REC (2007)

I keep saying that I’m not a fan of found footage but then turn around and review found footage movies that I end up liking. Now this one is a movie that I know I enjoyed when it first came out, but I hadn’t reviewed so I thought I’d give it a rewatch and talk about it here. Does the movie hold up? Do I still like it? Might as well find out.

The story has us following a reporter and her cameraman as they shadow a group of firefighters. The movie starts off with some interviews as they capture what an average night at the station is like. Then a call comes in and they rush off to an apartment building in the city. When they arrive they are greeted by police and the tenants. They were called because an elderly woman living on an upper floor was screaming and making an awful racket. They bust in and there is clearly something wrong with her. She attacks and critically injures one of the patrolmen. When they try to rush him out of the building for help they find all of the doors locked and guarded by armed me.

The rest of the movie are the ever shrinking group of survivors at first trying to find a way out around the quarantine and then trying to survive the infected. It seems that the old woman had some sort of virus that made her violent and anyone she bit also becomes violent. This passes from person to person until there are less uninfected folks than there are infected. That is what the authorities were trying to prevent. This is all explained and there is also a bit of a supernatural connection that I won’t spoil here. But this is basically an outbreak flick.

This is a decently paced movie that comes in at a rather tight seventy minutes. It wastes no time getting to the good stuff as our characters get the call after maybe seven or eight minutes of setup. Once they arrive at the building, we get some rather creepy stuff as they break into the apartment, get attacked, and then realize they can’t leave. It slows a bit while our reporter interviews folks which serves to introduce some of the other characters before picking up with another batch of violence that carries thru until the end. Even on a rewatch I found myself sucked in and never bored, which shows how well constructed and paced REC is. This is doubly impressive as this is a story that most genre fans, including myself, have seen repeatedly.

We get a few decent gags like a gnarly neck bite/wound, a shocking landing from height onto a tile floor, a snapped neck, and my personal favorite an up close injection into a face that while not gory did have me squirming in my seat. There are also plenty of spooky moments as well as a couple good jump scares. There is a sequence at the end in the attic which was super effective and creepy. And this movie has a memorable ending that was played in the trailer and became the poster child for horror during the first decade of this century with the woman being dragged away from the camera.

There is some of the shaky camera footage that I detest, but it is brief and relegated to the action sequences only. This means the audience gets to take a breath with the characters but also wait for the next horrible thing to occur. It works nicely and is an approach that I wish more movies like this would consider. I don’t need to spend an hour getting motion sickness and not being able to see what is happening. But I’m getting off topic. REC is a great example of a found footage movie done right and is worth a look. I need to go back and check out the sequels which I also remember liking. I also should mention that the US remake Quarantine was also a decent watch. Though I’d recommend this over that one.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Mad Heidi (2022)

The movie takes place in a dystopian version of Switzerland. We see a protest against the government mandating a single cheese manufacturer, one controlled by the “very Swiss Leader”. This results in the black shirted stormtroopers gunning down the crowd. This is important later as you will see. Then the action moves twenty years later when we see a mountain girl, Heidi, spending some grown up “quality time” with her fella Goat Peter. Why is he named Goat Peter? Because he has goats which allows him to make goat cheese. This is illegal because only government approved swiss cheese is allowed. When he gets caught and is executed by the evil Kommendant in front of Heidi it sets some stuff in motion. Bad stuff…

Heidi is chased back to her grandfather’s farm. Here we find out he was a leader of the rebellion we saw earlier, and that Heidi’s parents were killed in the crowd. It seems that in the shootout that results he dies and Heidi is tossed in prison. But later we see that the grandfather lived and eventually after she breaks out and has an awesome training montage to become the hero Switzerland needs, they reunite to defeat the evil President Meili aka. “our very Swiss Leader”. Many goofy and awesome shenanigans are had along the way! 

It seems like I’ve been waiting for this movie forever! I was so excited when it finally showed up and I have to say it wasn’t a disappointment. The movie is a loving homage/parody of everything exploitation from the seventies. We have the Swiss government lead by “our very Swiss leader” played by Casper Van Dien wearing their black uniforms standing in for the Nazis. There is also a sequence when Heidi is caught and tossed in jail that has definite Women in Prison vibes, which was another mainstay of seventies exploitation. There is also a brief Blaxploitation nod with the wardrobe and dialogue of Goat Peter, which had me cracking up. Seriously though we should all dress as smoothly as Goat Peter. The trick that the filmmakers do very well here is never staying too long on a joke and moving onto the next funny bit.

Our "very Swiss Leader"

Speaking of funny bits there is also some great dialogue like the Nazi like salute followed by “Long Live our very Swiss Leader” and some catchy one-liners like “Rest in cheese bitch!” to amuse us along the way. Oh and there is a bit with the mug shot for Goat Peter that I couldn’t believe that they did but cracked me up. These are just a few examples from a movie that is incredibly funny. This along with all the movie homages/references kept things running smoothly and quickly which itself made for a very fun time.

In addition to the nods to exploitation flicks the movie also includes some awesome Swiss themed kills. First is the reoccurring theme of them killing lactose intolerant folks with various types of cheese related tortures. We also get exploding heads, stabbings with human bones, people split in half, death by accordion, an overinflated government official, and my personal favorite… death by Toblerone! These are all very much on theme with the movie and were fun.

It is quite rare that a movie I’ve been waiting for not only meets my expectations but exceeds them. Mad Heidi is one of those flicks and I can’t recommend it enough. This is such a lovingly silly effort from filmmakers who clearly love the same stuff that many of us do that we need to support it. Go out now and rent or purchase this movie. I know they want to make a sequel and that is the best way as fans we can make sure that happens.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Lust of the Vampire (1957)

The movie kicks off with a body being fished out of a river, supposedly in Paris. We see from a medical examiner that it has been drained of blood… like the others! Then we meet a police inspector, Chantal, and a reporter, Pierre, who are investigating the crimes. Pierre is also pursued by the most beautiful woman in town, Giselle. Got all that straight? I hope so because now is when it gets complicated!

Pierre starts to unravel things and figures out, and I’m honestly not sure how, that the killings are related to a powerful family, the Du Grands. Giselle is a member of the family, and we find out that she is desperate to make with the romance when it comes to Pierre. We also get to see a girl get abducted and meet the mad doctor, his assistant, and the junkie that they use to grab their victims. Initially it also doesn’t appear to be a monster movie as the victims all had the same blood type and the blood was removed with a needle/syringe. But in the end, we find out that Giselle is really old and only remains young by having the doctor drain the blood from other ladies and transfusing it into her. How does this happen? Science I suppose.

I wanted to like this movie. Hell, I only watched Lust of the Vampire because I read that Mario Bava stepped in and finished it. He wrote part of the script and directed a couple of days’ worth of scenes uncredited. But the plot is a mess. I mean the bones of the story is there, but the characters seem to drop in and out as well as making crazy leaps of logic without explanation. Why does Pierre suddenly know that the Du Grands are up to something bad? Other than him not liking their castle and how Giselle pursues him there isn’t any reason. This and other odd logic loopholes had me scratching my head in confusion rather than getting into the story and characters. I also wasn’t a fan of them showing us the identity of the kidnapper in the first five minutes. I thought this was supposed to be a mystery. I guess not.

The pacing is also glacial. I know that some folks online talk about how great this movie is, but I don’t get it. There are long stretches of dialogue that go nowhere. Like I’ve already mentioned they never explain the actions of the characters and you would think a few lines of dialogue would be dedicated to fleshing out the story. Also how did the doctor come upon his youth restoring process? And why did Giselle become his first patient? I know they are related but she seems to have some hold over him and that is never explained. Again, it is really confusing.

For this review I watched the original dubbed version under the Lust of the Vampire title. I know that there is an American cut with some extra scenes with Grandpa Al Lewis… how the hell did that work? That release is titled The Devil’s Commandment. It might be better, but I can’t imagine taking the chance after having already killed an hour and a half on this version. Clearly I’m not recommending it.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Throwback Thursday – Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

note: I wrote this book review more than ten years ago for my old website. At the time I was new to Hill’s work but quickly became a fan.

So I'm back with another book review. This time I read Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box. What we have here is an interesting ghost story. Jude is an aging rocker that collects all kinds of macabre stuff. When his assistant finds a haunted suit on an Internet auction site, he buys it for his collection. What he doesn't realize is that it is a setup. The ghost attached to it is out for some vengeance on Jude and anyone around him. This includes Jude's latest Goth stripper girlfriend Marybeth. The two of them end up taking the road trip from hell in an attempt to figure out how to dump the angry ghost that is doing it's best to destroy them.

I really dug this book. Ghost stories can be very entertaining, but normally are predictable. Heart Shaped Box Was a refreshing change from this tendency. The story starts off with some creepy stuff at Jude's home. The ghost pops up here and there scarring the heck out of him. But after the ghost almost succeeds Jude packs up Marybeth and gets the hell out of Dodge! Instead of some forced plot device that keeps them stuck in the house Hill let's his characters do what most of us would do, run away. 

But this isn't the only interesting twist to the plot. From the beginning of the haunting it seems that maybe Jude did deserve the vengeful spirit. Without ruining any of the plot let's just say that he was kind of a jerk to the ghost’s stepdaughter, Anna. But as the story unfolds the reader finds out, along with the characters, that there is more to the story. So much so that by the end of the book things have turned in an unexpected direction. 

Of course even the best plot setup can be ruined by flat characters. Our main characters of Jude and Marybeth are fleshed out well with the story. Right away we see that Jude has some issues but isn't a terrible guy just a flawed one. Not only does he feel guilty about what happened to Anna, but when things get dangerous, he tries to drive Marybeth away. Despite how he treats people he does care. There is a great bit with a used car salesman that is his way of showing his cares for her. And then we have the Marybeth character that is damaged goods as well. But again, even though she has issues she sticks by Jude no matter what happens. What the author has done is give us a love story between two damaged people being chased by a homicidal ghost. If I must read a love story, then this is the one I want to read.

In the end Heart Shaped Box is a really good read. I loved the story and all the unique places it goes. From the first page to the final one I was engrossed in the characters and how things were unfolding. I can't ask for more then that out of a book and I recommend that everyone check out this as well as Joe Hill's other books. I know I'm going to.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

This is the third installment of the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies and the first that moved the action to “current” time aka. the forties when it was made. This also means it is set during the Second World War, so we of course have some Nazi spies running around. Here we are introduced to the Voice of Terror aka. a broadcast from Nazi Europe taunting the British populace over the radio. The voice warns them of sabotage seemingly while it is about to happen. The government is frustrated by their inability to stop the disasters before they happen so call in Holmes to root out those responsible.

Here is where it gets good. Holmes with Watson in tow starts to poke around the criminal underground of London looking for help. See those folks know everything that happens in the city so might have information they don’t even know they have. Sadly, this leads to a man falling dead on the doorstep of 221b Baker Street. Undeterred Holmes goes to the bad part of town to speak to the dead man’s girlfriend, Kitty. She ends up convincing the local ruffians to help fight the Nazis out of self-preservation and maybe a little bit of patriotism. With the clues they provide Holmes does in fact root out the Voice of Terror as well as stopping a planned invasion of England. Though not before the Nazis show themselves to be evil by murdering Kitty out of spite!

As I’ve just said with my recent review of Charlie Chan in the Secret Service, I love these movies set during World War II. They have a fun nostalgic charm to them that makes me want to go right into the lobby and buy some war bonds. Okay that might be a bit too much of a deep dive for you guys but trust me that is a good thing. Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror is more of an adventure flick with a healthy dose of action and spy craft then it is a mystery story. Though there is the obvious hidden identity of the Voice as well as their plans that needs to be figured out, so I feel like it still belongs here in the marathon. Plus, it is Sherlock Holmes so where else would it fit?

Between the forementioned action and spy shenanigans the sixty-six minute runtime flies by. Seriously the pacing here is excellent without a single wasted scene. It seems that every line of dialogue and character action is leading us to the big finale. This is what I think they would have called a “programmer” back in the day. Made for a matinee or as the bottom half of a double bill it wastes little time getting to good stuff and entertains the audience before quickly wrapping things up. Eighty plus years later it still manages to entertain and be a good way to kill an hour or so. That is impressive.

If I had a complaint about the movie, I would say that it does show the lower budget. Shot during the war there was an obvious limit to the money available to be spent on the production. This leads to a lot of stock footage standing in for the acts of sabotage with buildings burning and trains wrecking. Pre and post war I’d imagine they would have done some miniature work but here they are clearly using recycled footage from other flicks. The big finale with the German invasion force being met in the English Channel is mostly hinted at with radio broadcasts rather than showing us in ships or planes in combat. The fact that the script was ambitious enough to include this as the payoff to the story but couldn’t afford to show us any of it is a bit disappointing. I would have preferred a simpler story that could have had the payoff onscreen.

The cast is solid. As always Basil Rathbone is great as Sherlock Holmes, and I still think Nigel Bruce is my favorite Dr. Watson. Along with them we get a solid performance in supporting roles from Evelyn Ankers (Son of Dracula, Hold That Ghost) as Kitty and Henry Daniels. Notably Daniels would return in a later Holmes movie playing arch villain Moriarty.

In the end I still really liked Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror. The pacing, great cast, and war time storyline all appeal to me. I’m not sure that this is the first of the fourteen Rathbone outings as Holmes that I would suggest sitting down to watch as others are more mysteries and therefore inline with the character, but it isn’t a bad way to kill an hour. If you get the chance check this one out.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Road Trip to the Drive-in – Vin and Nic double feature!

After a few aborted attempts to make my way to the drive-in, the weather in Ohio never cooperates this time of year, I finally got to watch some movies outside under the stars. I do love my local drive-in theaters and yes I’m lucky to have a few around me. Within a forty minute drive I have three, but my favorite is Magic City, which is where I managed to catch a double feature of Fast X and Renfield. 

I got to Magic City early enough that there wasn’t much of a line. I was a bit concerned about it being the Sunday before Memorial Day, but it wasn’t too bad. Though cars kept arriving after I was parked and even during the first twenty minutes of Fast X. After getting a primo spot I headed off to the snack bar to pick up my traditional treat. While they still have cheeseburgers and hotdogs, I’ve always been partial to some tasty hot pretzels with nacho cheese. Since I’ve missed out on a couple of weeks due to rain, I thought I’d pick up a couple of them. Yeah, a lame excuse but I’m a grown ass man so if I want to eat badly then I can! They were quite good in case you were wondering. 

After some previews of coming attractions our first movie of the night kicked off. Say what you want to about the Fast and Furious film franchise, but I like it. These flicks are all about fast cars defying gravity while being loud and dumb. That last bit doesn’t just apply to the action sequences either. Fast X checked all those boxes with returning characters, including one in the post credits scene that surprised the hell out of me. Don’t they hate each other? Then again, these movies are a virtual license to print money so I suppose they were able to bury whatever beef they might have for a fat payday. 

Without going into too many details and spoiling the flick I can say that this movie was decent. In fact, my only real complaint is that it ends on a cliffhanger that will have to wait a couple of years for them to resolve in the next and supposedly final entry. Though at some point during production I thought they said Fast X was the big finale. Confused? See my point above about how much money these flicks make. 

After a brief intermission where I used the men’s room it was time for Renfield to start. This movie has been out for a while but since I don’t do brick and mortar theaters anymore this was my first chance to check it out. I remember this one catching my attention when I first heard that Nic Cage was playing Dracula. I’ve been loving his recent output (Willy’s Wonderland is killer) and was looking forward to it. Honestly though this was a mixed bag for me. 

The movie is at its best when Cage is on screen chewing up scenery. He plays an excellent, scary Dracula all while still being a bit quirky. This leads to some funny lines of dialogue and a lot of blood and guts. Hell, even when he isn’t on screen there is a ton of gore happening. Arms getting torn off, throats ripped to shreds, as well as Riki-Oh style x-ray shots showing organs and bones getting pulverized are just a few of the highlights. Some of this is practical effects work but even the CGI is done well enough that it is a good time. 

But when the movie is focused on the titular character things slow down a bit. I don’t blame the actor, Nicholas Hoult, as he is very good in the role. It is just that the script doesn’t give him much to do other than be mopey and spout off self help nonsense he learned in his support group. He also gets a love interest in local cop Rebecca, who is played by Awkwafina. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of her but she is legitimately good here despite also not being given much to do. There is also a criminal family that gets zero development and almost feels like a late addition to the script to setup the finale. So, we have good gore and a decent cast that is let down by an underdeveloped script. I’ve seen this story done much better in the Pittsburgh lensed Innocent Blood. Still, I was happy to have caught this in the drive-in and not waited to see it streaming at home.

As the credits rolled, I packed up my stuff and headed home. It was a beautiful night to watch some movies under the stars and an even better one for a nice ride home. I sincerely hope that the weather is good for a few more trips this summer and that the double features are appealing. If I head out again I’ll post them here. I’d also love to hear from you guys about your favorite trips to the drive-in. Until next time keep watching crappy movies!

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944)

The movie is set during World War II and opens with a scientist doing research on some secret weapon that will stop the German U-boat threat. For those not in the know the German subs were sinking lots of shipping before it could reach the front, so this was topical at the time and something audiences would have immediately grabbed onto. There are some Federal Agents guarding the scientist and his research. This becomes embarrassing when the man walks downstairs (his lab is in his house) for a dinner party and is killed right under their noses. What is worse are the missing plans for the weapon he was working on.

The party guests are locked down and Chan is called to solve the murder and recover the missing blueprints before they can fall into the wrong hands. The rest of the movie is him figuring out who killed the victim and how they managed to do so. In the end the spies, because of course there are German spies, are caught and the war effort protected by recovering the missing plans.

By the forties the Chan series was established but not considered “A” pictures anymore. That is likely how Monogram got their hands on it. This is the first of the movies made under their watch and honestly it isn’t too bad. You can see a bit of a drop off in the budgets, but they still made the effort to create a decent mystery and entertain the audience. The script does a solid job showing us Chan moving around the house collecting clues and talking to the suspects, though the audience doesn’t get a solid idea of what is being found so trying to solve the mystery along with the characters is a no go. Though things flow nicely, and the pacing is solid with the resolution coming after an entertaining sixty three minutes.

I’d also have to say that the added flavor of the spy sneaking around was a fun addition. Much like the later Sherlock Holmes movies the Chan series leaned heavily into the patriotic war effort as it was an appealing twist to the wartime audiences. This was a common occurrence in all sorts of movies. Abbott and Costello joined the army in Buck Privates and were In the Navy. Heck even the Three Stooges got in on the act poking fun at the Axis powers in several of their shorts. While this is before my time as a history nerd seeing this stuff while growing up always put a smile on my face and still does. Here it is a welcome as well as a nostalgic addition that works well.

What really makes me like Charlie Chan in the Secret Service is the addition of Mantan Mooreland and his comedic antics. With the move to Monogram the series took on that studio’s habit of adding in some slapstick to their movies. Mooreland had already done a lot of work for them including a couple of solid zombie flicks, so he was familiar and slotted right into this franchise. Here he gets a couple fun gags with my favorite being his shenanigans mixing himself some drinks. We also get Benson Fong returning as Tommy and as a bonus we get to see one of Chan’s daughters get involved as Iris is right there with Tommy. I should also point out that this is the first time Sidney Toler played the character. He was the third and final actor to do the classic Chan flicks.

I guess I’m doing a deep dive here that you all probably don’t care about. If it isn’t clear yet I love these movies and could talk about them for hours. But I won’t bore you guys any further. Between the Nazi spies running around taking shots at Chan and the addition of the Birmingham Brown character for the first time Charlie Chan in the Secret Service has always been and continues to be one of my favorites of the franchise. While not the best mystery it has so much other stuff going for it that I highly recommend you check it out.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer