Unseen Terror 2015: Day 26

At an office building in Philadelphia, five seemingly random strangers board an elevator. Much to their surprise, it breaks down in between floors, and they make a call to security to assist them out. Despite the fact that those on the monitors have no way of actually hearing them speak, they still spot the group and send repairmen to help. On the outside, a detective named Bowden is assigned to a case of suicide, which seems to have taken place at the same architecture. He is requested to head over and identify those who are trapped, but every time that the power flashes inside the device, something horrific occurs, with one guard believing that the culprit may not lie in these people, but something far more sinister.



It's inevitable that all good things must eventually come to an end. Beginning with 2006's Evil Bong, I had what one could mistake as a nice "streak" going for me. Every film that I was watching produced good feedback, with final thoughts ranging from decently entertaining to DAMN good. This is all the more shocking when you consider the incorrect opinion many have of there being very little worthwhile horror movies that came about during the latter half of the 2000s. As I entered another new decade, I was feeling optimistic. After all, the year 2010 gave us I Saw The Devil, Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil, Stake Land, and Trollhunter, so who wouldn't be a little stoked?


And then, M. Night Shyamalan reared his ugly head, taking my run of solid luck and wiping it on his posterior. Okay, if we have to get technical, the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable director can't claim a flick like Devil as his own, but his stink covers the entire project in a way that you just can't ignore so easily. Hell, even without his involvement as the initial conceiver of the story, the man would still have his name attached as a producer, as would one of his closest confidants by the name of Sam Mercer, who has stood by the much-maligned Shyamalan throughout most of his spiraling, perplexing career. But as one can see by the poster and a quick visit to IMDB, both of these gentlemen do have this to add to their resumes, and that is a truly sad thing to say.


Several portions of Devil, including the plot that unravels outside of the lift itself, feel awfully clunky and awkward. It doesn't help when Shyamalan and screenwriter Brian Nelson (Hard Candy, 30 Days Of Night) concoct some truly absurd and flat out dumb dialogue for our assorted leads to spout (be on the lookout for Jacob Vargas' sandwich line). Performances are a 50/50 split of actors trying far too hard to look interested or seeming as if they just woke up from an all night bender that consisted of nothing but alcohol and downers. Having still not seen the Academy Award-winning feature Argo, I don't want to be too hard on Chris Messina's performance as the main protagonist who is attempting to decipher what is exactly occurring inside this mechanical hoist, but my god, he gives off a vibe that screams that he would rather be spending time with his family rather than acting through a mediocre picture from John Erick Dowdle, whose other recent works include Owen Wilson vehicle No Escape and the wholly unnecessary Quarantine. Thankfully, there is a small light in Devil's rather dark-filled product: composer Fernando Velazquez manages to piece together a fairly stable score, adding in touches of real dread for what is to come in this claustrophobic area. One wishes that he had decided to fasten it to a better film though.


Devil could have been, should have been, and perhaps one day WILL be a supremely satisfying experience. In the hands of a more talented group of individuals, the cool-sounding concept would have provided for far more excitement and legitimate scares, rather than leave you rolling your eyes and growing somewhat disinterested in its revelations that you're very likely to correctly guess within the first act. Given that the gap in between remaking older motion pictures is much smaller than you would think, perhaps we shall see this handled better by the time that we as people have reached the middle of a new decade. Before that time period arrives, however, the purportedly planned followup may have been released to theaters, and if the rumors are true of Shyamalan's wishes for there to be a series of projects that can serve as his equivalent to John Carpenter's infamous and beloved "Apocalypse Trilogy," then the wait for a retelling could take longer than even I thought it would. If you're curious about the end results, and would like to agree or disagree with the paragraphs regarding my disappointments, Devil is readily available for purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray at most retail outlets and stores, and the option to watch it on Netflix Instant Streaming is still an option (at least as of this writing).



Tomorrow, Shyamalamadingdong is (hopefully) a one and done guest on Unseen Terror, and we'll take a trip back into zombie territory, albeit with a fiery Latino twist.

Unseen Terror 2014: Day 6

Bank worker Hae-won doesn't exactly enjoy living in the occasionally stress-filled and frenetic city of Seoul, South Korea. On the advice of one of her superiors, she takes a much-needed vacation to the private island of Mudo, where she spent much of her time growing up during her prepubescent years. Once Hae-won has arrived, she is greeted by one-time best friend Bok-nam, with whom she had lost touch. After perusing the isolated premises, she notices that the companion from her youth lives a rather tough on Mudo: she is treated like a slave, abused by her husband, his brother, and the assorted elders living in the village. When a particularly life-changing tragedy strikes, Hae-won can only watch in horror as her childhood friend finally snaps.


Each year that I pick out my movies to view for this marathon, I have a difficult time narrowing down my variety of choices to at least thirty one individual selections. What's even harder is having to pick out what will be watched on which day, especially given previous iterations' structuring and the thought often crosses my mind on if I should stick with a recurring theme for each number listed (not everything is a coincidence). Sometimes, this has lead to rousing success and pleasant viewing experiences. For starters, I always try and pick out something that I'm guaranteed to enjoy on day one. On the opposite end of the spectrum, sometimes you end up sitting through more awful Hellraiser sequels and pretentious messes like Rubber than you ever thought that you could.


As luck would have it, day six of every year's marathon has seemingly become about discovering new films from the country of South Korea, particularly in the horror and/or thriller field. I've enjoyed Thirst and I Saw The Devil immensely, and first-time director Jang Cheol-soo's tragic, bloody, and all-around exceptional motion picture Bedevilled has more than a right to be held in the same breath as some of the best of the best from the East. As of this writing, about twenty five or thirty minutes have passed since the credits ended, and in some regards, I'm still at a loss for words.


I will keep my spoilers to a bare minimum, but I must throw out something before I continue on: Bedevilled may not be considered a "horror" movie, at least by the standards of most audiences. True, its most uncomfortable scenes and unquestionably detestable villains could help you make the case for it being one, but just as many folks will compare it to a picture such as Taxi Driver, or something more macabre such as I Spit On Your Grave, though I think has far more to offer than the latter ever could. A person such as myself doesn't really care what you call it, since thrills and chills are more closely linked than people want to fully admit anyway. On the "thrill," or more appropriately, dramatic side of things, if you're expecting Hae-won, the former woman described in the above synopsis to take the lead as our protagonist, you are sorely mistaken and have been greatly mislead my friend. Mind you, she doesn't disappear or become a second banana at all, but our poor islander, the emotionally and physically tortured Kim Bok-nam, is the real star here, and she is someone we spend quite a bit of time getting to know. The lady is clearly the only thoughtful and compassionate character on the island of Mudo, as every single person surrounding her (with the lone exception of her daughter, played quite adequately by youngster Lee Ji-eun ) is either verbally beating her down for not being completely submissive and having an opinion, or they're physically abusing her over minor and mundane mistakes that every human being is capable of making. I don't think I've seen this much debasing of a spouse since Lucky McKee's equally harsh horror film The Woman.


This continuous beating of a young lady who clearly doesn't deserve any of this guides us into the "chill" category. When Bok-nam ultimately snaps (thankfully this isn't a spoiler, especially if you've seen the alternate poster), it goes from zero to eighty in a manner that can only be described as shockingly satisfying, if not a bit on the morbid side. Bok-nam is played wonderfully by actress Seo Young-hee, who I would personally love to see get a chance to work with a bigger hollywood (not necessarily American) director after she did such a fantastic job of helping flesh this woman out, separating her from the usual vengeful heroine character. Let's hope she can fare better than Choi Min-sik though, since even he couldn't save the disappointingly bland and forgettable Lucy. At certain times during her island-based life, she can be incredibly pathetic, although very sympathetic when you consider that she has been sucked into this eerie, cult-like, browbeating community against her will, seeing the return of her old friend Hae-won as a possible way out of this nightmarish existence. During other periods, she is horrifying cold and notably resourceful, outperforming the most sadistic and calculated of slasher movie villains. This instantly memorable performance is only accentuated further by the minimal use of a musical score, saved only for the most crucial of moments and when serenity is most needed during times of absolute madness.

If you can stomach the initially slow pace and build, the brutal violence, and can deal with the fair amount of female (and occasional child) abuse seen throughout the two hour running time, Bedevilled is a remarkably well-made, powerful, and important picture. I understand that its conclusion will most likely prove to be quite divisive, but I think it's the type that will cause you to think and realize how the entire story has come full circle, and that even through terrible, terrible events taking place, we can still grow as people, learning to do the right thing when the time finally comes. Well, this is after you have cooled down that is. My only issue though? I honestly wish that I had watched this at a later time, considering that it sets the bar for this year's lineup rather high.



However, tomorrow may prove me wrong.



Tomorrow, we're sticking around in South Korea and checking out Bad Guy!

Unseen Terror 2013: Day 23

A vampiric outbreak has ravaged the world, leaving humanity on its last legs and struggling to survive. After his own family is horrifically slaughtered, a boy known simply as "Martin" is saved by an experienced hunter simply named "Mister," who takes him under his wing and begins to train him. Driving him across the lands of this broken down and depleted America, the two set out in hopes of reaching the idyllic New Eden, where purportedly they can begin a new life.


If you've ever imagined what would happen if Cormac McCarthy's The Road would have been like had it been littered and mixed with the best atmospheric parts from Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead and a dash of John Carpenter's Vampires, perhaps I've found the next film you should be watching on your Netflix queue. And most surprisingly, for the most frugal of fans, which makes up a large portion of my own personal friends list, it isn't a foreign production either.


For a film about vampires, we come to find out that there may exist far worse things in this collapsed and mysterious world than the beings that suck your blood and turn you into a monster, as evidenced by the fanatical Jebedia Loven, leader of a group of religious devotees known as the Brotherhood, played here excellently by Broadway actor Michael Cerveris. But don't even think twice about it: the vampires in Stake Land are still absolute monsters, and this is how they should be portrayed. While I don't mind the old "romantic" take on vampires seen in the old days and multiple tales, I've been more partial to their depiction as mean, insane, and bloodthirsty creations who will feast on even infants in order to survive (as seen here on more than one occasion). I'll also have to make it a habit to incorporate the term "Scamp," a term for a younger person turned into such a creature, into my horror vocabulary. Perhaps my only complaint about any of the villainy seen throughout lies in the sound department, which sadly recycles sound effects from pig squeals and generic monster growls for the vampires, but that could be the only legitimate problem I had other than minor squabbles, and perhaps that was due to time restrictions and budget limitations.


Casting-wise, as I hinted at above, everybody nailed their parts, and the characters actually aren't as cliched as you may think they could be in a field or genre that's been admittedly played out. Nick Damici's "Mister" might remind you of Tallahassee from Zombieland, except he's played with a much more serious manner and with a more fatherly figure tone. Damici also happened to co-write the film, and it seems that he knew he had to make viewers want to root for this character while not making him an alienating dickhead either. I'd also like to see more from Connor Paolo, whose "Martin" was great to see grow over the course of the film, and provided an unexpected narration that was very uncommon for a film such as this. True, the reliance upon this borders on turning into an overdose of exposition, but it knows when to stop at just the right times. This isn't just a boys club, however, as along the way, they run into some other faces like modern-day "Scream Queen" Danielle Harris (Halloween 4 & 5, The Wild Thornberrys, Hatchet II) and Kelly McGillis (Top Gun), in which the latter even came out of retirement in order to play her role! Pretty darn cool if you ask me.


It's an incredible shame that Stake Land hasn't gained a more massive following, or wasn't released to a wider audience, thus rendering it into the realm of the mostly unknown. As it stands right now, the film cost around four million dollars to make, but hasn't even grossed forty thousand, even based on a limited run in theaters back in 2010 and good word of mouth from critics like Roger Ebert (R.I.P.). It has the makings of an independent or midnight movie classic, and is arguably one of the best American-made vampire films in years, and my personal favorite film involving the bloodsuckers since Let the Right One In. I don't usually rank the films that I view from Unseen Terror, but if such a thing was done, this one will have to make a theoretical top five or top ten based on uniqueness alone. I'd be happy to purchase a copy on home video, solely to give director Jim Mickle and writer/star Nick Damici a few extra dollars towards any future projects they may want to do.



Tomorrow, we're back into the realm of anthologies with THE ABCs OF DEATH!