movies based on games (SUPER MARIO BROS) don’t do so well, and movies about people playing games (THE WIZARD) fare even worse! And as for video game playing bad guys (Freddy’s “power glove” antics), well lets not speak ill of the departed.

Eddie Furlong, sorry Edward Furlong, once again glooms and dooms across the screen hoping to keep some form of name recognition. After becoming the idol of many as the master of a Terminator, he quickly tried the patience of his fans with PET SEMATARY 2, and used up what little he had left as he voice-cracks along here. Granted, he has the perfect appearance for a character such as Michael, which is the best thing he has going for this flick. Frank Langella, who brings an air of professional acting to the otherwise fairly inexperienced and young cast, uses his steely gaze and distinct voice brings to command each scene he is in. Even when he is supposed to be playing a good guy, Langella’s unique screen presence still slants him toward evil. His omnipresent force against Michael, as well as being one of the few adult characters of importance, also sets up an underlying rebel-against-authority undertone.

Director John Flynn, whose multi-decade career has skirted along creating the lesser known flicks of Hollywood’s action mainstays, brings a professional eye to the production, but whose age serves as a detractor against the youth/pop-culture oriented script with a specific target audience in mind. His camera pans constantly across Michael’s stuff, including Fangoria, comic books, and horror posters. Every bedroom in movie has multiple Aerosmith and Metallica posters. Trickster energetically blasts Primus during his introduction scene. Flynn is just trying way to hard here to say “look, these characters like what you like. Associate with them!” And sadly, his coup-de-grace being his loving homage to the giallo genre during Michael’s POV murder using a knife while wearing black gloves probably went over everyone’s head during the film’s theatrical run. The script also treads into some “thinking” territory as it attempts to make a half-hearted discussion about how horror movies are just entertainment and escapism, which for a flick like this is just preaching to the choir, and again serves to only make the viewer associate with the character through like-minded beliefs.

BRAINSCAN has not aged well since its release. The laughably ludicrous and impossible gaming set-up still stings real gamers today as much as it did then, the infantile computer generated images are blatantly obvious and offer a glimpse of a latexless horror future to come, the insulting ending is a slap in the face cop-out, and the “I hope this makes money so there can be a sequel” coda reeks of marketing influence. Like flannel and tribal heavy metal necklaces, some movies are better left in the early nineties, where a fuzzy recollection can remember a one time cable TV viewing of this movie in a much more favorable light.

THE LAST SUPPER (2005) Doctor Yuji Kotorida is a charming and chanting plastic surgeon, who is known as “God’s hand” for his work he does on celebrities, and has recently been the subject of a TV expose. The expose coincidently enough, is even done by Saki, a former patient of his. But life wasn’t always grand for Yuji. At one time, he was an awkward and introverted student, taken in at his current job as a lowly assistant. But one night, when he took home a small pouch of a woman’s recently removed fat and cooked it up to eat, he felt something he had never felt before. He felt fulfilled.

Yuji quickly graduated to the eating the flesh of a woman, when he discovers a housewife in the woods who had recently hung herself. Yuji, using his expertise with a knife, creates meal sized portions and makes sure to eat part of her every night. His personality change to the suave gentleman he currently is grabs the attention of all the staff, who become infatuated with him. On a journey to Hong Kong for a convention, he discovers he is not alone, when he is drawn into a secret dinner society that dine on freshly killed women. Back home, Yuji takes Saki up on a dinner invitation, and breaks his rule about seeing patients. With his hunger growing more ravenous by the day, he must decide if Saki will become his guest of honor at dinner.

Snuggly planted deep between THE UNTOLD STORY and HANNIBAL, writer/director Osamu Fukutani adapts the book by Kei Oishi that some called “unfilmable.” Here, a sensuous and almost erotic element is added to the cannibal genre, that save for Thomas Harris’ novels and subsequent films, is usually regarded for its outrageous gore and exploitative traits. But don’t let the way that Yuji sees his cannibalistic ways - he sees his daily meals as the equivalent of having intercourse once a day - fool you. There is some grotesque and stomach churning violence here. Though the actual killings by decapitation are somewhat hokey, the dismemberment of the bodies are anything but. Fukutani’s dedication to realism here verges on material that would be at home in the GUINEA PIG series. Fukutani’s use of sound effects, especially the squishy sounds of entrails and the grinding of the bone saws, are down right hair raising.

There is also an element of humor found here. Granted, this is the darkest kind of humor that only coroners and crime scene investigators laugh at to keep from going insane, but it is there. The finest example is when Yuji on several occasions tells his soon to be victim that he wants to eat them. This is at the height of a sensual massage, and while Yuji is thinking one thing, his female companion is thinking something quite different. Several guests at Yuji’s apartment are also treated to his “special meat”. These scenes, which feature close up shots of his cooking and shows off the masterful presentation of the finished dish, are some of the best sequences in the film. The way that Fukutani sets up these scenes may have vegetarians in the audience particularly glad for the culinary choices, but carnivores watching may find themselves oddly attracted to the idea of sampling the forbidden.

As with any film that is essentially a single character study, the actor filling Yuji’s shoes has a great responsibility to carry the story. Masaya Kato, does a quite believable job as Yuji. Even as he performs the most inhuman and unspeakable crimes of modern society, he comes off as sympathetic and charming. The fact that his kills are instantaneous and without malice make the character more easy to stomach. He does not give off any sense of hatred toward woman. Quite the opposite, Yuji’s happiness and content as he dines is almost a salute to women, though in a most garish and twisted way. He feels empty and incomplete without a woman.

Though the climax of the film gets a bit out of hand, it seems out of character for the Yuji we have grown to know during the movie. This may be partially to blame for its transition from book to screen, which must condense the storyline to fit into a reasonable timeframe, and thus loses part of the evolution of Yuji. It is a little over the top, and comes too quick to fully enjoy as the main course it should be, as if the film needed to be over at that exact moment. It does however include a most satisfying brief scene that brings Fukutani’s power of suggestion to a delicious crescendo that will make you want to want to cook your own food for the rest of your life.