Damn Your Eyes (2009)

 

Damn Your Eyes is a short film that emulates the gritty stylishness of spaghetti Westerns by faithfully recreating the feel of the classic Italian-lensed Westerns, complete with a mysterious desperado out for revenge, a distinct score, old-school shootouts and plenty of bloodshed.
Sam (Jakob Von Eichel), a mysterious stranger, arrives in town to exact revenge on the men who wronged him when he was only a child. He encounters Louisa (Marisa Costa), a prostitute who dreams of a better life. Meanwhile, Dennis (Ray Reynolds), the town’s lawman, is familiar with Sam’s past and makes it his personal duty to stop him before the violence escalates.

Writer/director David Guglielmo has created a stunning short film with Damn Your Eyes. While not strictly horror, Damn Your Eyes has that outlaw aesthetic and plenty of violence that will no doubt attract horror fans. The visuals are impressive, creating a faithful-looking Wild West even on the film’s tight budget (the short was supposedly filmed for just $5,000), and the direction is sharp and focused, really engaging the viewer. While the film has limited locations (mainly a saloon and two different houses), it never feels like this negatively impacts the film. Instead, it shows how the film overcame its budgetary limitations while still delivering a visually arresting story.

While the visuals used really capture the feel of a spaghetti Western, I also must mention the excellent use of music throughout that gave the film a haunting, lonesome quality so associated with Westerns. The score really gave the film that extra polish and feel of completion.

As for the acting, it was top-notch. I really loved Jakob Von Eichel as the mysterious sharp-shooter Sam. Equally impressive was Marisa Costa as saloon prostitute Louisa, exuding equal parts vulnerability and tough-as-nails attitude.

I loved the authentic feel of the film and the vivid world it created. With dashes of grindhouse grit, Western bravado, gallows humor and even a few gruesome bits sprinkled throughout, not to mention the engaging story that unfolds on-screen, Damn Your Eyes was an absolute joy to watch. My only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough. However, the short has been receiving rave reviews, and hopefully this will allow filmmaker Guglielmo to push forward with a sequel or perhaps even a full-length feature.

I certainly hope to see more of writer/director David Guglielmo, because this is one of the best (and one of my favorite) short films I've seen!!

For more info (and to watch this amazing short yourself), please visit the short film's official site!

The Burrowers (2009)

Decent horror-western films are hard to come by, though it seems the two genres would go together so well. Think of the desolate Wild West and how something horrific could stalk wayward cowboys or pioneers on such a lonely frontier. The wide open spaces, with no one around to help for hundreds of miles, could indeed turn ominous with the proper story. The history of the West itself is filled with stories of missing wagon trains, ghosts, ghost towns and strange creatures, not to mention the numerous Native American myths.

It really bums me out that there aren’t more horror-Western films, but luckily writer/director J.T. Petty (who gave us the amazingly subtle, but no less disturbing, Soft for Digging) has managed to craft this kind of menacing story with The Burrowers, recently released on DVD on April 21st, 2009 from Lionsgate.

Life in the Dakota Territories in 1879 isn’t easy. The few pioneers that rough it out there have to overcome the lack of civilization, harsh climate and the threat of Indian raids. Yet settlers experience a certain freedom in the Wild West…like Irish immigrant Coffey (Karl Geary), who fled the oppression of back East to start a new life on the frontier. He is even planning on asking for his sweetheart’s hand in marriage. Only, when he goes to visit her one morning, he finds four of her family dead and her, along with five others, missing. An Indian raid is the first explanation given for the brutal scene, and a posse, including experienced frontiersmen John Clay (Clancy Brown), Will Parcher (William Mapother), Coffey and a young teen hoping to become a man, is formed to hunt them down. They are soon joined by the cavalry, lead by the nasty Henry Victor (Doug Hutchison), who likes to belitte his cook and ex-slave Callaghan (Sean Patrick Thomas) and viciously torture Indians for information. The one brave they do catch can only warn them of “the burrowers”…and as people start disappearing into the night, pulled down into darkness by these “burrowers”, the group discovers that they are the ones being hunted and not by any Indians, either! They soon realize that the real enemy stalks them from deep within the earth and that what they face is far more terrifying than death.

The Burrowers delivers a beautifully menacing horror film and shows exactly why a Western setting works so well in the horror genre. The expansive plains evoke a melancholy loneliness during the day, but at night they achieve a more sinister feel. Just what are the long prairie grasses and dark shadows beyond the campfire hiding? What are the strange noises coming from the dark? This wonderful setting, coupled with cinematographer Phil Parnet’s panoramic views of the West during the day and claustrophobic shots at night, creates a tension-filled and frightening film that shouldn’t be missed.

Writer/director J.T. Perry doesn’t just let the scenery speak for itself, though. The story is also an extremely well-crafted monster tale that doesn’t sacrifice sophistication for scares. Perry wisely keeps the monsters in the dark for most of the film, teasing us with their strange sounds and small glimpses of the beasts. An enormous amount of tension is created by doing this, especially during the night-time scenes in which the monsters circle a camp of the posse.

Perry also includes the obligatory social commentary about white men abusing the natives, but also shows how distrustful the Native Americans were of white men. This adds some more tension to the story and the distrustful feelings of both the white men and Native Americans feel very accurate.

The stellar cast of actors also does a fine job of creating tension, whether between themselves, the natives or what lurks underground. Doug Hutchison (Punisher: War Zone, Lost) was great as the villainous Henry Victor, complete with a mustache that curled at the ends. Clancy Brown (Carnivale, Lost), William Mapother (Lost, Prison Break) and Karl Geary were all wonderful as the “good guys,” bewildered by what “the burrowers” truly are but determined to push on and find the missing victims. Everyone was believable in their role, not the easiest thing to pull off in a period piece, and evoked the proper emotions, whether it was to loathe or love their character.

The film isn’t a gorefest but there are several nicely bloodied scenes that delivered. The creep-factor was more intense in this film than the gore, and the creatures and just what they did to their prey really got under my skin. The creature effects, by Robert Hall (who is making quite a name for himself in horror – check out his recent Laid to Rest film), were pretty awesome and downright creepy. Some people have complained of the “look” of the creatures, but I definitely have no complaints. Everything from their movements to their maws to the sounds they made sent shivers up my spine!

The Burrowers is what I like to call “high-end horror.” It’s a more sophisticated, more nuanced film that doesn’t rely on cheap scares or stereotypical characters like some throw-away horror films. It has a menacing feel and a tense atmosphere that slowly build until the abrupt finale, where you can finally let your breath out! It is also one of the few horror films that has capitalized on a Western setting, which in turn makes it an even more eerie and frightening film!

This is definitely one of the best horror-Westerns ever made, and so far one of the best films of 2009! Go see it!

Available from Amazon!

Dust Devil (1992)

Haunting, mesmerizing and hauntingly beautiful, Dust Devil is a little-known classic that has finally been released how it was meant to be seen. Now available from Subversive Sinema in a definitive, 5-disc limited collector’s edition complete with the director’s “final cut” of the film.

A lone demon travels the dusty, hot and dry Namibian Desert of South Africa in human form, seeking out souls of the lonely and lost. Locals call him the Dust Devil (Robert Burke). He preys upon and is drawn to those that believe in nothing and have lost everything, killing them in ritualistic fashion. The desolate desert landscape, seeped in muted reds, oranges and yellows and filled with jutting rocks, steep sand dunes and deep canyons create the perfect backdrop to the loneliness and isolation that draws the Dust Devil to his prey. The demon is in the guise of an attractive man, wearing a long, dust-covered jacket, cowboy boots, cowboy hat and the perfect amount of stubble. It’s not hard for him to hitchhike, as his victims are usually more than willing to pick him up. Wendy (Chelsea Field) has just left her abusive husband and is driving across the desert to get to the sea. She decides to pick up the handsome devil as he is hitchhiking on the side of the road. Strange things start to occur as Wendy spends more time with the hitcher. Meanwhile, local police officer Ben (Zakes Mokae), who is haunted by his own demons, is investigating what appears to be a very vicious serial killer. Local shaman Joe (John Matshikiza) becomes involved with the investigation and tries to warn Ben that he is dealing with a supernatural force. Can Ben stop the Dust Devil before he kills again? Will Wendy escape the Dust Devil’s charismatic draw? Can both Ben and Wendy defeat their past demons to come together and defeat the Dust Devil?

Dust Devil is a hypnotic and hallucinatory film that left me breathless. Combining African folklore with a spaghetti western look and throwing in some grisly murder scenes, Dust Devil impressed me at every turn. The pace is slow, but it is mesmerizing and never drags. From the opening scene where the Dust Devil is picked up by an unsuspecting victim and taken to her house where he first takes her photograph, then breaks her neck while they have sex and mutilates her body, painting the walls with her blood and burning the building to the ground to the final showdown in a ghost town between him, Wendy and Ben, I couldn’t take my eyes away from the screen.

Robert Burke, who plays the Dust Devil, is equal parts charming and frightening. His demon has some very human needs and there were parts where I even began to empathize with him. The brutality of his killings, though, told a different story, of a demon who hunts the unloved and lonely and takes their souls. Chelsea Field as Wendy and Zakes Mokae as Ben were stellar in this as well, portraying broken, lonely and angry souls.

The score and soundtrack work wonders to support the dark mood and atmosphere of the story, giving it an almost dreamy (if not nightmarish) quality. The original music by Simon Boswell (also included in the 5-disc set) is stunning and evokes many emotions. Some of the music is very similar to what you might hear in old spaghetti westerns and only adds to the rich visuals of the film.

Visually, the movie is absolutely gorgeous. Different camera angles are used to portray different emotions and the backdrop of the barely habitable desert echoes the emptiness and despair of the characters. People and cars rise out of the heat lines of the desert, as if rising out of the ocean. Towns are desolate, with tumbleweeds and trash blowing in the hot wind. Everything is drenched in red dust and yellow sand. The Dust Devil walks on and on, finally disappearing into the sunset…

Subversive Sinema has released a wonderful limited edition that finally gives justice to Dust Devil. Originally, Dust Devil was released by Miramax, who chopped up the film beyond recognition, getting rid of 20 minutes…all without director Richard Stanley’s approval. Stanley (after he finally tracked it down) recut the original negative with his own money and finally it is seeing a release through Subversive. The five discs include two versions of Dust Devil, the final director's cut and a longer work print version, three of Richard Stanley’s documentaries, The Secret Glory, Voice of the Moon and The White Darkness, the soundtrack CD and bonus features.

Dust Devil is a spellbinding, entrancing movie that invades your subconscious and whose images will stick with you for days. It comes highly recommended.

Available on Amazon!

Planetfall (2005)

The worlds of sci-fi and the spaghetti western film collide in Planetfall, a new feature film being released by Heretic Films.

Two female bounty hunters compete to find a mysterious military crate on a war-torn planet. More parties become interested when it is discovered that the crate holds the last supply of an illicit psychic power enhancing drug Psylenol, which is to blame for the destruction of the planet. Can the two bounty hunters find the crate before it is used for evil?

When I received this film, I was intrigued…combining the swagger and Old West locations of a spaghetti western with sci-fi gadgets and action? Sounded pretty sweet to me! Unfortunately, what looks good on paper can turn into a big ol’ mess. Planetfall is chock full of great ideas, but they fall flat once on-screen.

The first problem is with the story. From the beginning it’s confusing and never gives a clear picture as to what’s going on. Sure, it’s easy enough once to figure out once the story gets going, but it’s less than cohesive. The story jumps around too much without clear transitions and lacks clarity. Some of the characters are introduced sloppily, so their motivations aren’t clear from the get-go. The characters themselves come off as underdeveloped and their backgrounds aren’t ever developed to their full potential. This lead to me not really caring about what happened to the characters, except for bounty hunter Wendy (Leitha Matz) who is a joy to watch on screen. She was spunky, funny and had a background that was more developed and gave her more depth than the other characters. Actress Leitha Matz delivers a stand out performance as Wendy, especially considering this was her first feature film. The rest of the acting ranges from just-plain-bad to mediocre, with most of the cast overacting.

It doesn’t aid the story that the special effects look horrible, even for a low budget production. The bad effects distract noticeably from the story and while I realize that low budget films don’t have the money for professional special effects work, you just don’t shoot something if you don’t have the budget to make it believable! Low budget filmmakers sometimes have to alter a script to make the budget fit, and that’s what Planetfall should have done. I was so busy grimacing at the videogame background the actors were plopped into that the story got lost in the bad special effects.

Planetfall started with some good ideas of mixing the genres of the spaghetti western with sci-fi, but unfortunately doesn’t succeed because of a disjointed story, bad acting and horrible special effects. It was just painful to watch so many good ideas be so horribly misused.

Available on Amazon!