Demoness Souls

eXistenZ (David Cronenberg, 1999)

Amongst film critics and cinephiles, Crash (1996) is largely regarded as Canadian director David Cronenberg's best film from the nineties. As good as it is, personally, I prefer eXistenZ (1999) over it, as its subject matter is more appealing than a feature focusing on a bunch of pervs turned on by being involved in car accidents. That's just me, though.

The tragedy of Cronenberg's sci-fi body horror was it being overshadowed by the Wachowski's popular blockbuster The Matrix (1999) at the time. Both films tackle the concept of simulated realities; it's just one had Keanu Reeves in school-shooter trench coat swagger and the appeal of bullet time visual effects (a gimmick which would be nauseatingly copied and parodied throughout the following decade), while the other was either remained oblivious to most people, or seen as far too niche for mainstream crowds.

You've got to admire Cronenberg unique artistic vision; eXistenZ has his indelible mark all over it. Aesthetically, the film has the worn, post-modern dystopian look about it which is synoymous with many of his films. Love the organic looking consoles made from mutated amphibian organs with what look like umbilical cords plugged into a bio port at the base of the spine. That's unmistakably so Cronenberg. This is all coming at a time when the Sony PlayStation had shifted the cultural belief that gaming was only meant for a very young demographic. There was also the popular influx of virtual worlds; notably the MMORPGs which were growing popular at the time, where players were completely sucked into.

The plot is a fairly linear affair; security guard Ted Pikul (Jude Law) is tasked with escorting to safety games guru, Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), after a botched assassination attempt on her life by a fundamentalist. From that point, the film goes down a rabbit hole of Cronenberg's perception of what immersive gaming might entail and extremes of industrial espionage. It's a meta affair, where our leads traverse through the realms of reality. Hardly a unique concept in a Cronenberg film as it's familiar territory for the auteur with the surrealist techno, body horror Videodrome (1983) as it also blurs worlds.

Despite its modest budget, eXistenZ boasts an impressive cast - Ian Holme, Christopher Eccleston and Willem Dafoe as a dodgy mechanic/bio-porter, makes some of the supporting cast. Both Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law display great chemistry together. The highlight for me is when the pair order a special platter of mutated amphibians at a restaurant. Jude Law instinctingly assembles a high powered pistol from the bones of his disgusting meal, capable of firing human teeth for its bullets. It's also worth noting that eXistenZ might be the only film where I've found Jennifer Jason Leigh remotely hot.

Can't help but admire the uniqueness of Cronenberg's grotesque gaming pods parasitically leeching off its human host to be powered. The umbilical cord is also a nice touch. There's also the casual manner of having a bio-port jackhammered into the base of your spine and being compared to having your ears pierced in this dystopian setting. There's also the religious like fervour of Allegra's enemies who see her game as a threat to our world - "Death to the demoness Alllegra Geller!" Everything about it so distinctively Cronenberg, innit?

Sadly, Cronenberg's film was a commercial flop. That might have been the reason why he took an extremely long hiatus from making sci-fi body horror and broadened his wings with A History of Violence (2005) and Eastern Promises (2007). He didn't return back to the fold until relatively recently with the impressive evolutionary tale Crimes of the Future (2022). Still, can't knock any film maker for branching out whilst not selling out.

Today, eXistenZ is something of a cult film. It's aged incredibly well. The subject matter is still relevant today with tech lizard moguls like Mark Zuckerberg championing virtual reality and trying to make the Metaverse a thing. Lord knows how much money he's pumped into that. eXistenZ also serves as a more palatable precursor to Christopher Nolan's metaworld concept from Inception (2010). Proof eXistenZ was way ahead of its time.

gg!

There's a She Wolf in the Drawer

Always puts a smile on my face whenever a 4K release of a trashy exploitation film is announced. The likelihood of it potentially riling up some pretentious cinephille, deeming it undeserving and all the while soporifc tosh like some Andrei Tarkovsky film still isn't available, is an additional bonus. The latest examples are the notorious Ilsa films.

The most infamous in the Ilsa series, and best of the lot by my estimation, happens to be the first entry - Ilsa She Wolf of the SS (1975). It shares the rare honour of being the only film in the utterly depraved and thoroughly reprehensible naziexploitation subgenre to receive repeated viewings from me. Maybe it's because its buxom star Dyanne Thorne plays the villainous Ilsa with a surprising degree of conviction, or, perhaps it's due to it being a Canadian production and thus avoiding the usual cheap and dull eurotrash like The Beast in Heat (1977) or The Gestapo's Last Orgy (1977). Whatever the reason, it's an exploitation classic and its sequels are worthwhile too (except maybe the unofficial fourth one, which really isn't an Ilsa film, in my opinion).

This is a good opportunity to show-off one of the few movie themed (and in all honesty, highly problematic) T-shirts I still own, since it's now it's all hot and sunny again. Big fan of Alexandros Pyromallis's illustrations and owning a T-shirt of one of my favourite female villains is very necessary.

Mamma Mia

Full Circle (Richard Loncraine, 1977)

Big mistake watching director Richard Loncraine's introdcuction to his semi-obscure British-Canadian co-produced chiller Full Cirlcle (1977) AKA The Haunting of Julia. Loncraine describing it as "almost a good film", somewhat put a damp squib over my expectations; especially after having shelled out a fair bit on the lavish looking BFI 4K release of it. Fortunately, Full Circle turned out to be a wonderful missing link between the classic horror films Don't Look Now (1973) and The Changeling (1980). Not quite on the same level as them, but an excellent film, regardless.

Full Circle begins with a cautionary and fatal example of always chewing your food, as Katie, daughter of wealthy American living in London, Julia Lofting, played by ginger pixie Mia Farrow, literally chokes it at the breakfast table while eating an apple. Ridden with guilt after performing an unsuccessful emergency tracheostomy on her daughter, Julia sinks to suicidal depression and becomes estranged from her money grubbing husband, Magnus, played by Keir Dullea.

After being discharged from hospital, Julia attempts to rebuild her life by moving in to a new apartment, far from Magnus's watchful eye. Shaggy haired, antiques dealer Mark, played by Tom Conti, is her rock of support as she slowly tries to pick up the pieces while Magnus continously harasses her. It's just rotten luck that she just also happens to be experiencing supernatural goings at the same time. Going on into any further detail would totally spoil the mystery of the film, so I'll leave it there.

Despite Loncraine's personal assessment of Full Circle, the film totally charmed me. Its slowburn pacing and rich atmosphere worked perfectly for its premise. This was a captivating viewing experience. As a horror afficionado, familar with certain tropes and cliches, being unable to second guess certain plot outcomes made the film a fresh experience. Farrow's performance as the guilt-ridden, grieving mother is superb. The supporting cast are also effectively good; particularly Conti. I also liked Anna Wing, better known for playing Lou Beale off EastEnders, as the dotty spritualist Mrs. Flood. Small, minor details like the contrast between Julia's well-off lifestyle and Mrs. Flood's impoverished dwelling really highlighted seperate worlds; just as much the ones conveyed for both the living and the astral plane.

Worth noting that Colin Towns's soundtrack is suitably eerie and chilling. Particularly fond of how he layers a melancholic piano melody with an eerie modern synthesizer riff; complimenting Julia's fragile mental state and the supernatural elements. Town's music is a strong reason why the film's haunting atmosphere is such a success.

Mark this up as another film which has me regretting not seeing when I was a child. Full Circle would have scared me out of my wits back then. A truly rewarding discovery, and definitely amongst my favourite watched so far this year.

Long Live the New Sex

Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg, 2022)

Brandon Cronenberg's burgeoning film career appears to have reignited his old man's propensity for body horror. It's a welcome return for David Cronenberg, since he's been absent from helming a film for several years and his latest, Crimes of the Future is his first forray into the genre which dubbed him the "king of venereal horror" in over twenty years. Throughout that time, Cronenberg managed to seperate himself from his peers such as Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and George Romero, by successfully crossing over into mature drama, which, along with the adulation and praise, negatively attracted "serious" cinephiles, aka poncy c**ts. 

The future doesn't seem so advanced in Cronenberg's latest film. Infections no longer occur, so people don't bother to wash their hands, even after using the toilet; I mean, that sounds like most of the people I've witnessed in various public places, to be honest. Also, our sense of pain no longer exists, resulting in desktop surgeries being the new fad. The world of Crimes of the Future is very dirty and regressive looking; accommodations look like a Dickensian tramp's temporary lodgings, which makes location shooting in a European shithole like Athens absolutely perfect, in my humble opinion.

A ninja clad Viggo Mortensen plays Saul Tenser, a famous performance artist suffering from Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, a disease that makes his body produce novel organs. Along with his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), they provide Grand Guignol style surgical operations for artistic entertainment. Saul is laid conscious in a crablike chamber while his organs are surgically extracted with robotic devices controlled by Caprice. The grotesquely literal display of an artist bearing their all isn't exactly lost here and if you're fairly familiar with some of his prior films, it's the type of symbolism you would come to expect from a man like Cronenberg. These acts are perceived as sexual, to the point where he has a zipper modification for easier access to his internal organs; which leads to him receiving a disturbing stomach job from Caprice. Tenser also happens to liken these performances as rebellious acts of defiance against his body's condition.This stance has him aiding with a police divison (known as New Vice Unit), where he works as a mole to uncover a collective of radical extremists who consume purple candy bars made of plastic. The food of choice for modified digestive systems which allows them to eat plastics.

Despite the obvious controversy surrounding Crimes of the Future, there are some philosophical and ethical questions raised which resonated in my mind. This had me pondering over a completely irrelevant and fictional subject matter (at this present time at least) that struck a cord with me. That's worthy of some kind of respect, in my opinion. Mortensen and Seydoux work well together on screen and their chemistry helps the bizarre relationship seem believable. The rest of the supporting cast, including Kristen Stewart as the oddball New Organ Registry officer, aid with the illusion of this dystopian world, which in all honesty looks like it was mostly filmed in various abandoned crack dens.

Although not exploitational, there's an explicitly voyeuristic nature about Crimes of the Future, that forces the viewer to be a casual bystander, in the same manner as the audience watching Tenser's performance shows. Along with the people getting off in slashing and and stabbing blades in a consenting partner's body, it's extreme debauchery that will no doubt offend some peoples' sensibilities. I got the feeling that the concept of doggin' was fed into Cronenberg's brain and this was what he came up with. It's all very macabre and shocking, yet it does serve a sincere purpose as part of the world building process.

Big fan of the breakfaster chair that moves about and groans to aid with digestion. That thing was hilarious on screen. Viggo Mortensen pulling weird faces trying to eat what seems like a green steak and kidney pudding was one of my favourite scenes in the film. The rest of the weird tech are also bizarrely organic looking and are the only real props in the film that suggest this is set sometime in the not too distant future.

Worth pointing out that Howard Shore's mix of synthwave and acoustic sounds really accentuate the two contrasting factions presented within the film. Other than the main theme, Klinek stood out the most for me with its cyberpunk vibe.

Crimes of the Future feels like Cronenberg's most satisfying film since pehaps eXistenZ (1999). Largely because it's a return to the types of movie I have forever associated him with. It's also due to the fact that I objectively find this his most balanced and complete production amongst his later films. Definitely a personal highlight for me this year. Really grateful this doesn't have anything to do with Croneberg's 1970 film with the same name, because I found that dire. You've come along way since then, Dave! 

Thought I'd hung up my extreme cinema pass long ago, yet this and Mad God (2022) are both films that would be classed in this category and I've thoroughly enjoyed them.

You're On His List, Not What You Wished

Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)

Other than Steptoe And Son Ride Again (1973), the amount of shite on TV during the festive season had me going, "Bah, humbug!", so I figured it was time for me to hit the shelves and watch something decent once again. Admittedly, this humble blogger has been avoiding most content on TV since it all went Orwellian during the eighties. What classic yuletide movie would suffice for someone with  a delicate palate such as myself? Obviously, it had to be the original Black Christmas (1974) The go-to movie for any insufferable slasher aficionado with the eternal urge to bore me to death that it predates John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) by a number of years, and thus it's the first modern slasher (they're dead wrong, though). Here's a Christmas story that must be told by Bob Clark, the very man who gave us surefire classics such as Murder By Decree (1979), Porky's (1981) and Karate Dog (2006).

Figured I would list all the things I love about this superb, holiday-themed slasher from the land that gave us Leslie Nielsen, David Cronenberg and Maestro Fresh Wes.

Pi Kappa Sigma

Love how this grand looking sorority house is such an interior decorator's nightmare, unless of course you're Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. To add to the seventies era of vomit coloured walls and carpenting, we have the complimentary house mother Mrs. Mac - an outrageous alcoholic with enough hidden booze in the crib to open a speakeasy during lockdown.

It's A Giallo; It's A Slasher 

Don't honestly care what box people put it in, but it certainly has elements of both genres. Stylistically speaking, you can definitely see similarities with the likes of Dario Argento's The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970). The scenes of the calls being traced were also reminscent of the archaic computer from The Cat O' Nine Tails (1971). The film effectively toys with shadows and depth of field, along with some fancy Mario Bava style colour palette choices. There's the whole killer's point of view we're given, which is another reason as to why the film is compared to Carpenter's seminal movie. In terms of substance, Clark delivers an obvious red herring (or is he?) in the form of Jess' unstable boyfriend, Peter the aspiring concert pianist with a penchent for smashing up musical instruments.

Billy, AKA The Moaner

Outside of a few hand shots and a crazed looking brown eye (pause!), we hardly see much of a proper reveal of our resident psycho. Proof that less is more. His insanely, terrifying obscene phone calls are like a nightmarish ventriloquist act that leave me wondering as to how his different voices and sound effects are layered over one another, without the aid of audio recording equipment?

 

Barb 

This sassy sorority sister was hot as hell with her hair up in a bun and a kinky choker that accentuated her slender neck. Barb clearly subscribes to the ubiquitous trope of birds wearing a bloke's shirt - giving off the morning after look that I love. A cigarette in one hand and a glass of scotch in the other completes the liberated lack of all innocence ensemble. It's all backed up with some memorable smart-mouthed sarcasm and a killer prank she plays on Sgt. Nash. Wouldn't surprise me if Margot Kidder landed the role of Superman's signifcant other based on her portrayal of Barb alone.

Sergent Nash 

Every worthwhile slasher has a secondary villain at odds with the concept of human survival; completely devoid of any common sense. They're usually the preppie mean bitch or the jock quarterback, who would have no issues with putting anyone, including those in their immediate social circle, in serious jeopardy to save their skin. Sgt. Nash is mostly planted behind the counter of a police precinct and his dumb arse can't process the severity of the situation for the girls of Pi Kappa Sigma. This is all kicking off while a child is missing and found dead during the film's time frame. Dumb as he is, Nash is blessed with one of the most memorable lines from any slasher film, "Jess, the caller is in the house. The calls are coming from the house!"  

The finale is perhaps the biggest grievance I have with the film. The fact that Jess, the sole survivor of this merry bloodbath is left alone (save for a lone police officer outside) by emergency services in the murder house where her friends died in is huge cause for disbelief. You would think that anyone suffering from the ordeal she went through would be whisked off to a hospital instead of spending the rest of the night at a serious crime scene. Further to that, is the fact that the sorority house was swarming with cops, and in all that time they didn't search the attic and find the two corpses and Billy hiding in there. The cops, including the gawd John Saxon failed Jess - #defundthepolice. Huge logical flaw right there. Still enjoy it, regardless.