Viy (1967) Based
on a Russian folk tale, Viy is filled
with visual surprises, getting crazier as it goes along. Khoma (Leonid
Kuravlyov), a young layabout monk, spends the night in the house of an old woman.
When she attempts to fly away with him in tow, she reveals her true nature as a
witch. He reacts violently, leaving her dying in a field. But she has one more
trick before she expires, appearing as a young woman (Natalya Varley). When
Khoma returns to his rectory, he’s called upon to hold a three-day prayer vigil
over the same woman, who turns out to be a farmer’s daughter. Over the next few
days, Khoma reluctantly endeavors to keep evil spirits at bay and contend with
a corpse that won’t remain still. Despite its acclaim, Viy isn’t available in Region 1 DVD, but you can catch it on
YouTube while it lasts.
Rating: ****. Available on YouTube and Region 2 DVD
Woochi: The Demon
Slayer (2009) This charming Korean action fantasy with liberal doses of
comedy overstays its welcome by about a half hour, but it’s still fun. The
story jumps back and forth 500 years between the past and present, as the
roguish Taoist monk Jeon Woo-chi (Dong-Won Gang) pursues a group of demons. He’s
accompanied by a bumbling sidekick who sometimes appears as a dog or horse, while
pursuing a magic flute and bronze sword. Of course, there’s still room for a
time-spanning romance while battling the forces of darkness. Although the CGI
effects might not be the most polished, they do the trick, and add a rough
charm to the film. Worth a look.
Rating: ***. Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Hulu
Krampus (2015) Expectations
were high, watching Michael Dougherty’s follow-up to his brilliant feature film
debut, Trick ‘r Treat. While there
are glimmers of that film in Krampus,
it never quite reaches the heights of its spiritual cousin. A yuppie family
hosts their redneck relatives for the holidays, with predictable results. After
a snowstorm and subsequent blackout, they’re forced to band together in order
to survive the night against the titular Christmas demon and his minions. Krampus starts out strong, with a fun
opening sequence involving all sorts of Black Friday-type mayhem. The first
half takes the time to establish the characters, with some amusing interplay,
and there’s a cool animated sequence concerning Krampus, but the film loses its
way by the second half. A string of action sequences overwhelm much of the
dialogue, stunting any further character development. Krampus has its moments of
terror and comedy, and certainly deserves a watch, but it had the potential to
be so much better.
Rating: ***. Available on Blu-Ray and DVD
Mystics in Bali (1981)
Don’t let the terrible dubbing and iffy acting dissuade you from checking out
this little oddity from Indonesia, which examines the occult from a unique
perspective. Cathy (Ilona Agathe Bastian), An American writer living in
Indonesia, wants a taste of black magic, so she persuades her friend Mahendra
(Yos Santo) to introduce her to a powerful witch with a thirst for blood.
Before long the witch has Cathy under her spell, and employs the hapless writer
to carry out her own nefarious plans. While under the evil shaman’s spell,
Cathy’s head (with dangling internal organs) detaches from her body and floats
around the countryside to wreak havoc. Mystics
in Bali doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s interesting to see
another culture’s take on the old “curiosity killed the cat” theme.
Rating: ***. Available on DVD and Amazon Instant
Phoonk (2008) After
Rajiv (Sudeep), a manager of a construction firm, fires an employee and his
wife (Kenny Desai and Ashwini Kalsekar) for shady business practices, odd
things start to happen. The ex-employees vow revenge, targeting Rajiv’s
daughter, who becomes possessed by evil forces. Now it’s a struggle between the
unbelieving Rajiv and his devout wife, as they try to make sense out of the
strange occurrences. Phoonk isn’t very
scary, missing some obvious opportunities for chills, but works better as a family
drama with some unique problems thrown in the mix.
Rating: **½. Available on DVD
Mother of Tears (2007)
Dario Argento ends his Three Mothers
trilogy, not with a bang but a whimper (with apologies to T.S. Eliot). Following
the law of diminishing returns, the first film, Suspiria (1977), was a genre classic; the second, Inferno (1980), while a notch below its
predecessor, was a stylish continuation of the story, and added to the mythos. The
lackluster third entry throws out everything that worked so well in the
previous two installments, substituting copious amounts of gore, jump scares
and T&A for suspense and atmosphere. Set in Rome, the film stars Argento’s
daughter, Asia, as Sarah Mandy, an art student. She does little to sell the
gravity of her character’s situation with her wooden performance. By the time
the film reached her climactic confrontation with the remaining witch, I didn’t
care. You probably won’t either. For completists only.
Rating: *½. Available on DVD
No comments:
Post a Comment