My knowledge of Brazilian horror films begins and ends with Coffin Joe, which probably still makes me better read in the subject than most American genre fans. But most of those movies are from the sixties and seventies. What is the modern face of Brazilian horror? There's still not a lot of writing on this subject on h English language web but a few notable titles have emerged in recent years. Ultra-gory slasher “Skull: The Mask” got a little bit of buzz, as did comedy hybrid “Ghost Killers vs. Bloody Mary.” Yet among the more critically praised genre films to emerge from South America's largest country is 2018's “The Nightshifter.” The film is from Dennison Ramalho who, funny enough, co-write the final Coffin Joe movie. Good to see someone carrying on that legacy...
Stênio works the night shift at a morgue in São Paulo. His entire life, he's had the ability to speak with the dead. The recently deceased often confine their life's secrets or last regrets to him as he seals them up on the slab. This ability, and working in the most crime-infested part of the city, leaves Stênio exhausted during the day, straining his relationship with Odette, his wife, and their two young children. One of the corpses that talk to him is the brother of a local gang leader, recently killed by an unknown informant. After discovering that Odette is cheating on him, he uses the information the dead has given him to convince the gangbangers that his her boyfriend is that informant. Yet the execution goes wrong and Odette is killed too. His sanity begins to fray and he's filled with guilt... But that's only the beginning, as his wife's spirit is determined to have her revenge.
Also supporting “The Nightshifter” is Ramalho's ability to engineer some pretty gnarly scare sequences. Whenever the corpses speak to Stênio, a clever mixture of practical make-up and CGI is used to make the effect especially uncanny. That classic jump-scare of the morgue locker doors swinging open on their own is utilized well. It also builds to a far more intense sequence, where the protagonist is locked inside. Easily the highlight of the film is when some razor-lined kite wire makes a surprise return, a sequence that plays out in a nicely extended, gruesome fashion. Overall, the film does a great job of balancing gruesome special effects – most notably in the extended autopsy scenes – with a gloomy atmosphere of shadowy dread. This is most apparent during a scene, possibly a dream, where the morgue is overwhelmed with bodies from a mudslide.
From a cultural perspective, “The Nightshifter” is interesting. Compared to the Coffin Joe films I'm used to, which feel timeless because of how they invoke the Gothic tradition, “The Nightshifter” is very contemporary. With its focus on street gangs and corrupt police, it sometimes feels more like “City of God” or something like that, than a traditional horror film. I imagine a lot of the themes here, of guilt and revenge among street criminals, are culturally specific in a way that goes over my dumb-ass American head. The first half works very well, before it descends into more typical ghost movie shenanigans. Still, there's some real talent on display here and I hope Dennison Ramalho returns to the genre soon enough. By the way, the actual Portuguese title translate to “Among the Living” but, since there are several fright flicks with that title already, I guess the U.S. distributors decided “The Nightshifter” was a little catchier. [6/10]
The final scene of Tim Burton's “Ed Wood” obliquely refers to Edward D. Wood's “slow descent into alcoholism and monster nudie films.” This does not tell the whole story, of course. After “Night of the Ghouls” collapsed, Wood would attempt to get screenplays produced and sell novels when he could. Eventually, as changing censorship laws made the “nudie cutie” sub-genre a brief fad, Wood would transition to these bottom-of-the-barrel productions. He crossed paths with Stpehen C. Apostolof, a Bulgarian immigrant who previously wrote a Cold War drama named “Journey to Freedom.” Wood would adapt his own novel for Apostolof and the cinematic “Orgy of the Dead” was born. While Apostolof, credited as A.C. Stephens, would direct, this is a Wood production through and through. The half-assed classic horror trappings, presence of sham-psychic Criswell, and utterly surreal dialogue mark this crude fusion of dime store Halloween decorations and burlesque stripteases as another escapee from Wood's twilight nether realm.
The plot, as it is, concerns horror writer Bob and his girlfriend, Shirley. They drive around, in search of a mysterious cemetery that might inspire Bob, but end up in a wreck instead. The two awaken in the same cemetery, which is overlooked by a seemingly undead Emperor and his Princess of the Night. They tie Bob and Shirley up and force them to watch the nights' entertainment: A number of (female and topless) damned souls, as they dance for the enjoyment of the graveyard's ghostly residents. Which also includes a werewolf and a mummy, henchmen of the Emperor. Bob and Shirley bicker, plot an escape, get pawed at by the Princess, and mostly just watch as the stripteases go on and on. Finally, sunlight banishes all the ghoulies.
Considering films like “Orgy of the Dead” were meant merely to titillate by showcasing naked bodies, I guess it succeeds. I mean, you sure do see lots of boobs and butt cheeks here. Yet it's hard to imagine anyone getting off to this. Supposedly, the filmmakers couldn't afford to hire a choreographer, forcing all the women to improvise their dance routines. This is all too apparent, as the stripteases are usually stiff and graceless. The women are all attractive, I suppose, and don't waste much time before revealing their bodies. But their shaking and shimmying seems likelier to cause giggles than boners. The bride unenthusiastically wiggles her tits, the streetwalker glares at the camera, and the Indian woman contorts around in such a way as to make her belly stick out. When combined with the largely stationary style of filming and threadbare Halloween ambiance, the result is more stupefying than arousing.
Add it all together and you have what is surely one of the strangest attempts at eroticism ever put to celluloid. Wood was apparently drinking heavily by this point, even stealing from the film's budget to buy more booze. Greater indignities would face him soon enough, as he would eventually move on to directing actual hardcore pornography. Yet “Orgy of the Dead” provides another chance to spend some time in his extremely weird, campy, haunted brain. The head-scratching dialogue entertains, the cheapie classic horror atmosphere is charming, and the film's supreme awkwardness results in frequent laughter. It didn't need to be ninety minutes long and the endless dance routines eventually become tedious. This is why I have to disagree with the otherwise extremely trust-worthy Bleeding Skull's proclamation that this is the greatest trash film of all time. Yet “Orgy of the Dead” is certainly something. [6/10]
Once again, I attempt to see if kid-friendly horror series “Are You Afraid of the Dark,” beloved among many people my age, is for me. “The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle” follows adolescent Mike Buckley. Two years ago, his best friend Ricky died tragically. The boy plummeted into a rushing reservoir after his distinctive red bicycle fell off a bridge. The incident still haunts him and, recently, Mike has began to have waking visions of Ricky and his bike. As the ghostly incidents grow more intense, Mike realizes that Ricky's ghost has returned not to torment him but to warn him. It turns out that Mike's little brother, Ben, is close to befalling a fate similar to Ricky's.
The handful of episodes of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” I've watched has made one thing apparent about this show: It was capable of producing mildly creepy, if totally fangless, scares from time-to-time. You see this briefly in “The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle.” Despite the obviously lacking production values, the images of ghostly Ricky clinging still to his red bike would probably be enough to spook a really young or really sensitive kid. A nightmare Mike has, of the ghost appearing over his bed and slowly approaching him, is probably the high-light of the episode. Matthew Edison also gives a decent performance, at least by the admittedly steep curve of nineties kids shows.
Debate rages over the merits of the “scared straight” method but, despite that, horror stories and educational films have occasionally combined forces. While the British Public Information Films would elevate informing kids of everyday dangers while also creating viscerally disturbing art, American educational movies tend to be dryer... Though there are amusing exceptions. Such as “The Haunted Mouth,” an educational short from 1974 created by the American Dental Association. Set in a spooky old house, the viewer is addressed by the invisible spirit of bacterial plaque. This spectre of plague is so confident that he can claim your teeth and gums that he even shows the viewer the best way to defeat him: Brush and floss thoroughly every day.
A few elements elevate “The Haunted Mouth” above a mere instructional video for children. First off, it opens with a genuinely creepy point-of-view shot of someone walking into the haunted house. Whoever did the production design and cinematography for this little movie should really be commended for properly setting a fittingly spooky ambiance. (The American Dental Association is the sole credited producers for the film, so we don't know who did what exactly.) Once the ghostly plaque entity goes about demonstrating what it can do to teeth, “The Haunted Mouth” also features some icky close-ups of a bleeding mouth and models of teeth rotting and gums becoming inflamed. The way the infected spots glow red successfully capture the feeling of a lingering tooth ache.
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