Halloween 2020: September 20th

Train to Busan (2016)

The zombie, all too fittingly, is the pop culture monster that keeps returning to life no matter how many times we think we've killed it. The early 2000s wave of zombie flicks, spurned on by the “Dawn of the Dead” remake, seemed to burn itself out entirely just for “The Walking Dead” to come along and make zombies a big fucking deal again. Even though that show is still shambling along, its relevance has long since faded, dragging down the idea of zombies with it. Yet now, a new wave of zombie movies has arisen overseas, raking in serious box office and receiving impressive reviews. “Train to Busan,” a Korean film from animator-turned-director Yeon Sang-ho, would be popular across the Asian continent in 2016 before becoming a cult sensation in the English speaking world. Even though I'm about as burned out on zombies as you can be, I figured I better give this one a look.

Korean fund manager Seok-woo works long hours to distract himself from his nasty divorce, which has forced a wedge between him and his young daughter, Su-an. For her birthday, all Su-an wants is to see her mother, who lives in the city of Busan. Seok-woo reluctantly agrees to board a train with his daughter, for what should be a simple rid. Instead, not long after boarding the Korean eXpress in Seoul, the world begins to end. A man-made virus is sweeping through Korea, turning the infected into savage zombies that attack any living thing they see. Seok-woo and Su-an are soon part of a small group of survivors on the train, trying to protect themselves from those already infected, as their slowly chug towards their destination.

So what does “Train to Busan” bring to the zombie premise that sets it apart from the thousand other undead flicks? Mostly, a sense of immediacy. These zombies are fast and hard to kill. One notable sequence, presented via shaky cellphone footage uploaded to the internet, has the zombies falling off the helicopter they are clinging to, landing in a parking lot, just to get up and continue pursuing new victims. The virus in “Train to Busan” spreads really fast, to the point that people turn into zombies almost instantly after being beaten. Though obviously beholden to Snyder's “Dawn” and “World War Z,” Yeon brings a renewed ferocity to the worn-out ideas here. These zombies are a threat, which can only be tricked by blocking their senses, and that brings an unrelenting tension to much of “Train to Busan.”

Yeon is also extremely good at engineering intense scenarios. More than once, the film pulls off surprise sequences. The way society quickly falls into chaos here – we first get a glimpse of a stranger getting tackled in the distance – is compelling. During one of the few stop-offs on the train ride, the ensemble believes they've found safety with the military... Only to realize that they too have been compromised by the virus. Several characters get bitten when you least expect it. The highlight of the film, and a likely homage to “Snowpiercer,” has Seak-woo and Sang-hwa making their way through the train, fighting off small hordes of zombies with just some shields and their fists. Moments like that suggests Yeon could definitely direct one of those kick-ass Korean action movies I'm always hearing about. 

For all its positive attributes, “Train to Busan” ultimately can't keep up that sense of panicked chaos. After that armed march through the train, the film falls into a predictable malaise. As in all zombie movies, an asshole emerges out of the survivors, beginning to bark orders and force people to make dramatic decisions. This is because the characters are the least interesting thing about “Train to Busan.” Seok-woo's arc, of a workaholic dad learning to appreciate his kid, is nothing we haven't seen a hundred times before. While a few deaths are surprising, the inevitable heroic sacrifices that arise can easily be spotted. “Train to Busan” runs almost two hours long and the pacing lags badly in the last third. After the adrenaline rush of the first half, you start to feel numb to the characters' continued bad luck and the film's endless barrage of high-octane zombie chaos. 

Ultimately, “Train to Busan” is another one of those critically acclaimed, foreign-language genre films I admire more from a technical prospective. Yeon Sang-ho is clearly a talented director and he engineers some truly impressive set pieces here. Yet the movie lacks much in the way of heart, its emotional center even veering towards the sappy near the end. Meanwhile, the sociological aspect of the film simply regurgitates the same points George Romero had been making since the sixties. While I liked the film, I didn't love it. I'm also the odd man out on this one. “Train to Busan” has, thus far, produced two follow-ups. “Seoul Station,” an animated prequel, was also released in 2016. Meanwhile, the proper sequel, known as “Peninsula,” was released in Asia earlier this year to much hype and success. I thoroughly expect the COVID era to lead to another wave of zombie flicks, making the “Train to Busan” series the predecessor of more to come. [7/10]

Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

Having spawned a best-selling book and a blockbuster movie, “The Amityville Horror” was ready to become a full-blown phenomenon. Two other books would quickly follow Jay Anson's quasi-fictional novel: “Murder in Amityville” by Hans Holzer, which focused on Ronald DeFeo Jr.'s murder of his family, and “The Amityville Horror Part II” by John G. Jones, a direct sequel continuing to chronicle the supposed supernatural events the Lutz family suffered. Producers were eager to capitalize on the film's popularity as well. Eventually, an unholy union between Dino De Laurentiis and the remnants of A.I.P. would choose to adapt “Murder in Amityville” for the next film. George Lutz actually sued to ensure his name and image was not used to promote a movie that had nothing to do with his family. Anyway, “Amityville II: The Possession” would possess theaters in fall of 1982.

Though ostensibly based on events that happened before the original movie, “Amityville II: The Possession” does not seem to be a prequel. The pivotal role a Sony Walkman – not put into production until 1979 – plays confirms the setting firmly as the early eighties. The family is named the Montellis, not the DeFeos, and the events bare no resemblance to the flashbacks we see in the original “Amityville.” So I guess the Montelli family moves into 112 Ocean Avenue after the Lutzes fled in terror. The already troubled family becomes even more deeply disturbed upon arriving at their new homes. Strange events happen and horrible visions plagued the mother. Oldest son Sonny comes under the sway of a demonic force that lives in the house. It compels him to seduce his sister and murder his family. Only Catholic priest Father Adamsky seems willing to fight the great evil here.

The first “Amityville Horror” approached its soundly unimpressive terrors with an utterly melodramatic hand. “The Possession,” all too aware of sequel escalation, decides to ramp up the “Horrors” considerably while keeping the histrionics. The supernatural events that go down in 112 Ocean Avenue here are so immediate, persistent, and severe that you wonder why anyone would live here for even an hour. Minutes after moving in, the mom sees blood pouring from the sink. A pit of flies and raining excrement is discovered the next day in the basement. Guns go off on their own, paintings appear on the wall, objects move, thunder and rain crashes constantly. Father Adamsky's initial attempt to bless the house is derailed when he sees blood gush from his holy water sprinkler. The house in “Amityville II” is so obviously evil that only the most foolish of families would ever tolerate it. The film depicts these events with the most over-the-top pomp and circumstance possible, creating an utterly ridiculous motion picture more likely to generate laughs than screams.

As a horror movie, “Amityville II: The Possession” is nothing less than hysterically overdone. As a drama about a seriously fucked-up family, it's so depraved as to become genuinely unnerving. Within the opening minutes, the father – played by Burt Young at his most blustery – is belittling and emotionally abusing Sonny. After a spat of poltergeist activity, the same dad brutally whips his younger children with a belt. The wife is traumatized by her husband's behavior, causing her to shriek frequently. This is a family that communicates exclusively in screaming arguments and passive-aggressive retorts. “The Possession” reaches the peak of its degeneracy when Sonny seduces Patricia, his teenage sister. It's a scene that is so drawn-out, the details of their flirtation so focused on, that the viewer can't help but cringe. The depravity of the Montelli family is such that otherwise normal scenes, like Sonny's birthday party or the younger kids playing, come off as disturbing by association. (I honestly wonder if Ari Aster is a fan of this one, as its mixture of demonic influence and domestic chaos reminds me of a less artful “Hereditary” or “The Strange Thing About the Johnsons.”) 

Whose idea was it to insert incest and domestic violence into a sequel to a goofy haunted house movie? Apparently director Damiano Damiani, a respected filmmaker of Italian crime dramas, wanted to upset audiences. His initial cut apparently included the dad sodomizing the mom, which was thankfully cut. I really didn't need to see the face Pauly makes when butt-fucking some poor woman... It must be said that, as overcooked as the sequel is, Damiani knew how to make a good-looking film. The interior of the Amityville house is awash in cool blues and expressive shadows. The numerous first-person shots of the demonic force moving through the building are cool. The sequence where Sonny murders his family is dramatically lit. In its last act, “The Possession” becomes an “Exorcist” rip-off and that's when Damiani ramps shit up even further. Squirming boils of body horror sprout form under people's skin. A demonic monster claws its way from under Sonny's face. Flames explode on the outside of the house. All the viewer's senses are hammered and, if nothing else, I admire Damiani's gumption.

Despite Ed and Loraine Warren, those proponents of Catholic propaganda, getting “demonology advisers” credits, “The Possession” pretty soundly condemns the Church. Father Adamsky is a massive fuck-up who is always too late to save anyone. He even graduates to criminal acts in the last act. (But watch out for a cameo from “The Monster Squad's” Scary German Guy as the bishop.) Still an achingly dumb and completely ridiculous motion picture, “Amityville II: The Possession” is, at the very least, less tedious than its predecessor. Its mixture of childishly excessive boo-show antics and sincerely disquieting content is too eccentric to be all-together boring. I use to watch this one on TV a lot but networks cut most of the incest out. Really, to appreciate “Amityville II,” you have to see all the sister fucking. [6/10]

Creepshow: Gray Matter / House of the Head

Since 2013, I've been watching and reviewing “Tales from the Crypt” for the Halloween Horror-Fest Blog-a-thon. The pun-cracking Cryptkeeper became such a standard part of my Halloween marathons that, after watching my way through all seven seasons of that show, I continued on to the various spin-offs. Having consumed almost every bit of televised Cryptkeepr content now, I've had to move on to other programs... Luckily, Shudder has arrived with just the thing to fill the E.C. Comics-shaped void in my haunted heart. The streaming network's “Creepshow” series premiered to much hype last year. I even reviewed one of the six episodes already. This year, I decided to watch the rest of season one. 

Each episode of “Creepshow” contains two stories, hosted by the gruesomely grinning but silent Creep in comic book-style wraparounds. The first half is devoted to “Gray Matter,” based on a Stephen King story. It concerns a young boy stepping into a grocery store just as a hurricane barrels down on the town. He proceeds to tell the shopowner about his loving father's transformation into a desperate alcoholic... And his further transformation into something else. The second story is “House of the Head,” from “Bird Box” scribe Josh Malerman. It concerns a little girl with a beloved doll house. She imagines a whole life for the little doll family that lives in the tiny home. Soon, though, a disturbing presence takes up residence in the girl's miniature building.

“Gray Matter” is directed by Greg Nicotero, the show's co-creator and veteran effects man. By structuring most of the episode as a flashback, it allows Nictero to show off a moody side. It's only through the boy's eyes that we see the shadowy story of his father's metamorphosis. The eventual reveal of what's happening to dad pays off in a big burst of gooey special effects. Which is fun in a traditionally E.C. Comics way and cleverly blends CGI and latex. As a metaphor for watching a parent consumed by alcoholism, “Gray Matter” is a little drippy. More time probably should've been paid to the normal parts of the father/son bond, before shit gets weird. The segment does make good use of Tobin Bell and Adriene Barbeau. 

As solid an opener as “Gray Matter” is, “House of the Head” proves to be the far spookier experience. Cailey Flemming is excellent as the little girl who finds her toy collection haunted by an errant zombie head. The way she creates a whole imaginary world around her little dolls is so vividly brought to life. To see that violated by a disturbing intrusion is truly creepy. The way this is depicted, the dolls moving into new positions off-screen every time she turns her back, is an excellent way to convey that feeling. There's something quietly unsettling about this tale of childhood innocence being disrupted, director John Harrison – who composed the score for the original “Creepshow” movie – focusing more on quiet spookiness over shocking jump scares. As a toy collector myself, I'll admit the premise of an unsettling intruder among a collection of figures hits close to home for me. [Gray Matter: 7/10] [House of the Head: 8/10]

Forever Knight: Black Buddha, Part 1

With the start of a new Halloween Horror-Fest Blog-a-thon, it's time for me to get back to watching “Forever Knight.” The nineties vampire cop show, following the adventures of redemptive bloodsucker turned Canadian officer-of-the law Nick Knight, would go through some changes in its third season. A letter writing campaign by fans was what got the low-rated show a second season. Cancellation was in the air once again after the season ended but another fan campaign saw the show picked up by the USA Network. Not all the cast members would stick around after the network leap. John Kapelos as Schanke, Nick's comic relief partner, Deborah Duchene as his on-again-off-again vampire girlfriend Jenette, and Natsuka Ohama as the police captain would leave the show. This forced some narrative changes.

Which the show addresses directly in the season opener, “Black Buddha, Part 1.” Nick drives Detective Tracy Vetter, the police chief's daughter and a novice detective, to the airport. They plan to meet Schanke and Captain Cohen there. Instead, the plane is destroyed by a bomb aboard. Nick and his coroner love interest Natalie barely have time to mourn the death of Schanke. Tracy spots a dead body get up and leave the wreckage. It turns out she just spotted a vampire, who quickly abducts her. While processing his grief, and considering leaving town, Nick thinks back to a supposedly cursed artifact he came across while sailing on the Titanic. 

Getting past the departure of Kapelos, who has been with the series since the pilot movie “Nick Knight,” is admittedly awkward. Schanke only appears as a postmortem photograph, Nick having a one-sided phone conversation with him early on. (Blu Mankuma, a veteran voice actor who I recognized immediately as “Beast Wars'” Tigatron, steps into the role of police captain.) The story has to keep moving forward, not really allowing the death of such a major character time to breath. Instead, a lot of “Black Buddha, Part 1” is devoted to introducing Tracy. Lisa Ryder has a bubbly energy in the part but the show's attempts to make her interesting – immediately getting scooped up by another vampire – doesn't endear much interest. The mad bomber subplot also has to be squeezed in here, failing to generate much interest. The flashback scenes, showing Geraint Wyn-Davis angsting on the Titanic while an aristocrat lady asks to be turned into a vampire, are a little more interesting. It's definitely a slightly off-center note to begin the season on. [6/10]