The Living Dead Girl (1982)

Though I haven’t delved too deeply into Jean Rollin’s filmography, I have found the films of his I have seen to be quite poetic and darkly romantic. The Iron Rose was the first film of his I saw, and it entranced me with its gothic feel and dark poetry. After that, I eagerly sought out his other work, which led me to view The Grapes of Death, a film I found to be rather disappointing.

However, I recently viewed Rollin’s The Living Dead Girl (aka La Morte Vivante), which came highly recommended, and this film did not disappoint. Sticking to a more straightforward storyline and somewhat leaving his slow and hypnotizing filmmaking behind, Rollin brings us a film filled with gore, nudity and an enthralling Living Dead Girl.

The film opens with a couple of workers dumping barrels filled with toxic waste into an old crypt under a castle in the French countryside. While they are down there, they decide to do a little grave robbing as well. As they are prying open the coffin lids of two coffins, an earthquake causes the toxic chemicals to spill everywhere. While one grave robber gets killed by the stuff, another gets his eyes clawed out by the resurrected Catherine Valmont (Francoise Blanchard), who looks as fresh and pretty as the day she died two years ago!

She makes her way back to her castle, though her family is also dead and the place has been put on the market. She kills anyone that gets in her way, including a realtor and her boyfriend who come to the empty castle for some hanky-panky.

When her childhood friend and blood sister Helene (Marina Pierro) discovers Catherine is still alive, she rushes to her aid and vows to never leave her, helping her to kill people when Catherine craves their blood. Even while Helene tries to find a semblance of normality for the two of them, Catherine truly realizes what she is and begins lamenting her current undead condition.

Catherine’s secret becomes further threatened when an American actress photographs her and becomes intent on uncovering her identity.

Living Dead Girl is probably Jean Rollin’s most commercial and accessible film. His signature dream-like atmosphere is more muted in the film (though still present) and the plot moves along rather briskly for a Rollin film. The gore and nudity are also copious and occur often, as do the lesbian undertones (which are present in many of Rollin’s vampire films) between Helene and Catherine.

Catherine’s weapon of choice were her long, curved nails, with which she slashed and stabbed through many victims. Blood splattered, sprayed and streamed over the screen throughout the film. There’s plenty of violence, from a girl getting her stomach repeatedly slashed open to a man on fire. The most impressive gore sequence came towards the end, when someone’s throat is literally ripped out, and it was so prolonged that it made me squirm a little in my seat! There was also plenty of flesh exposed on which to splatter said blood. Gorehounds will delight in many of the blood-letting scenes!

Francoise Blanchard is amazing as Catherine Valmont. Her innocent blue eyes and angelic blond hair contrast nicely with the chaos that surrounds her. She is very much the victim as opposed to the monster in this film, and you really feel for her predicament. Marina Pierro also does a marvelous job as Helene, who just can’t seem to come to grips with what Catherine really is. Her steely resolve to protect her friend and the love she shows toward Catherine are very admirable traits, though near the end you wish she would just come to understand what Catherine is going through. The rest of the acting is respectable, even with the subplot involving the actress stumbling across Catherine’s secret.

Surprisingly, the subplot doesn’t feel unnecessary, but instead adds a bit more depth and drama to the story, written by Rollin and Jacques Ralf. As for the pacing, it moved at a quick clip, something that can’t be said for all of Rollin’s films. There are plot holes (including the freshness of Catherine’s corpse!), but they are easy to overlook when the film is viewed as a whole. I enjoyed how the story never took a decidedly “zombie” or “vampire” stance with Catherine’s resurrection, but straddled the two myths. Catherine is never named as a “zombie” or a “vampire,” but is merely “undead” and marries aspects from both. She drinks blood like a vampire but also stumbles around like a mindless zombie most of the film. In the end, the character works, which is all that really matters. The rest of the story, including Catherine’s mounting angst and Helene’s burgeoning frustration, works nicely with the ensuing chaos and catastrophe of Catherine’s “condition.”

The cinematography, done by Max Monteillet, was also stunning and the vistas used in the film were gorgeous. The Valmont’s castle was outfitted for a king and the surrounding fields and town were vibrant. The leads were beautiful as well, which completed the film’s rich palette. Visually speaking, each scene has something to grab your eye.

If you are looking to explore Jean Rollin’s work, Living Dead Girl is the most accessible place to start. Its straightforward story moves at a brisk pace, the acting is excellent, the gore is out of this world and the leads are beautiful (and you’ll get to see plenty of them throughout the film if you catch my drift). The film follows some genre guidelines (toxic spill awakens the dead) but has a unique spin on the consequences. This Living Dead Girl is no brainless zombie intent only on brains, she is a thinking, rationale being with a strong sense of right and wrong who just happens to be back from the dead…and is a very messy blood-feaster.

Available from Amazon!

Livelihood (2005)

What if the dead walked the earth…but instead of brains all they wanted were their old lives back?

This is the basic premise of Livelihood, a hilarious zom-com that pits the living and the undead against each other, but in very different circumstances than your typical zombie flick.

The film intertwines the stories of three people who died in freakish ways, only to come back from the dead to find the lives they left behind are topsy-turvy. The first story is about Billy Jump (Stephen B. Thomas), an 80’s hair metal rock star, who decides to reunite his once successful metal band, despite the fact that he can only sing in a high-pitched voice and two of his band mates have fallen in love and are now gay.

The second tale is of office square Alexander (Scott P. Graham). In life, no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t get ahead. His wife hated him and his boss thought he was worthless. When he returns and tries to re-establish his life, he finds he’s been replaced with a computer at work and replaced by a woman in his wife’s bed!

Lastly, we are told the story of overbearing mother Vida (Michelle Trout), who lives with her son and daughter-in-law, Jean (Amy Smith). Vida makes Jean’s life a living hell, until Jean poisons her tapioca pudding. When Vida returns from the grave, she continues to harass Jean.

As the three different stories unfold, the film treats us to several commercials featuring zombie products (zombie digestion aids) and services (zombie retirement home), zombie soap operas (The Dead and the Breathless) and even a zombie music video (a country parody called “Leave the US to the Living”)! The film also has segments that give it a documentary feel, like when the characters are featured in sit-down interviews. All these elements work in Livelihood’s favor, giving it a distinctive and unique feel.

This is a low-budget movie, though, so some might be a little put-off by the hokey pancake makeup and special effects. Still, this didn’t really dampen my enjoyment of the film. In fact, I thought it only added to the comical and over-the-top vibe of the flick!

There are a few instances where the humor does fall flat, though, and a few scenes that run a bit long. It also never ties the three stories together, leaving the film feeling rather loose, unstructured and unfocused.

Surprisingly, the acting was quite good, with all of the lead characters holding their own throughout the film. For a low-budget flick to pull this off is a rather big accomplishment!

I liked how the story tweaked the traditional “the dead walk the earth” and put its own spin on it. From the look of this smartly written film, writers Ryan Graham (who also directed), Tracey Graham and Curtis Crispin have bright futures ahead of them.

Livelihood is a solid low-budget film that delivers the laughs and will surely charm fans of zombie comedy looking for something new!

Available from Amazon!

Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil (1992)

The only thing consistent with the Prom Night series is how inconsistent the films are. The first film, with its standard slasher storyline and horrendous disco music is nonetheless still a fun film to watch. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II completely discarded the first Prom Night’s story and introduced us to Mary Lou Maloney, a malevolent ghost that comes back to claim her prom queen crown. The third installment, Prom Night III: The Last Kiss, continued with a new Mary Lou story, but Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil yet again ditches the previous storylines.

Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil is about Father Jonas, a possessed, homicidal priest that kills two horny teenagers on prom night in 1957 (the same night Mary Lou was accidentally killed at the prom). The Catholic Church locks him in the basement of a church and keeps him sedated so he can do no more harm. In 1991 a new, young priest is put in charge of Jonas. Thinking he can help the homicidal maniac, he stops administering his meds and even gives him a nice, close shave. Jonas wakes up and busts outta the church, looking for more promiscuous teens to kill and “save.”

Lucky for Jonas, it is prom night! Two couples are getting ready for the big night (complete with a funny lesbian interlude), but instead of going to prom they decide to ditch it and spend the weekend at one of their parent’s weekend getaway houses. Problem is, the house used to be Father Jonas’ seminary home and he’s on his way back there also! Can the four horny teens survive the Father’s wrath?

Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil isn’t a slasher masterpiece, but I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it. The acting was alright, the characters didn’t get on my nerves and the villain was fun to watch! Of course, there wasn’t that much gore to speak of, there were more than a few inconsistencies and plot holes as well. For example, if it was prom, why was it snowing?? And, of course, there was the problem of Father Jonas not aging a day since he was imprisoned by the Church. Maybe years of solitary confinement are the solution for younger looking skin!

The characters were all very fun to watch. The innocent Meagan (Nikki de Boer) played well against the “experienced” Laura (Joy Tanner). The male characters weren’t as developed, but they did okay as well. It was surprising that there were no annoying characters to root for to die, which I thought was a nice change from your standard slasher fare. The villain of Father Jonas (James Carver) wasn’t necessarily scary, but he was very intense and did well in his role.

The kills really weren’t that interesting or memorable, but I did enjoy how slowly and methodically Father Jonas stalked the characters. On the downside, the film took about 45 minutes before the teens started getting knocked off. There are a few kills beforehand, but by the time the first teen “disappeared,” I was getting antsy. With just four people in an isolated house to kill, things did get a little slow.

Despite its problems, though, Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil is a decidedly fun, underrated slasher film. I’m not sure why the filmmakers decided to affiliate it with the Prom Night series because it would have done much better as a stand-alone film. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t let dreaded “sequel-itis” stop you from checking out Prom Night IV.

Available from Amazon!

Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)

In this third installment of the inconsistent Prom Night series (hardly any of the movies follow the same mythology), everyone’s favorite prom queen, Mary Lou, returns! Prom Night III: The Last Kiss finds Mary Lou back from the dead and falling for a hunky high school student. While Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II and Prom Night III have no resemblance to the original Prom Night or Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil, they are by far the cheekiest and most fun in the series.

Meet your average Joe, high school student Alex Grey. Alex gets average grades, is an average football player, has an average shoe size (hardy-har!) and is fed up with being ordinary. One night, he has a “close” (by close I mean sexy) encounter with the high school’s resident ghost, Mary Lou Mahoney, who was burned to death on prom night many years ago. Mary Lou has somehow been freed from Hell and once again is stalking the halls of Hamilton High.

Mary Lou falls head over heels for Alex and soon has him under her sultry spell. She helps him ace tests and become a star football player, killing anyone who gets in her or his way. She wants Alex to be with her forever and ever, but Alex’s girlfriend Sarah isn’t gonna take this news lying down.

Can Alex and Sarah get rid of Mary Lou before she kills any more people and drags Alex home with her…to Hell?!

Prom Night III: The Last Kiss works quite well because of its razor-sharp wit, penned by Ron Oliver, who returns from writing duties on Prom Night II and also helps co-direct the third installment. Prom Night III is infused with bitingly black humor that makes the film both extremely fun and very self-aware. There are quite a few self-referential jokes throughout the film that should tickle horror fans’ funny bones. Oliver’s script makes the film, because without its flair the film would just be another mediocre supernatural slasher movie.

The acting is also above average, with Courtney Taylor filling Lisa Schrage’s (from Prom Night II) high-heeled shoes as Mary Lou. Tim Conlon does a great job as the popularity-hungry Alex, though I felt his girlfriend Sarah, played by Cynthia Preston, was a bit bland.

The kills were all pretty cool, though a little odd at times (human ice cream sundae anyone?). My favorite was probably the “makeover” scene, in which the guidance counselor is placed under a salon hair dryer only to have acid dumped all over her! Yes, there are some pretty nifty and funny death scenes throughout the movie, as well as some hilarious lines (“Don’t worry – it’s only a guidance counselor”).

My only complaint with the film was the ending, which seemed to stretch on forever. They even brought out the undead to draaaaaaag it out. What had started as a tongue-in-cheek supernatural slasher quickly devolved into something a bit long-in-the-tooth. If the whole “Hell” scene had been avoided or edited a little shorter, I think this would have been a much more enjoyable film.

Nonetheless, Prom Night III: The Last Kiss is a very enjoyable film that is equally witty and gory to satisfy a horror fan on a lazy weekend.

Pucker up and enjoy!

Available from Amazon!

Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (2008)

Director Paul von Stoetzel’s documentary, Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera, explores the controversy of the “snuff” film and if these “murdered for profit” films really do exist. Snuff, as defined in the film, is a film that features a murder onscreen, usually preceded by sex, made explicitly for profit. Snuff isn’t made for pleasure nor is it death that just happens to be caught on film. In snuff, a person dies on camera for the sole purpose of making money off that scene.

Many people have questioned if snuff really exists and the FBI still vehemently denies it’s out there. Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera presents filmmakers, cinephiles and even FBI profilers with their thoughts on snuff films.

The official synopsis from Killing Joke Films describes it as:

“… a feature film examining the existence of films in which people are murdered on camera and the culture surrounding them. Through interviews with former FBI Profilers, Cultural Academics, and Film Historians the documentary delves into the disturbing history and myth of Snuff Films. The FBI claims there is no evidence to prove the existence of Snuff and, therefore, Snuff Films are a myth. This documentary analyzes the relationships between war, cult films, serial killers and pornography to prove whether or not this pervasive myth is, in fact, reality.”
 
Through these interviews and graphic scenes of torture, bloodshed and murder from controversial horror films as well as real scenes of death, filmmaker von Stoetzel examines the validity of snuff films and if they are truly real or not. The result is an emotional, powerful and troubling look into a society that views REAL torture and death as entertainment.

This amazingly comprehensive documentary is a real eye-opener to the ugly, twisted side of entertainment. While we would rather not believe human beings would pay to see real people get killed, this does happen, all in the name of entertainment. There are many segments that are hard to watch, especially one about a child pornography ring whose leaders were arrested after causing the death of at least one child. Outrageously, the leaders of the ring were released from Russian jail due to overcrowding and the head of the ring was only sentenced for 11 years for the atrocities they committed. Another particularly difficult segment to sit through was a discussion of war snuff, specifically the infamous execution by beheading of an American. The scary thing is that this video isn’t even considered “snuff” and is readily available to anyone for free on the Internet.

The film also features some surprisingly emotional scenes, specifically two in which Texas Chain Saw Massacre producer Mark L. Rosen talks about the previously mentioned child exploitation and another in which he describes watching a real snuff film. Both are powerful scenes, but Rosen becomes most visibly shaken when discussing the snuff film. He was approached by an investor who wanted him to distribute an “adult” film and invited to watch it in his hotel room. While two beefy bodyguards guarded the door of that hotel room, Rosen viewed the film that featured violent sex and, at the end, a woman’s throat being cut on screen. He goes on to tearfully say that there’s no way special effects were involved. His recollection of the event is touching and really makes you think about the atrocities being committed out in the world that most know nothing about. Rosen still doesn’t know what became of that snuff film and doesn’t care to.

Despite the horrors the film exposes, its execution (no pun intended) is equally well done. Von Stoetzel has done an excellent job assembling interviewees that have differing opinions and letting them all express their thoughts. The production values are equally high and I liked how the shocking clips from movies, the news and other sources were played in between the interviews. It also made you think about our current YouTube generation, where real and brutal acts of violence caught on video end up on the Internet for everyone to see. Snuff collectors might not be willing to pay exorbitant prices for snuff films if they can just watch them for free on the Internet. It also raises the question if people (including kids and teens) who watch these real death videos, which are so prevalent these days, are becoming desensitized.

The filmmaker isn’t kidding when a warning message is flashed across the screen at the beginning of the film, warning it isn’t for the faint of heart or spirit. I had plenty of trouble sitting through its disturbing elements, including the infamous video of an American being beheaded in the Iraq War. There were many shocking moments in the film, whether from controversial films like the Faces of Death series (though now we know many of these were fake), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, alleged snuff films, news and/or war footage as well as some footage shot by two serial killers that show them torturing a family. I can handle all the fake gore a movie can throw at me, but I get very shaken up over real-life torture, dismemberment and death. And, let me tell you, Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera, definitely left me shaken up.

Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera, is an excellent, although horrifying, documentary on the notorious “snuff” film. It never seeks to exploit its subject, but treats it with a reverence and respect to get the truth out. Filmmaker Paul Von Stoetzel has created a moving and thoroughly engaging look at the myth surrounding snuff films. If you can handle the disturbing elements of “real-life” horrors this documentary portrays, then it comes highly recommended.

Visit Killing Joke Films and Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera’s Official Site!

Storm Warning (2007)

Following in the snooze-inducing footsteps of Aussie film Wolf Creek, Storm Warning revels in its repugnant, uncomfortable scenes of abuse while seemingly forgetting a full-length film needs a story to support its 1 ½ hour run-time.

An Australian couple decides to go boating one day and rents a small fishing boat. After a bit of fishing they decide to sail through some nearby marshes, but soon get lost. With an approaching storm and night quickly falling, they abandon the boat to find help and a lift back to the mainland. They find an old, empty farmhouse, but the barn is full of marijuana plants. Before they can get away from the drug dealers, the owners, a vile family of hillbillies that include a father and his two sons, arrive home. They are none too pleased to find interlopers inside their dwelling and are soon making the couple’s life a living hell. Can the couple escape the brutal captors?

First off, the wimpy and annoying lead male did nothing to arouse pity or sympathy. His stupid choices (not turning the boat around when a storm approached, getting lost, deciding to approach the hillbilly house, etc.) are what get them into trouble. When they became prisoners of the hillbillies, he really didn’t try and fight back, even when they humiliated and fondled his girlfriend. The good this is that she actually took charge and kicked enough ass for the both of them. As for the villains, they were never scary. We saw and heard far too much of them to make them intimidating or scary. They just ended up being your standard redneck weirdos with bad hygiene and an affinity for violence.

As for the story, you’ve seen in all before (in much better films) and sadly, there’s nothing new added to Storm Warning to make it stand out. It features the same characters in the same scenario you’ve seen countless times over. There are no twists and no surprises to alleviate the painful boredom experienced while watching this movie.

The scenes of humiliation the couple is forced to endure are really nothing new to the genre and there are much more brutal films that are done better than this one. So don’t let my statement of “repugnant, uncomfortable scenes of abuse” titillate you – there’s not anything groundbreaking or truly shocking shown here if you are a genre fan.

There is only one scene in the whole film that sticks out. There is a part where the couple is locked in a tool shed and the female gets all crafty and MacGyver-ish, setting up a wicked trap for the hillbillies involving fish hooks. Besides the fact that the scene requires you to suspend your belief awfully high, the end result of the trap is pretty cool to see. Despite that one flash-in-the-pan, though, the rest of the movie drags.

Director Jamie Blank’s other directorial efforts include genre films Urban Legend and Valentine, which were fun, if a little mediocre, films. With Storm Warning, though, it feels like he has stepped into the mean-spirited and over-played “torture porn” subgenre. His earlier films evoke the fun of the slasher film heyday of the 80’s, but Storm Warning fails to capture the grittiness of the 70’s exploitation films it was trying to emulate.

The tedious script, written by Everett de Roche, doesn’t help with its unlikable characters making stupid decisions and stereotypical villains. Within the first five minutes you pray that the two annoying leads are headed towards a painful death and the dull villains are just begging for an ass-whuppin’!

Storm Warning delivers just ONE worthy scene in its entire 80 minute running time. The rest is the same old backwoods hogwash we’ve seen a million times before, only in much better films. Better films that feature characters we actually care about, a multi-layered story that features surprises and twists, harrowing scenes and frightening villains. Storm Warning has none of those key components and fails miserably because of that.

The only frightening thing about the film is that I actually sat through it (I will admit pushing the fast forward button on more than one occasion, though). The good news is that now you don’t have to!!

Available from Amazon!

The Grapes of Death (1978)

After being introduced to Jean Rollins’ work through the film The Iron Rose, I decided to take a look at a few other of his films. I decided to start his 1978 film The Grapes of Death (aka Les Raisins de la Mort)as the premise, location and promise of gore lured me. The film was said to feature zombies, be set in the vineyards of France and be one of Rollins’ most ooey and gooey horror films.

I didn’t see any zombies or French vineyards, but the gore certainly was present and accounted for!

The film opens with a group of vineyard workers spraying down the rows and rows of sickly grapes with harsh pesticides. Despite the fact that they are all wearing “protective masks” (which are little more than painter’s masks) one man falls violently ill. Meanwhile, a young woman named Elizabeth (Marie-Georges Pascal) is on her way into the region via train. She is going to meet her fiancée at the winery where he works. The same man that fell ill in the vineyards boards her train, kills her friend and attacks her, all the while a large, oozing wound on his face is rapidly spreading.

Elizabeth hightails it into the French countryside, but encounters more people with the same pus-filled sores that try to attack her and anyone else who remains unaffected. The infected are not only violent, but they are also organized and sneaky. Can Elizabeth make her way to her fiancées winery and get help…before it’s too late?

This movie was pretty hit and miss with me. It was touted as a zombie flick, but I think that is a grossly inaccurate description. It wasn’t clear if the infected died and came back as pus-filled atrocities or if they were just sick. Besides stumbling around a little bit, they certainly didn’t act like zombies either, as they could speak and manipulate people. I was also expecting a bit more violence or action, but the movie dragged in many places. I’d say the bulk of the movie featured the heroine running, climbing and walking through the rocky French countryside (no vineyards in sight!).

The best part of the film was the special FX done on the afflicted. The greenish-yellow pus, the raw red sores and the bright red dripping blood reminded me of the over-the-top effects used in Street Trash or Slime City. While The Grapes of Death didn’t use the extreme bright color palate of either of those films, the effect of being grossed out was still achieved!

The signature Jean Rollins style of filming is definitely apparent in The Grapes of Death. The slow, languid shots give the film a dream-like quality, while the small flourishes of close-ups (of eyes, faces, etc.) are evident throughout the film. Visually, the color palate of the film is rather dull, making the colorful seeping sores on the infected pop all that much more.

The story is pretty straightforward and simple, but the ending is pretty powerful and even a bit surprising. I also loved the scenes with the woman in white, who absolutely stole the show!

The Grapes of Death isn’t a film I would recommend everyone see, but for those interested in Jean Rollins filmmaking it is a must-see. As many before me have said, the gore is phenomenal and fun and it pretty much makes an otherwise drawn out movie very enjoyable.

The Grapes of Death pairs excellently with a nice bottle of French Chianti.

Available from Amazon!