The other day, I was asked if I preferred zombie movies or vampire movies. Though I don't consider myself especially fond of the bloodsucker genre, I had to answer “Vampires.” The truth is, I'm pretty sick of zombies and have been for quite some time. Vampires are more versatile. A vampire movie can be about almost anything. The majority of zombie movies, however, are survival situations. Despite the fact that I'm pretty burnt out on undead flesh-eaters, new takes still arrive with some frequency. This year, “Blood Quantum” appeared on Shudder to considerable critical praise, supposedly offering a fresh reinterpretation of the zombie movie.
The time is the early 1980s and the place is the Red Crow Indian Reservation in Northern Quebec. The Sheriff on the Reservation, Traylor, notices some strange things happening: Like dead animals seemingly returning to life. This is the day the dead rise and begin to kill and eat the living.. Six months after the zombie uprising begins, the Reservation has become a barricaded fortress. People with indigenous blood are, for mysterious reasons, immune to the virus. Traylor and his father, Gisigu, try to main a peaceful balance. His youngest son, Joss, is fearful for his pregnant, Caucasian girlfriend. Traylor oldest son, Lysol, is more hostile to the white survivors that come to their walls every day. He soon betrays the Reservation and lets the undead inside the walls.
What's most frustrating about “Blood Quantum” is that it has a lot of really cool ideas but frequently stops just short of fully utilizing them. Near the end, Gisigu makes a last stand, wielding a katana against an on-coming wave of “zeds.” A tribal war song blares on the soundtrack. We get the very start of what should've been an amazing action sequence but then the film cuts away. Clever gore gags, like a zombie dangling upside down by its intestines, happen in the margins of the scene. The film frequently sidelines its most interesting characters, Traylor and his bad-ass dad, in favor of the milquetoast Joss. When an interesting new survivor, named Lilith, is introduced, she's immediately zombified by her next scene. A lot of “Blood Quantum” is like that, touching upon exciting concepts before diverting its attention elsewhere.
“Blood Quantum” is also sometimes badly hampered by a desire to be edgy. Animated inserts add nothing to the film. Bursts of extreme gore, like a munched-on fetus or the aforementioned castration, feel self-consciously in-your-face. As do “cool” touches, such as the white mask we see on the poster or a few shout-outs to Tarantino. “Blood Quantum” does prove there's still some blood left in the zombie movie, that there are still new angles and ideas to exploit here. At the same time, the film is frustrating. The cast is strong, the effects are good, new ideas are present, and the intensity is there. Yet writer/director Jeff Barnaby feels pulled between wanting to do something new and respecting the expectations of the genre. I'm forced to give “Blood Quantum” one of my less enthusiastic [7/10] ratings.
In addition to collecting DVDs, Blu-Rays, and movie-related action figures, I also collect movie posters. Truthfully, original theatrical one-sheets may be the most addictive of all. Once you buy one, it's very easy to start buying more. I think of them as little art pieces and now officially have more posters than I do wall space to display them. At times, I'll often find myself buying a poster just because I love the way it looks, even if I don't like the film or have never even seen it. Take, for example, “Eyes of Laura Mars.” Though I'm aware of the movie, especially in reference to it being an early screenwriting credit for John Carpenter, I've never watched it. But I own the poster, because it's fucking cool looking. This October, I decided to see if the movie matched up to that artwork.
Laura Mars is a wildly successful fashion photographer, though the way her work combines sex appeal and violence has made her controversial. While preparing her new book of photos, she begins to have psychic flashes of violent crimes. As if she's looking through the eyes of the killer as they strike. More concerning, the murders are actually happening... And it's Laura's friends and professional colleagues being targeted. Police lieutenant John Neville is designated with protecting her. The two end up falling in love. Even this does not keep Laura from fearing that her life is in danger, that the killer is closing in on her with every vision she has.
“Eyes of Laura Mars” is a movie about New York City in the seventies, made in New York City in the seventies. Which lends it a certain charm. The smoky streets, crowded traffic, and dingy back-allies all add an appealing atmosphere of sleaze to the proceedings. The multiple scenes devoted to models preparing for photo-shoots, while disco music plays, further emphasize the time and place. The sweaty, potentially coked-up supporting performances from Brad Dourif, René Auberjonoi, and Raúl Juliá – as a Brooklyn cab driver/ex-con, a flamboyant homosexual, and Mars' alcoholic ex-husband – certainly aid this particular atmosphere. But I wanted more. “Eyes of Laura Mars” comes close to satisfying that itch for grindhouse sleaze but is also held back by a prudish attitude. The movie is too classy to be trash but too trashy to be class.
In its first half, “Eyes of Laura Mars” focuses a lot on the violent element of Mars' photos. While the film is certainly trying to say something about voyeurism and pop culture's obsession with killing beautiful things, Mars' utterly passive role keeps a coherent point from forming. The bullshit plot twist that reveals the killer also robs the movie of any deeper meaning. John Carpenter would later state that his script was “shat upon.” Aside from the P.O.V. shots of the killer, there's nothing much linking this to Carpenter's style. “Eyes of Laura Mars” needed to commit to its themes of violence-in-the-media or needed to totally abandon substance in favor of cheap thrills. Instead, the movie indecisively floats between both axis, satisfying no one. A shrieking lead performance and unconvincing love story further marks this one as a dud. But the poster is still really cool. Nobody can take that away from it. [5/10]
"The Twilight Zone" has been rebooted three times but you'll be forgiven for not realizing that. The eighties version attracted a cult-following, largely thanks to the impressive list of directors that worked on. The latest iteration received a much-hyped premiere last year, further elevated by the presence of superstar filmmaker Jordan Peele. The 2002 "Zone," meanwhile, came and went without much attention. It aired on UPN – hardly the most popular network – for 22 hour installments, each composed of two half-hour segments. Forest Whittaker was drafted as host, a truly random choice. It had an obnoxious nu-metal version of the theme song. I watched it for a while as a teen but was soon driven off by the mediocre writing. Save for a few episodes remaking or sequelizing installments from the original, 2002's "The Twilight Zone" is almost totally forgotten.
I, however, enjoy being thorough so I knew I had to include an episode. And most pointed towards "The Placebo Effect" as being one of the few notable episodes from this "Zone." The installment revolves around hypochondriac Harry Radditch. He arrives at a clinic absolutely terrified, where his very patient doctor, Dr. Coburn, is prepared to humor him. But, this time, something is actually wrong with Harry. He's bleeding from his eyes and his body is covered with large sores. He soon confides that the disease is one he read about in a sci-fi novel, a fictional virus, that he's somehow caught. Despite the insanity of that, the deadly pandemic quickly begins to spread. How is Dr. Coburn expected to treat a sickness that doesn't even exist?
For two years, the Dissolve was home to some of the best film writing on the Internet. Now, insightful film websites like Bright Wall/Dark Room and Little White Lies survive on a subscription model but, in 2015, the Dissolve was forced to sustain itself on meager advertising revenue. The spirit of the Dissolve lives on through a wonderful Facebook community but I still find myself re-reading columns from the original site. One reoccurring feature was Short Cuts, devoted to highlighting short films from across the Internet. During October, Short Cuts naturally focused on horror. This October, I decided to catch up with some of the shorts recommended by that feature.
“Run” comes from British filmmaker Mat Johns. It follows Simon, an American drifter in the U.K. He mentally dictates a letter to his Mom while the audience sees his transitory existence. He meets a nice college couple, who invite him back to their flat to spend the night. As “Run” goes on, we learn more about why Simon is on the run. He has a very gruesome hobby, which Johns brutally depicts while cutting back to the pleasant evening with his new friends Simon had the night before.
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