Category: Movie Reviews

Justice, Grindhouse-Style: LFM Reviews The Unrated Director’s Cut of The Exterminator on Blu-Ray

By Joe Bendel. For a so-called grindhouse film, it had killer ad copy. It also featured contributions from two very talented but very different Stans. Eventually it spawned an inferior sequel not involving its original creator that hardly helped its reputation. And decades later, James Glickenhaus’s The Exterminator (trailer here) is ripe for a critical reappraisal with today’s release of the unrated director’s cut in special Blu-Ray combo pack from Synapse Films.

John Eastland will become the Exterminator, the man the ad campaign told us “they pushed too far.” New York’s Ché Guevara loving Ghetto Ghouls gang (as evidenced by the décor of their hideout; see below) did that when they attacked and paralyzed Eastland’s best friend, Michael Jefferson (Steve James). During the Viet Nam prologue (featuring a beheading rendered by special effects artist Stan Winston, Stan #1), Jefferson saves Eastland from the sadistic Viet Cong, a depiction most definitely not approved by Jane Fonda. Close friends and co-workers, Jefferson was always the outgoing man of action, while Eastland was the more reserved one.

Unlike Paul Kersey in the original Death Wish, Eastland tracks down the specific thugs responsible for the crime (with the brief help of the flame-thrower featured prominently on the posters), extracting some frontier justice. Concerned for the future of Jefferson’s family, Eastland then abducts a mobster from the Old Homestead steak house to extort their financial security. This episode gets a little bloody. Eastland also starts to understand that New York needs his extermination services.

Of course, the most (and only) talented cop on the force makes it his business to track down the man calling himself the Exterminator. Still, Det. Dalton finds time to put the moves on the smart and attractive ER Dr. Megan Stewart (played by Samantha Eggar, perhaps the cast’s biggest name), even taking her to an outdoor Stan Getz concert (yep, Stan #2, at a time when he was pretty deep into the electric bag). And he’s not the only government employee interested in stopping the Exterminator. With the election fast approaching, Eastland’s efforts are embarrassing the administration, who promised but failed to deliver law and order (since The Exterminator was originally released in September 1980, this must be the Carter White House). As a result, even the CIA is dispatched to eliminate the Exterminator.

Epic fireballs.

Continue reading Justice, Grindhouse-Style: LFM Reviews The Unrated Director’s Cut of The Exterminator on Blu-Ray

The Art of Stage Fighting: LFM Reviews My Kingdom

By Joe Bendel. Early Twentieth Century China was a rough and tumble place. If the Shaolin monks could mix it up with warlords and imperialists, why shouldn’t the actors get in on the act? Two adopted brothers will play parts in a high tragedy of almost Biblical dimensions in Gao Xiasong period action revenge drama, My Kingdom (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

Young Er Kui’s singing voice saved his life. Unfortunately, the rest of the Meng clan, including his little sister, were beheaded by the cruel Prince Regent. Er Kui is raised – with the slightly older Guan Yi Long – to be an apprentice to revered opera performer Master Yu. Opera is serious business in 1920’s China, especially when Master Yu is awarded a golden plaque designating him “The Mightiest Warrior.” Drawing a full contact challenge from the resentful Master Yue (with an “e”), Yu must “break his spear,” and retire from the stage after losing the duel under somewhat questionable circumstances.

Both brothers, however, yearn for vengeance. Yi Long is determined to regain their master’s golden plaque from Yue, while Er Kui is determined to bring down his wrath upon the Prince who bestowed it. The first proves relatively easy, but enormously cinematic. The latter will be more difficult, considering the offending Prince is dead. He had seven sons, though (but maybe not for much longer). Further complicating matters is Xi Mulan, Yue’s lead actress and former lover. She now shares the stage with the brothers who have taken over Yue’s Beijing Opera troupe, which is more than a little awkward.

Kingdom is somewhat akin to Japanese filmmaker Kon Ichikawa’s truly classic Revenge of a Kubuki Actor, combining a behind-the-scenes view of traditional theater with a good old-fashioned payback story. However, Kingdom has far less angst and much more melee, with Master Sammo Hung serving as action director (as he did for Detective Dee and the Ip Man franchise). He puts quite a stamp on the film, choreographing the fight scenes with appropriately theatrical flair. Continue reading The Art of Stage Fighting: LFM Reviews My Kingdom

The Return of John Landis: LFM Reviews Burke & Hare

Isla Fisher in "Burke & Hare."

By Joe Bendel. William Burke and William Hare would definitely be considered working class, but they probably never put in an honest day’s labor in their lives. They do grasp some basic economics, though. Edinburgh’s celebrated anatomy colleges have a large unmet demand for fresh cadavers. Even these two idiots understand how to increase the supply in John Landis’ Burke & Hare (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York at the IFC Center.

For those who have been wondering where Landis (the director of such iconic comedies as Animal House, The Blues Brothers, and An American Werewolf in London) has been for the last decade or so, he was back in the UK (amongst other places, presumably), where B&H was shot on location in Edinburgh and at the storied Ealing Studios. Indeed, B&H has a charming period look, evoking the spirit of early Hammer horror films and Roger Corman Poe adaptations (which Landis can probably quote chapter-and-verse).

The two Williams are not evil per se, but they are definitely low lives. Largely they sponge off Hare’s wife Lucky, who rents rooms to elderly pensioners. When one tenant passes away before settling for the month, she makes the lads dispose of the body. However, when they discover the ambitious Dr. Robert Knox will give five pounds a pop for fresh bodies, it opens up a whole new business venture for them. Of course, it also attracts some unwelcome attention.

Though there is plenty of gross-out humor and a not inconsiderable body count, B&H might be too gentle for many midnight screening patrons. Rather, the film has a nostalgic feel, nicely established with Angus the Hangman’s introductory tour of the city. The Hammer vibe is further reinforced by an appearance from the great Sir Christopher Lee as Old Joseph, one of the gruesome twosome’s early victims.

Andy Serkis obviously gets it, reveling in Hare’s roguish degeneracy. However, Simon Pegg’s put-upon shtick as Burke gets a little tiresome, particularly with the subplot involving the manipulations of a gold-digging actress he is smitten with. After all, according to the old nursery rhyme: “Burke’s the butcher, Hare’s the thief,” not the knebbish soft touch.

However, as Knox, “the boy who buys the beef,” Tom Wilkinson chews the scenery with relish, channeling Peter Cushing and Vincent Price as a sophisticated man of science led astray by his enthusiasm and arrogance. He even gets off a mother joke at his rival’s expense worthy of Tracy Morgan. Indeed, B&H has a great supporting cast, including Tim Curry as the clammy Dr. Alexander Monro and Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville as Lord Harrington, the Solicitor General.

With an epilogue that could almost, but not quite, be considered educational, B&H is strangely endearing for a film about grave-robbing cutthroats. Yet Landis manages to keep the tone light and breezy, while paying homage to the more innocent costumed horror films of old. It is entertaining enough to lead movie lovers to hope it is the beginning of a full-fledged return to narrative features for Landis (who has been a talking head in scores of recent documentaries, including American Grindhouse and Machete Maidens Unleashed). Amusing and atmospheric, B&H is definitely recommended for genre fans when it opens this Friday (9/9) at the IFC Center in New York.

Posted on September 8th, 2011 at 3:33pm.

An Apocalyptic Vision: LFM Reviews The Lost Town of Switez

By Joe Bendel. So deeply ingrained are the images of a devastated Poland during WWII and the Soviet era, many Americans forget the millennia-old country was one of the great European powers during the Middle Ages. Poland’s Casimir III was the first crown head of Europe to grant legal protection to Jewish subjects. It was also one of the few European countries untouched by the Black Death, perhaps the result of good national karma. The glory of Medieval Poland is evoked in Kamil Polak’s visually arresting animated short The Lost Town of Świteź (trailer above), which screens this Saturday as part of the shorts program during the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Transitions retrospective of recent Polish cinema.

Based on Adam Mickiewicz’s epic poem, one of many celebrating Poland’s folklore, Town begins on the proverbial dark and stormy night. A nineteenth century nobleman’s carriage is waylaid by the inclement weather. Far from a sanctuary, this forest appears to be enchanted. Seeking refuge from spectral horse-soldiers, the man finds himself transported to the mythic city of Świteź, where he witnesses its destruction at the hands of the hordes pursuing him. As the city faithful send up orisons to heaven, a choir of angels comes down to bear witness to man’s carnage (and perhaps the salvation of the next life).

Combining specially commissioned oil paintings, rendered in a style suggestive of great Polish artists like Józef Chełmoński and Aleksander Gierymski, with state of the art computer animation, Town has a rich, ethereal look unlike any in recent animation. Some enterprising film festival ought to program it with Lech Majewski’s The Mill and the Cross, which in many ways is the nearest comparable film.

Perhaps though, what is most striking about Town is the unapologetically powerful Christian imagery. Completely without irony, Polak’s film conveys an apocalyptic Christian vision with far greater overwhelming immediacy than anything attempted in recent evangelical cinema. Yet it can also be enjoyed simply as a Slavonic variant on the Atlantis archetype. The film is also perfectly scored by Irina Bogdanovich, whose compositions unambiguously suggest the Middle Ages, but with a hint of romanticism.

Town truly proves animation can be both a form of entertainment as well as high art. Best appreciated on the big screen, Polak will present his painterly canvas in-person when Town screens this Saturday (9/10) at the Walter Reade Theater, as part of Transition’s shorts block. It will also screen again in New York later in the month (9/23) at the 2011 NYC Short Film Festival as part of program A.

Posted on September 8th, 2011 at 3:02pm.

Punk Rock Behind The Iron Curtain: LFM Reviews All That I Love

By Joe Bendel. Punk rock is supposed to be subversive. For Communist Poland poised on the brink of Martial Law, it was downright revolutionary, in spades. Yet, young Janek and his friends were not trying to be political, and this is exactly why their music is so threatening in Jacek Borcuch’s All That I Love (trailer above), Poland’s most recent submission for official foreign language Academy Award consideration, which screens this Saturday as part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s new retrospective, Transitions: Recent Polish Cinema.

Janek’s brother also plays in his hardcore punk band, All That I Love, affectionately known as ATIL for short. His mother is a nurse, which is all fine and good, but his father is a mid-level officer in the Polish Navy. Ordinarily this is a good thing, leading to a few modest perks for the family. However, when courting Basia Martyniak, the very cute daughter of Solidarity organizers, it is not so hot. The rebellious nature of his music does not cut much ice with the Martyniaks either, but Basia is impressed.

Though not necessarily impressed himself, Janek’s father is still supportive enough to arrange rehearsal space on the local base. Clearly the naval captain is not the typical Communist apparatchik, a fact not lost on Sokołowski, the neighborhood Party snitch. Resenting the boys’ ill-concealed interest in his cougarish wife, Sokołowski targets them where it will hurt the most—their music.

Throughout the film, Borcuch juggles a number of disparate elements quite sure-handedly, including a rather tender coming-of-age romance and some paint-peeling punk, based on the music of the era-appropriate Polish band WC. It is also a story of human tragedy, directly resulting from an inherently oppressive political ideology. Yet part of the irony of ATIL is that Janek’s family will probably be far better off in the new Poland that rises from the ashes of Communism for having gone through their tribulations in the film. Unfortunately, viewers can surmise the short term will be rather long and difficult for them in the December of 1981.

There is no denying the charismatic appeal of Borcuch’s teen-aged leads. Mateusz Kościukiewicz’s Janek could have walked out of Tom Hanks’ That Thing You Do into Jaruzelski’s police state, while as Basia, Olga Frycz resembles a considerably younger and warmer Nicole Kidman. Yet, arguably Andrzej Chrya serves as the lynchpin of the film, investing Janek’s father with humanity and integrity that will first challenge and then reconfirm all our assumptions of Poland’s Communist military.

With convincing period detail, Elwira Pluta’s design team faithfully recreates the bleak look of Martial Law era Poland, when Brutalist-style Soviet housing projects were considered desirable. Nevertheless, despite the apparent downer ending mandated by history, ATIL is a surprisingly uplifting film, deriving optimism from the spirit of its characters.  An excellent kick-off for the FSLC’s Transitions series, ATIL screens this Saturday (9/10) and next Thursday (9/15) at the Walter Reade Theater.

Posted on September 7th, 2011 at 10:15am.

Co-eds & Cajuns: LFM Mini-Review of Shark Night 3D

By Jason Apuzzo. THE PITCH: Riffing off last year’s surprise cult hit Piranha 3D, Rogue Pictures cross-breeds Jaws with Deliverance to create Shark Night 3D – an energetic genre quickie that follows a pack of sexy, edible college students as they navigate a nightmarish evening along Louisiana’s backwaters, dodging voracious sharks and insane Cajuns.

THE SKINNY: Though not half as wild or excessive as Piranha, the surprisingly satisfying Shark Night delivers plenty of thrills, bikinis and even some unexpected satire – while turning Lake Pontchartrain into one of the creepiest cinema backwaters since Boggy Creek.

WHAT WORKS: • The film’s remote Louisiana locations create an unnerving and slightly bizarre atmosphere – an upside-down, backwoods world in which the otherwise ludicrous storyline of shark-fueled Cajun revenge against fancy college kids actually makes (some) sense.

• Sara Paxton delivers a surprisingly credible performance as the lead co-ed, given that she spends the entire film either in an eye-popping cyan bikini or covered in fish-gore.

• It’s hard not to love the film’s colorful, freakish Cajuns – one of whom has teeth sharpened like a possum, another of whom quotes Nietzsche (“It’s beyond good and evil!”) while describing his bizarre, money-making scheme to … ***SPOILER WARNING*** … live-webcast college students being eaten by sharks. ***END OF SPOILERS*** These backwater charismatics give the film a slightly Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe.

• The 3D is excellent, with the film having been shot natively in that format. The underwater scenes in particular look frothy and alive.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: • The film’s lead bad-guy, as played by male model Chris Carmack, is too much of a pretty boy and seems out of place among the ragin’ Cajuns.

• There’s far too much build-up in getting to know the various college kids, none of whom are all that interesting and most of whom are chowder by film’s end.

• The sharks look a little too nimble and digital. I miss the days when movie sharks were bulky, slow and rubber.

• For much of the film, the sharks seem smarter than the college kids. Then again, perhaps that was the point.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The basic fun of Shark Night, its biggest surprise, is that the behavior of the human villains is far more outrageous and ruthless than anything the sharks can muster. In the dog-eat-dog world of today’s economy, the film seems to be saying, it’s amazing what some people will do to get a head. Or to get an arm. Or a leg.

(Incidentally, Shark Night is rated PG-13, and most of the film’s violence and nudity are merely implied. This film doesn’t even come close to the bacchic excesses of Piranha, which probably deserved an NC-17.)

There have been some great underwater creature features over the years, from the 3D Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954, to Jaws and The Deep in the 1970s, to last year’s Piranha (see my review here; Piranha 3DD, with David Hasselhoff and Gary Busey, comes out November 23rd). Shark Night is definitely a minor entry in this genre, but it holds its own.

Hurry!

What’s surprising is that the people behind this unassuming little thriller thought to supplement their toothy sharks with creepy human characters, backwater Cajuns apparently suffering from a major case of class envy. These Cajuns ridicule and sneer at the college kids, and it’s hard to blame them given the way these supposedly brainy kids walk (or swim) right into one obvious trap after another. Shark Night indulges in a certain amount of satire directed not only at the rustic Cajuns, with their outrageous and gruesome money-making scheme, but also toward naive city kids who are useless outside of their safe, academic/urban environments. The same kids who seem hip on their Tulane University campus early in the film – lazily playing Halo, indulging in loose sex talk, and planning their lucrative post-collegiate careers – get ripped to pieces out in the ‘real’ world, fooled at every turn by their cagey Cajun rivals. It’s not exactly Tennessee Williams material, but Shark Night knows when to amplify the terror of the sharks with a dash of class warfare – all to juicy, amusing effect.

I haven’t had the chance to visit Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina, although I’ve been very eager to get back. I think I’ll stick to the cities, though. Those Cajun guys look too clever for me, and I wouldn’t want to end up as some shark’s gumbo.

Posted on September 3rd, 2011 at 2:43pm.