Strange Behavior (1981)

Strange Behavior (aka Dead Kids) is a little-seen 1981 horror film that is probably best remembered for a zany party scene where a bunch of teens are dancing up a storm to some god-awful ‘60s music that sounds like it was better suited for Grease 2. And, yes, the teens soon join in for a choreographed number that’ll probably make you gag a little. Still, despite this and a few other glaringly out-of-place scenes throughout the film, I found Strange Behavior to be a surprisingly entertaining flick.

In the seemingly idyllic burg of Galesberg, Illinois, it seems that things aren’t so peaceful. Kids are getting murdered left and right, and top cop John Brady (Michael Murphy), thinks it has something to do with the strange behavioral experiments going on at the local university. Brady seems to have a history with the scientist in charge of the suspicious experiments, Dr. Le Sangel (Arthur Dignam), only problem is that the Doctor is long dead (though he still “teaches” college classes via archival footage), having been replaced by his protégé, the icy Dr. Parkinson (Fiona Lewis). Still, the experiments have continued, but now the kids who volunteer for the mysterious experiments are turning out a bit robotic and zombie-like…

Meanwhile, Brady’s son Pete (Dan Shor) enrolls himself in these experiments under Dr. Parkinson’s care in hopes he can make enough money to cover his college application fees. There he meets love interest Caroline (Dey Young), who is a clueless receptionist that knows nothing of what goes on behind Dr. Parkinson’s closed doors.

Do the experiments have anything to do with the rash of murders occurring in the sleepy burg? Well, you can bet your bottom dollar they do, but can Brady get to the bottom of them before his own son becomes a mindless killing machine?

Strange Behavior was definitely a fun film to watch, despite its few wacky scenes and offbeat humor. In fact, its goofiness made it even more fun to watch! The party scene is classic enough, but there is also a hilarious scene where an older deputy is going through files and files of college transcripts to try and find a “fat girl” that fits the killer’s description…really, just watch it and you’ll understand!

The sly humor used throughout certainly doesn’t underscore the gore, though, and there is plenty to go around. People get stabbed, limbs get hacked off, a victim’s body is strung up in a field like a scarecrow, people’s heads get bashed and so on. Certainly not the goriest of films, even by slasher standards, but Strange Behavior does a decent job spreading some crimson around.

The story, written by Bill Condon (who would go on to write/direct Gods and Monsters and Dreamgirls) and Michael Laughlin, does have its plot holes, namely not entirely explaining why and how certain people were targeted to be killed. Were some of the victim’s random or were they all selected to be killed? This was never cleared up satisfactorily for me. Also, the pacing in the beginning and the end dragged a bit for me. The beginning had a pretty typical opening that didn’t immediately grab my attention. Then the end felt unnecessarily drawn out…and what was it with the cheesy wedding scene at the end? There were definitely some parts that could have been heavily edited. I never really did get the connection between Brady and his love interest (played by Louise Fletcher), who I guess was the housekeeper…that part of the story added nothing to the overall story and should have been dropped from the script. It’s almost if Condon and Laughlin were trying to cram as much as they could into the story, but I wished they had focused a bit more on the murders rather than unnecessary characters.

The characters, for a change from most slashers, are well-developed and stay away from most horror movie stereotypes. You really could sympathize with Brady and his son Pete as they both try to make sense of what is going on. The cold character of Dr. Parkinson is also developed just enough so you know that deep down she’s evil. You even get a feel for the secondary characters, like Pete’s best friend Oliver (who disappears halfway through after donning a scary and oversized Tor Johnson-look-alike mask at the crrrrraaaazy costume party) and girlfriend Caroline (who wears one of the ugliest patterned pant and jacket sets I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing).

Despite some flaws and a few wacky sequences, Strange Behavior is otherwise an entertaining way to kill an hour and a half. It seems that many people aren’t familiar with this diamond in the rough, either, but nonetheless this unique film just begs to be seen. Just promise you won’t bust out any choreographed dance moves while watching!

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Frayed (2009)

Frayed is an independent production from Washington State made by three lifelong friends with a dream of making a movie together. Though the film’s premise might sound like a typical slasher (and the film’s DVD cover certainly does it no justice), as the story progresses it offer much more than the typical stalk and slash movie. Frayed manages to transcend and discard genre conventions and delivers a film with an unexpected, shocking ending. It also manages to overcome the obstacle of a low budget and delivers a polished, professional-looking film that is sure to get tongues a-waggin’ in the horror community.

The film opens on a home video of young Sara’s fifth birthday party, complete with balloons, presents, cake and even a clown. Sarah couldn’t be happier, until her eight-year-old brother Kurt ruins her big day by being overly aggressive. Kurt is sent upstairs to his room and Mom comes in after the party, still toting the video camera, to see if he is ready to apologize to Sara. Suddenly, the video camera drops to the ground and we see Mom also violently fall…and then she is brutally beaten to a pulp by a baseball bat.

Kurt is sent to a mental institution for killing his mother, but enters into a catatonic state and won’t speak to anyone. The doctors say he has a disassociate personality disorder and can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy. His father, Pat (Tony Doupe), who also happens to be the small town’s sheriff, checks in on him regularly but after several years the doctors tell him they can do no more for Kurt and suggest he is moved to another facility. Meanwhile, sister Sara (Alena Dashiell) and step-mother Jolene (Kellee Bradley) have moved on and rarely talk about Kurt or the past.

On the night Kurt is scheduled to be transferred to a more secure institution, he escapes and starts brutally killing people again. As Pat and a lone security guard named Gary (Aaron Blakely) try to track down Kurt, it becomes clear that no one can stop him from reuniting with the family that has forsaken him while facing some very dark family demons.

When I first sat down to watch Frayed, I really wasn’t expecting much. It looked like your typical slasher so I prepared to turn my brain off and just let the mayhem ensue. It started with a bang (the mom’s death scene definitely lives up to the hype of “one of the most brutally graphic scenes ever depicted on film”, especially considering this in an indie effort), but soon I found myself thinking that the storyline was too similar to Halloween. A child killer that grows up in a mental institution but escapes to wreak havoc on his estranged family was a bit too reminiscent of the iconic Michael Myers for me. As the film progressed, though, it became more its own film, with plenty of inventive twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Despite the initial shocking bludgeoning death of the mother in the film’s opening scenes, Frayed is a lot less gory and bloody than most modern slashers. Instead, it focuses on the psychological terror of a killer that’s hot on the victim’s heels, much like the “old school” slashers back in the day. I really loved the crazy clown costume Kurt wears as he stalks his victims and how it ties back to the tragedy he experienced as a child. There is a lot of suspense and tension throughout Frayed, something you don’t usually see a lot of in the “modern slasher”. I liked how it relied more on dread and really built up the story and characters instead of just focusing on blood and guts.

The actors all did a surprisingly good job with each of their characters. The real star was Aaron Blakely as Gary the security guard. We keep cheering him on as he escapes time and time again from Kurt. I also liked Tony Doupe’s multi-layered performance as Sheriff Pat and Tasha Smith-Floe plays Sara’s sassy friend Veronica vivaciously! The rest of the cast were great as well, which is surprising considering this was a low budget film. Despite the low budget, impressive performances were found in both the leads as well as supporting actors!

Another amazing aspect of the film is that despite its low budget it looks like it belongs up on the big screen! The film was shot digitally, but looks like it was filmed in 35mm, the sound is crisp and never muffled and even though the majority of the film is set at night, you can always tell what is going on. Frayed is the first feature film for lifelong friends Rob Portmann (co-writer/co-director), Kurt Svennungsen (co-writer) and Norbert Caoili (co-writer/co-director) and together they have truly created a film that raises the bar for all independent productions to come.

Not only does the film look like a big budget production (excellent makeup effects, seamless special effects using CGI, and even an impressive car crash scene), but the story also goes far and beyond what most horror films strive for. Though it starts off a bit shaky and feels like another “reimaging” of Halloween, the story actually builds as the film progresses and gets more and more complex, a rarity in horror films today. You might be able to guess the twist ending if you pay close enough attention, but nothing will prepare you for the second twist that will completely blindside you and leave you shocked! The tragic ending just goes to show that in real life there is no tidy wrap-up and the innocent victims aren’t always avenged.

Frayed is an impressive independent film that offers much more than it first suggests. Though it looks polished and professional like a big budget film, the filmmakers took time to make sure Frayed had a well-developed and intriguing story, one whose horror will stick with you long after watching. With this as their big splash in the blood-filled horror pool, I can’t see what Portmann, Svennungsen and Caoili do next!

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Joshua (2007)

Joshua is a sophisticated, restrained and eerie horror movie that didn’t get the credit it deserved when it hit theaters. Instead of a typical “evil child” flick like The Omen or even Village of the Damned, Joshua shows us a somber and harrowing disintegration of a family at the hands of their young son, Joshua.

The Cairns are a wealthy Manhattan family who has just added newborn Lily to their lives. Mom Abby (Vera Farmiga) and dad Brad (Sam Rockwell) couldn’t be happier with their little bundle of joy, but their son Joshua (Jacob Kogan) is none too pleased at the lack of attention and affection he is getting. The happy family soon begins to go to pieces when Lily begins to constantly cry, driving Abby into a deep despair, which she had also faced when Joshua was a baby. Brad is preoccupied with work and isn’t home that often, though he does what he can to help. The exhausted Abby just can’t cope anymore, especially after being put on crutches after an accident. The peculiar Joshua certainly isn’t helping things, either. After a game of hide-and-go-seek that goes horribly wrong, Abby is hospitalized in a mental health facility. After Brad is forced to take care of Lily and Joshua, he becomes convinced that Joshua is behind the family’s problems. What he fails to realize, however, is the extent of Joshua’s manipulations and how far the child is willing to go.

I fully expected Joshua to be an unoriginal mish-mash of The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby, but I was pleasantly surprised when it avoided any satanic plot devices while still creating a stylish and tense film.

One word of warning, though, as horror fans might be a bit disappointed at the lack of any real “horror” in the film. Just when you think you are going to see just how evil Joshua really is and what he is capable of, the shot either cuts away or moves to the next scene. While I do think this was the appropriate case in the context of the film, I know this will leave many viewers disappointed. Still, the “scares” in Joshua aren’t aimed at making you jump out of your seat. Instead, the film aims to get under your skin, much like the film Bug, and scare you with the possibility of “what if…” What if your child was coldly calculating your own family’s demise? What if he had every angle covered and anticipated your every move? What if your own child framed you for child abuse and no one would believe the real story?

The story, written by David Gilbert and George Ratliff (who also directed), is calculated to move slowly, but under the surface tension continues to mount. Joshua’s true nature is revealed a tiny bit at a time, and so carefully and slowly that it’s easy to forget that this weird child is the instigator in the family’s problems. The story unfolds very naturally until the ending, where things really start to unravel.

The direction and cinematography only reflect the pace and atmosphere of the storyline. At first, everything is airy, bright, clean and cheery. As the story progresses and bad things begin to happen, the lighting dims, the family’s apartment becomes dingy and messy and things become cramped and claustrophobic. This doubles the effect of the tension that continues mounting throughout the film. Furthermore, the cacophonous sounds used throughout the film – discordant piano music, the constant crying of the baby, screaming, banging from the upstairs apartment – adds another layer of discomfort for the viewer.

Equally impressive is the acting in the film. Vera Farmiga is wondrous as the loving Abby who quickly loses her grip on her family and reality. Her transformation from put-together and happy wife to unkempt and desperate mother is shocking and heartbreaking. Sam Rockwell as detached hubby Brad isn’t quite so impressive, but still holds his own, though on a much more subtle scale. The real revelation, of course, is Jacob Kogan as Joshua. He plays his character so well that I actually sided with him at first over the family. His somber and matter-of-fact delivery, devoid of emotion, is extremely effective and eerie.

Joshua may not be a film for everyone, but I certainly enjoyed its slow-building story and the nefarious plans that Joshua had in store for his family. This underrated flick deserves to be seen, but is perhaps enjoyed more by those that enjoy intelligent horror films such as Bug.

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Who Can Kill a Child? (1976)

It is usually very taboo for a film, any film, to show children getting killed. The daring Who Can Kill A Child? decided to break that taboo and prominently features children getting shot and beaten to death. It also shows real footage of suffering children during the horrors of the Holocaust, the Vietnam War, the Korean War and many African civil wars. There is very graphic footage of starving, wounded, dying and dead children that is sad and shocking to see.

The film aspires to show us how children are usually the ones that suffer most during famine, war, natural and man-made disasters. Why shouldn’t children turn on the very people that are supposed to protect them but fail to do so? What would happen if children banded together to stand up against adults and fought back against the many years of cruelty and neglect? Could you really kill a child if you had to, if it meant the little tyke’s life or yours?

An English couple is taking a vacation in Spain. The woman is pregnant and wants some peace and relaxation, so her husband suggests the island of Almanzora, which he has fond memories of. The two set off by themselves in a small powerboat for the island, but when they arrive, it’s not as the husband remembered it. It is utterly devoid of grown-ups, though there are plenty of children frolicking around. Assuming that there is a big fiesta on the other side of the island, the two stay and wait for the grown-ups to come back. Except that there is no one left alive on the island except for the children, who’ve gone mad and murdered all the adults. Can the couple save themselves or will they be forced to kill a child (or two or three) to survive?

Who Can Kill a Child? is a fantastic film made in 1976 and it has recently been released on DVD for the first time by the wonderful Dark Sky Films. With its disturbingly shocking story and beautiful direction by Narciso Ibanez Serrador (who also penned the script from a novel by Juan Jose Plans called “El Juego”) the film works wonderfully. The setting of the Spanish isle of Almanzora is gorgeous. The bright, white Mediterranean-style village, bright blue skies and sparkling waters create a contrasting backdrop to the horrors that unfold on-screen. It’s also interesting to note that most of the killings occur in broad daylight, with the hot sun relentlessly beating down on the victims. Not many films that are set during the day can pull off a creepy vibe, but in Who Can Kill a Child? it works like a charm, making events even more uncomfortable because they occur right out in the open.

Another aspect that makes the film work so effectively is the acting. All of the children (and there are A LOT of them) are wonderful in the film. Every single one of them oozes hatred out of their dark and stormy eyes; just one look and we know they mean business. The acting is so realistic that it’s chilling! Perhaps one of the most effective scenes involves a wife of a fisherman who lives on the other side of Almanzora with her children and their grandmother. Two children from the village “infect” the wife’s children with their pure hatred, and as the woman calls them into dinner, they silently defy her. As we see her perplexed expression, we also see all of the children in the village ominously emerge from the cliffs above her home.

The film does have its faults, most noticeably in believability. After the couple witnesses a little girl who kills an old man by beating him with his own cane and children using a dead body as a piñata, it may seem wise to get the heck off the island! But do they leave? No, they opt to stick around to rescue a Dutch teenager who is hiding out somewhere on the island and keeps tracking them down with phone calls. Another quibble is with the color of the blood, which looks almost orange in color! If you are going to prominently feature children getting killed in your film, at least make it realistic! The “blood” that was used looked more like thick orange-ish paint that was splashed and dribbled on the victims. Still, these are small problems compared to the remarkable story and taboo subject the film deals with.

Dark Sky Films have done a spectacular job with this release – the original 1:8.5.1 anamorphic widescreen has been restored and the picture looks absolutely stunning and clean. I usually don’t mention these technical aspects, but I felt that Dark Sky did such a great job with this film that they deserved mention. This film probably hasn’t looked this good since its original theatrical release!

Who Can Kill a Child? is a superb film that shouldn’t be missed. Its notorious scenes of child murder aren’t all that shocking nowadays, but they still pack a punch, especially when other films usually won’t touch the taboo subject.

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The Bad Seed (1956)

For those of you following along at home, you know I’m not a big fan of kids or the whole “parenting” experience. Kids just creep me out and imagining one growing inside of me…ugh…it gives me the willies. Other people can reproduce all they want (though it would probably be a better place if most of the population DIDN’T), but you won’t see me cradling a newborn anytime soon.

My repulsion of children is probably why I love evil kid movies so much. There’s just something so inherently EVIL about kids – their grubby and germ-infested hands, drooling mouths and overall utter lack of hygiene are one thing, but the fact that kids are supposed to be these angelic innocents and, in fact, usually AREN’T is what is so disturbing about them. So, naturally I couldn’t wait to check out 1956’s The Bad Seed, which features Patty McCormack as an 8 year old who is rotten to the core!

Little Miss Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack) is the picture of 1950’s perfection. She always minds her P’s and Q’s, curtsies to teachers and guests, always keeps her room tidy, her prim and proper dresses are always spot-free and her tightly braided pigtails never have a hair out of place. She is the perfect little lady and is adored by everyone. Well, almost everyone. When her doting military father, Colonel Kenneth Penmark (William Hopper), must go away to Washington D.C. for a while, Rhoda and her mother, Christine (Nancy Kelly), are left to their own devices. Christine begins to suspect that Rhoda is not the supposed innocent that she pretends to be. When fatal “accidents” start occurring, Christine becomes more suspicious of Rhoda, until she is torn between her love of her daughter and her moral obligation.

I found that The Bad Seed has definitely held up all the years since its release, though it may not be for everyone. Before being turned into a movie, it was originally adapted for stage from a book. The whole film does have a very “play-like” feel to it, like how the actors enter and exit and how it is mostly set in the Penmark’s living room. Yet, it wasn’t until AFTER I watched the film that I learned of its roots in theater and I hadn’t noticed any of the similarities to a stage play while watching the movie, so this certainly didn’t affect my view of the film.

Even though the film is over two hours long, it had more than enough story to keep me interested the entire time. To some it might seem to drag on, but I found it to be a delightful and engaging film. It is dialogue heavy, and it being 1956 when it was released, doesn’t feature any bloody deaths. Still, the increasingly strained relationship between mother and daughter, the escalating criminal behavior of Rhoda and a few twists and turns on “nature vs. nurture” kept me glued to the screen.

The intriguing story was supported by excellent acting. Patty McCormack does an amazing job as the blond-haired, blue-eyed but truly evil Rhoda. At first I thought she was overplaying the sugary sweetness of her character, but as the film continued I could see that the saccharine performance only helped to more clearly juxtapose her character’s black and rotten core. I would not want to get on this child’s wrong side! Nancy Kelly as Rhoda’s mother, Christine, also does an amazing job. Her portrayal of Christine’s mental deterioration is impressive. Her range of emotions, starting at happy at the beginning of the film and nose-diving toward depressive towards the end, is quite a spectacle to watch. You can really sympathize with her increasingly desperate situation. She definitely convinced me not to have kids (as if I needed convincing!).

If you don’t mind dialogue-heavy, black and white films, The Bad Seed is a delightful film in the “evil child” subgenre of horror. If you’ve ever found yourself carefully avoiding playgrounds and edging away from beaming parents and their newborns, you’ll find a lot to love with The Bad Seed.

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