Viewings: March 2022

Harry Kümel's fantasy horror, Malpertuis was my favourite discovery this month. Crazy seeing the same actor from the utterly disturbing Born For Hell (1976) in the same film as Orson Welles. Here's the obligatory part where I would be wishing for one of the boutique film labels to release the film with a lavish remastering and top quality extras, but considering the prices they're charging lately, I would probably have to sell a kidney just to cop one. Only other Kümel film I've seen is Daughters of Darkness (1971), so he's two for two for me before diving into the rest of his filmography.

 

Also really enjoyed Kwon Oh-seung's cat and mouse style thriller Midnight and Jesse V. Johnson's WWII actioner Hell Hath No Fury from last year. Both somewhat ludicrous, but found them highly entertaining nonetheless. 

 

Surprising amount of vintage horror smut this month.

Film:

Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)

I Start Counting (David Greene, 1969)*

The Devil's Nightmare (Jean Brismée, 1971)*

Malpertuis (Harry Kümel, 1971)*

Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, 1971)

French Connection II (John Frankenheimer, 1975)

Draguse or the Infernal Mansion (Patrice Rhomm, 1976)*

Le bijou d'amour (Patrice Rhomm, 1978)*

Dracula Sucks (Philip Marshak, 1978)*

Deadly Games (Scott Mansfield, 1982)*

Corruption (Roger Watkins as Richard Mahler, 1983)*

After Hours (Martin Scorsese, 1985)

The Believers (John Schlesinger, 1987)

Tales From the Hood (Rusty Cundieff, 1995)

Shadow of the Vampire (E. Elias Merhige, 2000)

Trouble Every Day (Claire Denis, 2001)*

Drag Me To Hell (Sam Raimi, 2009)

Hell Hath No Fury (Jesse V. Johnson, 2021)*

Madam Claude (Sylvie Verheyde, 2021)*

Midnight (Kwon Oh-seung, 2021)*

Spider-Man: No Way Home (Tom Watts, 2021)*

All My Friends Hate Me (Andrew Gaynord, 2022)*

The Seed (Sam Walker, 2022)* 

Fresh (Mimi Cave, 2022)*

Studio 666 (B.J. McDonnell, 2022)*

Television:

 Mastermind - Episodes 25-29 (Bill Wright, 2021 / 2022)*

Peaky Blinders - Episodes 1-5; Season 6 (Steven Knight, 2022)*

* First time viewings.

 

Dada Debaser Notes:

• Found Fresh to be a completely derivative and tonally incosistent horror comedy. Could have been great if this was helmed by someone more capable. Solely focused on subversion for the sake of it.
• Surreal seeing Reggie Nalder (albeit credited under a pseudonym) in Dracula Sucks with recognisable golden era pornstars. Turns out some of them have some real acting chops. Not surprised Brian De Palma initially cast Annette Haven for his film, Body Double (1984), before having to give the part to Melanie Griffith.
• Did not expect to hear a rip-off version of Morricone's theme to The Thing in a vintage pornographic film like Roger Watkins' Corruption. 
• Think I've mined every worthwhile slasher from the golden era, as all I've found have been duds like Deadly Games ever since. Still hoping in vain for some long lost classic to be unearthed.
  
• Best thing about Foo Fighters' splatter comedy, Studio 666, was John Carpenter's opening theme and the Lionel Richie cameo.
  
• Embarrasingly watched the wrong Madame Claude film (meant to watch Just Jaeckin's version). This recent version makes the same mistakes many biopics and period dramas have been making all too often, as they're heavily reliant on the hair, make-up and wardrobe department - f**k everything else! Tired of directors shoving their entire Spotify playlist in their movies, too.
  
• Wasn't won over by Spider-Man: No Way Home, but then again I'm not a zoomer who gets giddy over a meme reference shoved in a movie. Did enjoy seeing Willem Dafoe again and those cool end credits, though.
• Woeful as it was, The Seed gets a point for fooling me into thinking it was an American film. All three actresses fared better with their fake American accents than Ewan McGregor ever did.
  
• Can't believe both of my favourites from this season of Mastermind got knocked out in the very same episode. Farewell, Paul Risebury-Crisp 🤓 and Patrick Wilson! 
• Already have a one and done dedicated post about The Oscars this month, but it was hard to escape from the big shock this year:

 

But Robocop Last Year Was A Shock

60th Academy Awards (Pee-wee Herman, ED-209 & Robocop scene)

(1988)

 

It's about that time of the year where poor homeless people are kicked out of their make-shift shelters while insufferable celebrities roll in on the red carpet and give themselves a corporate reacharound. It's The Oscars, folks; the annual reminder that the Romans had it right with the treatment of their luvvies back then. The audacity of championing whatever cause is currently in vogue, while dressed to the nines in their obscenely expensive threads, is completely lost on these overpaid adult pretenders, but hey, I'm not here to talk about any of that malarkey; I'm here to share one great memory I have of the Academy Awards.

It's 1988 and The Oscars are an important time for this humble blogger since 1987 had a bumper crop of classic movies all deserving of an award by the industry: Predator, Evil Dead II, Hellraiser, Wall Street, Lost Boys, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Hidden, Opera, Stagefright, The Running Man, Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop II, Prince of Darkness, Bad Taste and Adventures in Baby Sitting. Unfortunately, none of those titles meant anything to poncey film snobs. One particular film, however, which undoubtedly left a cultural impact was Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi actioner, Robocop - part man, part machine, all classic. Lo and behold Pee-wee presenting an award for the best short film (live action) category and ED-209 gatecrashing the event. What ensues is a remarkably surreal scenario with Pee-wee flying off above the audience and Robocop firing laser bolts at his robotic foe. It was and still is a glorious moment from the Academy Awards. Perhaps the only positive memory when I'm reminded of this ridiculous shindig.

A pity Robocop, or any of the other movies I listed didn't win Best Picture, instead it was Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor; a film only remembered these days for being parodied that time on The Simpsons, when Homer was the prophecised chosen one by The Stonecutters. "Who rigs every Oscars night?" They do. They do.