Through the Devil's Eyes

Through the Devil's Eyes

The same day David moves into a halfway house after witnessing a traumatic event, one of the house mates is brutally murdered. When people in the house begin to suspect David, he sets out to discover who the real killer is and prove his innocence.

Through the Devil's Eyes is a Giallo inspired, slow burn mystery filmed on a reported $1,500, so it's super low budget. Probably more like no budget. But given that budget and severely limited resources, the end result is technically very impressive and story wise a solid little film. Writer/director RJ Cusyk creates a tense atmosphere full of fleshed out characters, each displaying individual personalities and quirks. Through the Devil's Eyes was able to overcome its micro budget because of the strong script and characters. On a technical note, the grainy look really set the tone of the 1980's and gave it a legit VHS feel and the sound quality was excellent, better than other indie horror films I've seen with probably 50 times the budget as this film had.

The film would have benefited from more wide shots or establishing shots when the location or scene changed, it would have added a stronger sense of location and environment, especially in the beginning when David arrives at the halfway house. There are a lot of up close and tight shots on the characters and their surroundings, I would have liked seeing some of the spaces opened up a bit more.

The markings of a Giallo are all here: a mysterious killer wearing black gloves, anyone possibly being a suspect, brutal kills and bloody deaths, and the focus being on an independent investigator as opposed to the police. In this case David, a suspect, works as the investigator. I believe the deaths could have been a bit more graphic here, splattering a little blood on the wall goes a long way as far as gruesome deaths are concerned. The kills are deemed gruesome by some dripping blood here and there and the amount of blood on the killer's knife. Regarding the story I give the filmmaker credit for paying attention to the tropes of a Giallo and making them as evident as possible. Through the Devil's Eyes is a love letter to the Giallo sub-genre and while the budget definitely held back the blood and gore factor, the script did a good job at conveying the spirit of a Giallo film. It's a character driven mystery sparked by an incident that sends David to the halfway house, an incident that is brilliantly played out and built up throughout the film little by little until it is ultimately revealed.

The acting is solid enough all around with some displaying stronger abilities than other. Tristan S. Bradford who plays Jonathan did an excellent job here, he has a real natural way about the way he speaks that made him seem very in the moment and had him stand out amongst the cast.

In the end I was pretty impressed with what Through the Devil's Eyes was able to deliver: a solid mystery that paid accurate homage to its source inspiration.  

Hell and Back

Hell and Back

After their best friend accidentally gets dragged to Hell, two friends (Remy and Augie) go in after him to get him back.

Hell and Back has the look of Corpse Bride and the attitude of Superbad crossed with The Odyssey. It's a foul mouthed roller coaster ride filled with dirty jokes, filthy insults, and off color humor. And it is pretty damn funny. I will admit that it takes some getting used to watching these computer animated clay-mation characters swearing up a storm. But the sooner you get over that and accept it the better, because it's a hilarious film and one hell of a ride. And to let the cartoon look mixed with adult humor keep you from seeing this movie would be a shame because you'd be missing out on a really good time.

Every scene is meant to make you laugh or shake your head as we see these characters telling very explicit, sexual jokes and swearing almost every fifth word. Of course, with the jokes flying around at such a high volume, not all of them are going to hit or be successful. But I found myself constantly cracking up largely due to the great cast and there superb voice work. Hell and Back combines a winning formula, fusing humor of the new millennium with the screwball feel of 1980's comedies.

Bob Odenkirk as the devil is downright hilarious. His raspy, weak, and almost beaten down, middle management sounding voice runs contrary to the look of the devil and makes for a great character. The contradiction of look and sound is a constant source of humor throughout the film; such a great casting choice!

There is a great running gag throughout the film that shows the various ways the demons "torture" the people in Hell and it is pretty funny and unconventional to say the least. It's just one of the many details that make Hell and Back creative, inventive, and fun. Stick around for the end credits for more on this fun little bit!

The movie starts fast and moves fast. But it seems to start almost too fast. By the 25 minute mark we seem to be in the thick of it already and if I have a very small complaint it's that maybe we could have spent an extra scene or two with Remy and Augie in their real world on Earth before they journey to Hell. Just to get a better sense of character and the relationship between these two, instead of continuing to piece it together as the two are in the midst of their journey in Hell.

The film does seem to meander and stumble a bit to find an ending. The slow down in the action in the final act took me out of the story just a little bit. This may have something to do with the film perhaps starting a little too quickly that left it running out if gas not long after the 1 hour mark (the run time is only 1 hour 25 minutes). The ending isn't exactly a blown opportunity that ruins the fun experience of the rest of the film, but it does hinder it just a bit.

Hell and Back is a really fun movie with a very creative view of Hell that offers a great Odyssey like journey and fantastic voice work. It loses it's way a bit at the end but overall I would definitely say check it out, especially since, as of this writing, it is streaming on Netflix.  

Home

Home

Forced to stay in a new house with her mother and her new wife, the religious Carrie now lives with people she is at odds with. The story takes place over the first two days at the strange house, as Carrie's newlywed mom and her wife leave for a business trip and she must now watch over her young stepsister. As creepy occurrences lead to full blown terror, Carrie must fight to save her little sister.

Our first introduction to Carrie is her being dressed up "because it's Sunday" and praying out loud at the dinner table while her new family is visibly uncomfortable and looking at her like she's a weirdo. The first thing she does is hang up a cross, she apparently sleeps with a bible on her nightstand, she goes to church her first full day there, and of course she listens to Christian music. In terms of storytelling and writing, the character of Carrie is nothing but a stock character at best and is based on the laziest of cliches. The whole religious/gay marriage conflict in the middle of a horror film felt a bit distracting from the film itself and came across as a weak plot mechanism to create some sort of drama to raise the stakes. Right away I started to get a bad feeling about Home.

The film meanders for a while once it hits the second act. The two moms leave on their business trip, some odd things happen here and there, and...well that's about it. There's the religious aspect to create conflict, the house that used to be lived in by an old man who when he died was rumored “to never have left” but unfortunately the script doesn't seem to know how to use all of this to create a compelling story.

While watching her stepsister and amidst the slightly odd but minor goings on, Carrie and her friend Aaron, a boyfriend type who comes to visit, decide to rid the house of any unwanted spirits. Because after about 20 minutes, Carrie decides that's what must be in the house. So after a quick Google search they find a do it yourself exorcism that is "sanctioned by the church". So they do that and are on the couch kissing in no time. I mean, after explaining that sequence of events, do I really need to say why I didn't exactly dig this movie?

By the time anything really starts to happen and the "horror" of this horror movie starts to take place, there's about fifteen minutes left and at that point I just didn't care anymore. The terror at the end probably should have happened at the half way point and the story could have gone from there, a true good (Carrie) vs. evil (the spirit in the house) scenario. At least then her over the top religious convictions would have actually meant something.

To say the least Home was a disappointment. The bright spot in the film was seeing Heather Langenkamp turn in a solid performance in a horror film again, she does a really good job here. Maybe it's enough for some hardcore horror fans to see Langenkamp again in a film like this in order to watch Home, because that's the only real reason to.

Ava's Possessions

Ava's Possessions

This is the story of Ava Dobkins, a woman who is recovering from a recent demonic possession. Forced to attend a Spirit Possession Anonymous group, Ava struggles to pick up the pieces of her interrupted life and remember the events of her month long possession. But when she starts to suffer from horrific visions she realizes that the demon is trying to come back.

I am loving the mixing of genres that has been taking place in horror lately and the explosion of unique films released on video on demand platforms. It really is the best medium to find the best of horror, and there are a lot of great horror films out there and Ava's Possessions is an example of that.

Ava's Possessions doesn't go with the usual dreary and dark look of the typical possession/exorcism film. It instead is awash with fluorescent neon lighting that in turn casts several dark shadows in every scene. It's a fascinating look that gives the cloaked and chaotic yet secretive feel of a dance club. And with all the randomness and violent movements associated with possession, a dance club is a brilliant analogy to underline the look of the film. It has the look of Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives.

The film walks the fine line of drama and dark comedy extraordinarily well. With such a unique storyline tied in with familiar horror territory, the script manages to blend this into the real world in a believable way. Huge kudos go out to writer/director Jordan Galland for creating a stylish and lively and fresh feeling story that for me, so far, is one my favorite films of 2016. Louisa Krause is great in her role as Ava. She embodies Ava as a dark and sensitive and lost character in a way that added strength to the already strong story. Wass Stevens also does great work as the passionate but seemingly tortured group leader of Spirit Possession Anonymous. The cast is rounded out with familiar faces such as Carol Kane, William Sadler, and Lou Taylor Pucci.

At the heart of Ava's Possessions is a haunted film noir where the detective herself is the case file and the assailant can only be found within herself with the puzzle piece help of others. It's a story that is constructed with skill and attention to both genres and kept me interested throughout the film.

The final act falters just a little bit with a climax that comes across as slightly disappointing and quick as compared to the skillful build up of the story throughout the film and a final scene that perhaps didn't need to be there. Although I wish the ending was a bit stronger, the film overall was a very welcome and enjoyable experience both visually and in terms of storytelling.

As of this writing Ava's Possessions is available on Amazon Instant and I suggest you check it out for a unique mash up between film noir and horror that's a lot of fun to watch.

Serial Kaller

Serial Kaller

Serial Kaller centers on a group of beautiful internet models. When they insult a caller live on the air, the girls find themselves stalked in their studio and being picked off one by one.

The film starts by setting up a backstory that shows a little boy who likes to wear his mother's make-up. The mother is obsessed with looking younger and when she says she's going to have plastic surgery and that she'll be beautiful again. The next day during the operation something goes horribly wrong and the mother dies. The boy is devastated by the news.
The film cuts to present day and shows the lives of girls who work at a sexy call in show. They live a very Housewives of Beverly Hills lifestyle; going to posh boutiques, busy nightclubs, and carrying around little lapdogs wearing little pink clothing. Their occupation is perfect for a slasher movie because it is loaded with sex and everybody knows that when you have sex in a slasher movie you die. Both sex and death are in abundance in this film. And that means there's a whole lot of good 'ol fashioned slashing to be had!

Serial Kaller really captures the randomness, playfulness, and unawareness of the characters that dominated slasher movies in the early 1980's. The ladies get killed one by one in every way you can imagine: head bashing, face slashing, suffocation, high heels in the eye, drowning, and more. The camera work during the kills is wonderfully old school and overly theatrical with several cuts and angles that accentuate and embody the spirit of the slasher genre. The combination of the great cast, variety of kills, and loads of blood (quite literally a load in one scene) make Serial Kaller a great time for any horror fans who love their retro slasher flicks. The film adds a bit of depth by showing the hell that some women put their bodies through in order to be “beautiful”.

Serial Kaller doesn't break any new ground for slasher movies and if you're not already a fan of these types of films then this won't be the movie to win you over. It plays within the rules of the slasher genre in a lovingly but cookie cutter way. Some may view that as a problem or a lazy script, but others will see it as the love letter it is to the genre that Roger Ebert dubbed “the dead teenager movie”. The cast of Serial Kaller is a who's who of independent horror with people like Dani Thompson, Suzi Lorraine, and the legend herself Debbie Rochon who is downright scary and freaking awesome here! I bet you won't be able to take your eyes off her in the final scenes of the film, although you might want to! Debbie Rochon always gives her best in every role she plays, which is why this horror fan will continue to be excited by any film she stars in.

Movies like this are made by horror fans for horror fans and star people we've come to recognize and know and vowed to support over the years. That's why a film like Serial Kaller is so fun to watch for us fans of slasher movies. Budgets and high end production values be damned, Serial Kaller is the type of film that feels like a party that we've been invited to and I'll be the first one on the phone to Suzi Lorraine or Dani Thompson or Debbie Rochon confirming my RSVP. Even if it kills me.