Halloween 2021: September 21st

The Forever Purge (2021)

When I watched my way through “The Purge” movies a few years back, I observed that each entry in the series was a little better than the one before it. The original “Purge” was pretty mediocre, with steady improvements in the second and third entry. The prequel “The First Purge” was actually quite good, the first one of these I liked with few concessions. This gave me hope that the inevitable fifth “Purge” would be even better. Which made me a little disappointed that the latest film was announced to be the concluding chapter in the franchise. Why end it now? It was just getting good! Nevertheless, upon release this past summer, “The Forever Purge” did seem to bring the long-running series to something like a definite end.

“The Forever Purge” begins with a plot point that might've seemed ridiculous four years ago but now feels grimly plausible. Eight years after the New Founding Fathers were voted out of office and the Purge outlawed, the radically conservative government is voted back into office. The first thing they do is reinstate the yearly tradition of one night of legal crime. In a Texas border town, a group of locals – illegal immigrants Adela and Juan, rich rancher Dylan Tucker and his pregnant wife and sister – hold up to survive the night. Yet the next day, the chaos does not end. White supremacist terrorist cells within the U.S. have decided that the Purge will continue indefinitely. Adela, Juan, and the Tuckers attempt to fight their way into Mexico, as the NFFA declares martial law to control the violence.

It says a lot about the last five years that “The Purge” began as cartoonishly implausible dystopian sci-fi and now functions as an only slightly exaggerated distortion of the America we now live in. “The Forever Purge” is one of the many movies that were delayed because of COVID. Which means there was no way the filmmakers were intentionally referencing the January 6th attempted coup. And yet the film features a nation-wide sect of right-wing conspiracy theorists and heavily armed white supremacists attempting to overturn the government, to keep America “pure.” I guess it doesn't take a prophet to guess that, by stoking the flames of racism and nationalism, the Republican party let loose a genie that can't easily go back into its bottle. Yet it's still pretty eerie to see a trashy horror movie get so uncomfortably close to reality.

This raises another question: In a post-Trump America, what purpose does a film like “The Forever Purge” serve? A movie about right-wing militias waging a race war barely qualifies as speculative fiction at this point. How does this film comment on this idea, besides presenting the basic fact that these groups undeniably exist in America? The attempted moral – that the mildly racist Tucker patriarch learns to trust his Mexican employees – is sappy “racism would end if people just got to know each other” didactism. The irony of white Americans becoming refugees in Mexico, of Tucker's wife birthing an “anchor baby” across the border, is barely referenced. Mostly, I felt like the movie was just exposing me to a grisly worst-case-scenario that feels way too plausible these days. Pointing out that something exists, especially when you can read all about it on the internet at any point, doesn't count as social commentary. 

Then there's the question of whether presenting real life horrors, like white supremacy and civil war, in the context of a popcorn horror movie is tasteless or not. As is typical of the series, the horror shenanigans in “The Forever Purge” are actually pretty silly. There's jump scares, murderers in bunny costumes, and an elaborate trap involving a goat in a cage. A walk through a movie theater, playing “Dracula” and decorated with Universal Monsters memorabilia, feels like a Halloween Horror Nights Maze put to film. Such sequences existing alongside scenes of Neo-Nazis describing their desire to racially cleanse America definitely feels fucking weird. Moreover, “The Forever Purge” sees the series mostly being consumed by its action movie tendencies. There's more shoot-outs, fisticuffs, and dune buggy chases than fear and suspense in this sequel. 

Even this is not the biggest problem facing “The Forever Purge.” Mostly, it's the complete lack of investment I had in the characters that made the sequel a largely tedious experience. Dylan Tucker, played by an unrecognizable beardy Josh Lucas, is incredibly dull. Tucker's wife and sister are only distinguished by one of them being pregnant. Adela and Juan are fine, I suppose, but it's a little hard to relate to them when they become machine gunning bad-asses the minute they pick up rifles. “The Forever Purge's” pacing is relentless, with few scenes of quiet once the violence begins. This gives the film little time to develop the characters further. Instead, the sequel just feels like a long barrage of violence and action, with little reason to care about who lives and who dies. It's more exhausting than thrilling. 

Maybe “The First Purge” got my expectations unreasonably high. That film combined horror and action in sturdier ways, while providing actual insight into how a racist governments targets POCs and the poor. The sharpest idea “The Forever Purge” has, in comparison, is a gag about gun stores having “Purge sales” the night before. As for being the final film in the franchise, “The Forever Purge” ends in a way that would make it difficult – but not impossible – to continue. (And there's always the possibility of more prequels too.) Series creator James DeMonaco has already changed his mind about this being the end. The film certainly made money, though its reception was soft compared to the first four entries. Whether there are more purges remains to be seen but “The Forever Purge” suggests the series may have run out of steam. [5/10] 

The Dark Eyes of London (1939)

Edgar Wallace was a prolific British author, cranking out hundreds of stories and novels over his twenty year career. He was first published in 1898 and immediately became extremely popular, especially in Britain and Germany. Wallace's crime stories and mysteries were already widely adapted in his lifetime. He remained popular long after his 1932 death and a wave of German adaptations in the sixties – known as krimis – basically gave birth to the giallo genre. (Which eventually beget the slasher, meaning Wallace's influence is still felt.) Long before any of that happened, but already well into Wallace's cinematic career, came 1939's “The Dark Eyes of London.” This Wallace adaptation is significant as one of the few British films Bela Lugosi starred in.

A number of dead bodies have started to wash up in the Thames, which draws the attention of Scotland Yard. English Detective Holt and American Lieutenant O'Reilly are soon on the case. The man behind the murders is Dr. Orloff, a seemingly kind physician running a home for the blind. Orloff is actually operating an insurance scam and frequently has Jake, his lumbering blind servant, dispose of his enemies. The daughter of one of Orloff's victims is also sticking her nose into the crimes, drawing the villain's attention. As they uncover more of the truth, Orloff and his horrific acts grow more desperate. 

Much like the giallo movies that would eventually spawn from his writing, Edgar Wallace's stories – or at least the cinematic adaptations of them – often had convoluted plots. “The Dark Eyes of London” is no different in that regard. Considering the macabre events that go down in this story, it's so bizarre to think that the movie's plot actually revolves around insurance fraud. Orloff's habit of delivering messages via paper airplane is cool. However, watching the detective unravel the case isn't that interesting. Especially since one of the movie's twists – that Orloff is disguising himself in plain sight as another character – is very easy to guess. (At least the filmmakers had the good sense to dub over Lugosi's distinctive voice, keeping the twist from being even more obvious.)

Supposedly, production company Argyle Films added more horrific content to “The Dark Eyes of London” to make it more commercial. Presumably, this includes Jake, Orloff's monstrous henchman. In addition to being blind – which the film does not portray in the most sensitive of fashions – Jake has gruesome teeth, pointed ears, and a Frankensteinian gait. He's dispatched to murder anyone Orloff is displeased with. (He also, much like the Frankenstein monster, eventually turns against his master.) This leads to a few cool, shadowy stalking scene. A scene near the end, of Jake stalking the screaming damsel through her darkened apartment, is especially good. The movie also features on-screen drownings, lobotomizing with hot probes, and a man drowning in the muddy banks of the Thames. Pretty gruesome stuff for 1939. 

As a Lugosi movie, “The Dark Eyes of London” hardly breaks new ground. It's even hinted several times that Lugosi's character has hypnotic powers. At the very least, he gets to speechify ominously while ordering around his various criminal servants. By the end, he even gets a villainous monologue or two to himself. Watching Lugosi go about his business is always entertaining, even if we've seen it a hundred times before. Another notable character in the film is the American Lt. O'Reilly. He's openly sexist, assuming a female detective is only there to romance the male cops. There's also an off-beat comedic moment, where a cop goes undercover as a drunkard.

Presumably to make the movie even more appealing to horror-loving Americans, Monogram Pictures would re-titled “The Dark Eyes of London” as “The Human Monster” in the States. In the U.K., this was the first film rated “H for Horror,” a rating briefly implemented to classify American monster movies. The movie was remade during the krimi wave of the sixties, with Klaus Kinski in the lead role. I also suspect that Lugosi's Dr. Orloff inspired Jess Franco's “The Awful Dr. Orloff,” which itself spawned a league of imitators. I guess what I'm saying is “The Dark Eyes of London” secretly proved pretty influential. That's despite the movie itself being a middle-of-the-road shocker when taken on its own merits. But I only need a classic horror star vamping and some shadowy atmosphere to really satisfy me anyway. [6/10]

Creepshow: Dead and Breakfast / Pesticide

“Dead and Breakfast” follows Pamela and Sam, the owners of the Spinster Murder House. Pamela claims that her grandmother was America's first female serial killer yet business remains slow. Pam hopes to drum up business by inviting a vlogger, who travels to the homes of notorious murderers, to stay. The influencer quickly deduces that the entire story is a hoax. When no actual history of bloodshed is uncovered, Pam decides to invent some of her own. In “Pesticide,” an unscrupulous exterminator is hired by a rich business to get rid of the pest infesting his property: The local homeless population. Reluctant at first, the payday makes the man agree to carry out the killings. Afterwards, he's haunted by waking nightmares of enormous bugs coming to get him.

“Dead and Breakfast,” from director Axelle Carolyn, might be one of my favorite “Creepshow” segments. People trying to capitalize on America's frenzy for true crime, whether they be business owners or influencers, are shown as similarly exploitative. Pam, played energetically by Ali Larter, remaining committed to the faux-legend of her killer grandmother shows the lengths people go to preserve their identities. (C. Thomas Howell is also very good as her wishy-washy brother.) Watching things spiral towards murder is compelling. Smaller details set up in the first half, such as a secret spot found under some floorboards, become more important later. “Creepshow's” trademark comic book panel cutaways are used to depict Lady Spinster's “murders,” a great idea. The only thing that bugs me about this one is the supernatural element introduced at the end, though I guess that fits the E.C. Comics' spirit of bad people always getting their comeuppance.

“Pesticide” is definitely the weaker part of this episode. Greg Nicotero continues to pay homage to his influences, as this segment recalls “They're Creeping Up on You” from the original “Creepshow.” Nicotero attempts some George Romero-style social commentary, as a rich businessman – played by a brilliantly smooth Keith David – sees the homeless the same way he sees roaches or rats. Yet this segment is ultimately an excuse for elaborate special effect scenes. Don't get me wrong, the arm-eating giant rats, huge fly, mosquito, and spiders look cool. But there's not much story here. John McDermitt is too unlikely in the lead role and it's hard to care about his spiral into insanity when he's such a gross scumbag. The twist ending, which brings back Ashley Laurence as a shrink, is more ridiculous than amusing. This is a case of the show's best and worst impulses being on display. [Dead and Breakfast: 8/10] [Pesticide: 5/10]

Godzilla Singular Point: Gamesome

“Singular Point” remains extremely dense in its second episode but, before we get to that, there is a pretty bitchin' kaiju fight. Jet Jaguar fights off Rodan at the summer festival, Yun successfully installing an A.I. into the boxy robot, before the pterodactyl mysteriously drops dead. The monster becomes a huge news story but it's only the beginning. Soon, dead Rodans are mysteriously appearing all over the world. Yun makes repairs to Jet Jaguar, which was badly damaged in the fight, while Mei – with the help of Pero-2, the A.I. Yun gave her – publishes her research into evolution online. Meanwhile, Sato at the radio observatory correctly suspects a connection between the Godzilla bones in the basement and these new kaiju appearing around the world.

There's at least three things about “Gamesome” I really liked. Jet Jaguar's inventor is Goro and he's also Yun's grandad. He's delightfully crazy, charging at Rodan in his home-made mecha suit while shouting faux-Shakespearean dialogue. When his robot is torn up by the dinosaur, Goro just jumps in a truck and drives it into the pterodactyl instead. After the fight is over, he checks himself out of the hospital despite still having multiple broken bones. He's awesome and is a good example of “Singular Point's” goofy sense-of-humor. You also see that in the back-and-forth between Mei and Pero-2, who is pretty mouthy for a computer program. This episode also introduces Satomi, a goth girl receptionist working for Goro. And she's pretty cool.

The other thing I really enjoy about “Singular Point's” second episode is the realistic approach it takes to its kaiju. Following the opening fight scene – which is pretty well done – the public both praises and condemns the Otukis for fighting the monster. Did they kill a rare species? Is it legal for someone to build a giant robot in their garage? Etcetera. After Rodan – Radon in the original Japanese and so named because of the radon found in their bellies – start to pop up all over the globe, towns immediately try to merchandise the monster as a tourist attraction or toy. All of these things would definitely really happen if giant monsters started to appear tomorrow. It's also a lot more interesting than “Singular Point's” dense discussions of theoretical lifeforms, computational chemistry, radio waves, and its own developing but obviously very convoluted back story. [7/10]