Movie Review: Silent Night, Deadly Night Series Review: Part 4 - Initiation

Journal Entry #57: The hallucinations have begun. I can’t tell what’s real and what’s only in my mind. I fear that by the time help arrives I will be dead. Or worse - hopelessly lost in a delusion of my own making. What was that? Santa? Is that you…?

Day four brings us Initiation: Silent Night Deadly Night 4, a film which has ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING CONNECTION TO THE FIRST THREE SAVE FOR A QUICK CLIP FROM #3 WHILE A CHARACTER WATCHES TV.

Fucking weak.

Basically the fourth movie in the series is all about girl power, witchcraft, and how useless men are except to be parasites to the goddess within all women.

Fucking weak. Well, at least the writers didn’t make them Satan worshippers. That’s something. Not much but it’s something.

Let’s break down the plot. Kim works at a newspaper but because she’s just a woman she doesn’t get to work on any big stuff. Well, she says fuck that and decides to get the scoop on the flaming woman who recently committed suicide. When she starts interviewing the locals about it, she meets Fima, the bookstore owner who is suspicious as fuck if you ask me. Which no one did. Moving on.

Kim keeps getting drugged by Fima and her female coven…I mean colleagues. I’m not sure why they feel the need for Kim to join their group other than she’s a chick and they don’t want her to continue being held down by The Man. Because boys are yucky and have cooties and are totally useless.

Movie Review: Surreal Sicko/Metalheads (2012, Bill Zebub Productions)

...stepping outside the box for a moment, so to speak, this viewer cannot help but express appreciation for the occasional 'curve ball', thrown my way, with regards to the eclectic variety of films, which are laid out before me, to review; proving an exercise in literary prowess, time and time again, it has taken a respectable amount of objectivity and open-mindedness, in critiquing such films...with a good measure of dedication towards...for good, or for bad, no matter what the subject matter is, or how it is presented...conceiving of what the filmmaker possibly wanted to do or say, with regards to the film, or films in question. With that deftly said, let's move on to yet another one of those 'curve balls', shall we?? And from the looks of things, this one ain't gonna be pretty...

...considering the minimal premise associated with "Surreal Sicko", this ready-steady viewer feels inclined to unconventionally portion, or ration out the threadbare storyline, get right to the heart...or rather, 'meat' of the matter, and pick up the pieces, with regards to premise, as things progress. Of course, taking into account, the exploitatively striking and lurid title of these proceedings, the harrowing synopsis of these affairs (...i.e.,  'a landlord takes advantage of a tenant who is haunted by visions and suffers from mental illness and goes on a rape spree and makes him his scapegoat'), the DVD cover photo shots...even the initially numbing effect of the film, itself, post-viewing...this viewer admittedly had initially resigned this material, in much the same light as the similarly lurid, subversive and disturbing fetish-flavored fare, once offered by now-defunct underground video distributor Astaroth Entertainment, who amidst their smattering of genre fare, which this viewer more readily favored, in his collection (...'The Necro Files", the 'Faces of Gore' shockumentary series, etc.), they also handled the release of sexually sleazy and disturbing (...and that's putting it mildly) micro-budgeted flickage, depicting (...emphasizing the word 'depicting', mind you) scenes of no-holds-barred, extreme rape, forced asphyxiation, inhalants, mutilation, and anything else with similar shock value...

Movie Review: "Jodorowsky's Dune" (2014; Sony Pictures Classics)

...say you have a standard; a set standard, once innovative and unique. A standard, which initially might have instilled a sense of 'wow', amongst the masses, and now, is wholly accepted as 'the norm'...maybe even to the point of yawn-inducing. Then, as the cliched phrase goes, "...just when you've thought that you've seen everything under the sun, along comes..."; an artist, known and reputed for outrageousness...an embraceable outrageousness, with a respectable following, mind you, but clearly, a level of imaginative 'over-the-top' craziness, with an underlining hint of wisdom...'thinking outside the box', as yet another cliched saying goes. And so, that artist takes that now.monotone standard, filters it through a different set of eyes, and suggests quite literally turning that standard on it's head...breathing new life into it, and yet, retaining the crust of what the standard stood for and meant...

...for this viewer, I love 'what if' scenarios. I became amoured with the 'what if' concept, at an early age, when the artistic and creative 'power-that-be', scribbling away at Marvel Comics, ingeniously came up with a unique and absolutely 'off-the-wall' comic book series, which took many of the super-powered hero standards...at a minimum, tweaked their histories...their mythos, here and there, and at most, quite literally shook the contents of the standard into a frenzied mish-mash...stood back, and gandered at what the outcome would be, storywise and direction, given the changes. As the result, some unique, creative...even bizarre and surreal ideas came to pass, and Marvel's "What If...??" series proved a phenomenal favorite, back in it's day...

Movie Review: Excision (2012, New Normal Films/Anchor Bay)

...for this viewer, as many might agree, a genre film, which garnishes just the right measure of negative reception, or which exploits the potential for that measured degree of negative reception, or even purposefully and gainfully sets itself up for that potential, just for sensationalism...that is, without going so overboard, that it kills the actual film's potential, may the film be good or bad...is pretty damn cool, in this viewer's book. It's like old-age cliché of heavy traffic on the highway, as the result of a multi-vehicle accident; once knowing that there's been an accident ahead, who isn't gonna stop for moment and gawk at the destructive mayhem, as they drive by?? And if there's bloodshed or injury involved...well, all the more probable, as far as the curious 'lookie-loos'. As far as genre films...especially if they are over-the-top disturbing, or graphic, and whether or not there's method to the filmmaker's madness...purpose, associated his or her twisted and disturbing vision...well, damn the critics!! If word gets out that because of the content of a film, medical personnel and vehicles are stationed at the theater...or if people are reportedly fainting in the theater aisles, as the result of watching the film...or if picketers, with signs menacingly and shakingly upheld, attempt to divert movie-goers...or even when staunch and stiff-shirted critics lambaste & petition against a particular movie, warning that 'you should adamantly not see this movie, because it (...fill in the blank; heck, the late Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel used to do that, all the time)...whether such things are staged or not...well, much like the fact that a measurably greasy laden take-out bag might well be the sign of 'fine' cuisine, within...most ardent genre fans, like this viewer, might probably be the first in line, to view the cinematic 'ugliness', suggested by the naysayers, who in most cases, haven't bothered to even watch what they are speaking out against...

...in this viewer's book...uh, what was that old saying about "...if you can't stand the heat...???"...

Movie Review: eXistenZ (1999)

I watched this movie years ago. So long ago that I didn’t remember half of the cast. Or maybe I just tried to block it from my mind because I hated it so much. But being 14 years older now, and it being part of the package of films sent to me by my illustrious colleague, Jeff, so I kinda HAVE to watch it, maybe it’ll be different this time. Maybe I’ve developed a more discriminating sense of taste; maybe this time I’ll remember that David Cronenberg wrote and directed it. I have enjoyed his work in the past.

Then again maybe it still sucks.

eXistenZ is about a game developer named Allegra. She has designed a revolutionary new game (that would be eXistenZ, btw) that will change the gaming world as we know it. Apparently, though, there are some people who don’t brook no innovativeness and want her dead. After someone tries to kill her, Allegra goes on the run with a PR nerd, Ted, from her company. While hiding out, Allegra needs to assess the damage done to her biopod during the attempt on her life. It's the gaming system that looks like a giant sex toy that literally PLUGS INTO YOUR FUCKING SPINAL CORD. In order to assess, she has to play the game with a friendly, aka Ted.