Somehow, I've made it to the penultimate week of the Halloween Horror-fest Blog-a-thon without watching an Italian movie. It's past time to correct that. “Demons” is a popular cult classic of Italian horror. The film has a strong pedigree. Dario Argento, obviously the biggest director in the genre, produced and co-write. Lamberto Bava, son of the grandfather of Italian horror, had already made three feature films before this one. However, “Demons” would largely solidify his standing within the Italian film industry. The film was popular on video back in the day and remains well-liked even now. I think I definitely need to review this.
In Berlin, a new movie theater is having a secret, free showing. A mysterious man in a silver mask has passed tickets out to people all throughout the city. A divergent group of characters – film buff Cheryl, her friend Kathy, college kid George, a blind man, a pimp, two of his girls, an elderly couple – arrive at the Metropol. The theater is seemingly unstaffed but includes a big display in the lobby, with props from the new film: A motorcycle, a katana, a demonic silver mask. Once the lights go down, the group watch a horror film about demons taking people over. After one of audience members puts on the silver mask, she becomes possessed. Now an attacking monster, she passes the demonic virus to other people. Soon, the audience members are fighting for survival as the theater is plunged into hell.
No, Bava's film has much more modest goals. Instead, “Demons” is basically a re-packaging of the kind of zombie movies that swarmed Italian cinemas just a few years earlier. The demonic influence spreads via bites and scratches. People are usually killed by the attacks, before reviving as infected monsters. There's even a sequence of the survivors boarding up the walls and doors, definitely a cliché of the undead genre. The film's ending features a post-apocalyptic wasteland, highly reminiscent of Romero's trilogy. This connection is confirmed in another way. Despite constantly being called “demons,” there's no attempt to link the monsters with any religious element.
Aside from its outrageous gore and special effects, I think “Demon” owes its cult following mostly to its soundtrack. It's a pretty good collection of new wave and metal songs, with notable appearances from Billy Idol, Saxon, and Go West. Claudio Simonetti's score, with its mixture of gothic organs and electronic pumping, fits right in with this crowd. That style extends to the cast as well. A collection coke-snorting punk/new wave creeps, with names like Ripper and Hot Dog, enter the story halfway through. They mostly exist to add some sex appeal and pad the body count. The cast is pretty silly, especially Tony the pimp, with his ridiculously deep dubbed voice and campy dialogue. “Demons” certainly gains points for bringing the zombie movie into the glossy, sleazy eighties.
I never thought the “Tremors” franchise would still be continuing, in more-or-less its original form, in 2018. I love almost all of these movies but never thought the public felt the same. This is likely because Universal is the last major studio still making films for the direct-to-video market. While this release tactic has been a boon for the “Chucky” franchise, the results for the “Tremors” have been... Less than stellar. Series creators Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson had nothing to do with 2015's “Tremors: Bloodlines” and, boy, did it show. Don Michael Paul, the director of “Who's Your Caddy?” and “Kindergarten Cop 2,” has become the new steward of the series. He would return to make this year's “Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell.” Though seriously unimpressed with the last one, my fidelity to “Tremors”-verse meant I had to give this one a look.
In Perfection, Nevada, famed graboid hunter Burt Gummer is trying to live his life but it ain't easy. He is suffering from strange headaches and now the IRS wants to repossess his home. That's when Travis, his obnoxious son introduced in the last movie, comes calling. Apparently, a glacial research team has discovered graboids in the frozen tundra of Canada. Burt is skeptical at first, believing the giant worms to only exist in warmer climates, but he needs the money. As the team fly into the isolated location, their plane is taken out by an Ass-Blaster. Now, Burt and Travis are stranded in the middle of nowhere, with monsters under their feet and nosy government agents at their back.
Despite the film having the interesting gimmick of graboids in the Arctic, don't think for a minute that Universal shelled out the cash to actually shoot in a snowy location. This was made in South Africa, just like the last one. Aside from the icy opening scene, there's nary a snowflake on the ground. The script attributes this to the unseasonable Canadian weather, which is also responsible for melting the permafrost that freed this strain of Graboid. This is a good example of how lazy "A Cold Day in Hell” is. The script soon degrades into our cast trying to hide from one singular graboid. The last act, devoted to capturing one of the beast alive, is utterly lifeless. There's no sense of narrative flow or pacing, the movie just clamoring awkwardly through its run time until the credits roll.
It's sad to me that the “Tremors” series has degraded to this. While the similarly direct-to-video second through fourth films weren't high art, Wilson and Maddock's pure enthusiasm for these characters and their world made them highly re-watchable. It's evident that the people currently in charge of “Tremors” have no such affection for the series. Even more frustrating is that it didn't have to be this way. Before “A Cold Day in Hell” was released, Kevin Bacon was developing a new television series. Despite airing the original television show, Syfy passed on the pilot. I don't know, maybe that sucked too. Yet I can't imagine it was lamer than this thing. [4/10]
“3rd Rock from the Sun” was a nineties sitcom that nicely balanced critical enthusiasm, mainstream success, and cult popularity. Despite that, it seems like the show has largely disappeared from the conversation. It's not even shown in syndication that often anymore. I loved the show as a kid. When I revisited it with the dawn of the TV-on-DVD era, I expected it to be awful. Most shows I loved when I was younger were. Surprisingly, “3rd Rock” is consistently hilarious. The first four or so seasons are anyway. The series had a Halloween episode in its third season, “Scaredy Dick,” and I'm happy to report it's also pretty damn funny.
The episode's A-plot involves Dick Solomon, the patriarch of the aliens-disguised-as-humans the series revolves around, being required to get a physical check-up to keep his job. He finds the doctor's examination room terrifying and repeatedly flees it. This comes to a head at the office Halloween party, where he encounters his doctor. He runs home, where Harry – the group's simpleton – believes he's encountered a ghost. The B-plot involves Sally – the alien military leader now living as a leggy blonde – and Tommy – the military intelligence officer now living as a teenage boy – house sitting Dick's girlfriend's home on Halloween. They do not understand how to hand out candy.
The episode is also loaded with Halloween atmosphere. A good running joke are the characters misunderstanding costumes. Dick doesn't understand Mary's Dorothy Gale costume, Tommy and Sally dress as Sonny and Cher in bafflement, and Harry takes his “alien” costume very literally. The trick or treating subplot humorously dissolves into egg-related torture. The resolution to the ghost subplot is easily deduced but it's still funny to watch unfold. The episode saves that completely with a last minute twist. And, as always, the episode is packed full of hilarious one-liners and dialogue. I especially like the rebuttal concerning buccaneers. [8/10]
I first heard about Nacho Cerda's infamous “Aftermath,” weirdly, in the context of the notorious alien autopsy video. I saw some documentary about that ill-famed hoax, claiming a Spanish short called “Aftermath” was an influence on the style of the fake production. The title always stuck with me. Years later, I'd learn that “Aftermath” was well known for being an especially shocking and explicit horror film. Thanks to the internet, I was able to quickly track the film down. I found it a thoroughly disturbing but also oddly touching experience. That was probably more than ten years ago, so I figure I'm due a rewatch.
For those unaware, let me explain why “Aftermath” is so notorious. The film features no dialogue and little music. It begins with the the aftermath of a car crash, the sound of screaming brakes, a woman's death cries, and then footage of a squashed dog. From there, we see two morticians perform autopsies on two male corpses. Every detail of the gory procedure is shown. The one mortician seems aroused by the cutting of the flesh. Next, we see the dead girl from the beginning wheeled into the morgue. The same man, alone now, molests the corpse. He cuts it open before performing necrophiliac acts. This is also shown in graphic detail. Once he's done, he takes the dead girl's heart home and feeds it to his dog.
The first time I saw “Aftermath,” the meaning behind its images struck me as obvious. The corpses, throughout the film, are unmoving and unresponsive. They do not care what happens to them. The autopsy and necrophilia are both depicted as elaborate rituals, meant to give meaning to the death. The violating mortician is, obviously, very passionate about this inert body. In other words: The living care a lot more about the dead than the dead do. This idea is still evident in the movie but Cerda is also making a more generalized point. The world will not stop for us when we die. Yes, “Aftermath” remains a powerful and very interesting motion picture, though an obviously difficult one to recommend. Funny enough, I found the gore much more disturbing now than I did as an edgy teenager. I guess I really am getting older. [8/10]
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