Capsules

CAPSULE: THE CELL (2000)

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DIRECTED BY: Tarsem Singh

FEATURING: , Vince Vaughn, Vincent D’Onofrio

PLOT: To find the whereabouts of a serial killer’s impending victim, who is still alive in captivity, the FBI enlists the aid of a psychotherapy group that has the developed the technology to enter and explore the minds of others.

Still from The Cell (2000)

WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: The Cell is a visually impressive movie that holds up pretty well after fifteen years. When not inside the mind of the killer, however, the story falls into the formulaic and serendipitous far too often.

COMMENTS: On the face of it, Tarsem Singh’s the Cell would seem an obvious candidate for Certification. The first long-form work of a music video director visually influenced by the likes of H.R. Giger and the , it features a clip from Fantastic Planet and stars one of the stranger actors of the day (Vincent D’Onofrio). As far as the movie goes with these elements it plows heavily into weird spaces. However, the nightmarish set-pieces are tacked on to a standard serial killer/FBI pursuit procedural. (Or perhaps vice versa—the movie treads a fine line.)

The weird moments are a hoot to watch. Going all-out creepy with the sets and costume, the Cell has wonderful blasts of unsettling vignettes as it explores the mind of Carl Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio), first by social worker-turned-psychotherapist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) and, after she gets sucked into that “reality,” by special agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn, in one of those “straight” roles I really wish he’d return to).The murderer’s mind is dominated by an entity that acts as the all-powerful king of this grim realm, but there is a flicker of humanity personified by a young boy who represents the vestiges of abused goodness inside. Killer Carl— a seriously unhinged man smashed to pieces by guilt over his past acts and his despair at having been so badly mistreated by his father—also appears in his own mind. (Having suffered from a viral schizophrenic disorder brought on by a particularly heartless baptism didn’t help things, either.)

But aside from split-open-but-living equines, macabre doll-people shadow boxes, obvious (but venerable) surrealist art nods, and a chilling performance from D’Onofrio as the mind’s King, you have perhaps the most run-of-the-mill crime thrillers imaginable. Stargher has been murdering for some time, and one suspects he wants to be caught, but the string of coincidences (albino German Shepherd purchased by the owner of just the right truck stands out as one of several examples) become unbelievable, to the point that the phrase “how convenient” can’t help but spring to mind.

That said, the movie is still pretty neat. Jennifer Lopez is somewhere between adequate and good in her role as a social worker. Her attempts to help a young troubled boy, Mister “E” (whose existence acts as the story’s frame around the frame), are touching. Vince Vaughn does the best he can with a one-dimensional character (his FBI agent apparently was originally a prosecutor who saw one-too-many baddies slip the noose because of good lawyering), and reminded me that he does his best work when not pushing for laughs.

Tarsem Singh’s visually striking opus from 2000 proves to be a decent effort as a qualifying time-trial. In 2006 he opted to go all-out, spending many millions of his own cash for the privilege, for his next movie, the Fall. Although the Cell does not quite hit the mark, there are those who feel his follow-up is a Certified contender; stay tuned.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“Tarsem takes viewers on wild hallucinatory rides through alien landscapes and diabolical dream worlds that are savage and even erotic.”–Emanuel Levy, Variety (contemporaneous)

Cell, The (Blu-ray)

Cell, The (Blu-ray)
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Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 7/17/2015

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Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…

Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Alleluia (2014): A serial murderer meets a lonely woman through a personal ad, and she immediately falls in love and becomes his devoted accomplice. This is at least the fourth retelling of the story of real-life “Lonely Hearts Killers” Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, but this one is from New French Extremist and is shot by and ‘s cameraman, so hopefully this will be the weirdest version of all. Alleluia official site.

SCREENINGS – (Cinfeamily, Los Angeles, CA, Jul 17 & 18):

Alleluia (2014): Speaking of Alleluia (see above), director du Welz will be on hand for screenings at Cinefamily’s Silent Movie Theater on Friday night at 10:30 and Saturday at 9:30 PM. After Saturday’s screening stick around for the midnight showing of…

The Reflecting Skin (1990): Read the Certified Weird entry! Exploding frogs, petrified babies, gasoline drinking and could-be vampires highlight ‘s magnificently surreal first feature film. Shown in a crisp 35mm print.

Alleluia and The Reflecting Skin at Cinefamily.

FILM FESTIVALS – Fantasia (Montreal, CAN., July 14 – Aug 4):

As its name implies, Montreal’s Fantasia Festival originally began as a showcase for fantastic films from Asia; it has since morphed into a major event on the genre cinema calendar, a venue so big that geek event movies like Marvel’s Ant-Man hold special pre-release screenings there. Not that they’ve let mainstream success get to their heads; there’s still more rare weirdness to be found at Fantasia than at just about any film festival on the globe. We make watchlists from Fantasia’s programming, and we’re always saddened when less than half of the most daring films find meaningful distribution in the U.S. Because of the large number of entries, we’re highlighting only films here that are debuting or are totally new to us: we’re not writing up older festival circuit features like The Editor, Full Strike, H., or Kahlil Gibran’s the Prophet again.

  • Anima State – A killer with a bandaged face goes on a spree in a Pakistani city, and no one seems to notice.  Screening Aug. 2.
  • Assassination Classroom – High school students train to kill a smiley-faced octopus alien. July 17 (tonight, and it’s sold out).
  • Buddha’s Palm (1982) – A crazy mix of kung fu with a huge dose of Star Wars (including light sabers) from late in the Shaw Brothers cycle; the killer harpists would later show up in Kung Fu Hustle. July 28 & 21.
  • Cosmodrama – French existential farce about seven scientists who wake up on a spaceship out of a 70s TV show bound for who knows where. Aug 3 & 4.
  • Crumbs – Ethiopian (yes, Ethiopian) post-apocalyptic black comedy about a deformed man who must defeat Santa Claus (yes, Santa Claus) to find a UFO…. Catch it July 31 or Aug 3.
  • Deadman Inferno – Aging yakuza seek revenge for generational wrongs on an island that is struck by a zombie plague; just everyday Japanese weirdness. July 25.
  • Director’s Commentary: Terror of Frankenstein –  A movie that supplies fake director’s commentary—that hints at a murder—for the forgotten 1977 horror flick Terror of Frankenstein. July 19.
  • German Angst – A trio of surreal and transgressive stories about death from , Andreas Marschall, and Michal Kosakowski. Screens July 18 (that’s tomorrow!) only.
  • Haruko’s Paranormal Laboratory – Haruoku’s TV comes to life—well, a man with a TV for a head, at least—and she, and the rest of Japan, fall in love with him. July 21 and 25.
  • Love & Peace – ‘s latest (OK, one of the prolific auteur’s three latest), about a giant talking turtle, plays July 26 only.
  • “Manos”: The Hands of Fate (1966) – The debut of the restored version of the bizarre low-budget anti-classic; we suspect that this plays better with a dirty, scratchy print with missing frames, however. You can judge for yourself tomorrow (July 18).
  • Meathead Goes Hog Wild – A recently sacked butcher steals meat and tries to hand it out to random people in Chicago.  July 20.
  • Nina Forever – The bloody corpse of his deceased girlfriend appears in his bed whenever Rob tries to have sex with his new gal. August 1.
  • The Nutcracker 3D – The  1979 Japanese version of “the Nutcraker,” animated by , is revamped into 3D to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Hello Kitty” (??) August 2.
  • Observance – Australian horror about a grieving man who goes insane when he is hired to stake out a beautiful blonde’s apartment. Observe the world premiere July 19 or catch the encore July 22.
  • On the White Planet – A boy born with pigmentation is treated as an outcast on his black-and-white planet in this animation from Korea. July 24.
  • The Reflecting Skin (1990) – Also playing in Los Angeles (see “screenings” above). July 21 in Montreal.
  • Remake, Remix, Rip-Off: About Copy Culture & Turkish Pop Cinema – Documentary describing the Turkish film industry’s habit of creating goofy knockoffs of Western hits like Star Wars, “Star Trek,” and even a Captain America-Santo crossover. Screens Aug. 4.
  • Roar (1981) – A gang of lions, leopards and tigers attack African homesteaders in a nonstop barrage of fangs and claws (the danger is very real; over 70 members of the cast and crew were injured making this insane feature). July 17 (that’s today!)
  • Tag – An unseen force is killing schoolgirls in another Shion Sono provocation. Aug 3.
  • Teana: 10000 Years Later – Cultural differences may add to the appeal of this Chinese all-CGI 3D action/fantasy spectacle set more than 10,000 years from now. July 18.

Trailers for most of these films can be found by sifting through the Fantasia 2015 Official Festival Website.

NEW ON DVD:

Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959): A French woman and a Japanese architect part, sharing what may be unreliable memories in this flashback-riddled nonlinear narrative. Alain Resnais’ debut is considered a monumental classic of world cinema by most, but we consider it a warm-up for Last Year in Marienbad. Buy Hiroshima Mon Amour (Criterion Collection).

Some Call It Loving [AKA Sleeping Beauty] (1973): See description in Blu-ray below. Buy Some Call it Loving [Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack].

“Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: Season 1” (2013): Gary, a low-level devil, tries to corrupt enough human souls to earn a diabolical promotion, while being undermined by his intern Claude. We thought this mini-sitcom (15-minute episodes) from the Cartoon Networ’s “Adult Swim” was worth a mention; comes with 2 hours of “uncensored” extras. Buy “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell: Season 1”.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Giuseppe Makes a Movie (2014): Documentary about Giuseppe Andrews’ vulgar, boozy, super-low budget movies, cast with trailer-park residents and the homeless.The Blu-ray (there’s no DVD?) contains the complete Andrews feature film Garbanzo Gas on the second disc. Buy Giuseppe Makes A Movie [Blu-ray].

Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959): See description in DVD above. Buy Hiroshima Mon Amour [Criterion Collection Blu-ray].

Some Call It Loving [AKA Sleeping Beauty] (1973): A jazz musician/prince purchases a sleeping beauty from a carnival sideshow. This is the first release from the new Etiquette label, which promises to unearth forgotten gems of the underground. Buy Some Call It Loving [Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack].

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

Alfred Eaker's Fringe Cinema

PRE-CODE HEAVEN: RED-HEADED WOMAN (1932) AND THREE ON A MATCH (1932)

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While tame by 21st century standards, the best of the pre-Code productions (1929-1934) flauntingly mocked the increasing threats of industry censorship and yet, for all those displays of sex and sin, still managed to stylishly outclass thirty years of (mostly) bland “moral majority approved” films that followed. It is, perhaps, not surprising that these films, caught in the tail pipe of Victorianism and under the Poe-like eye of the Catholic Legion of Decency, were also more authentically provocative and aesthetically conscientious than the bulk of the “opened floodgate” post-Code productions that began in the 1960s. Somehow, that stressful studio climate inspired filmmakers to produce movies that were very much enshrined in the amber of their specific time and place,  yet also transcend many of the films immediately following.

Red-Headed Woman (1932) is one of the sauciest examples from that all-too brief period. It helps considerably that it stars Jean Harlow, the quintessential pre-Code sex symbol. Harlow has often been referred to as the Marilyn Monroe of the 1930s. (Monroe idolized Harlow and even considered playing her predecessor in a biopic, but changed her mind after reading the script. Monroe reportedly quipped: “I hope they don’t do that to me after I’m gone.”) Actually, Harlow was more talented and interesting than that later icon. After numerous roles in features and short films (including a memorable bit in ‘s Double Whoopee), Harlow became an “overnight sensation” with 1930’s pre-Code Hell’s Angels (dir. Howard Hughes) and 1931’s The Public Enemy (dir. William Wellman). Having been dubbed “the Platinum Blonde” and “the Blonde Bombshell,” Harlow dyes her trademark tresses here to play a carrot-topped succubus.

With a screenplay written by Anita Loos and F. Scott Fitzgerald (based on Kate Brush’s “Wicked Lady”), and competently (if not altogether imaginatively) directed by Jack Conway, the strength of Red-Headed Woman lies in the writing and acting (the ladies seem to get it more than their male director).

Poster for Red Headed Woman (1932)Harlow is Lil, an unflinching mantis who ferociously devours her prey without even pausing once at the stop of moral consideration. Harlow imbues Lil with such intoxicating, nonchalant witchery that we initially root for her, regardless of how many Sunday School lessons we might have endured that strenuously warned us not to. It was this necromantic charm, combined with the film’s failure to punish its Eve, that partly inspired the moral outrage that accelerated strict enforcement of the Motion Pictures Production Code (the “Hays Code”) a Continue reading PRE-CODE HEAVEN: RED-HEADED WOMAN (1932) AND THREE ON A MATCH (1932) →

Capsules

CAPSULE: BEYOND THE GRAVE (2010)

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Porto Dos Mortos

DIRECTED BY: Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro

FEATURING: Rafael Tombini, Álvaro Rosa Costa, Ricardo Seffner

PLOT: A solitary policeman travels the countryside looking for the Dark Rider, one of the prime agents of evil walking the earth after the Seven Gates of Hell have opened.

Still from Beyond the Grave (2010)

WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: While it works nicely as an imagining of a minor zombie classic from the 1970s, its various idiosyncrasies aren’t too dissimilar from what you might find in many other low budget horror pictures.

COMMENTS: Highways invariably become desolate when the undead start out-numbering the living. Our film opens on a lone black car traveling a deserted stretch of road, and inside is the film’s hero—a determined police officer on a quest. A radio DJ broadcasts from some indeterminate location, playing music and speaking to the few survivors: “…if you’re out there, have a nice day. I hope you survive it.” The officer makes a stop at an abandoned building, enters, and dispatches the killers who have set up camp there. He narrowly avoids decapitation, revealing a preternatural ability to survive. Now nearly out of ammunition, he returns to his car and flips through dossiers in the trunk. He obviously still has unfinished business.

Though made in 2010, Pinheiro’s zombie film has the feel of a much older movie. The picture quality is slightly washed out, and looks like a relic from a bygone era. The environs and fashions hail from thirty to forty years ago. And the gist of the story—lone man, undead, Gates of Hell— all smack of the golden age of zombie pictures.

Through the course of the officer’s travels (his character, like all but one in the movie, is never given a name), he encounters a young couple, a household of survivors who’ve set up shop in an abandoned school, and a clutch of supernatural assailants keen on thwarting his mission. Ostensibly his goal is to kill someone or something called the “Dark Rider,” who always has the undead following in his wake. Though society has by and large collapsed, the officer continues doing his job. He always has his lights spinning on his car during his many long drives, more as an act of defiance against the death of civilization than anything else.

As with most supernatural movies, there are elements of the strange. The cop stumbles across ceremonial designs drawn on dingy floors, sometimes in blood. The trio of killers that he is both following and is followed by are made up of a man armed with bow and arrow, a mixta woman wearing a gas mask and armed with a handgun with a pistol-grip of human bone, and a nebulous fellow whose weapon is an atonal harmonica that when played cripples enemies with its bleed-inducing drone. There is talk of the Seven Gates of Hell having been opened, and at one point a cultist gives the officer a book with which to summon the Dark Rider (Necronomicon, anyone?) Also, this is the only zombie movie I know of that takes something of a sympathetic stance towards the afflicted. A few scenes depict cruelty toward the walking dead negatively.

Beyond the Grave clocks in at a succinct 89 minutes. While not everything is made clear, there is a consistency to the narrative. Though certainly not weird by the standards set at this website, it still is a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half in an atmospheric, post-Apocalyptic detour.

Beyond the Grave is currently available for viewing free in the U.S. on Hulu.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“…a unique experience in the theater of the weird.”–Mark L. Miller, Ain’t It Cool News (contemporaneous)

Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!