The Commune (2009)

I really wanted to love this movie, fiends, I really did!! First off, it’s written, directed, produced, etc. by firecracker filmmaker Lis Fies. I just love her spunk and attitude, especially when we interviewed her for Women in Horror Month! Secondly, it sounded like it was going to be an homage to the sleazy 70s satanic slashers where a creepy cult goes after a nubile young virgin. I love me some killer cult horror flicks! Thirdly, I had heard so much hype about this movie I was thinking there was no way I could dislike it.

Oops…I was wrong. Ultimately I was let down by The Commune.

Soon to be 16-year-old Jenny (Chauntal Lewis, looking, ahem, more than slightly older than 15) is sent to live with her hippie dad on a commune for the summer. The community of hippies seems pretty harmless at first, with their stereotypical Earth Mother worship, yoga classes and uber-healthy diets, but things take a sinister turn as Jenny’s 16^th birthday approaches. Does the commune want to turn her into a hemp-wearing flower child or do they have more ominous plans for her?

Technically, The Commune was impressive. As a director, Fies excels at making the film look like it had a much bigger budget than it did. The film looks sharp and professional and includes many establishing shots of the commune to give the audience a feel for its atmosphere. I liked that Fies took the time to set up different shots and compositions to make the film visually interesting.

Also impressive was the acting (even though some of the actors couldn’t pass for the ages they were portraying…ahem Chauntal Lewis!). Chauntal Lewis did a great job with the naïve Jenny. While at first she comes off as bratty and annoying, her character really starts to grow on you after a while. I also thought that Stuart G. Bennett did an amazingly job as the creepy Dr. Polieos, Jenny’s dad, with glances at his daughter that last far too long and leave you feeling very icky.

However, despite these glimmers of greatness, the film overall lacked a certain “oomph!” I was looking for and in the end was pretty predictable. The script seemed a bit bare and it seemed the film would have worked better as a short. Without very much of anything happening, the pacing was off and the film felt drawn out and slow. Besides a few startling moments the film had neither scares nor did it create a tense, suspenseful atmosphere. The characters seemed pretty one-dimensional as well, with only Jenny and Dr. Polieos fully fleshed out. I would have like to have seen more menace from the members of the commune and more development of their characters. I understand the filmmaker may have wanted to make them appear as “sheep”, but they all could have used more edginess in order to give the film more suspense. And portraying them as “weird” or “evil” just because they ate healthy and were “hippies” seemed like lazy and irresponsible screenwriting to me.

The Commune is supposed to be based on Greek tragedy with a 70s psycho-sexual slant (which sounds pretty cool, right?), but for me it just failed to deliver anything but yawns, something I’m definitely not looking for when watching a horror movie. The technical aspects of the film make me look forward to Lis Fies future work behind the camera, but I do hope she bones up on her screenwriting skills and conceives a less predictable story than The Commune.

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Grace (2009)

I’ve been looking forward to Paul Solet’s full-feature Grace ever since I saw his short of the same name. Grace deals with a lot of my biggest fears – pregnancy, children, motherhood, etc. As a woman, the prospect of pregnancy scares the poo outta me and is one of the many reasons I don’t want to have kids. Also, the alien nature of babies just creeps me out, what with their big googly eyes, babbling language, constant crying and incessant hunger, not to mention how much self-sacrifice goes into raising a child. Grace taps into these fears and more, but its not just to unnerve women…men will also be very perturbed by Grace’s turn of events.

Grace tells the story of Madeline (Jordan Ladd) and Michael (Stephen Park), a married couple trying to conceive a baby. When Madeline finally gets pregnant, she is determined to deliver the baby au natural with a midwife instead of going to a hospital, much to the chagrin of her meddling and traditional mother-in-law, Vivian (Gabrielle Rose). Madeline is also a committed vegan and is very eco-conscious, which irks Vivian even more.

Madeline and Michael joyously await the birth of their baby girl, but a tragic car accident leaves both her husband and her unborn baby dead. Against the wishes of her midwife, Patricia (Samantha Ferris), and mother-in-law, Madeline decides to carry the infant to term. When the baby is delivered, it miraculously comes back to life and Madeline names her Grace.

Madeline dotes on Grace, but she soon notices there’s something not quite right with the baby. Grace attracts flies, smells a bit funky, gets bleeding sores on her skin and seems to prefer human blood to breast milk…

Soon, Vivian starts to nag Madeline about seeing her precious granddaughter and even going so far as to send the family doctor, Richard Sohn (Malcolm Stewart), to check up on her. With Grace craving more and more blood, though, Madeline isn’t exactly ready to show her off. Patricia starts poking around too, concerned about her friend but more interested in putting the moves on the new baby momma. As Madeline deals with the mounting external pressure of intruders, she also tries her best to satiate the hungry Grace…but she soon realizes that her own blood will not be enough to satisfy the bloodthirsty babe…

While more subdued and slower-paced than the shocking short, this feature-length Grace still packs a punch. The woman-centric issues of pregnancy and self-sacrificing motherhood are rarely featured in horror, so it’s nice to see these addressed. The prospect of going through a pregnancy and giving birth to another person is scary enough, but think of if your baby was born…unnatural…how much would you sacrifice for them then? The bond between a mother and child are strong, so like Madeline, I’m willing to bet you would sacrifice everything and anything for them. Madeline breaks her own ethical beliefs to ensure that Grace gets what she hungers for…blood…and is prepared to stop anyone that would try to take her baby away. Sacrifice and a mother’s bond to her child are just a few of the many themes explored in Grace and are among the many intelligent layers to this intriguing film.

Though Grace isn’t your “typical” horror film, the script and story are smart and I squeamishly enjoyed its many different layers, including the “meat is murder” subtext that peppers the film (the real footage of animals being slaughtered/tortured will unnerve many). The character of Madeline was well-written as she was strong, resolute and firm in all her beliefs – beliefs that would soon be challenged by her bloodthirsty monster of an infant. And yet, the film never falls into being an exploitative “killer baby” picture, but maintains a somber, tragic and straightforward tone throughout its running time.

Jordan Ladd absolutely glows as Madeline. Her portrayal of a mother who will do whatever it takes to care for her child felt incredibly realistic, even though Ladd herself has never had any children. The fact that she was able to tap into such a maternal role is amazing in of itself, but she actually made us care about the heartbreaking tragedy of her situation. In fact, all of the women in the film portrayed very strong, maternal roles. Gabrielle Rose as mother-in-law Vivian had her own psychological issues, including being obsessed with being a mother and wanting to breast feed again though she was now a grandma. Rose played the condescending Vivian with a “mother-knows-best” vibe that will make your skin crawl. Even the knowledgeable midwife Patricia, in a commanding performance by Samantha Ferris, was concerned with Madeline and was constantly checking up on her, though most of that came from personal feelings she still had for Madeline; the two used to be lovers in college. Each and every one of the female characters was written to be a strong woman, which is quite refreshing for a horror film! The men, on the other hand, were mainly secondary characters or villains, as is the case with the creepy Dr. Richard Sohn, played by Malcolm Stewart, who almost orders Madeline induced early after she starts having chest pains…until Patricia intervenes. And Dr. Sohn gives Madeline one of the most intrusive and disturbing home exams I’ve been unfortunate enough to witness! It is always a pleasure to see a horror movie that features smart, caring women as the main characters instead of just relegating them to T & A shots or “scream queen” roles.

Besides excelling at writing a compelling script and engaging characters, Solet’s direction is also impeccable. The sharp contrast between the early scenes that are bathed in bright sunshine and warm colors and later scenes where shots are veiled in shadows, sickly greens and muted colors complements the accompanying action perfectly. There are also great shots showing Grace’s room adorned with fly traps and the birthing scene itself is quite traumatic.

Solet has taken a dramatic turn away from the current crop of immediate, in-your-face mainstream “horror” that scares with jumpy editing and fake frights. Instead, he has crafted a restrained film that manages to crawl under your skin and squirm there, increasing the discomfort until the satisfying finale. It’s not a perfect film by any means, and is definitely not for everyone, but it is a very well-done and quiet character study that shows off Solet’s skill as both as a writer and director as well as the amazing range of its actors.

Grace slowly gestates, until it ripens from quiet character study to full-blown horror show. If you can enjoy the slowly unfolding dread, Grace definitely delivers.

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Attack of the Vegan Zombies! (2009)

Most zombie movies feature flesh-eating zombies. I mean, it’s almost a given that zombies crave human flesh and their sole purpose is to hunt down and feast on humans. What if, though, zombies went vegan and instead of craving fresh meat they wanted to devour plants? Well, Attack of the Vegan Zombies tackles this whole different approach to zombies…and does a pretty entertaining job of it!

Struggling wine-makers Dionne (Christine Egan) and her husband Joe (writer/director/producer Jim Townsend) haven’t had a very successful year with their winery. Their grape crop is horrible, and if something isn’t done soon they will lose their winery. Dionne asks her mother (H. Lynn Smith), who is a powerful witch, to cast a spell so they have a burgeoning crop next year. Unknown to Joe, who is passed out from drinking wine, they use a bit of his blood in the ritual.

A year later, the vineyard is flourishing and they have a bumper crop. They hire some college students, who are accompanied by their professor, to help harvest the grapes. Unfortunately, because the blood used in the ritual was tainted with alcohol, the vines have become super-aggressive and start killing people and draining them of their blood. The victims, in turn, stagger back to life as zombies…who want nothing more than the grapes and wine that the vineyard has produced. Only problem is that everyone at the winery drank the wine…so the vegan zombies are coming after them, attracted by the wine pumping through their veins!

I really loved the unconventional idea of “vegan” zombies, an idea in horror films that hasn’t really been explored. Though I imagined Attack of the Vegan Zombies to be a comedy about hordes of zombies attacking fields of crops and leaving destruction in their wake, like locusts, it was much different than that. It didn’t just stick to slapstick veggie jokes, but had a well-developed story that didn’t just rely on one-liners. I was expecting an over-the-top horror-comedy, but instead Attack of the Vegan Zombies delivered a well put together and unique zombie film.

What first grabbed me when I popped the disc in was the superior quality of the film. Though the film was made on a small budget, the production values are impressive! Indie filmmakers take note – THIS is what your films should aspire to look like! Every shot was carefully composed, the lighting (even in night-time scenes) was amazing and overall the film just had a professional sheen to it. Major props to director Jim Townsend for making such a visually engaging and enjoyable film.

The story, written by Jim Townsend, was also well done. The dialogue was believable and the back story of the mutant vines and zombies was very well established. The first half of the film is a little slow, but it does a good job of leading up to the last half. In retrospect, I really enjoyed the slow build-up, especially since it gave me a chance to get to know the characters better. Oh, and what characters they were! Most of them were pretty normal – Dionne, Joe, Dionne’s mother, the professor, etc. – but a few were delightfully over the top!

I was also impressed by most of the acting. Jim Townsend (this guy does it all in this movie!) and Christine Egan were fantastic as married couple Joe and Dionne. They were very natural and believable in their delivery. My two favorites, though, were John Kelly and Walter Smith as the two nerdy college students. When I spoke earlier of over-the-top characters, these two are who I was speaking of! Their over-the-top portrayals were just hysterical and a laugh-a-second. I looked forward to every time they popped up on screen. I wish the same could be said about the two actresses that played the lesbian college co-eds, but their acting was at best sub-par and at worst grating.

The special effects makeup was pretty decent, and even the fact that the zombies were little more than actors slathered in green paint didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the film (and in the context, the zombies being green actually makes sense!). There wasn’t much gore to speak of, but nonetheless the film worked even without any major blood splatter.

Attack of the Vegan Zombies really impressed me. Super multi-tasker Jim Townsend, who wrote, directed, produced and acted in the film, has created a very enjoyable, very unique zombie film that will no doubt become a cult favorite. I had a blast watching this film and think you will too!

For more info, check out: www.attackoftheveganzombies.com

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Book Review: Meat by Joseph D'Lacey

Everyone has their different viewpoints on eating meat and vegetarianism. Some people can’t imagine living without eating tasty, tasty meat while some people can’t imagine eating meat from such cute wittle animals! It’s true that some slaughterhouses have appalling conditions for the animals that become many people’s dinners and most people don’t even know how their meat is really prepared or what additives are put in it.

Do you know exactly what is in your “meat” that you buy at the grocery store? Where did it come from and how did it get there? These terrifying questions are examined in Joseph D’Lacey’s debut novel, Meat. Like a hammer to the back of a cow’s head, Meat will stun you. It’ll open your eyes and just might jolt you from complacency to action. One thing is definitely for certain, you’ll never look at a piece of meat the same again.

The decaying and desolate town of Abyrne sits in the middle of a vast wasteland. As far as the townsfolk are concerned, there is nothing beyond its borders. Abyrne was build upon the promise that their god would provide them with meat from The Chosen, cattle sacrificed especially for the religious people of Abyrne as long as they followed the religious teachings of the Gut Psalter and The Book of Giving texts. Something is going wrong in Abryne, though. People are beginning to get sick. And certain man named John Collins has been leading a resistance on the outskirts of town, proclaiming that meat is not necessary for survival.

In the eyes of the Grand Bishop and the Meat Baron, Collins’ words are blasphemy. Yet to others, others who see a frightening resemblance in themselves and the Chosen, Collins makes sense. One who comes to believe Collins is Richard Shanti, the Meat Baron’s top slaughterer of Chosen.

Those who don’t follow the religious teachings and don’t eat meat are stripped of their status…or stripped of their own skin. As both the Grand Bishop and the Meat Baron hunt for “blasphemer” John Collins, Richard Shanti’s world becomes more perilous as well. Can Shanti continue his job killing the Chosen and therefore continue living a lie? Will the Meat Baron discover his secret? What is his special connection to the Chosen and to John Collins?

Joseph D’Lacey has crafted a fine page-turner that, to loosely paraphrase former U.S. president Teddy Roosevelt, speaks softly but carries a large stun gun. His prose is so eloquent, so well-written, that when the blood really starts to flow you are left stunned and shaken. And this is coming from a life-time horror fan!
From the first paragraph I was hooked, as D’Lacey crafts both sympathetic and horrendous characters, ones we come to both love and loathe. The characters of John Collins and Richard Shanti are well-developed, with many layers to both men. The Meat Baron and the Grand Bishop are also humanized instead of just being caricatures of “Evil” with a capital E. In the end, you may even be sympathetic towards them because they can’t “see the light.” Even the voiceless Chosen are characters we care deeply about.

The feelings we develop for the characters make the horrors contained within all that more terrifying. There is plenty of sadistic torture that is sure to make even the most hardened of horror fiction fans squirm in their seats. For example, the Meat Baron makes sure his enemies and any of his employees that misbehave suffer a very painful, very prolonged death. The torture first begins with puncturing the vocal cords so the person cannot even scream as their bodies are methodically broken down. The torture scenes are pretty graphic and will cause you to recoil in your seat! D’Lacey also writes very vivid imagery of the slaughterhouses themselves. I have watched some devastating real-life slaughterhouse videos, but D’Lacey’s graphic descriptions were almost worse because of the emotion he added.

Even though Meat may sound like a novel that tries to shove vegetarianism and/or veganism down your throat, that isn’t the case at all. In fact, there are so many layers to the book that you can choose to read it for its many subtexts and social commentary (on everything from big corporations, religion, mass consumerism, conformity, etc.) or just read it for pure, bloody entertainment. Still, you cannot read this book without being disgusted and appalled at the slaughterhouse and meat plant conditions contained herein. I’m not a vegetarian, but after reading Meat I’m seriously tempted to become one. That alone speaks volumes about the power of this book.

[Update: Editor and founder Sarah "Fatally Yours" Jahier in fact went vegan and credits Meat to making her more aware of the cruelties of animal agriculture as well as making her more aware of what she puts inside her body.] 

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Mad Cowgirl (2006)

 Meat is murder


Mad Cowgirl is a daring and experimental film from Gary Hatanka that challenges perspectives on religion, sex, Mad Cow Disease, red meat and even kung fu.

Therese (Sarah Lassez) is a health inspector that inspects slaughterhouses and meat packing plants for tainted and spoiled meat. She’s had a messy divorce from her ex-husband Charlie (Vic Chao) and is just trying to get on with her life. She enjoys bloody cuts of beef that she heartily eats on a daily basis, almost with orgasmic pleasure, and a kung fu show called “Girl With the Thunderbolt Kick.” She becomes entangled with older and wrinkly televangelist Pastor Dylan (Walter Koenig, of Star Trek fame), but Therese quickly turns obsessive when he won’t see her anymore. It turns out her health is in question and her doctor thinks she may have a brain tumor.

Meanwhile, Therese is also carrying on an incestuous relationship with her brother, Thierry (James Duval). He works in a packing plant and has become dangerously lax on meat guidelines while Therese looks the other way. Mad Cow Disease has come down hard on the industry, though, and Therese begs him to be more careful and dispose of spoiled meat. Thierry tells Therese that he probably gave her some diseased meat and she slowly starts to descend into madness.

Therese has casual sex with a great number of men, but she still is obsessed with Pastor Dylan. She begins going to confession at church, but is terrified to enter the booth which she likens to an executioner’s chamber. Therese begins hearing voices and having hallucinations as the disease attacks her brain.

Finally, she receives a message to kill the Ten Tigers of Kwangtung! She begins working out and training to be just like the Girl with the Thunderbolt Kick so she can kill the bad guys. One by one, she begins killing the Ten Tigers, who have clever little codenames that are subtitled in English and Chinese at the bottom of the screen. Eye-gougings, stabbings, a flying guillotine, and a buzz saw are just some of the tools of the trade Therese uses to kill her opponents. Is Therese really killing people or has she slipped completely into madness?

Man, what a strange but powerful film this is! Images of slobbering cows, rancid meat, cows bloody and sick from the disease, religious iconography, kung fu, slobbering men, bloody murder and the like held me rapt and enthralled through the film. Mad Cowgirl has very strong and unique visuals that are equal parts exploitation, grindhouse, kung fu and horror. Its tone is very socially aware, but writer and director Gregory Hatanaka leaves it wide open for interpretation. The mood ranges from funny to horrifying to repulsive to erotic, many times within the same scene.

There are quirky little bits all throughout this film that add to the surreal and weird atmosphere. For example, many characters speak in different languages but Therese understands them and answers back in English, which in turn they understand. Her doctor appears to be Indian, but speaks to her in a completely different language. Also, her mother is Vietnamese (which Therese obviously isn’t) but speaks French! The music and score throughout the film are a multi-cultural mish-mash of styles as well. In one scene there might be hip hop, in another there might be a big Bollywood musical number, in still another there is mariachi music, and on and on. These little oddities of Therese’s everyday experiences all point to her fragmented psyche…or not. Perhaps Hatanaka was trying to say something else or nothing at all and only wanted the strangeness of these encounters to stand out and to keep the viewer always on their toes.

The actors all do a fine job in the film, especially lead Sarah Lassez who encompasses grace and madness simultaneously. Walter Koenig is wonderfully sleazy as the sinful Pastor Dylan and James Duval as Thierry manages to be both attractive and repulsive at the same time. Come to think of it, most of the characters in the film seem to have dual and conflicting personas. One, they have the persona that they present in public (Pastor Dylan is a pious preacher who tries to help people, for example). Second, they have their private personas that smash or otherwise ignore taboos (Pastor Dylan sins by sleeping with Therese, Thierry has an incestuous relationship with his sister). Conflict, whether within the characters themselves or in their actions, plays a large part in the film, which all the actors portray effortlessly.

Hatanaka has created a very daring and original film with Mad Cowgirl, fusing it all together with an eclectic visual style. Most people will other love or hate it, but it is definitely a film that will get you thinking. Come to think of it, Mad Cowgirl is kinda like your first time…you’re a little nervous beforehand and don’t quite know what to do during, but by the end you’re ready for another ride!

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