Doing The Fingernail Chomp: Nailbiter Review

Directed by: Patrick Rea

Screenplay by: Patrick Rea and Kendall Sinn

Official Site: SenoReality Pictures

While most horror fans pay lip service to the simpler times “man in a suit” movie monster horror, there’s no denying that simple storytelling and effects find themselves waylaid by digital FX driven films with bloated plots and paper thin characters. Lucky for horror fans there’s still films like Nailbiter that know how to create an old school monster movie with lots of charm and wit without skimping on the terror.As a fan of Patrick Rea's short films, it had long been on my personal "most anticipated" list. Thankfully, the film exceeded my lofty expectations heading in to it. 

The film wastes little time getting into the meat of the story. En route to picking their father up at the airport, a mother and her three daughters find themselves trapped in a tornado. They make a run for an isolated home and break into the cellar storm shelter moments before an uprooted tree pins the doors closed. While they wait out the howling winds and pounding rain, it becomes evident that something else is downstairs with them, and that something is hungry. It also becomes clear that others know the women are trapped downstairs, and they don’t feel compelled to do much about it. At points the film reminds one of The Howling but the conscious decision to leave the monsters lurking just off screen give the film a definite Alien vibe as well.

Shot on the RED camera, Nailbiter looks gorgeous. The bulk of the film takes place in the cramped confines of the storm cellar, yet the stellar cinematography bring out every detail within the space. Rea The limited lighting cast the basement in shadows and give the impression that something dangerous could be lurking just out of view without sacrificing any detail on the screen. Too many lesser indie productions suffer from a murky quality that distracts from the viewing experience.  Here the lighting effects are used to perfection, whether it’s shafts of daylight bursting through a broken windowpane or a kerosene lamp providing hazy visibility within dusty confines.  

Rea uses the impending storm to build tension prior to any hint of monsters. The weather reports are a constant presence early on, staring as droning background noise while folks go about their day. Soon the signs are too obvious ignore background players preparation for the coming storm set up a real sense of impending doom.  Julian Bickford’s score incorporates sounds similar to a siren wail adding to the tension.  

Rea sticks to practical design for the film’s creatures, and adheres to the “less is more” philosophy. One character’s reaction to the creature tells you everything you need to know before its big reveal as the camera pulls in for a tight shot on her sweat drenched and panic stricken expression. For much of the film Rea provides quick glimpses of the monster, giving us a few frames of a claw or a jaw line. The sound designers deserve a tip of the cap as well, as they provide gnarly sounds of snarling and gnawing that pique the viewer’s curiosity as to what’s chained up behind closed door.  

The pitfall many simple stories fall into is one of predictability. In your typical horror film a seasoned viewer can predict with near certainty which characters will live and how the events will turn out. This time around Rea plays with the scenario, making a marked shift in the initial playful tone at the midway point to much darker fare.  An event occurs signaling that we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore (sorry, couldn’t resist) and things are going to get far nastier than anticipated. While much of the violence occurs off screen and rely on the superb sound design to get its point across, the film toys with the tried and true tropes as to what characters are “untouchable”. Rea’s ghoulish wit is also in full effect, punctuated by a moment where one character asks another if they hear something while just off frame one of the sisters is being made into a nice meaty snack. Even when you think you have a grasp on how the events will turn out, the film makes another hard turn in the last ten minutes, entering unexpected territory and keeping the audience on its toes.

Two hallmarks of Rea’s short films has been their ability to craft characters easy to relate to and to create villains out of even the most unassuming persons. Kudos goes out to Kendall Sinn for crafting a script with believable family dynamics. Unlike the majority of films that require its audience to take at face value would even hold a door open for one another let alone spend time together by choice, Nailbiter depicts strong family ties. As the situation in the basement grows more desperate, sibling rivalries give way to sisterhood and gives the impression this is a tighter knit clan that we’d initially been led to believe. Newcomer Meg Saricks stands out as Jennifer. Her arc is the most interesting as she evolves from sulky teen to the taking charge and keeping the family together under duress. Her change  in demeanor and her delivery resemble Sarah Michelle Gellar in the early (re: good) seasons of Buffy.

As he’s done in his short films, Rea continues to explore the idea that the kindly next door neighbor can harbor some dark secrets. Here the nice little old lady that bakes cookies to calm her nerves during a storm also harbors a brood of flesh eating ghouls AND in a nice little touch makes a mean jug of bootleg hooch.

The film leaves the fate of one character in doubt and sets itself up for further exploration down the road. There’s definitely more material to be mined within, and I’d be interested to see if the second film takes on a more action oriented tone, ala Aliens.

Pick Up the HAVE A HEART FOR HORROR COOKBOOK and Support a Good Cause

HAVE A HEART FOR HORROR COOKBOOK
Edited and Compiled by Lisa Coffelt
Have a Heart for Horror Cookbook Bookseller Site

The HAVE A HEART FOR HORROR COOKBOOK is a great collection of recipes, poetry, and art by some of the leading women working in the horror genre. It's available now, and proceeds benefit a good cause. The full list of awesome, talented women involved is too lengthy for posting, but you'll find submissions from some women featured on this very site such as Izabel Grondin, Lis and Brenda Fies, The Soska Twins (Jen and Sylvia), Nikki Wall, Maude Michaud, Shannon Lark, Karen Lam, as well as a special introduction by Heidi Martinuzzi! (a more inclusive list is found on the book site) 

Proceeds from the sale of the book go toward supporting Get Safe, a non-profit organization that provides a "fear free" space for victims of abuse. Their goal is the prevention of abuse through education, shelter, and community outreach.

Get Safe Mission Statement:

Get Safe is committed to empowering people from all walks of life to be “free from fear” through its fun, innovative and proven training, and personal safety and awareness programs. 

So there you go! Get a cool book! Support a great organization! Everyone Wins!

Isn't that cover art by Lindsay Beach just excellent?

Sample Pages Can be Viewed Here:

Richard Griffin's EXHUMED: Disintegration of a Family

EXHUMED (2011)
Directed by Richard Griffin
Written by Guy Benoit
Scorpio Film Releasing Official Site

Throughout my life I've had dozens of roommates across a number of cities. Each situation had its own special story - from one young lady I knew mostly as a slamming door in the morning as she left for her day, to a strange dude with a shaved head who'd burn overpowering sage and practice terrible bass guitar at 3 am in the morning. In some cases, we were just strangers sharing a roof. In others, we were like a family, sharing in all the love, hate, and chore wheels that entails. The roommates in Richard Griffin's unnerving film Exhumed swing toward the "family" end of their unique living situation. Although, in their case, they are part of a very bizarre cult.

The definition of a cult can be broad, but normally consists of a small group of people living together under a shared system of beliefs, religious or otherwise. Their way of life may stray from what's considered "normal" by society as a whole, and can range from simply  unorthodox to extreme fundamentalism. For this reason, they may live hidden away from those who'd question their morals and motives. In Griffin's film, a cult that functions as a fucked up family unit - hidden away in a large spooky house - is slowly deteriorating.

(Without rules, we won't survive.)

Exhumed resides in a specific universe: A creepy old house tucked away from society. It could be on its own planet for all we know. The house is run by the Governess (Debbie Rochon), the mother figure who will stop at nothing to enforce the rules. The Butler (Michael Thurber), the father figure, is the glue that binds this family, counted on to clean up everyone's messes. They are the long surviving members of a once vast cult, now dwindled to their own small unit. Their "old guard" method of keeping things together is failing miserably, and they find themselves now challenged by the younger residents of the house. With extinction on the horizon, will they continue to rely on tradition?

(Who made the mess this time?)

Laura (Sarah Nicklin), the youngest, appears to be the most pure at heart, but reveals a sinister side as the cult's disintigration tips toward inevitability. In a desperate grasp to increase membership, the group tries to fill one of the rooms in their boarding house. College boy Chris (Michael Reed), looking for a temporary spot, fills the void. However, he becomes the catalyst for the cult's demise when he sparks feelings of lust in Laura, defies the Governess, and turns the entire house upside down with his poisonous "normalcy".

(Tender moments are the best form of revolt.)

The rest of the house consists of uninhibited Rocki (Evalena Marie), and slacker alcoholic Lance (Rich Tretheway). Each member serves a specific function, and gives the house a multiple personality. It's almost as if the house itself is going mad, and each character, each room they inhabit, is a different part of its damaged mind. Every character has his or her own obsession, whether it be the Governess with her rules and tradition, the Butler's surrogate mannequin hobby, or Lance with his stacks of beer. Despite constant bickering and awkward situations, it's clear they need each other. The outside world is poison to them. Though they all long for freedom, stability, and love, the possibility of finding it outside the familiar walls is too daunting. They cannot achieve it without the ability to manipulate and control one another. What we witness in the rest of the film is this cult's final gasps for air in the form of rebellion, murder, and worse.

(End times?)

There's no kinder way to put this: Exhumed is fucking weird. It's refreshingly so, and one of the most unique genre films out there. It's a wonderful antidote to trends and convention, especially if you're sick of zombies, vampires, and found footage films. As if lifted from a time capsule, Exhumed would fit nicely with a number of atmospheric and eccentric films from the 60's like Spider Baby, Carnival of Souls, and Eyes Without a Face. I'd venture that it shares a lot with a film like Sunset Boulevard, despite the difference in era and genre. With its stark black and white photography, doomed characters, and quirkiness, it's a nice fit.

Exhumed is crisply shot by talented cinematographer Ken Willinger. The entire film is a collection of meticulous, beautifully composed shots, each perfect in their own way. A lot of thought was put into the lighting design (by Jill Poisson), taking cues from the murky noir classics of the 40's, as well as classic horror films like Cat People. Just as effective is Griffin's masterful editing. He knows just when to cut, and just when to linger, thereby increasing the sense of dread and foreboding. The acting is solid all around, and appropriate for the style of Griffin's film. Griffin was smart to trust his stalwarts Nicklin and Thurber, as well as his anchor Debbie Rochon. At times, she seems stolen via time machine directly from the era of film he's channeling here. Exceptional casting on Griffin's part.

(I warned you about following the rules.)

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the incredible screenplay by Guy Benoit (The Disco Exorcist, Atomic Brain Invasion). Exhumed is full of odd idiosyncracies, very dark humor, and strange dialogue passages that feel very at home in this house. His words are almost a direct representation of the cult itself, revealing each member's secrets and desires. Those thoughts would most certainly be shunned by an outside world that could never understand. Exhumed is truly unpredictable as it unfolds, and I applaud Benoit for delivering a bizarre story that feels organic and unforced.

Exhumed is part of a special group of films concocted by those rare cinematic mad scientists working in the genre. The experience relies on their unique ability to provoke, startle, and entertain. The ingredients here are intriguing characters, moody lighting, atmosphere, and the type of quirkiness that existed before that word became a pejorative for Zooey Deschanel films (hey I like Zooey!). Nah, this isn't that kind of quirky. This is the kind that gets under the skin and digs its way back out until what oozes from the wound is a different way of looking at life. Sadly, it's not the kind of film that gets made often enough. It's old school without having to hit you over the head with how "old school" it is. And, yes, it is weird in its own natural way. If I hadn't been too lazy to compose the list, this is a certain top five of the year for me in 2011. May the cult of Scorpio Film Releasing live forever!

Exhumed Trailer

Blood on the Plain: High Noon For Horror

In late 2009 Mac Eldridge and his team at Water Cooler Productions released their student project short film Chemical 12-D. Made for short money, the film contained jaw dropping effects and a nice, self contained zombie story that rivaled professional efforts. Eldridge and company are back with their latest short film Blood on the Plain. Telling a tale larger in scale this time around, the film can be viewed as an open ended one off story but is intended as a pitch for a feature film.

Similar to Chemical 12-D, the new short focuses on horror born of man’s own devices. This time the threat stems from the settler’s wholesale slaughter of the local Native Americans in a land grab. A century later the town bears the wrath of the dead.  

The opening moments of the short establish a languid, sleepy mood often associated with dust baked mid-western burghs. It’s another lazy Friday at the local general goods store, and the town’s abuzz with anticipation for the homecoming dance. The audience is given just enough time to get to know the young couple front and center on screen before terror erupts in the form of brutal tribal warriors. Before anyone can begin to comprehend what’s going on, a gymnasium full of students is trapped and the rampaging natives make quick work of them. Once word gets out to the town about the massacre, parents and concerned citizens are stranded outside the building, armed with only grief and a feeling of impotence that they can’t do anything to stop what’s transpired.

The final minutes rush by in a blur. This is where the Western influence shines. A town hall meeting called to determine how to fight back introduces a group of hardened bounty hunters straight out of A Fistful of Dollars.  Eldridge leaves the audience wanting more as our newly formed posse head into the heart of darkness with dangers pressing in from all sides.

That couple I briefly mentioned two paragraphs back? Let’s talk about them for a moment. Just when you’re led to believe they’ll be the focal point of the film, Eldridge pulls the rug out and disposes of the pair in a brutal, almost casual manner. It’s an interesting storytelling choice and one not many filmmakers have the balls to pull. In fact, the short more or less eschews individual characters in order to establish a greater sense of community. Eldridge draws the audience towards a group of people forced to deal with their ancestors’ history. There’s the sense that the bill has come due. The early 90’s allows the setting to be recognizable but a shade prior to the days that widespread cell phone use, the internet and GPS connected everyone. As such, the town feels just a bit like a place out of time, and adds to the classic Western feel.   As with their previous short, the gore and special effects are top notch and won’t disappoint horror fans.

For a short time Blood on the Plains is available for digital download or DVD purchase at http://www.bloodontheplain.com/ You can also buy frames of film for $1. Be sure to keep posted as the film expands from its current format to a feature length production.   

Guest Post: "How To Make Low Budget Horror Effects"

Guest Writer: Joe Griffiths

(Mike's Note: From time to time we get emails asking if they can write a guest post for our site. Most of the time they come from marketing companies in the form of mass market emails that would serve as little more than free advertising for their company. One request caught my eye. Joe Griffiths works with a large UK theater chain, and actually came up with a couple fun ideas for a post. Since I'd like to imagine a fair amount of readers run around their backyards making z-grade horror films, I thought his idea demonstrating how to make some low budget special effects would make for a fun read.)

Horror films are hugely reliant on special effects, perhaps more so than any other genre. The amount of violence, blood and gore in each movie takes a lot of work to make it look realistic, and a lot of Hollywood productions which grace cinemas worldwide spend millions on them. However, if you’re looking to make your own horror movie, but only have a few hundred quid to spend on special effects, you can do it yourself so you can rival those of some of the highest-profile latest movies.

Fake blood, sugar glass, cuts, wounds and make-up for zombie characters and corpses can all be made with a little imagination. They’re surprisingly easy and cheap to make, and some of the ingredients needed may surprise you.

For fake blood, you need a mixing bowl, one cup of golden syrup, one tablespoon of red food colouring, one teaspoon of yellow food colouring and water. You can add as much or as little water as you like to change its thickness. To give it a congealed effect, put some cornflour into the mixture. If it’s fake artery blood you want, put some green or blue food colouring in, while if you need an oozing effect, chocolate syrup can help.

Sugar glass is another staple special effect, and can be made just as easily as fake blood. For that, you need to mix one part liquid glucose with two parts water and three and a half parts sugar. Once blended together, cook in a pan on medium heat and then pour the mix into a mould for bottles, glasses or windows.

To create realistic-looking cuts, bruises, gouges and make-up effects, a bag or run-of-the-mill cosmetics is all that’s required. Cuts can be done by drawing the outline of the wound with brown eyeliner, filling the outline with red lipstick, covering with finishing powder and then adding green, brown and light purple eye shadow. Applying a thin coat of Vaseline will make them look new.

Or if your after a super awesome effect, try the video below

Using light and shade for make-up can make all the difference. Applying dark or light cream or powder can create any body effect you desire, ranging from a six pack to sunken-in cheeks. Greasepaint is another addition you can use to make the stars of your film look scarier.

Following all these recipes for your special effects will help to make your low-budget horror film look just as visually impressive as your big-time rivals in Hollywood, but without blowing millions you don’t have.

 

Mini-Bites Reviews: COLD FISH, MEGAN IS MISSING, THE GREY

COLD FISH (2010)
Directed by Shion Sono
Written by Shion Sono and Yoshiki Takahashi
Cold Fish - Bloody Disgusting Selects Official Site

The only film I've seen from Japanese filmmaker Shion Sono was 2001's Suicide Club. With its surreal imagery and savage storytelling, it was a nice antidote to the typical cookie cutter J-Horror ghost stories that had been saturating theaters and home video at the time. Regretfully, I haven't been able to catch up on his other work, but I was still very eager to check out his latest, Cold Fish. The horror megasite Bloody Disgusting released it briefly as part of their Bloody Disgusting Selects series, but I've only now caught up to it on DVD.

Cold Fish is very loosely based on the true incidents surrounding a serial killing husband and wife team who operated a pet store in Japan. When a rich businessman tries to help out a hapless tropical fish shop owner, the guardian angel soon reveals himself to be a demon. Sono doesn't skimp on outrageous gore as his story pits sad sack Syamoto (Mitsura Fukikoshi), owner of a floundering tropical fish store, against his would-be mentor, the charismatic serial killer Murata (Denden). With Syamoto's already flimsy grasp on his family - a wife and daughter who have no respect for him - Murata is able to manipulate everyone into doing his bidding. He recruits Syamoto to help make Murata's competitors "invisible", which means they meet a rather bloody end. Will Murata mold Syamoto into his own image, or will Syomoto get some guts before Murata makes him invisible, too?

Sono is clearly avoiding any sort of realistic portrayal of the true story, and instead, delivers something more akin to Visitor Q meets The Texas Chain Saw Massacre than any true crime biopic. Sono smartly paints his film with broad strokes, rendering all the disturbing content so blatantly over-the-top, that one can't help but laugh through the whole thing. The performances are solid throughout, but Denden, playing the unpredictable Murata, is the cornerstone of the film. There hasn't been a more likable sicko in quite some time. The pacing also makes this 2 hour and 30 minute film feel like a breeze. Definitely worth a watch!

Cold Fish Trailer





MEGAN IS MISSING (2011)
Written and Directed by Michael Goi
Megan is Missing Offial Site

A lot of talk about this film has been going back and forth amongst the horror blogging community as of late. I believe it was BJ-C over at the fine blog Day of the Woman who started the fire saying it was one of the most disturbing films she's seen, and it sparked my interest. Make sure you read her (spoilerish) review here: Day of the Woman Review of Megan is Missing

Based on true events, Megan is Missing is another in the "found footage" genre, tracking the last few days of two missing teens after an encounter with an internet predator named "Josh". Unlike a lot of other films utilizing this style, it actually works to devastating results by the film's end. Plagued only by weak performances from some of the minor characters, as well as some unbelievable footage sources (footage from high grade video phone conversations is prevalent), Megan is Missing is still a potent film with an unbelievably harrowing final act. It's Micheal Goi's cautionary film warning of the dangers of rampant social technology, internet predators, and truly fucked up state of adolescene in the digital age.

Anchored by fine performances by leads Amber Perkins and Rachel Quinn, Megan is Missing raises a lot of questions about absent parenting, internet culture, teen sexuality and gender issues, and delivers one of bleakest endings I've seen in a long time. In fact, the final 20 minutes of this film were some of the most difficult for me to sit through since Gaspar Noe's Irreversible. It will definitely stay with you long after the credits roll. Be warned: This film is depressing as shit.

Megan is Missing Trailer





THE GREY (2012)
Directed by Joe Carnahan
Written by Joe Carnahan, Ian McKenzie Jeffers (from his short story) 

If you think The Grey is all about Liam Neeson busting out Jedi moves against a pack of vicious wolves, you'll be sorely dissapointed. Joe Carnahan's bleak film is more thoughtful than that. His film, although packed with the types of thrills and desolation you'd expect, is a meditation on life and survival. At times poetic, more often brutal, the film is just as much man vs. himself as it is man vs. nature.

A drilling team crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. Without food, water, or shelter, it's not long before they run into a territorial, and vicious pack of wolves led by a clever Alpha male. The survivors must overcome unforgiving nature, and their own egos and insecurities, to survive. Desperate, hopeless, they find themselves, one-by-one, picked off by the bloodthirsty pack. Their one advantage is the stoic Ottway (Neeson) who makes his living protecting the oil compounds from scavenging wolves.

The Grey has an ambiguous ending akin to that of The Wrestler - the film less about the final bout than what it takes to make it there.  Does that mean the rest of the film is a waste of time? Certainly not. It shouldn't be a dealbreaker. The Grey has the distinction of being one of the more macho films I've seen, but is also the most "men feeling feelings" film, too. The characters confront their pasts, and contemplate potential futures if they survive the ordeal. Will they find themselves living more than they are at this moment? The Grey forces its characters, hence the viewer, to look mortality right in the face. It falters here and there during some inauthentic action moment amidst a pretty realistic, rugged survival tale. Despite an all-male cast, the presence of the women in life is something that movivates most of them to continue the fight.

The Grey Trailer

Four More Female Horror Directors You Need To Check Out

Whenever someone tells you they’d like to talk about women making horror movies, but there just aren’t any of them out there, prepare yourself with some ammunition then kindly tell them how full of shit they are (again, tell them in a kind, gentle and supportive way). In the past we’ve sung the praises of Jen & Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk), Maude Michaud (Bloody Breasts, Red), Lis Fies (The Commune), Barbara Stepansky (Fugue) and Devi Snively (Death in Charge) among others. Well in celebration of my twenty month old learning to count to four, here’s another round of talented women to add to your list:  

Julie Ufema  Ms. Ufema’s directorial debut Caveat is a nifty little thriller about a five sisters reunited for their father’s funeral. The film’s strength lies in the cast’s ability to go at one another’s jugular and its clear Ufema encouraged her talent to hold nothing back when it came to spilling out year’s worth of back story and hurts onto the screen. While Caveat falls more into thriller rather than horror territory, the mean spirited, anti-sisterhood inspired exchanges between the women makes for some uncomfortable, squirm inducing moments.  Her follow up, Pointless , reunites much of the same cast, and looks to blend hard-boiled noir with science fiction. The film is currently in post-production.  Boston area folks can check out Caveat at the Stiletto Film Fest Saturday February 25th. 

Ashleigh Nicols After serving a variety of roles on various film and television crews Ms. Nicols stepped behind the camera for her hilarious short Summer of the Zombies. The film managed to skewer hipster culture and tweak the expectations of your typical zom-com fare while providing a little romance all in fewer than fifteen minutes. Nicols is one of the first people in a long while to not take at face value that all zombies subsist on a diet of brains and the film gets high marks for originality-something lacking in most zombie flicks.

Karen Lam While I’ve yet to see Ms. Lam’s feature film Stained, the strength of her short Doll Parts warrants inclusion on this list. While there’s been a number of good short films centered on women turning the table on a stalker/serial killer; most play for laughs rather than scares. Doll Parts ratchets up the supernatural factor and Ms. Lam does terrific work handling the special effects involved with bringing a doll woman back to unlife as it were. It’s one that will get under your skin and stay there long after the credits roll.

Elise Robertson As Chris pointed out in his review; the skilled hand of Robertson gave Donner Pass a boost above otherwise standard slasher fare. When the script called for a second carload of victims that could have been labeled “Douche Bag Victims Nos. four through eight” it could have been high time to click the “off” button.  However, Robertson showed she understands the genre she had not worked in prior, kicking things off with a gangbusters flashback sequence depicting the gruesome events of the Donner Party and a fantastic hot tub sequence where our killer comes rushing into frame from far off in the background. Touches like this lifted the film above standard direct to video fare and makes me wonder what she can do with an A level script. 

As talented as these ladies are, they represent a small number of the many kick ass ladies working to bring horror into your local theater and home. do yourself a favor and check out their work pronto.  

CJ Scuffins's PRODIGAL SON: A Zombie Noir Morality Play

Prodigal Son (2011)
Written and Directed by CJ Scuffins
Prodigal Son Official Site

Over the past few years, a number of films have come across our desks that work as updates of W.W. Jacobs's classic story, The Monkey's Paw. In that tale, a family is given a talisman that will grant them three wishes. After a series of tragedies, one of the wishes is for the return of their son, recently killed in a factory accident. While few of those films capture the desolate atmosphere and futility of Jacobs's original story (published in 1902), more than a number are fairly effective treatments (Kiss the Abyss being a recent example). While the story details vary widely, the core idea remains that one should "be careful what you wish for" when it comes to that power, particularly when the return of a deceased loved one is at the top of the wish list.

Finding its own footing in that tradition is CJ Scuffins's eccentric zombie film Prodigal Son. This gorgeously shot morality play from Ireland spins its own brand by using backdoor dealings between brutal mobsters and shady pharmaceutical companies as its backdrop. Instead of a talisman, our grieving family is granted their wish through the use of an experimental medical procedure that returns the dead to life. The only problem being the unpredictable side effects of reviving the dead.

In Dublin, a mobster named Denny (Raymond Kinsella) is at his wit's end with his psychopathic young son, Joe (Ryan Andrews). Denny is increasingly frustrated with Joe's carefree and deadly use of his trusty hurling stick. When the violent teen kills the wrong junkie, he, himself, is shot by a mysterious avenger (Sean Conroy) clad in dark cloak and travelling on horseback. Joe, an obvious sociopath, makes it difficult for us to sympathize, but his parents are devastated by the news. They love the brute, and will do everything in their power to have him back and terrorizing the hood.

Much to his grief-stricken wife's chagrin, Denny calls upon Dr. Burke (Padraig Murray) to tend to his deceased son. Burke, with his connections at pharmaceutical company Prodigal, Inc., makes a deal with company rep Hare to bring the boy in for "treatment".  Hare warns that the emotions of the deceased at the time of death can get "stuck", thereby causing some unpleasant results. Joe had better have died peacefully. Burke, having contributed immensely to Prodigal's research, is more concerned with saving his own neck than any ramifications from resurrecting dead kids. Regardless of any personal philosophy, Burke and Hare (hehe) are bringing Joe back to life in the name of further experimentation and the lure of big money.

After a brief, but unnerving hospital scene, Joe is back. He's clearly having trouble re-adjusting, even with simple things like drinking milk. His scope of experience has been altered in that his immediate senses are dulled, but his emotional center is sharper. As a clever twist on the standard version, he's seemed to have developed a bit of a conscience. Instead of struggling with the obvious zombie problems (flesh eating, rotting), Joe is now forced to face his own guilt. For the first time in his life, he's scared and unsure of himself. In the eyes of his parents, he's come back a bit of a wimp. A choice between redemption or revenge looms in the climax when Joe's pasty, hollow-eyed killer is caught by two of his father's thugs. Just who will be redeemed, and who will be avenged, remains to be seen.

Scuffins's short is a solid update on films like Mary Lambert's Pet Sematary adaptation or Bob Clark's Deathdream (Dead of Night). Much like those films, Scuffin's film explores just what may happen when a person "comes back"- the changes to their personality, strange habits, etc. Scuffins goes a step further by introducing a revived corpse that was a psychopath to begin with, but now wrestling with a newfound conscience. Where once Joe was fearsome, he now lives in fear.  It's a brilliant way to explore the concept, and one that presents a lot of intriguing questions.

With fantastic photography by DP Piers McGrail, Prodigal Son owes just as much to crime/revenge thrillers, westerns, and noir films than any in Romero's living dead series. By the film's end, we find that Scuffins is more interested in exploring guilt and forgiveness than any sort of flesh-eating. I can't help but think that Scuffins is also commenting on the cyclical nature of the drug trade -the spectrum of legal and illicit drugs - taking its toll all over the world. Drugs that harm and drugs that heal are often one and the same. One can conjure up images of the zombie-like walking dead looking to score the next hit, prescription or otherwise, and the gangsters/big companies shooting it out on the street for ultimate supremacy.

Prodigal Son Trailer

Is The New Woman In Black J-Horror In Victorian Clothing?

VS.

Something’s been gnawing at me ever since the lovely Mrs. and I strolled out of The Woman in Black two weekends ago. I had the sneaking suspicion I had seen this film before. I’m not referring to the British telefilm from 1989. I couldn’t shake the J-Horror influence I mentioned in our review or how much it reminded me one specific film.

Then it hit me. The Woman In Black is a remake of The Ring (which in and of itself is a remake of Japan’s Ringu. The snake keeps eating its own tail)!

Before we go on, a word regarding spoilers. Venture forward at your own peril because many there will be. Phrases like “and then this thing happens that’s a lot like something that happened in the other movie too, take my word on it” copied and pasted for a handful of paragraphs would be an abhorrent waste of your time and mine. We have standards here people. I’m not saying we set high standards, but if our standards were an obstacle in the road, they would at least represent a minor obstacle, perhaps even an annoyance, to get around. 

Let’s start with the basic premise of both stories. In The Ring, anyone unfortunate enough to view Samara’s art school short film dies one week later. In The Woman in Black, a sighting of Jennet Humfrye’s ghost signals the impending death of a child. There’s a notable difference in specter’s modus operandi in the latest film from the source material and previous adaptations. In the other versions, her appearance acts as an omen. The Hammer update sees the spirit taking on a more active role in bringing about death. Instead of appearing to a random, unconnected person, Jennet Humfrye materializes before the children. Through unspoken suggestion she seems to compel the children to drink lye, take long walks off sort piers, hurl themselves off tall buildings or set themselves on fire. To be fair, how those activities are known to be near and dear to the hearts of children with or without a ghost pulling their little puppet strings? The newest film’s more aggressive approach to the spirit’s demeanor falls very much in line with the vengeful, stringy haired ghosts of J-Horror. At a minimum Goldman and Watkin’s approach sharply contrasts the more implied terror of previous adaptations, where aural cues and subtle incidents within the home built up a steady sense of foreboding.  

Next let’s look at our leads. Naomi Watts and Daniel Radcliffe’s characters share similar traits. The former plays a workaholic single mom burdened with a son she has no time for until she places him in harm’s way while researching her story.  Radcliffe plays a morose widower who finds it difficult to spend time in his son’s presence as he reminds him too much of his lost love. Both prioritize work over parental obligations, Watt’s reporter by choice, Radcliffe’s lawyer as a last ditch effort to keep his position and avoid the bread lines.  While Misha Handley cannot go toe to toe with the dead eyed creepiness David Dorfman’s Aiden, both films feature kids that enjoy doodling gloomy, soul-crushing refrigerator art.

The climax of both films share many similarities. Both Kipps and Watts’ beleaguered Rachel apply a rational solution to a supernatural dilemma. Watts ends up waist deep in years old rainwater in sewerage in order to dredge up Samara’s corpse. In a similar move, Radcliffe finds himself submerged in the boggy Causeway in his attempt to exhume Humfrye’s deceased son. Both characters conclude the only way to end the horror is to put the dead’s spirits at ease, either through a proper burial or by reuniting mother and child. Of course, in both cases the attempts reek of futility. Both leads learn that the dead no longer adhere to the rational idea of cause and effect. Samara’s reincarnated ghoul and Humfrye’s ghost act more like independent forces of nature fueled by an unquenchable rage and self righteousness.

Smaller parallels tie the films together. Both films partially take place on an island (in the case of WiB, it’s only separated from the mainland part of the time, but it’s still essential to the story). Horses meet watery graves in both films. Verbinski and Watkins both include a creepy reveal concealed beneath tattered wall paper. Both films feature ancillary characters sporting a Melvins tee shirt (this one might be a stretch).

Obviously we’re just trying to have fun here. I’m certain that when the producers if The Woman in Black sat down to come up with ideas no one said, “We need to rejig The Ring for the Downton Abbey crowd”. Still, if the most skeptical of you have to admit there’s more than enough similarities that it can be deemed more than coincidence. As would-be Tenenbaum Eli Cash once said “Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is... maybe he didn't.”  While it would be a stretch to call The Woman In Black an outright remake, I argue that CBS Films and Hammer Studios looked at the blueprint of The Ring and did their damndest to emulate it. The Ring may have been the first PG-13 horror film that dialed down the violence/language in order to draw in the younger crowd while crafting a smart enough story to lure in adults. Both films prey on parental fear of being unable to protect their children from inevitable doom. The folks behind The Woman in Black borrowed enough elements from the former to try and duplicate its success.  

Adam Cesare's TRIBESMEN: 70's Exploitation Film in Literary Form

TRIBESMEN
Written by Adam Cesare
Published by Ravenous Shadows
158 pp (PDF Format)
Kindle Edition available on Amazon

Boston writer Adam Cesare's debut novella, Tribesmen, evokes the feeling of strolling down 42nd street in its heyday of grime, peep shows, and grindhouse cinema. Darting into any number of theaters on that street in the 70's and early 80s might land you in a gore-soaked martial arts extravaganza, a rape-revenge shocker, or a mean-spirited Gialli slasher. This is the stomping ground of Cesare, a young writer whose historic sensibilities of that sleazy era betray his youth. An adaptation of his book could easily be seen sharing a marquee with the likes of Cannibal Holocaust or Cannibal Ferox. His novel is one part homage and one part satire of those notorious Italian Cannibal classics, as well as a sly nod to low budget filmmaking.

A small film crew, led by scuzzball Italian director Tito Bronze, heads to an uncharted island hoping to rip off the popular and infamous film Cannibal Fury Atrocity. Along for the cinematic quest is screenwriter Jacques, macho superstar Umberto, sexy lead Cynthia, Denny the junkie director of photography, and Daria, hair and makeup. This group reads like a genuine cast/crew call sheet of an obscure Z-grade horror film complete with requisite prejudices and addictions. Tito, the ego-maniacal director, will stop at nothing to get his latest exploitation masterpiece "in the can". He's at odds with Jacques, a young writer who can't believe his advanced degree is squandered to create trash cinema. Caught in the middle of their creative bickering is Cynthia, a young actor from Queens whose brains, toughness, and beauty takes second billing to the narcissistic star Umberto. These players will find out what it means to die for art (or a quick buck), while others will kill for it.

In order to present the utmost authenticity, Tito brings them to the exotic location hoping to exploit the native people. The stumbling block is that the village has been abandoned, the island cursed by tragedy. Forced to improvise without local "savages" to populate the film, Tito "casts" his supporting players in key roles. Jacques, Denny, and Daria have all been upgraded to acting in Tito's brutal vision, a film unparalleled in shocking carnage. The group is soon under the influence of a spiritual presence that wishes to help them finish their transcendent gorefest, one that splashes real blood and brains on the camera's lens. With Tito's irresistible charisma, and the possessive charms of the island's spirits, the most epic snuff flick is about to be filmed.

Cesare's writing style is sparse, so it's quick and easy to devour. It's told from multiple viewpoints, each chapter devoted to a member of the cast and crew. The reader is able to spend time in the shoes of each character, regardless of whether or not it's a comfortable place to wander. Cesare doesn't care if you relate to all the characters. Experiencing the motivations of each serves to highten the suspense. Cesare develops his characters well, and even though most of them are caricatures, you can imagine them strolling the opposite way past you on that same stretch of 42nd Street. People like this really exist.

Nothing about the story feels forced, and the ensuing chase and capture scenes are gripping. It's something I don't believe a lot of writers could pull off when trying to channel this very specific feel. You either get it, or you don't, and Cesare definitely understands what tropes and nuances are necessary to reel the reader into his ugly world. The story is wholly original, yet a nice throwback to an all but forgotten era of outrageous movie poster proclamations, banned video nasties, and outraged film critics. It's also a good commentary on the dangers of low or no budget film productions where trusting the wrong people can land one in the cooking fire.

As Cesare develops, it'll be great to see what else he has up his sleeve. Tribesmen is a great start in that it establishes him as an author who is interested in the craft of writing, but stripped of pretension. His work is brutal, funny, disgusting, politically incorrect, and most all, as entertaining as a cannibal family Sunday dinner. I suggest you throw on your favorite 70's horror film score while reading to shake things up, and have your vomit bag handy just in case. Keep repeating: It's only a book. It's only a book. It's only a book...

The "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" Trailer Is A Thing On The Internet

I'm curious as to what people think of this film. Is there any excitement at seeing our greatest president wail away at the undead with his axe, or does the mash up of horror, history and classical literature Seth Graham-Smith brings the table fill you with the kind of irritation reserved for rolling around naked in poison oak?

I made it two thirds of the way through the novel before submitting to tedium. I'm not sure if I'll pick it up beofe the film comes out. On the other hand, there's no denying it's a fun concept for a summer popcorn film, and I love Timbur Bekmambetov's Russian horror tinged action flicks Night Watch and Day Watch. If anyone can bring out the best in the material, it;s him, as he knows how to shoot hyper kinetic action. Plus, we've seen enough Nazi zombies get laid to waste on screen. Confederate vampires are a nice change of pace.

I guess I'm still on the fence after watching the trailer, but I'm edging closer to the "will see it" side after this trailer.

Review: "Last Breath" Is A Sigh

Review: Spooky Sean

You pop in this flick, and the first minute a heavily bearded, scraggly-haired fella shouts towards you with a gun in his hand. Bang, bang! And you think to yourself, damn, this is going to be intense. And then, the rest of the film plays. You get about a half hour of trouble in paradise, a marriage on the rocks, and a young boy caught in the cross fire. And then, the hubby and his wife go to the newly purchased abandoned warehouse he’s bought. They fight, until a mysterious, greasy-haired sketcher appears to chase them. Yes, it’s our scraggly friend from the first few minutes, back to shed some light on his purpose in the film perhaps?

           

Last Breath began with a lot of potential, which is why it’s such a shame it wasn’t better. An incredibly frenetic performance by Aaron Laue as Dark Figure in its opening minutes sets a pace and ferocity which the rest of the film can’t seem to match. We presented a mixed romantic drama and torture film (some would call it torture porn, but that’s snuff films then, isn’t it?) that oversteps its bounds attempting genre comingling, and manages to merely muddle both.

One major problem has to do with its twist ending. I won’t tell you the twist and take no pride in ruining film endings, but suffice it to say it’s quite silly. It requires a huge leap of faith on the part of the viewer, and while it explains some of the earlier scenes, what is meant to add gravitas to the flick merely makes it seem that much more absurd.

While the performances are adequate in regards to the torture horror aspect from Ty Jones as Michael Johnson, and Mandy Bannon as Tina Johnson, the romance is harder to buy. A lot of the film revolves around the power of Michael and Tina’s love for each other. Except we never really believe said powerful, overwhelming love. Part of this blame surely falls on the script. If we were privy to a few scenes of the couple while they were deeply in love, instead of simply seeing the tail end of their relationship, perhaps the passion would be more evident. I’m just not buying that either of these people would work very hard to save the other if they were set on fire, and merely had to pee their partner out. Not that that’s a scene in the film, though it would have made for exciting viewing.

The score gets positively Full Moon pictures at times. Vincent Gillioz, sorry, but your score is all over the place. It’s a fun score, quite bouncy at times, but it doesn’t quite seem to fit with scenes of a machine that electrocutes boners. But then, what would?

           

There is interesting framing in many of the shots. A lot of cool shots of our couple, framed between broken windows. However, any time a rat hopped on screen, it was all but assured an unconvincing scene of rat attack was to commence. It’s tough to fear rats, even a bunch of rats, when they are obviously nowhere near your actor. One shot, rats on ground, next shot, they are magically on her back! Oh no, those rats, which don’t seem to care about that woman in the slightest, are terrorizing her! I guess…

           

Last Breath is far from a terrible film. It has its tense moments, its creative torture scenarios, and despite how silly it is, the twist ending is hard to guess, and something new for a horror film. Much like a noose too long, the problem comes down to the execution. Despite all of the good things it brings, in the end I wondered, why should I care about these two people? They all but ignore their child (seriously, one big plot hole, who was watching their kid while they were in the warehouse for all those hours?) and they don’t seem to enjoy each other’s company any more.

           

How many more torture scenarios because of a perceived wrongdoing do I have to sit through in a horror film? Can people just kill each other just to do it again? Not that many films ever allow this type of blissful lack of reasoning. How many thousands of people are murdered in horror films because of silly perceived slights? You let me drown because you were necking, I’m dying of cancer, and you don’t appreciate your life, and now, you were cheating, so now I electrocute your willie.

           

Honestly, most of what I took from this film is that it wouldn’t be fun to have your penis electrocuted.

           

I don’t think I needed a visual reiteration of that.

(Sean lives a quiet life, with a world of darkness locked away inside his fevered mind. He grew up in Central Massachusetts. In his free time he writes for his blog www.spookysean.com, and creates fiction your parents wouldn’t approve of.)

Watch This Spoof of Christine "Vicki" For Free Online

VICKI from Bill Palmer on Vimeo.


The deviant sons of bitches at Cheap Heat Productions are at it again. The folks behind my favorite short film of 2010 The Living Want Me Dead (winner of the Audience Award at the 2010 NYC Horror Film Fest) just wrapped their latest short, "VICKI". Fans of John Carpenter's (admittedly dated) Christine are in for a hell of a treat.

Director Bill Palmer and actor Adam Conger team up once again, this time spoofing the killer car tale based on Stephen King's novel. If you know the source material, you know the story. Leslie Waterhatch (Conger) is your run of the mill nerd that's bullied by the local hooligans and ignored by the school hottie. After he buys a run down sports car turned jalopy and fixes her up, he adopts a whole new attitude on life, and is soon the cool guy with the fast car with a hot girl riding shotgun. Vicki doesn't take well to playing second banana, and is soon wreaking bloody havoc on anyone that comes between Leslie and her.

Vicki follows the beats of the source material while giving a playful thumb of the nose at the staples of 80's horror. One particular source of visual comedy is the steady procession of over the top fashion choices form the era Conger sports from scene to scene. Palmers adds nifty little homages throughout. For example, a extreme closeup on Conger's shattered eyeglass lens drew reminiscence of Hoffman in Straw Dogs.

I was a huge fan of Conger's performance in The Living Want Me Dead and he doesn't disappoint in the follow up. He's able to sell ridiculous moment, such as a scene where it looks an awful lot like he and Vicki are getting too close, all set to Debbie Gibson's Lost In Your Eyes (a song anyone of of age furiously made out to  under the dimmed gymnasium lights of many a junior high school dance). Add in his ability to spout 80's catch phrases with a straight face and you have a good comic lead.

Spoofs can be tricky to pull off. Go too far over the line and you turn into "Jackie Whackadoo's Funhouse of Jokes" and become a chore to watch. The folks at Cheap Heat know what they're doing, and have pulled off a pair of shorts that blend horror, deadpan comedy and gore gags to near perfection.

Chillerama: The B-Movie Marches On

Review by Dede Crimmins

The first five minutes of any movie are the best opportunity to set the mood for the rest of your cinematic experience. Will it be atmospheric? Terrifying? Hilarious? In the case of Chillerama you get a strong impression of the film right away. It’s going to be disgusting, hilarious, and the most delightfully campy film you have seen in years. Though it is much more of a comedy written by horror devotees than film that will raise the hair on the back of your neck, it is still a great entry into the strong tradition of horror anthology films. 

It begins with the wrap around episode “Zom-B Movie” (directed by Joe Lynch). In a fake-looking cemetery that would make Ed Wood proud, a sleazy guy has just dug up his long dead wife for some “dead head.” Rather than letting her corpse get orally raped, her inexplicably-animated jaws clamps down on his junk, and he spews painful looking fluorescent blue blood. Just as he escapes her grip, he realizes he is running late for his job as a projectionist at the last night of a drive-in theater. As he limps his way to the lot he weaves through the queuing cars and we are introduced to the rest of the film’s characters. We meet a car full of horror movie buff teenagers, a young couple who hauled their infant along for the night, and the jerk that bought the lot and is planning on turning it into a shopping mall as soon as the last reel is over.  Right from the beginning we have a zombie in the making, teenagers, sexual violence, and a great premise for multiple chapters of films. But before we can get to the rest of the plot of this installment in Chillerama, we need to watch the other parts of the film.

“Wadzilla” is a parody nuclear fear film along the lines of Them and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.  Only, the threat in “Wadzilla” is actually a giant sperm! After seeking his doctor’s advice for his sexual problems, Miles (played by director Adam Rifkin) is given an experimental treatment which turns what would typically end up on a tissue in the garbage to an exponentially expanding beast that wriggles its way across New York City. And all of this while his is on a blind date that is both out of his league and interested in him too. The corniness of “Wadzilla” makes this sequence really funny, rather than tedious. You would think that watching an entire short film based on sperm jokes would be tedious, but it is actually clever and endearing.

The second film shown at the drive-in is a beach blanket parody “I Was a Teenage Werebear” (directed by Tim Sullivan). Perhaps I am a bit naïve, but I was looking forward to seeing grown men, playing teenagers, dressed in bear costumes. I was delighted; however, to see that the bears that these teenagers morph in to are in fact leather clad, large hairy gay men. Put them in a few pseudo-60s musical numbers that could give Grease a run for its money, and I was overjoyed! Gallons of fake blood, a prophetic gypsy, a Ron Jeremy cameo, and enough bondage gear to rival Hellraiser makes this a silly, but ultimately entertaining clip. 

Before seeing more of the hijinx going on at the drive-in (the blue blood has gotten in to the popcorn, and now the entire lot is getting infected!) we move on to the next movie for the night. “The Diary of Anne Frankenstein” (directed by Adam Green) might just be the best of the bunch. It starts with Anne Frank, hidden away from the Nazis, writing in her diary. All of a sudden Hitler and his goons burst through the wall, kill the family, and steal Anne’s diary. But rather than containing a narrative about Anne’s day to day life hiding from the tyranny of the Nazi regime, it is actually a text that describes the reanimation of dead in order to have them do your bidding. Naturally Hitler is intrigued and he sets out to build a killing machine of his own. His monster is a giant sized rabbi (played by Kane Hodder, who clearly enjoys chewing up the scenery) who he names Meshugannah. When Hitler’s monster refuses to kill for the sake of killing, it instead turns against his men and rips them to shreds, in some cases literally. The kills are wonderfully fake here, and fans of bad horror films will really enjoy how intentionally executed the poor effects are, but the real fun here is the portrayal of Hitler himself. While all of the other characters around him are actually speaking German, Hitler is spewing vague gibberish, even slipping in a “Boba Fett” while commanding his troops. The busty and promiscuous Eva Braun flirting with his men adds to the foolish characterization of Hitler too.  And who doesn’t like belittling and laughing at Hitler? This short film is by no means a horror film, but it is very funny and has a good amount of blood. 

After a false start at a fourth film at the drive-in (“Deathication” looked like it would have been shitty – pun intended- and tedious film, so no love it lost when it abruptly ends) we get to watch the conclusion of “Zom-B Movie.” The entire drive-in has been taken over by sex-crazed zombies hunting down the remaining survivors. From here out is a predictable zombie movie. The characters act as you would expect them to, and the guns run out of ammo as if on cue. What saves the rest of the movie from being too conventional is the barrage of movie quotes. All of the last three characters spend their last moments of earth going speaking in nothing but quotes from classic and cult films.  It’s almost like trivia night at a pub and it makes you feel like years of being a horror nerd have paid off when you get the references. 

My only complaint about the film is the long run time.  While it does move rapidly between the different stories, it nearly drags at two hours long.  The film itself looks beautiful; much better than the small budget films it is emulating.  Overall Chillerama was absolutely worth the time. 


(Deirdre Crimmins lives in Boston with her husband and two black cats. She wrote her Master's thesis on George Romero and works too much.)

Elias Matar ASHES Is Now Available On DVD and On Demand

Great news for people that enjoy smartly crafted and beautifully acted post apocalyptic horror movies. Elias Matar's anatomy of an deadly viral outbreak film ASHES is now available from Osiris Entertainment. Back in December I ranked this as the #1 Unreleased Horror Film of the Year and I would bet one million spacebucks its ends up on many 2012 year end best-of lists.

Brian Krause stars as a doctor on the verge of a discovery that could wipe out deadly diseases. When a  young boy is dumped in the emergency room, the doctor uses an untested sample on the child in a last ditch attempt to buy more time to save his life. The unintended consequences of his humanitarian gestures leave the doctor wracked with a sickness that swiftly deteriorates his mind and body. The question isn't can the doctor save himself, but can he stop his contagion from spreading. Matar's film is a tense thriller that takes the rare tact of examining the end of civilization from its inception rather than thrusting its characters into a nightmare scenario.

Lynn Ramsay's "WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN": Suffer the Little Children

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011)

Directed by Lynn Ramsay

Written by Lynn Ramsay and Rory Kinnear (based on the book by Lionel Shriver)

We Need to Talk About Kevin Official Site

In the opening moments of We Need to Talk About Kevin, we witness Eva Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton) being carried in a Christ-like pose through the streets of a Valencian La Tomatina Celebration. It's a flashback to a tumultuous, exciting time in her youth. As tomatoes are thrown about, bodies of the celebrants thrash around splattering each other with the gore-like tomato debris. The tomato-soaked crowd appears as though covered in blood, and it's not made clear as to whether they are having fun or panicking. Eva is covered in tomato muck and finally rests nearly drowned in a great red tide of pulp and juice. Though she appears blissful, she is the sacrificial lamb for the events about to unfold. This opening makes a bold statement as to her role as a woman and a mother. This type of heavy symbolism would recur throughout Lynn Ramsay's film adaptation of the Lionel Shriver book.

Ramsay's vision of the story is told in non-linear fashion, evident by the next shot of flashing police and ambulance lights, the troubled face of an "older" Eva amongst a hysterical crowd gathered outside of a much different event. We know something terribly tragic has happened involving Eva's son and his high school classmates. Before we find out exactly what's transpired, we retrace the steps of Eva's life before and after the birth of her son, Kevin. The film works itself out within a disjointed timeline, outlining possibilities, while the viewer looks for cause and effect. Ramsay effectively pieces things together with jarring juxtapositions of Eva's hopeful life before Kevin's birth, the frustrating struggles raising him, and the depressing aftermath in the wake of the tragic event.

Eva and Franklin (John C. Reilly) have a loving relationship, and relatively happy life together. Much of their early relationship is spent carefree, travelling to exotic places, and dreaming of future success. Shortly after their marriage, Eva gives birth to Kevin. Seemingly healthy, she can't understand why the baby never stops crying. Already off on a bad foot, the strain in the relationship of mother to son is evident right away as she can provide no comfort to the child. His incessant blaring is a cause of great stress to the point that she'd (literally) seek refuge from his cries in standing beside a pounding jackhammer. Franklin, coming home to a calm, sleeping baby, can't grasp why Eva is so stressed. To him - and possibly even to Eva - her reaction might be attributed to the newborn putting a damper on her previously adventurous life. It's this early resentment that acts as a catalyst to the rest of the film. What exactly is Eva doing wrong? Is her perceived resentment the root of the terrible future tragedy?

Against Eva's wishes, Franklin moves the three out to a well-to-do suburban neighborhood where they can provide themselves and Kevin with all the best accruements. It could be a fresh start in a perfect world. The only problem is Kevin. Each stage of Kevin's development brings a new nightmare. Still in diapers by age four, Kevin is defiant in every possible way. There's a mean streak in him that goes beyond being merely a "difficult" or "rebellious" child. His eyes betray a disturbing disdain for his mother. By the time he's an adolescent, he appears downright dangerous. As a teen, Kevin picks up questionable hobbies like archery and collecting (creating?) computer viruses. He clearly displays sociopathic tendencies, and obviously harbors nothing but malice in his every action. He takes great pleasure in making Eva suffer while interacting in a cool casualness with everyone else. He's making her look like the bad one, the guilty one. Eva occasionally stands up for herself, but always comes up looking unreasonable and selfish in the eyes of her husband.

After the tragic event, Eva finds herself alone, jobless, utterly depressed, and living in a dilapidated home. She is trying to put her life back together, but extreme grief, guilt, addiction, and the pervasive hatred of the grief-stricken townspeople prevent her from rebuilding in any healthy way. Her life has been utterly destroyed. Since fingers point to the parents first for the wrongdoings of children, Eva takes the lion's share of the blame.  Kevin's sins rest firmly on her shoulders. However, no slap in the face, rude stare, or cruel prank from the grieving town are as harsh as the punishment Eva inflicts on herself. Walking around nearly catatonic, her memory is a way of poking around for causes, continually chastising herself as she replays her own life.

While We Need to Talk About Kevin can be a bit heavy-handed and overwrought with symbolism, it's still a powerful look at parenting, guilt, sacrifice, gender roles, and the suffocating blame placed on mothers when things go wrong. Kevin comes from a home where he has all the comforts afforded by his family. He's not some ignored child of privilege. He  receives plenty of attention from both his mother and father. There is no evidence of him having been bullied by classmates. He has every opportunity to live an enriched, fullfilling life. Yet, his worldview is bleak, his manner cold and distant, and his view of humanity is anything but shiny. He's an enigma through and through.

Swinton is magnificent, her subtle portrayal of Eva working brilliantly with the somber tone and risky themes. Is she justified in her anger and frustration, or simply not "mom" material? Her emotions often border on outright hatred of Kevin, but also showing great patience and love in the face of his disturbing personality. Their relationship is more cat-and-mouse than anything remotely resembling nurturing love, but Eva admirably keeps trying. Reilly plays well against her as Franklin, a father who wants to be his kid's best friend more than exercise his role as parent. He turns a blind eye toward Kevin's frightening idiosyncracies, quick to use Eva's insecurities as a scapegoat. Their relationship is slowly coming apart at the seams, and clearly on a path to destruction.

The performance of the younger children (Jasper Newell, Rock Duer) are solid. They play Kevin with such menace, the viewer has no choice but to side with Eva. In these early stages of  Kevin's life, it's a little tough to gain his sympathy even when he's sick or nursing a broken arm. Unfortunately, Ezra Miller plays his antagonistic teen Kevin a little too over-the-top. He's almost a charicature of the "evil kid" in movies like The Bad Seed or The Omen, moreso than the younger actors. I'd have preferred a more subtle, nuanced take that alluded to his sociopathic tendencies rather than have his spitefulness so in-your-face. Because of it, the film occasionally flirts with playing as an updated Rosemary's Baby. Kevin could be the devil's child all grown up, this film following Satan's spawn in the subsequent years (wait, wasn't that already a movie?). In fact, there is a funny homage to Polanski's film, and a surprising smattering of clever, dark humor to boot. I'm not 100% sure Ramsay's motivations here, but I think it's partially to downplay what's really being said: "Hey, look, sometimes kids really are evil assholes, and it's normal to feel hatred towards them".

My comparisons to The Omen and Rosemary's Baby are, of course, an overstatement. The film is certainly rooted in realism. Kevin is not the anti-christ, nor is he possessed by demons. There is nothing supernatural about the story at all. However, for me, that realism was threatened a number of times by the older Kevin's overly brooding looks and melodramatic diatribes. If Miller had reeled it in, the already nifty film would be that much better.

I have yet to read Shriver's book, but I'm really eager to make a comparison between it and Ramsay's interpretation. From my perspective, Ramsey and her production team succeed mightily in creating an effective and affecting film. The film looks great, and special attention should be paid to the brilliant editing. Ramsay is also careful not to dip her toes into the more sensationalistic aspects. We never see what Kevin did to his classmates, nor does the film dwell on many of the other violent aspects. Her focus is directly on the conflicted emotions and confusion of her characters, never to be distracted by excess.

Filmgoers looking for typical explanations or pat endings will find Ramsay's film frustrating. It's easy to pin tragic behavior on any number of easily digested factors. The scary thing is that no matter how deep the probing, the verdict might simply be that some kids are just born straight up evil.

We Need to Talk About Kevin Trailer