Small Town Secrets Month Quick Picks and Pans

Kyrsyä -Tuftland (2017) After a devastating breakup with her boyfriend, textile manufacturing student Irina (Veera W. Vilo) looks for summer work to pay her bills and clear her head. She answers an ad to work in the backwoods Finnish village of Kyrsyä, where she’ll gain experience making hand-woven items. She arrives at a cult-like community seemingly frozen in time, where men and women live separately. Director/writer Roope Olenius’ slow-burn folk horror film (based on a play by Neea Viitamäki) takes its time building suspense, until things get truly disturbing by the final third.   

Rating: ***½. Available on DVD 

 

The Endless (2017) Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson’s (who also appear as the lead characters) semi-sequel to their 2012 film, Resolution,* takes a lo-fi approach to science fiction, with a focus on characters, rather than flashy special effects. Two brothers, Aaron and Justin, who escaped a doomsday cult as teens, decide to revisit the secluded cult compound as adults to arrive at some closure in their fractured lives. They’re faced with a mystery when they discover the same people, seemingly unchanged after 20 years. While they piece together their hazy memories of growing up in the compound, they begin to question their grip on reality. While it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I was entranced by its deliberate pace and challenging story. 

* Note: You may want to watch their earlier film first, for reference. 

Rating: ***½. Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

 

The People (1972) A young teacher (Kim Darby) moves to an isolated Amish-like desert community led by the staunch Sol Diemus (Dan O’Herlihy). She takes it upon herself to discover why the children seem so joyless and repressed, while uncovering their town’s tightly held secret. William Shater plays a local doctor who holds a strange fascination and reverence for the townspeople and their unusual ways. The People plays a bit like an overlong Twilight Zone episode, albeit with an ending that just fizzles out. One of the highlights in this otherwise serious movie is one of the goofiest scenes in recent memory involving a trunkload of floating kazoos. 

Rating: ***. Available on DVD (Out of Print) and Prime Video 

Invitation to Hell (1984) In this loopy TV movie by director Wes Craven, Matt and Patricia Winslow (Robert Urich and Joanna Cassidy) relocate to a new neighborhood in the suburbs where all may not be as innocuous and idyllic as it seems. Matt and his family are encouraged to join an exclusive country club, run by Jessica Jones (Susan Lucci), the Mephistophelean director. While the rest of his family succumb to the club and its apparent charms, Matt can’t shake the feeling that there’s a sinister agenda at work. Despite pressure from his boss Mr. Thompson (Kevin McCarthy), he’s resolved to learn the club’s secret, and why everyone at his job seems to be getting ahead. The surprises are obvious, and it’s undeniably silly and heavy-handed, but an oddly entertaining experience. 

Rating: ***. Available on DVD, Tubi and Prime Video

 

Population 436 (2006) Census-taker Steve Kady (Jeremy Sisto) travels to the tiny backwoods town of Rockwell Falls to solve a century-long mystery – somehow, the population has consistently remained at 436. He’s greeted by locals who seem a little too friendly, but once he’s learned their sinister secret, it’s too late. He gets cozy with the dim deputy sheriff’s (Fred Durst) fiancée Courtney (Charlotte Sullivan), who’s eager to leave the town behind, if she can only find a way out. The film raises many answers, but answers little, leaving you to reach your own conclusions. 

Rating: ***. Available on DVD

They’re Watching (2016) The crew of a home improvement show travel to rural Moldova (it was actually filmed in Romania) to feature an American expatriate (Brigid Brannah) and the old cottage that she restored. The film crew gain the attention and ire of the superstitious townsfolk after one faux pas follows another. An intriguing premise is mostly squandered because of the mostly unsympathetic leads (SPOILER ALERT: one of the most obnoxious characters survives), and the plot falling into the trap of most found footage movies (specifically, someone is there to film every awkward moment). It’s a comedy/horror that’s not funny enough to be a comedy, nor scary enough to be a proper horror film, leading to an overblown, unsatisfying climax. 

Rating: **½. Available on DVD and Tubi

The Bubble (1966) Writer/director Arch Oboler, who co-created the pioneering 3D movie Bwana Devil (1952), made this oddity (also originally shown in 3D). A young married couple, Mark and Catherine (Michael Cole and Deborah Walley), force their charter plane pilot to land after choppy weather causes Catherine to go into labor. They land on the outskirts of a strange town that resembles a movie set (obviously a cost-conscious choice on the part of the filmmakers). The residents speak in loops, as if they’re pre-programmed, wandering about in a daze. They soon learn that they’re trapped like zoo animals by an invisible bubble which surrounds the town. It’s an interesting premise that sadly goes nowhere (just like the town’s inhabitants), slowly crawling to a tepid ending. Skip it. 

Rating: **. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

The Devil’s Rain

(1975) Directed by Robert Fuest; Written by Gabe Essoe, James Ashton, and Gerald Hopman; Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino, William Shatner, Keenan Wynn, Tom Skerritt, Joan Prather and John Travolta; Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

Rating: **½  

“This book was owned by Corbis about 300 years ago. It’s a written history of the people – the names of the people he converted to Satan. These are written in blood, these signatures. These are people who believe that they sold their souls to the devil…” – Dr. Sam Richards (Eddie Albert) 

“It needed something. It was taking itself far too seriously, I thought.” – Tom Skerritt (from 2017 interview, “Confessions of Tom”)

Prior to the so-called “Satanic Panic” of the ‘80s, the box office was flooded with a glut of Satanic conspiracy movies. After the success of genre high-points Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1974), it seemed as if everyone with a motion picture camera scrambled to duplicate the themes from these films, with varying degrees of quality.   Somewhere in between lies The Devil’s Rain. Filmed in Durango, Mexico (and allegedly funded by mafia money), The Devil’s Rain boasted an impressive cast of veteran and up-and-coming actors, including Ernest Borgnine, Ida Lupino, Keenan Wynn, William Shatner, and John Travolta (in one of his earliest roles). Its biggest claim to fame, however, was listing Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey (who also appears in a cameo as a high priest) as a “technical advisor,” supposedly to oversee the authenticity of the rituals depicted in the film. Although I can’t attest to the veracity of the rituals on display, his involvement was a hell of a marketing gimmick (pardon the pun).

The opening title sequence sets the tone (or at least raises our expectations), with a montage of Hieronymus Bosch paintings. It’s too bad Bosch’s fanciful representations of the torments of hell are nowhere to be seen in the rest of the movie. The opening scene begins, fittingly enough, on a stormy night. Mark Preston (William Shatner) returns home to find his mother (Ida Lupino) cowering from unseen forces, while his father melts in a puddle on their doorstep. At that moment, he decides to take matters into his own hands by confronting Corbis and his minions on their home turf – a ghost town, somewhere in the Southwest. The movie’s MacGuffin is Corbis’ much-sought-after book, chronicling a list of captured souls, which the Preston family has kept hidden away in the floorboards. As we soon learn in a flashback sequence, Mark’s ancestor once betrayed cult leader Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine), who was burned at the stake. 300 years later, he’s back for revenge against Preston’s present-day descendants, and desperate to retrieve his book. When Mark suddenly disappears, it’s up to his brother, Dr. Tom Preston (Tom Skerritt) to bring Corbis down. Conveniently for us, Tom’s wife Julie (Joan Prather)* possesses ESP ability, enabling her to see 300 years into the past, when Corbis was persecuted for his beliefs and practices. Now the stage is set for the ultimate showdown between good and evil (or as much as the budget would allow). 

* Fun Fact #1: Shatner, Skerritt and Prather all starred in the Roger Corman production, Big Bad Mama (1974), the previous year.

One of the film’s greatest strengths (lauded by some critics at the time) is Ernest Borgnine’s deranged performance as Jonathan Corbis. Being a cult leader requires a big personality, and Borgnine fits the bill, being warm and congenial one moment, maniacal the next. Borgnine looks especially imposing, when Corbis transforms into a goat demon (“Who calls me from out of the pit?”). In contrast to some of the actors, who appeared to be playing their roles under duress, he seemed to be having a good time. Keenan Wynn, as a local sheriff, is underutilized, but makes the most of his brief appearance. Lupino, on the other hand, is wasted in her thankless role. The much-touted presence of John Travolta does little to enhance one’s viewing experience, as he barely appears in the movie, and is basically unrecognizable under makeup.

(SPOILER ALERT) It’s hard to top the movie poster’s hyperbolic tagline: “Absolutely the most incredible ending of any motion picture ever!” While nothing could possibly live up to that kind of ballyhoo, it’s fun to watch the Satanic congregation melt into red and green globs of goo in the rain (it probably earned the “PG” rating instead of an “R,” due to the unnatural-looking orangey-reds and greens of the effluences).* Unfortunately, the producers never heard the expression, a little goes a long way. Too much of a good thing becomes tedious. Fuest confided that the final scene** goes on too long, with more footage shot by one of the assistant directors at the behest of the producers. 

* Fun Fact #2: According to makeup effects master Tom Burman, the shoestring production couldn’t afford full-body makeup. For the scenes where bodies seem to be withering away, Burman’s crew used inflatable dummies from a sex shop.

** Fun Fact #3: To create the visual effect of wailing souls trapped in a Satanic vessel, the crew fabricated a container around a portable television.

The Devil’s Rain carries on the dubious horror movie tradition of smart people doing dumb things. Both Mark and his brother Tom choose to take on Corbis’ cult while greatly outnumbered (they apparently never learned from the adage, there’s safety in numbers). If nothing else, Tom and his wife didn’t pay attention to the fact that Corbis was defeated 300 years ago by an angry mob of torch-bearing villagers.

It’s difficult to separate the hype from reality when considering the stories swirling around about the film’s production. Rumors of a “cursed” production seem to have no basis in fact, as well as reports of director Robert Fuest’s nervous breakdown (which he flatly denied in his DVD commentary). Whether or not the film was troubled behind the scenes, The Devil’s Rain is a mess. Sadly, the all-star cast doesn’t make up for the weak story, thin characterizations and murky motivations. There’s a kernel of an intriguing story, but the end results are half-baked. Even the director’s commentary (moderated by Marcus Hearn) is lackluster. Fuest (who seemed to have a hazy memory of the production in the first place) frequently veers off-topic, discussing many of his other films (such as The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Wuthering Heights). The Devil’s Rain is probably best remembered for Borgnine’s exuberant performance and the aforementioned ending. It might be worth a look for the curious, but prepare to be underwhelmed.

 

Sources for this article: 2005 commentary by Robert Fuest (moderated by Marcus Hearn), “Confessions of Tom” (2017 interview with Tom Skerritt), “The Devil’s Makeup) (2017 interview with Tom Burman) 

 

Creepy Kids Month Quick Picks and Pans

The Godsend (1980) A strange pregnant woman (Angela Pleasence) shows up at a family’s farmhouse. Before they can get her home, she gives birth and subsequently disappears without a trace. Kate and Alan Marlowe (Cyd Hayman and Malcolm Stoddard) raise the baby, named “Bonnie,” as their own, but one tragedy after another befalls the unsuspecting family. As their other children die off one by one, Alan is convinced the deaths aren’t accidental, but a scheme to replace them with Bonnie (like a human version of a cuckoo). Director Gabrielle Beaumont doesn’t rely on cheap jump scares or pools of blood for this slow-burn horror, film. Instead, The Godsend preys on one of the very real fears parents face – we do our best to keep our children safe, but we can’t possibly watch them all the time. 

Rating: ****. Available on Blu-ray (double-feature disc with The Outing) and Tubi

Cooties (2014) In this horror/comedy from directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, Elijah Wood plays Clint, a would-be horror author who moves back to his home town. He takes on a gig as a substitute teacher at the local elementary, but soon discovers that he picked the wrong day. A viral outbreak from tainted chicken nuggets turns kids into vicious, flesh-eating zombies. Clint teams up with childhood schoolmate Lucy (Alison Pill), her alpha male boyfriend Wade (Rainn Wilson), and other eccentrics to combat the grade-school menace. Although it’s more than a bit derivative of other zom-coms (especially Zombieland) Cooties has fun with its warped premise, featuring witty dialogue and gore galore. 

Rating: ***½. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

 

Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) Tragedy strikes an already fractured family when young Karen (Brooke Shields) is murdered as she’s just about to receive communion. Signs point to her troubled older sister Alice (Paula E. Sheppard) despite largely circumstantial evidence. Their estranged father Dom (Niles McMaster) decides to investigate, but the truth may not be what it seems. Dark, disturbing and perpetually suspenseful, Alice, Sweet Alice keeps you guessing throughout. Watch for a terrific, creepy performance by Alphonso DeNoble as a perverted landlord. 

Rating ***½. Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Tubi

The Space Children (1958) The title of this nifty little Cold War sci-fi film (directed by Jack Arnold) is a misnomer, since the titular children aren’t from space, but controlled by an extraterrestrial presence (in the form of a squishy glowing brain that resembles one of the eponymous “Gamesters of Triskelion” from the original Star Trek series). A team of scientists working on a top-secret military project (a multi-stage rocket designed to deliver an orbital nuclear warhead platform) are thwarted by their own children, who become the agent of the alien presence. Considering the paranoid era when this film was released, The Space Children is surprisingly critical about the proliferation of nuclear warheads, exposing the hypocrisy of using devastating weaponry as a deterrent for global war. Look for supporting roles by Jackie Coogan (wearing zebra-striped swim trunks) and Russell Johnson (as a hateful alcoholic stepfather). 

Rating: ***½. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

 

Devil Times Five (aka: Peopletoys) (1974) When a van carrying a group of psychiatric ward kids crashes, the adults perish, but the kids emerge unscathed. They find their way to a secluded ski lodge, where they meet a bunch of self-absorbed adults on a business retreat. The kids (including future teen idol Leif Garrett), soon wear out their welcome, with the grown-ups fearing for their lives. The stupid adults are picked off one by one by the obnoxious little twerps (who seem to have borrowed a page from Lord of the Flies), as they make one mistake after another (in one head-scratching scene, a woman goes to sleep while she and her husband are being stalked). The results are goofy and oddly entertaining, albeit improbable. 

Rating: **½. Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

 

Village of the Damned (1995) On paper, a John Carpenter-helmed retelling of the classic 1957 John Wyndham novel The Midwich Cuckoos sounds like a perfect combination. Unfortunately, the results are lackluster (despite the presence of Carpenter regulars Buck Flowers and Peter Jason), with little evidence of Carpenter’s signature touch. This version moves the action from rural England to rural New England. Christopher Reeve (in his final role before his tragic accident) stars as Dr. Alan Chaffee, a town doctor, who investigates the strange simultaneous births of white-haired children that possess special (and alarming) abilities. This remake takes several major missteps, losing the subtleties of the original film, and depicting the children as succumbing to a type of peer pressure, rather than a hive mind. 

Rating: **½. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

 

 

The Children

 

(1980) Directed by Max Kalmanowicz; Written by Carlton J. Albright and Edward Terry; Starring: Martin Shakar, Gil Rogers, Gale Garnett, Shannon Bolin, Tracy Griswold; Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

Rating: ***

“Ed (Terry) and I were friends. We were sitting in my living room one night, after my youngest son Will was born, and we were talking about children, and how they dominate and control, strangulate, your life, especially when they’re young… and you’ve got a bunch of them And we came up with this idea about children on a bus going through a nuclear fog, and they’re looking for their parents again, and when they come back and finally find them, the essence of it is they turn them into eggplant parmesan.” – Carlton. J. Albright (excerpt from 2005 interview)

Let’s face it, even at the best of times, kids are a handful. Sure, they represent our future, since long after we’ve gone, they’re destined to live one. After all, it’s the natural order of things. But at the same time, there’s a darker, almost primal fear about being replaced by them, reinforced by the feeling we’ve outlived our usefulness. It’s an insidiously pervasive thought – the older you get, the greater the realization it’s not your world anymore. Producer/director*/co-writer Carlton J. Albright’s The Children taps into this fear, with kids transformed into homicidal little monsters who target their parents. 

* Fun Fact: Co-writer Edward Terry (who also appears as local townsperson, Hank) was originally considered to direct the film, but was fired due to a falling out with co-writer/producer Albright. They seem to have patched things up several years later, when Terry appeared as the titular character in Albright’s film, Luther the Geek (1989).

Albright and crew filmed in various locations around southern Massachusetts, as well as New Jersey, for the fictional Ravensback* nuclear power plant (represented by a now-defunct conventional PSE&G plant). In a budget-saving measure, the eponymous children were played by the non-professional progeny of the filmmakers.** Many of the same crew subsequently worked on Friday the 13^th (1980), including its music composer, Harry Manfredini.*** While the latter movie became a pop culture phenomenon, spawning numerous sequels and a remake, The Children left a much smaller albeit profitable impact, as a minor hit. 

* Not-So-Fun-Fact: The film’s original title was The Children of Ravensback, but was shortened to The Children, because of “Ravensback’s” similarity to Ravensbruck, a World War II concentration camp. 

** Fun Fact #1: In another money-saving decision, Martin Brennan (in his only role), who appeared briefly as local celebrity Sanford Butler-Jones, was cast simply because he was the film crew’s coke dealer. 

*** Fun Fact #2: Even the most casual movie fans will likely notice Manfredini’s Psycho-influenced score from The Children shares many similarities to his composition for Friday the 13^th (minus the “chh, chh, chh, hah, hah, hah” chorus).

Radioactive steam leaking from a nearby nuclear power plant creates a toxic yellow cloud, which settles on the outskirts of the sleepy town of Ravensback. A school bus full of unsuspecting kids drives through the cloud, setting the plot in motion. When Sheriff Billy Hart (Gil Rogers)* discovers the bus on the side of the road, sans driver and kids, he’s tasked with the unenviable job of notifying the (mostly) incredulous parents. Meanwhile, the children roam the countryside in a transformed state, searching for their parents. With dark circles around their eyes and black fingernails, they look like they just had a goth makeover (but they’re not here to sing about happy houses or Bela Lugosi). Their embrace means death to any unfortunate adult who happens to get too close – faster than you can say, “Three Mile Island,” they’re burned alive. When his deputy succumbs to the children, Sheriff Hart teams up with concerned parent John Fremont (Marting Shakar) to locate the missing children and find a way to deal with the pint-sized terrors.    

* Fun Fact #3: According to Albright, Kevin McCarthy was originally considered for the role of Sheriff Hart, but discussions ultimately went nowhere.

After Hart and Fremont witness the trail of death caused by the kids, they’re faced with an unsavory dilemma – the children are arguably no longer their children, but by all appearances (minus the black fingernails, perhaps), they still are. Although the children are slow-moving and thus easy to evade, their greatest asset is that they appear deceptively innocuous and loving (Who could resist a hug from their kid?). Because the children are impervious to bullets, the sheriff and Fremont devise an impromptu solution to confront the kids with the deadly touch, involving an axe and a katana.*   

* I don’t want to give it away, but let’s just say it’s quite disarming (I’ll see myself out).

 

Albright seemed less than enamored with Shakar’s interpretation of the character John Fremont, claiming the actor somehow made a sympathetic role unsympathetic (“It wasn’t the John Fremont that Ed and I wrote, but it was what me made it into… which was fine.”). Based on Shakar’s performance, it’s easy to agree. He’s a hotheaded creep who barks orders at his pregnant wife (“Make the damn coffee!”) and treats the sheriff like his personal chauffeur. He really drops the ball when he neglects to keep an eye on his son Clarkie (played by director of photography Barry Abrams’ son, Jessie), who’s visited by one of the children (appearing at his bedroom window in a shot reminiscent of an iconic scene from Salem’s Lot). But the Parent of the Year award goes to a missing girl’s self-obsessed mother, Dee Dee (Rita Montone), for her conspicuous lack of concern when the sheriff informs her that her daughter is missing. Instead of reacting like most fearful parents, she appears to be tickled by the prospect of her daughter’s possible kidnapping, and how exciting it would be for their small town.  

The Children shares more than a few superficial similarities with Night of the Living Dead (1968). The first attack occurs in a graveyard, and the children roam the countryside like mindless zombies, searching for more victims. When faced with the prospect of destroying the children, the adults are confronted with the existential dilemma that the children, as they knew them, no longer exist. Also, in a budget-conscious choice that tells rather than shows, a TV news reports suggests the incidents are much more widespread. Unlike George Romero’s horror classic, The Children isn’t particularly suspenseful or scary. Attacks by the slow-moving kids with their outstretched arms elicit more chuckles than chills. Nevertheless, The Children, despite its deficits, manages to wind its way under your skin, thanks to the very real concerns about contamination from nuclear power plants, negligent parents, and fears about our future in the hands of our children. Ultimately, the film bites off more than it can chew, but if you don’t dive too deeply, it’s an enjoyable 90 minutes.

 

Sources for this article: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray commentary by Carlton J. Albright, “Childhood Memories: Making the Children” (2018 short), Interview with Carlton J. Albright (2005)

 

 

The Pit

(1981) Directed by Lew Lehman; Written by Ian A. Stuart; Starring: Sammy Snyders, Jeannie Elias, Sonja Smits and Laura Hollingsworth; Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

Rating: ***

“I look back and I think to myself, there’s always things you can do better… Jamie’s character, even when you watch it today, is gonna freak you out. You can see the eyes on Jamie. There was something there, and I’m proud of that.” – Sammy Snyders

Everyone likely has a story about the weird kid at school other kids seemed to steer clear of, because of their appearance or behavior (Hey, no judgment here! I was probably that weird kid).  By necessity or choice, they become immersed in their own world – someplace they feel accepted. While we wonder what’s his or her deal, our imaginations take flight with idle (and often inaccurate) speculation. In most cases, they’re harmless but lack the social skills to navigate the nuances and pitfalls of social interactions, have interests that no one else cares about, or just behave a little differently from their peers. The Pit (1981)*/** is about a not-so-benign oddball kid, with the repercussions of his social estrangement taken to horrible extremes.    

Fun Fact #1: Although The Pit was another example of a Canadian tax shelter production, filming was predominately in the United States (with a combination of Canadian and American cast and crew), in the small town of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. 

Fun Fact #2: The film’s original title, Teddy, was also the title of the novelization.

Jamie Benjamin (Sammy Snyders)*/** is a smart but troubled 12-year-old boy that other kids avoid like a communicable disease. Everyone, including the adults in his life, sense something is “off” about him. Interactions with other kids often end in disaster (such as the opening scene, where he’s punched in the face by a schoolyard bully), so he mostly keeps to himself. His only friends are the critters he keeps in an overcrowded terrarium and his stuffed toy, Teddy, who “tells” him what to do. His frustrated parents (Laura Press and Richard Alden) have gone through several babysitters, but when they need to travel out of town, they hire a new sitter, perky college student Sandy O’Reilly (Jeannie Elias). Sandy views Jamie as an interesting challenge. With a major in psychology, she somehow considers herself qualified to conduct some dime-store analysis on him (which goes about as well as you would imagine). While she gradually earns Jamie’s confidence, she becomes the unwitting object of his infatuation. In an effort to gain her trust, he reveals his secret about a pit hidden in the woods (with some particularly nasty little residents), but things don’t quite end up as planned. 

* Fun Fact #3: Screenwriter Ian A. Stuart was less than enthused about the final results, claiming that his “story was destroyed,” turning it into a pure horror film rather than a psychological drama. The filmmakers omitted the ending as originally written, which suggested that everything was in Jamie’s mind (and depicted Jamie institutionalized). 

** Fun Fact #4: Stuart’s screenplay envisioned Jamie as a pre-pubescent boy, around 8 or 9. Instead, the filmmakers cast 14-year-old Sammy Snyders to play the now12-year-old lead character, significantly changing the dynamics of the movie.

We’re never sure how we should feel about Jamie. On the one hand, it’s easy to sympathize with his social and mental isolation as a result of the ostracism he endures. On the other hand, it’s not so easy to excuse his antisocial (not to mention wildly inappropriate) behavior. In one especially uncomfortable scene, when Sandy reluctantly agrees to wash his back, Jamie confesses that his mother still bathes him (“She really tried to make me clean.”), providing some insight into the family’s dysfunctional relationship. He follows up by asking Sandy, “Do you like washing me?”  which predicably sends her running out of the bathroom. In a later scene, he extorts the town librarian (who believes her niece has been kidnapped) into giving him an impromptu striptease (Yes, this scene is about as creepy as you would likely imagine).* In another scene, he professes his love to Sandy by writing on the bathroom mirror while she’s showering. In times of discomfort or indecision, he consults his teddy bear (whose voice sounds suspiciously like him), bringing to the surface his suppressed urges. In the case of Teddy, the conversations are strictly in Jamie’s head. It’s not so easy to explain away the existence of the pit and some troglodytic primordial humanoids (which he calls “Troliwogs”)**/*** that dwell at the bottom. He takes it upon himself to feed the creatures (buying meat with stolen money), but the food supply quickly diminishes, forcing him to take more drastic measures – anyone he deems to be a "bad” person is fair game for the pit. He once again faces a moral dilemma, however, when his supply of enemies runs out. 

* Fun Fact #5: According to Stuart, director Lew Lehman’s wife (who was frequently on the set) didn’t want her husband directing the brief nude scenes. Those sequences, shot later as inserts, were directed by Stuart instead. 

** Fun Fact #6: The troglodytes were initially played by young children, but when the kids started getting sick and passing out from the constrictive costumes, they were replaced by adult little people. 

*** Fun Fact #7: There were two types of costumes used to depict the troglodytes, with the initial crude, makeshift costumes created on location. The filmmakers weren’t impressed with the results, prompting them to fabricate new costumes for close-up shots in a Toronto-based studio.

 

Considering the scenes that preceded his homicidal conversion, it’s an odd choice of the filmmakers to play Jamie’s murder streak for laughs. The Pit lapses into dark comedy through a montage of scenes (accompanied by wacky musical cues), as he leads his enemies (real or perceived) to their doom. Following an argument with Sandy (who believes the pit creatures should be studied), Jamie allows them to escape to the surface, which in turn condemns them to a harsher fate. At this point, the film’s narrative loses its way, with our central character disappearing for the next few scenes. Left to their own devices, the little subterranean beasties create more murder and mayhem than they might have been capable of otherwise. The local police and townspeople combine forces to hunt down the malevolent troglodytes, but it’s never made clear whether Jamie learned about their eventual fate or if he felt any remorse about them. 

 

The distributors should have warned audiences about the risk of whiplash, considering the abrupt mid-film tonal shift, when Jamie starts luring his victims to the pit. In the context of the film, it’s a jarring choice (it’s a credit to composer Victor Davies that he does his best to keep up with the changes). By far, the best part of The Pit is Sammy Snyders’ convincing and creepy performance as the antiheroic main character. Despite the excesses of the rest of the movie, Snyders creates a believable character in Jamie, with a warped sense of justice but recognizable motivations. In Jamie’s defense, the adults he interacts with aren’t much better than his peers, ranging from dismissive to outright hostile, so it’s hard for Jamie to find a moral/ethical compass when no one else does the right thing around him. The Pit is a fascinating mess – a near-miss that almost works, despite its numerous inconsistencies and weird structure. Fans of offbeat low-budget horror may want to give this a try. All others might consider proceeding with caution. 

* Fun Fact #8: Some of The Pit’s disjointed nature could be attributed to the fact that director Lew Lehman was fired before the film’s completion, and wasn’t available to provide input for the subsequent editing. 

 

Sources for this article: Blu-ray commentary by Paul Corupe and Jason Pichonsky; Interview wish Sammy Snyders, “The Babysitter – An Interview with Jeannie Elias,” “Teddy Told Me To – An Interview with Ian A. Stuart.”

 

Southeast Asian Cinema Month Quick Picks and Pans

The Traveling Circus (1988) In this underseen drama from director Linh Viet, a rag-tag traveling circus visits an impoverished rural Vietnamese village, despite the protests of the village elder. Skeptical of the unwanted outsiders, the starving residents have little need for frivolity or entertainment when they’re trying to survive. A young boy becomes smitten by one of the performers, a woman who performs a magic trick that makes rice appear. He longs to know the secret so he can feed his malnourished younger sister and the rest of the village. Filmed in black and white (which lends to the sense of immediacy), The Traveling Circus is a simply told but devastating tale of desperation and misplaced belief. Largely unknown outside its native country, this film deserves to reach a wider audience 

Rating: ****½. Available on DVD

ROH (aka: Soul) (2019) Director/co-writer Emir Ezwan’s atmospheric debut feature, set in a Malaysian jungle, creeps under your skin from the first reel and never unleashes its grasp. A single mother (Farah Ahmad) and her two children Along and Angah (Mhia Farhana and Harith Haziq) eke out a meager existence in their isolated hut. Their lives are changed forever when they encounter a young girl wandering the jungle alone. Her presence and subsequent death become a harbinger of terrible things to come for the family. A mysterious old woman (June Lojong) who lives nearby offers her assistance against the evil presence that looms about. Signs point to an enigmatic lone hunter (Pemburu), searching for the missing girl. ROH doesn’t rely on cheap scares or flashy special effects, but relies on light, shadow, and the ambient sounds of the jungle (accompanied by a minimalist score) to create a relentless and overwhelming sense of dread. Bad omens abound, and nothing is quite what it seems. 

Rating: ****. Available on DVD, Tubi and Shudder 

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017) Set in a remote rural Indonesian town, director/co-writer Mouly Surya’s spaghetti western-inspired story (accompanied by a Ennio-Morricone-influenced score) of revenge is a portrait of quiet courage under extreme adversity. A man appears at the widow Marlina’s (Marsha Timothy) modest farmhouse, calmly proclaiming that he and his men (who are about to arrive) will take her livestock and forcibly have sex with her. This doesn’t sit well with our plucky protagonist, who poisons his men and decapitates their leader. She sets off (carrying the severed head) with an abused pregnant friend to report the incident to the police, who appear less than sympathetic. Mouly Surya’s film provides a matter-of-fact commentary on misogynistic society, where the consequences for the victims are worse than the perpetrators. At its heart is Marsha Timothy’s intense performance as a woman who refuses to passively adhere to social conventions at her expense. 

Rating: ****. Available on DVD 

 

Ode to Nothing (2018) Middle-aged Sonya (Pokwang) leads a dreary day-to-day existence, tending to her failing small-town family business, a funeral home. With too-few customers to keep afloat and a cruel landlord constantly breathing down her neck, she and her estranged father face eviction. Her life unexpectedly changes when an anonymous old lady’s corpse is dropped off by two men. While waiting for someone to claim the body, the corpse becomes Sonya’s surrogate mother and confidant – a temporary salve for her pervasive loneliness. Ode to Nothing is a heartbreaking meditation on quiet despair and invisibility in an uncaring society.    

Rating: ****. Available on Blu-ray

Alone (2007) Co-directors Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom return with the follow-up to their debut film, Shutter (2004), a twisted tale of retribution from beyond the grave. When Pim (Marsha Wattanapanich) learns that her mother has suffered a devastating stroke, she reluctantly returns to Thailand with her boyfriend to settle affairs. As she stays in her childhood home, the past comes back to haunt her in the ghostly form of her once-conjoined twin sister Ploy (who died when they were separated). This unsettling story of survivor’s guilt and unrequited love will keep you in suspense throughout. 

Rating: ***½. Available on DVD (region 3)

 

Silip: Daughters of Eve (1985) Set in a small, isolated seaside village in the Philippines, director Edward Perez paints a picture of desire, longing and cruelty. When free-spirited Selda (Sarsi Emmanuelle) returns home, it sends the insular community into a tailspin, especially her sexually repressed sister Tonya (Maria Isabel Lopez). A fractured, contentious love triangle brews between Selda, Tonya and Simon (Mark Joseph) a brash hunter, leading to a tragic climax. This example of Filipino “Bold” cinema (roughly analogous to Japanese “Pinky” film) can be difficult to watch at times, with its brutality and frankness, but its exploration of the dark side of human nature will stick with you. 

Warning: The opening scene, featuring the (real) slaughter of a cow is quite disturbing, as well as later scenes of (simulated) sexual assault. 

Rating: ***½. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Motel Mist (2016) Writer/director Prabda Yoon focuses on the bizarre activities surrounding a Bangkok love motel, where anonymous people go to fulfill their wildest desires or simply drop out of society. The patrons include a middle-aged man with an abusive streak and a former child actor who believes he’s being controlled by aliens. Meanwhile, a love-starved motel clerk lives vicariously by spying on the activities of the guests. This quirky, well-acted character study is full of surprises throughout, leading to a fittingly unusual ending.   

Rating: 3 ½ stars. Available on DVD, Midnight Pulp and Tubi

Mystics in Bali

 

(1981) Directed by H. Tjut Djalil; Written by Jimmy Atmaja; Based on the novel Leak Ngakak by Putra Mada; Starring: Ilona Agathe Bastian, Yos Santo, Sofia W.D., W.D. Mochtar, and Debbie Cinthya Dewi; Available on DVD 

Rating: ***½ 

“Cathy, voodoo or any other black magic is nothing compared to this Leak magic. According to what I’ve heard, the Leak is the most powerful of all magic.” – Mahendra (Yos Santo) 

“There are some things people weren’t meant to know” is a popular theme of many horror films, often involving a naïve westerner poking their nose where it doesn’t belong.  Of course, anyone who’s watched more than a few movies of this type knows exactly where it’s going. While its central theme and plot are familiar, director H. Tjut Djalil’s Mystics in Bali takes a decidedly Southeast Asian spin on familiar material, incorporating Indonesian folklore into the mix.* As a pure horror film, it represented a departure for Indonesian cinema, which previously adopted Bollywood’s “kitchen sink” approach (with a mélange of slapstick comedy, drama, and musical numbers). Intended as a breakout film for the export market, Mystics in Bali featured an approach that would appeal to the tastes of Western audiences. 

* Fun Fact #1: Due to the subject matter, which incorporated authentic Balinese beliefs and practices, filming was moved from Bali to nearby Java, to avoid upsetting the locals.

Cathy Kean (Ilona Agathe Bastian)* is an inquisitive young American woman visiting Bali, Indonesia, as research for her book on different forms of black magic. Through her friend Mahendra (Yos Santo), she learns about a powerful form of Indonesian black magic known as Leak (Pronounced “Le-ack”).* Mahendra arranges a meeting with a Leak master (Sofia W.D.) who appears as a hideous crone, but subsequently agrees to take on Cathy as her disciple. Naturally, there is a steep price to acquire this forbidden knowledge, as Cathy unwittingly pays with her body and soul. Employing her mastery of the dark arts, the ever-cackling sorceress (who sounds something like the Cryptkeeper in Tales from the Crypt) borrows Cathy’s head (yep, you read that right) to do her bidding. Cathy’s head detaches (with entrails dangling underneath) and flies around, searching the countryside for the blood of potential victims.** She’s bound by the Leak master to take the lives of three people, so the witch can become all-powerful and immortal. Now it’s up to Mahendra and his uncle Machesse (W.D. Mochtar), a mystic, to set things right, setting the stage for an ultimate battle between good and evil. 

* Fun Fact #2: Ilona Agathe Bastian wasn’t an actress but a German tourist who happened to be at the right place at the right time. A wife of one of the producers convinced Bastian to extend her stay by several weeks so she could appear in the movie. To date, this remains her one and only film role. 

** Fun Fact #3: The Leak (or Kuyang) isn’t strictly confined to Indonesian folklore, but has several counterparts throughout Southeast Asia, including: Thailand (Krasue), Cambodia (Ahp), Vietnam (Ma lai), and others.

Cathy and Mahendra are clearly more than just friends, but within the confines of the movie they enjoy a chaste relationship. Considering the gory, anything-goes nature of the film, the conspicuous restraint the filmmakers demonstrated with regard to the two leads suggests it was due more to censorship concerns than anything else. (Mild Spoiler Alert) We only learn toward the end of the film that the young woman stalking Mahendra and Cathy is Mahendra’s jealous ex-girlfriend. When we learn of her connection with Mahendra, it almost seems out of left field. I can only speculate that the original, longer cut of the film fleshed out this character a bit more.

Compared to American cinematic standards, the special effects are crude, but once we’re in the thick of things, it ceases to matter. The transformation sequences (when Cathy and the Leak master turn into pigs, and later into snakes) have a creepy, otherworldly quality that transcend any technical or budgetary limitations. But the animal transformations are only appetizers for the main course. Arguably, the movie’s raison d'être is revealed when Cathy’s head separates from her body, becoming its own entity. It’s not an especially convincing visual (the video-based effects don’t quite synch up with the film stock, and the flying head just looks like a mannequin head on a wire), but it still creates an uncanny experience, leaving our collective imaginations to fill in the blanks.

Initial plans to market Mystics in Bali as a “breakout” Indonesian film geared to Western audiences backfired, when it failed to find adequate international distribution. Outside of its native Indonesia, the film only made it to Japan as a theatrical release. Home video and word of mouth eventually gave the movie a new set of legs, especially with its DVD release in 2007. It’s been unfairly maligned as “cheesy” or goofy by some reviewers, but that overlooks the cultural significance of the film, which reflected the Balinese culture and superstitions. Those spoiled by the technical wizardry of Western cinema, with its emphasis on photorealistic effects and slick production values, might find Mystics in Bali too rough around the edges, but that’s missing the point. Instead, Mystics in Bali asks you to suspend your disbelief and consider there are forces much greater than ourselves in the world – forces that deserve reverence and above all, caution.   

Sources for this article: “Mystics in Bali & the Indonesian Exploitation Movie,” by Pete Tombs (essay from Mondo Macabro DVD); “Krasue,” Wikipedia entry: Krasue