Anyab (Egypt, dir. Mohammed Shebl)
A young couple’s car breaks down on a dark and stormy night, and they make their way to the closest house. It just so happens to be a castle where a weird, wild party is underway, held by the vampiric owner of the estate. Also, the story frequently cuts to a guy in a room with a bunch of books commenting on the action. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Anyab is an Egyptian riff on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which it mimics faithfully for a good chunk of its running time. There are some incredible costumes and catchy songs in the first act, but the film takes a hard turn away from its source material in the middle to show how capitalism breeds “vampires” everywhere. A vignette plays showing somebody ripping off somebody else, they turn to the camera to show off their plastic fangs, cut to the professor in his library laughing maniacally, repeat. This section of the film seems to go on for a solid twenty to thirty minutes, and after a while the repetition is both exhausting and maddening. Things pick up in the final act, and overall Anyab is a super fun curiosity, but that middle drags badly. Still well worth a look for the songs and costumes alone, though, and anyone so inclined to track it down will likely find it a rewardingly strange viewing.
Vidar the Vampire (Norway, dir. Thomas Aske Berg & Fredrik Waldeland)
Vidar (co-writer/co-director Thomas Aske Berg) lives with his overbearing devout Christian mother Kristin (Marit Sanden) on the farm where he grew up. He’s miserable, and just wants to experience life outside the church and his small town. Most specifically, he wants to get laid. In the depths of his despair Vidar is approached by Jesus (Brigt Skrettingland), who offers Vidar a way to fulfill all his dreams. Jesus can turn Vidar into a vampire like himself and show him the ropes of eternal depravity, and all Vidar has to do is let Jesus orally violate him first. Vidar the Vampire is a horror/comedy with a lot of interesting ideas that it frustratingly does very little to explore beyond surface shock. The implications of Jesus being an amoral vampire are never really addressed, he just sort of shows up from time to time to say awful stuff and help coax Vidar into doing terrible things. At one point (during a deeply awkward AA meeting Vidar crashes), a suggestion is made that Jesus and Satan are one and the same in a casually tossed-off observation that is never addressed again. There are some inspired visuals in the film, most notably Vidar rising from the coffin at his own funeral to terrorize the mourners who never cared much for him anyway. But too often Vidar the Vampire opts for easy, lazy lowest common denominator jokes when its setup feels perfectly tailored to more thoughtful satire.
Fantastic Fest 2017: Day 5
Originally published on Daily Grindhouse 25 October 2017
King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen (USA, dir. Steve Mitchell)
Larry Cohen is an absolute legend of genre and exploitation cinema, a writer/director/producer whose career has encompassed Blaxploitation hits like Black Caesar, horror classics including It’s Alive, and the better part of a hundred writing credits stretching back to 1950s television. His films as director have been hugely influential, and King Cohen offers a comprehensive look at the man and his work from those early scripts to present day. Cohen himself is a fabulous raconteur, quick-witted and outspoken, so director Steve Mitchell wisely allows the man quite a bit of screen time to talk. He also hilariously juxtaposes Cohen’s stories with interviews with some equally entertaining subjects including Fred Williamson, Michael Moriarty, JJ Abrams, John Landis, Joe Dante, and dozens of others. Anyone who’s already a Cohen fan will be delighted by the chance to spend so much time with the man, and anyone who’s interested in a solid overview of his staggeringly impressive career will find King Cohen essential viewing. Hopefully the home video version will include several more hours of Cohen talking, which would be just about the only thing that could improve on this portrait of a filmmaker with a wildly imaginative and truly original voice.
My Friend Dahmer (USA, dir. Marc Meyers)
Things at home are not great for high school Jeffrey Dahmer (Ross Lynch). His mother Joyce (Anne Heche) is still unstable after a stint in a mental hospital, and his father Lionel (Dallas Roberts) is getting worried about the amount of time Jeff spends on his hobby of dissolving dead animals for their bones. School isn’t much better, but one day Jeff impulsively starts yelling and acting like he’s having a seizure. The stunt attracts the attention of budding artist Derf (Alex Wolff) and his friends, who start a Jeff Dahmer fan club and welcome Jeff into their circle thinking he’s just a genius prankster. But as his home life gets worse, Jeff starts drinking and withdrawing from even the few tentative friendships he’s made, and his obsession with a local doctor (Vincent Kartheiser) begins to take a dark turn. My Friend Dahmer, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Derf Backderf, is certainly chilling and not a little heartbreaking. What’s surprising is how it manages to be both sensitive and surprisingly funny, with a brilliant lead performance by Ross Lynch. Anne Heche is genuinely unsettling as Joyce, giving every scene she’s in an unpredictable energy. The fact that it was partially shot in Dahmer’s real-life teenage home gives the film a real feeling of Midwestern period authenticity without feeling ghoulish. My Friend Dahmer is sad, scary, and a thoughtful, unique look at a real-life character who remains a point of morbid pop culture fascination decades after his death.
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (USA, dir. Angela Robinson)
Dr. William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans), creator of the comic book superheroine Wonder Woman, finds himself on the end of intense questioning by Josette Frank (Connie Britton) of the Child Study Association of America. Frank is concerned about the messages Wonder Woman sends to the youth of America, and as she interrogates Marston he reflects on the circumstances that led him to this conflict. While working as a professor of psychology, Marston and his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) took on young Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote), niece of feminist pioneer Margaret Sanger, as a teachers’ aid. But the relationship between the three grew into something much different, and inspired by the powerful women in his life and his own interest in relationship dynamics--particularly the concepts of domination and submission--Marston created Wonder Woman to help spur a feminist movement by instilling his ideals in young readers’ minds through the medium of comics. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women uses Marston and the controversy over Wonder Woman as a structure, but its focus is ultimately on the relationship between Elizabeth and Olive. It is in some ways (perhaps unavoidably) similar to other biopics, but its subjects were fascinating people with a unique relationship. The fact that the film is unapologetically sexy also sets it apart from other films of its ilk, although its leads bear absolutely no physical resemblance whatsoever to the people on whom they are based. No doubt it would have been difficult to get funds to produce a version of this story with less distractingly beautiful people. But perhaps that’s just as well considering Wonder Woman was Marston’s ideal of a perfect woman. The casting of glamorous actors gives the film a slight edge of subdued fantasy, which suits the material well.
Gilbert (USA, dir. Neil Berkeley)
Gilbert Gottfried has been a mainstay in American popular culture for decades, but any information about his personal life has been scarce. So it comes as something of a shock to watch Neil Berkeley’s extremely personal, touching, and uproariously funny documentary unearth Gottfried’s off-stage life in such microscopic detail. Gottfried explains that he kept his personal life out of the spotlight purposely, so much so that fellow comedian Artie Lange admits he was totally floored when he discovered Gottfried was happily married with two children. Director Berkeley presents a picture of a life that is deeply unglamorous: Gottfried has dinner with his family, travels to performances via Megabus, regularly visits his sister Arlene, and has amassed a hoard of freebies from hotels and airplanes. His wife Dara displays this for the camera and explains he has soaps and shampoos dating back to Pan Am Airlines. This is just one of countless small details that contribute to the full picture of Gott
fried, built from these peeks into his personal life and interviews with some of the innumerable comedians he has worked with and inspired over the years. Dave Attell, Joy Behar, Jay Leno, Jim Gaffigan, Penn Jillette, and Judy Gold are among the parade of friends and admirers who offer their perspective on Gottfried. It’s a profane, personal, incredibly funny, and unexpectedly heartwarming film.
Thelma (France, dir. Joachim Trier)
Thelma (Ellie Harboe) has grown up sheltered, raised in a strict Christian home by her parents Trond (Henrik Rafaelsen) and Unni (Ellen Dorrit Petersen). When she strikes out on her own to University, she’s simultaneously terrified and thrilled, feelings that intensify when she is befriended by her beautiful and outgoing classmate Anja (Kaya Wilkins). But social adjustment is just one of the major problems facing Thelma: Inexplicable things occur around her, and she begins to suffer from full-body seizures. When medical testing fails to answer any of her questions, Thelma digs into her past and that of her family to uncover dark truths. Writer/director Joachim Trier is best known for his acclaimed feature Oslo, August 31st, but his follow-up Louder Than Bombs (an English language film starring Jesse Eisenberg and Isabelle Huppert) divided critics during its festival run and received only a limited theatrical run in the States. Thelma is a departure in that it explicitly deals with concepts grounded in genre tropes, but its chilly, precise cinematography by Jakob Ihre (who also shot Trier’s last two features) and intense focus on character and relationships carry over from his previous work. Ellie Harboe is excellent in the title role, which requires a difficult range of emotions. In some ways, Thelma feels like an icy modern version of Carrie, and it also plays as an interesting companion piece to Kornél Mundruczó’s Jupiter’s Moon (also playing this year’s Fantastic Fest).
The Death of Stalin (UK, dir. Armando Iannucci)
Joseph Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) suddenly falls ill and dies, leaving his cabinet scrambling. Hapless Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor) finds himself stuck in the middle of a vicious struggle between Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) and Lavrenty Beria (Simon Russell Beale) to fill the power vacuum left by Stalin’s abrupt demise. Complicating matters further is the arrival of Stalin’s grieving daughter Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough) and drunken jackass son Vasily (Rupert Friend). Hardly anybody can even agree on what to do for the funeral, so what’s going to happen once the real business of government has to resume? The Death of Stalin is based in historical fact (and based on a comic book series of the same name), but rather than a dry period piece, director Armando Iannucci presents the events as a fast-paced screwball comedy of errors. As dark as it necessarily gets to tell the story, the film is flat-out hilarious. Everyone in the phenomenal cast is at the top of their game, and the screenplay gives them all some incredible dialogue to deliver. It’s smart, foul-mouthed, and utterly unexpected.
Fantastic Fest 2017: Day 6
Originally published on Daily Grindhouse 25 October 2017
Baashha (1995, India, dir. Suresh Krissna)
Humble cab driver Manickam (Tamil megastar Rajinikanth) works hard to support his family, but his neighborhood has recently become the target of organized crime. As the pressure on local business owners mounts, Manickam and his friends try to keep their heads down. But eventually the thugs push too far when they target Manickam’s family and his mysterious past is brought to light. Manickam is in fact the legendary and much-feared criminal Baashha, who has gone into hiding to protect his loved ones and keep the promise he made to his father. Once word is out, it’s only a matter of time before Baashha and his friends who have also gone into hiding with him clash with the criminals threatening their peaceful new lives. Baashha was this year’s only repertory Indian film screening at Fantastic Fest after last year’s excellent themed sidebar. Lead Rajinikanth is one of the biggest names in Indian cinema, and his turn in this 1995 film helped cement his massive popularity. Baashha is a hugely entertaining crime drama packed with catchy songs and fun dance numbers in between its romantic subplot and superhuman ass-kicking. Huge thanks once again to Fantastic Fest for giving U.S. fans of Indian cinema a chance to see this on the big screen!
The Originals (Egypt, dir. Marwan Hamed)
After decades of service to the bank where he is a beloved employee, Samir (Maged El Kedwany) is let go. Adrift without a job to define him, Samir is excited but wary when he receives a mysterious package with a cell phone inside. He receives communications that indicate he is being offered a position in an ancient, shadowy organization that monitors the lives of all the people in Egypt. How they did this even a few decades ago is unclear, but now they’ve got top of the line tech that gives them access to everyone’s phones, computers, cameras, etc. etc. etc. Samir is assigned to watch a young woman, and given strict instructions to never contact her. It’s not long before observation and reporting is not satisfying for Samir, and he takes a chance that puts both of them in danger. The Originals was part of this year’s Fantastic Fest themed programming, a modern film from Egypt. Its first half is initially charmingly and then somewhat frustratingly meandering. Once it turns into a kind of low-key techno-thriller, the film hints at several interesting directions and concepts that it may explore and (once again) frustratingly doesn’t really do much of anything with them. It looks great and the cast is fine, but there’s just not much to chew on here.
3ft Ball & Souls (Japan, dir. Yoshio Kato)
The four members of a small online message board called the “Life Club” gather in a shed one afternoon to commit suicide by giant firework. They’ve been planning this for a while, each one traumatized by life in a way they believe is beyond recovery. But when the firework explodes, the whole sequence of events leading from the first entry to the shack to the explosion starts all over again. And then once again after the explosion happens a second time. Why are the members of the “Life Club” doomed to die over and over again? Can they find a way to break the cycle, or are they trapped forever? 3ft Ball & Souls takes place almost entirely in that shed, with a small core cast of four leads who make up the majority of the speaking parts in the film. As such, it feels very stagey, and not entirely in a good way. It mostly feels like a second-tier 60s Twilight Zone plot stretched out to feature length. Each character’s story is delivered through flashbacks, and the acting is all over the place. However, that may also be partially due to the writing, which is straightforward to a fault. The characters are endearing in the end, but the film’s “time loop” gimmick doesn’t feel necessary once what is happening finally becomes clear. At heart this is a small drama about people who find support and understanding in an unexpected place. With a bit more focus on that rather than the genre-baiting gimmick, this could have mined more effective tension from the relationships between the characters. As it stands, 3ft Ball & Souls is not bad, but it’s also not terribly memorable.
Revenge (France, dir. Coralie Fargeat)
Richard (Kevin Janssens) has planned a weekend hunting party with a couple of friends, but he gets there a day early with his young mistress Jen (Matilda Anna Lutz) to get in some quality alone time. Unfortunately his plan is derailed when Stan (Vincent Colombe) and Dimitri (Guillaume Bouchede) show up just a few hours after Richard and Jen anyway. The four party that night out under the stars, and Stan takes Jen’s casual flirting far too seriously. Stan rapes Jen the following morning while Richard is out running an errand, and when Richard returns he knows immediately the situation could ruin all their lives. To cover up the crime, they push Jen off a cliff and leave her for dead. But she has much more fight in her than they could imagine, and soon the boys get their hunting weekend after all--just not quite the one they expected. Revenge is as straightforward as its prosaic title: This is a classically-styled “rape/revenge” movie that would have fit right in on any drive-in screen in the 1970s on a double bill with I Spit on Your Grave or Thriller. The fact that it’s from a female writer/director is unusual, though, as is the sheer amount of blood on display here. Debut feature filmmaker Co
ralie Fargeat may have been inspired by some of the horror films coming out of her home country of France for the last two decades, specifically the “New French Extremity” spearheaded by Alexandre Aja’s High Tension and culminating in Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs. Revenge is a beautifully shot film with gut-wrenching tension and a spectacular score by Rob (who also provided the score for Franck Khalfoun’s Maniac remake) to accompany Lutz’s intense and grueling lead performance. At its core this is still a “rape/revenge” movie, and anyone who is not a fan of the subgenre is unlikely to have their mind changed by this film. Anyone who can stomach it, though, is advised to seek out this film as soon as possible. This is an excellent debut feature for Fargeat and should by all rights be a star-making showcase for Lutz. Keep an eye out for whatever they’ve got in the works!
Cold Hell (Germany, dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky)
Turkish immigrant and cab driver Özge (Violetta Schurawlow) returns to her apartment after one particularly difficult evening to find her neighbor from across the way brutally murdered, her killer standing at the window staring Özge down. When the police show up, they’re not all that helpful. Jaded detective Christian Steiner (Tobias Moretti) can barely be bothered to interact with Özge, let alone sympathize with her worry that the killer might come back for her. Unfortunately for Özge, she’s burned a lot of bridges with friends and family; on the upside, she’s a ferocious kickboxer who knows how to channel her anger at the world into dangerous hand-to-hand combat. When the killer strikes again, Özge is forced to join forces with Steiner and it becomes clear they’re dealing with something much worse than they could imagine. In a lot of ways, Cold Hell is a familiar serial killer procedural/action hybrid. What really sets it apart is the world Özge and her family inhabit as they try to make their lives in Vienna. Somewhat more successfully than Darkland (also playing this year’s fest), Cold Hell fleshes out their relationship with each other and their adopted home in quick but effective strokes. Also unusual is the fact that Özge is no damsel in distress--before the first fifteen minutes of the film are over, she’s beaten two men bloody with her bare hands (and knees, shins, and elbows). Director Stefan Ruzowitzky gives the film a polished look that’s gritty when it needs to be, and Violetta Schurawlow gives an impressive lead performance that requires both dramatic range and intense physicality. It stumbles a bit near the end when Özge’s relationship with Steiner takes a frustratingly predictable turn, but overall Cold Hell is a unique and solidly-built thriller that stands out from the crowd.
The Unrepentant Cinephile Page 102
