So, the double-dip global recession is about to bite, endless natural disasters are stomping all over humanity and the unrelenting machines of war rumble on. With all this real-life horror (not to mention the threat of a Jedward UK tour), it seems now’s the right time to launch this new monthly blog bathing in the light relief that is bloody murder, torture-porn and psychological oblivion. So, without delay, let’s wade through the latest frightfests.
First up, we can hear the squelchy sound of the undead snacking in Mulberry Street director Jim Mickle’s acclaimed vampire road movie, Stake Land. Pitched as a post-apocalyptic romp fusing Near Dark, Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend and George A. Romero’s zombie canon, it’s an enjoyable mix of cliché and compelling.
Mulberry Street star Nick Damici reunites with Mickle as silly-named-but-harder-than-nails drifter Mister, charged with training teenage orphan Martin (Connor Paolo) survival skills on a corny rites de passage story across a hostile US of A. With bloodsuckers more monstrous than the pouty Twilight breed, along with some nicely maniacal religious zealots, this is good value for money in the undemanding fanged fun stakes.
Next, we have a triple-bill from the ever-reliable Arrow Video. The first two, Night Of The Living Dead co-writer John Russo’s adaptation of his novel, Midnight, and Eli Roth-approved slasher pic, Pieces, owe much (some might say too much) to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Midnight, a 1982 occult take on Tobe Hooper’s twisted family set-up, is pretty unremarkable. Badly acted and shot with irritatingly incongruous, terrible pop songs wedged in, the production is more horrific than the violence, though a turn from Lawrence Tierney as an extremely anti-anti-hero saves this from the scrapheap.
1983’s Pieces, essentially John Carpenter’s Halloween at a high school, but with chainsaw rather than knife, is similarly forgettable, though an agreeable sub-Carpenter synth score and Garth Marenghi-camp over-acting score bonus points. Both come with an introduction (Midnight has star John Amplas; Pieces has creepy co-star Jack Taylor), neatly reminding us that it’s a universal rule that all old horror directors and actors must seem like the nicest guys alive.
The other Arrow release, Black Heaven, a Lynchian riff on online gaming, cyber-networking and sex, comes from the Gallic brains behind bleak thriller Harry, He’s Here To Help, and has a similar focus on the corruption of youth amid sexual tension.
A lost cell-phone, discovered by young French lovers Gaspard (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) and Marion (Pauline Etienne), leads to a sinister underworld of S&M, murder and manipulation as Gaspard falls further and further down the rabbit hole. There’s a lot of the Blue Velvets evident, and despite clunky online scenes and being slightly derivative, the feeling of ominous escalation Black Heaven embraces pays welcome homage to that bequiffed master of the midnight movie.
We finish this month on a high with The Silent House, Uruguayan director Gustavo Hernandez’s masterly telling of the true story of a seemingly haunted house and a father and daughter trapped inside. A cinematic cousin to the likes of The Blair Witch Project, REC or Open Water – i.e. making the most of off-screen space – The Silent House’s sparing use of sound, lack of lighting and skilful filming in just one continuous take works to devastating effect.
Young star Florencia Colucci pulls the requisite shapes of shock and awe as alone-in-the-dark protagonist Laura, trying to find her way out of the house before a killer gets her; Hernandez’s direction sides us with Laura throughout, making for an absorbing Spanish-language thrill-ride you’d be a fool to miss. Hollywood execs have got their grubby paws on the rights for a presumably glossed-up remake: with an original this good, who can blame them?
Midnight, Pieces, Black Heaven and The Silent House are all out now. Stake Land will be released on Monday 17th October 2011.