Unseen Terror 2019: Days 5 & 6

Six years ago, I was finally able to watch and review the 1983 cult classic The Deadly Spawn. It's a joyous, gory, low-budget romp which proves that one doesn't necessarily need a gigantic budget to make a truly great horror flick. Much to my surprise, however, I heard rumblings of a quasi-sequel out there on the market, and that it sported a higher budget than its predecessor. These rumors proved to be.....partially accurate, as 1990's Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor was indeed originally conceived as a follow-up to that very picture (and was even initially shot under the title of Deadly Spawn 2: The Metamorphosis), but underwent a number of drastic changes over the course of several years. The end result isn't up to par with its forefather, but does this story of a scientist infected by an alien virus that slowly mutates him into a bloodthirsty beast warrant its 4.7 rating on imdb?


Seeing as how I'm still very tired from this weekend's Monster Mania Con in Maryland, I'll try to be as nice as humanly possible: yeah, it kind of does deserve a score that low. I suppose that if I can start with the positive aspects of Metamorphosis, I'd have to begin with the effects work. Even if the feature-length film itself isn't anything to write home about, the overall designs are pretty decent. The main baddy has a look to it which seems to blend influences from the o.g. Deadly Spawn aliens, the tendril-filled horror from The Thing, and aspects that modern day fans of games like Dead Space would likely appreciate. The only flaws in its grotesque design come from when many of the movie's stop-motion moments kick in, and it does a very good job at nearly taking you out of the whole thing with just how immovable it appears to be. Yes, I know that this was during the heyday of straight-to-video 1990s schlockfests (I grew up with it after all), but I imagine that even then people would have been laughing quite a bit at the absurdity of the whole shebang. There are also more than a few cheesy segments and fights that harken back to the best moments of the "first" film, including a beatdown by one executive on a bumbling, wannabe hero that seems to last several minutes and travels across several rooms of the facility that everyone is trapped in.


While all of that nonsense will manage to elicit a fair amount of chuckles from people with an appreciation for dumb cinema, the rest of Metamorphosis is proof that sometimes you can only strike gold once. Most of the dialogue by Glenn Takakjian (who also directed) is just plain awful, or painfully cliched to the point where you'll wish that you were watching something with a slightly similar plot like The Fly II. Not helping matters is a fairly weak cast, who just seem like they don't know whether to play their roles as serious or campy. At least one of them (Allen Lewis Rickman) has several Troma movies listed in their filmography though, so at least one of them understood what was going on here. The pacing, particularly towards the end, also begins to drag and you're just as likely to breathe a sigh of relief before the final stinger at the end.


It isn't breaking new ground, but I did find Metamorphosis to be decently entertaining, though sometimes a chore to get through. It's got the right amount of bloodshed and camp to help its running time move along rather smoothly, and sports a pretty rad monster to boot, but it does feel like nothing is immediately memorable. Anyone who is longing for the days of when every VHS tape that you rented had "that one weird ass preview" on it might want to check it out. The DVD for this sucker doesn't cost a whole lot, and you can catch it on sites such as YouTube....for now.



Just be careful that you don't accidentally come across the other film released in 1990 that is also titled Metamorphosis. We don't need the horror movie equivalent of the Batushka drama, do we?





Alright, time for Day 6.

*deep sigh*



Man, what a strange and shameless piece of excrement. Prior to this year's Unseen Terror, I knew more about 1989's Shocking Dark than I cared to know, and even finally getting around to watching the film in its entirety didn't prepare me for what was to follow. The synopsis should sound very familiar to anyone and everyone who has ever forayed into the realm of science fiction/horror/action hybrids. In the year 2000, Venice has been overly polluted and ravaged. While people work on the surface in an attempt to make things more habitable, bloodthirsty creatures that lurk beneath the city start to attack them or take them below to be cocooned. Soon, a group of soldiers and civilians are sent to investigate and take down whatever threat they may encounter.


If you think that most of that plot sounds awfully similar to the one of James Cameron's Aliens, then you should be happy knowing that your brain hasn't been completely ravaged by rampant drug use. Look, I've covered many Italian horror flicks over the years on here (usually with mixed results). But Shocking Dark is easily the most shameless of the ones that I've watched to date. For about a good ninety percent of its running time, this is a direct ripoff of Aliens, only with a tinier budget, much worse acting (Geretta Geretta of Demons fame deserved far more screen time), and some pretty darn cheap effects work. Then, in a twist that nobody could have expected (unless you look at the poster), the picture decides to rip off another Cameron classic by revealing that someone in the gang of fighters is a cyborg. In a film that was already pretty incompetent and suffering from an identity crisis, this just jams another screwdriver into your head. I wasn't terribly surprised to discover that this was directed by Bruno Mattei, who's made an appearance before on this marathon with the absolutely horrendous Cruel Jaws. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but most of the man's filmography was made up of shameless ripoffs and softcore cinematic forays. Let it be known that I don't have a problem with that, but it's just a fact, and like many of his filmmaking brethren, retitling this as a fake "sequel" to a successful movie from the west wasn't beneath him.


All of my gripes and complaint aside, I do believe that a movie like Shocking Dark has to be seen at least once before you die. It isn't something that aspiring filmmakers should look up to, but you have to admire just how ballsy some of these filmmakers were with their inability to give a single fuck about many "traditional" aspects of writing or directing. Originality isn't the name of the game with many of these flicks, though building off of similar concepts seen in their American influences and adding in something truly bizarre is certainly welcome. But like I said, it isn't a good movie. At. All. Still, if you have some cash to spend (and access to good beer), Severin released a loaded Blu-Ray last year that contains a number of extras and far more attention spent on it than anyone could have expected.



Beware of incessant yelling from this film's version of Newt though.




Tomorrow, I have to go back to work, though perhaps unwrapping one of the newer Blu-Rays I picked up at Monster Mania is an option...

Unseen Terror 2017: Day 24

Well, I certainly didn't plan on doing a twofer today, but here we are. Given how bewitching both of these films are in their badness, I'm going to need as much liquid courage as possible if I have to write reviews for both of them.

I had only ever seen the cover art for 1984's Monster Dog while passing through my local video stores back in the day. It looked ridiculous, and while my younger self was admittedly a lot pickier when it came to cinema, these days I'm pretty much down for whatever is suggested to me. Besides, when has crappy packaging ever truly stopped me from taking the plunge and checking something out? Plus, it has everything that I like in my horror movies: it's an Italian production, features a rock star as its lead (in this case, it's Alice Cooper), and a killer creature or two.


But man, does this movie blow chunks. In fact, it practically projectile vomits them. Monster Dog's  concept is based around a musical performer driving back to his childhood home with his crew in tow, only to find that when they try to shoot a music video, they get into a heap of trouble that involves, but isn't limited to a pack of wild dogs that are on the hunt for human flesh and something that sure as shit sounds like lycanthropy. A fun idea in theory, sure, but so much of this production just feels like a misfire. Cooper isn't a terrible choice for a lead actor, but he appears to be so disinterested that the movie as a whole is brought down even more. It doesn't help that if you dig around for more information on the project, you discover that he was pretty down on his luck, and only agreed to do the motion picture if it was shown in the International market, but never in the U.S (spoilers: they didn't keep their promise). His costar Victoria Vera fares slightly better, but it's a shame that her character is so incredibly bland.


One of the most puzzling aspects of Monster Dog (other than the decision to cast a shorthaired Alice) comes in the form of its dialogue. Actually, if I can be more specific, the dubbing of said dialogue. I understand that most Italian horror flicks have a tendency to mix their audio rather oddly when they overdub their actors' performances, but it's so incredibly weird here because they make it sound as if every single member of the cast had this done to them. Much to my surprise, it turns out that Mr. Cooper himself was the only one whose lines were tampered with. It fools you initially, but you realize the nature of this deception once the gang reaches the house. Whoever voiced his character sounded ten years older than the shock rocker, and appeared to have grown up on a steady diet of 1950s sitcoms. Admittedly, the only laughs I got came from whoever dubbed the barks and growls for the canine enemies, as the pets themselves were borrowed from guide dog schools for the blind. Perhaps the actual behavior could have appeared to be more authentic had they told these companions about the fate of the protagonists in The Adventures of Milo and Otis?


Look, I try to find even the faintest of lights in the dark with nearly every picture that I come across, but god damn was it hard with Monster Dog. It almost redeems itself with the revelation of the titular beast during its third act (and a nice shotgun scalping beforehand), but it resembles an RC Cola version of something out of The Howling. And yes, it is watchable, with it occasionally diving into the "so bad it's good" category once in a blue moon. Still, that's a rather backhanded compliment, as it's just overwhelmingly stupid, suffers from grueling pacing, and doesn't know how to have nearly enough fun. If you feel like suffering for ninety minutes, you can pick up the Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, as it apparently contains a featurette on the making of this monstrosity. I will not be doing such a thing, as I have endured enough pain from this director for the time being



But heck, what would you expect from the individual who gave us Troll 2?



Alright, time to leave earth for a bit, and go to outer space!


.....but then go right back to earth.


*sigh*

Like Monster Dog, my only prior knowledge of Xtro came from seeing it on store shelves or from seeing advertisements inside the VHS or DVD cases for other releases. It certainly sounded interesting; a hybrid of Alien, Species, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind with a bit of family drama thrown into the mix. After the film concluded, the first thing that I noticed was that I did not expect Xtro to be as manic and unbalanced as it is. The second thing was how nobody who worked on this little ditty could have been sober during its creation and conception.


For starters, Xtro revolves around a father who was abducted by aliens long ago suddenly returning to his family's lives, but with very peculiar traits that begin to take effect on everyone around him. And that my friends, is the briefest, and most spoiler-free version of the vividly strange introduction that kicks this motion picture into gear. Because if there is one thing that Xtro delivers on, it's inherit weirdness and unexpected violence. There are sequences in here that could make more squeamish viewers (and particularly females) quite uncomfortable as they involve rape, pained/exaggerated childbirth, and many more. Adding in the rather good makeup/special effects is enough to make up for the quite amateurish acting (minus Bernice Stegers as the wife in the family), but not all of the time. Perhaps the only real weak spot in the technical/non-acting department comes in the form of the music, which sounded like more of a proper fit for something such as Home Alone rather than a science fiction/horror film that just throws everything at the wall regardless of whether it sticks or not.


I do hate to sound like a broken record, but did I mention that Xtro goes all out? Not since I viewed Society and Hausu have I seen something that experiments with the more unknown side of life and creatively explores a plethora of concepts that should not work on paper. The former abductee Sam Phillips (portrayed by the late Philip Sayer) provides most of these moments, which includes eating snake eggs and seemingly sucking on his child's shoulder for reasons that I won't get into. It'll certainly raise a few eyebrows, and I suspect that if one were to watch any of these scenes while on psychedelics, their brain could crack in two. One of the drawbacks of these is that it does begin to feel as though the writers and co/producers (which included New Line Cinema's notorious Bob Shaye) were trying to see how much they could get away with until they were told to stop. Regrettably, this leads to an ending that feels like an excuse to shock for shock value's sake.


Xtro is a beautiful, messy piece. The gross factor is high, its bizarre nature sometimes works against it, and it can be rather cruel to women. But unlike something along the lines of Monster Dog, I never found that I was bored throughout its running time, and because it is relatively cohesive, even counted myself as morbidly curious during its second half. In fact, because of how extraordinarily fucked in the head it is, I'll give it a recommendation for those who are seeking something truly unnatural and eccentric, but it isn't without a fair warning. Disappointingly, the DVD for Xtro is out of print (I had to watch my version on YouTube), and from what I've seen, it doesn't appear that there are any plans in the near future for it or its two sequels to receive another home video release. How someone like Arrow Films, Scream! Factory, or Synapse has not picked up this yet is beyond me.



But maybe they're afraid of potentially interviewing costar Simon Nash. He brings inanimate clowns to life after all, and that is truly terrifying.




Tomorrow, we hit the way back machine and visit an old Italian favorite for one of his more seminal pictures!

Unseen Terror 2017: Day 18

EPA worker Steve Malone is sent to rural Alabama, where he is hoping to test the possible effects that the nearby military base has on the ecosystem. Dragging his second wife Carol, stepson Andy, and his own daughter Marti with him, it doesn't take very long for the group to settle into their new abode. One day after young Andy runs away from school, seemingly scared of his new classmates' conformist-like behavior, he is picked up and delivered back to the house by helicopter pilot Tim Young, who Marti immediately bonds with. Within a staggeringly short amount of time, the Malone children begin to notice something highly unusual about the town: most of their familiars appear to be utterly without emotion. In fact, after one falls asleep, it's as if they are barely human anymore once they wake up...



There are two things that need to be said right off the bat before I type this review: I'm not a humongous Abel Ferrera fan (my thoughts on his 1979 effort The Driller Killer made that well-known), and despite my like for 1992's dark and sleazy Bad Lieutenant, his style of filmmaking just doesn't personally do it for me. The second is that this marks the FOURTH adaption that I've seen of author Jack Finney's classic 1955 story titled The Body Snatchers (five if you can count 1998's The Faculty). That is remarkably absurd, if not slightly unhealthy on my part. Still, two of those official interpretations and big screen handlings have been nothing short of great, with my only miss coming in the form of 2007's clunky and forgettable The Invasion. So I figured that with this year's Unseen Terror, there would be no better time than the present to visit 1993's Body Snatchers. Plus, with a shocking amount of recognizable names working in the script and story departments (Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli of Re-Animator & From Beyond, Larry Cohen of The Stuff & Q-The Winged Serpent), it just seemed that it was too big to fail.


After the final, depressing minutes wrapped up, I'm certainly glad that I took this chance, as this particular version manages to try something a little different to separate itself from its predecessors. For starters, Body Snatchers feels even more self-contained that I expected it to be, and despite the obvious threats and implication of future domination, most of its running time has the film's long tenure inside of a military base. To me, it didn't appear that the priority of spreading this "infection" worldwide seemed to be the main focus of its (many) antagonists though, or at least not until when we spot one leader passing off instructions to vehicles about their destinations. I'm not quite sure if that was the wisest move to make though, considering that there are several stretches where it does begin to drag a little until the events pick up. Speaking of that, Body Snatchers seems to have a bit more of a focus on providing more thrills and action than any other translation of the source material, though it isn't without some genuinely chilling and disturbing moments thrown in between. And yes, it does include a new version of the now infamous "Snatchers Scream."


While Body Snatchers does lack some of the same star power that the 1978 picture possessed (cue review plug), it isn't slouching in the acting department. Gabrielle Anwar, who some modern fans will recognize from Burn Notice and The Tudors is our main heroine, and she does play a damn fine one. The panic and paranoia seeping throughout her being does feel quite human and fairly realistic, as does her younger costar Reilly Murphy, who plays her kid brother and initial discoverer of the sudden change in loved ones and cohorts. Meg Tilly (The Big Chill) also has a great, if not criminally small role as their soon-to-be emotionless stepmother. She is involved in a particularly great sequence wherein she delivers a monologue about why resisting is utterly futile (don't sue me). It comes across as somewhat understandable, especially when you think about how dark and dreary this cruel world can be. Unfortunately, Anwar's costar Billy Wirth (The Lost Boys) just isn't given enough of a strong character or background to work with, and while we should be feeling concerned for his own safety, he just felt rather flat (the same can be said for Forest Whitaker's supporting role). Truth be told, most of the soldiers and personnel are fairly boring as well, even before the replacement process has begun. If this was supposed to be a metaphor for how soulless the armed forces can be, then they somewhat succeeded. I'm still a fan of the concept of fearing change and shattering the typical portrait of American society that was so vividly found in the other flicks though.


Complaints and quirks aside, I did find Body Snatchers to be a pretty decent watch, even if it doesn't really hold a candle to the other movies that came before it. The mood and atmosphere are appropriately chilling, the special effects rather nice (watching the "husks" dissolve is a standout), and it ultimately gets the vibe and feeling of hopelessness right, which is possibly one of its two or three most important aspects. As of this review, Ferrera's vision is available on a Blu-ray from Warner Home Video, and most services such as YouTube and Amazon Prime have it for rent. Ultimately, whatever iteration of the story you choose to temporarily or permanently purchase depends on how much you are willing to spend, or if you have a preference for certain decades' releases.



Just don't give any of your time to Invasion of the Pod People though. It's Asylum's knockoff, and you'd be better off letting one of these aliens destroy your body instead.




Tomorrow, we hop forward a bit and see if an Indiegogo fund can truly help (love)craft a competent horror movie!

Unseen Terror 2017: Day 13

It's November 5, 1975, and logger Travis Walton is heading to his job with his assorted friends and coworkers. A typical day goes by, but when the men travel back home, they encounter a strange, seemingly foreign object in the sky. Walton gets out of his vehicle to observe it up close, but is suddenly hit by a blinding ray of light, which sends him flying backwards. The others retreat, fearing that Travis has been killed, but when Mike Rogers, one of the man's closer cohorts, goes back to investigate and retrieve his body, it is nowhere to be found. Thus begins a five day-long search for Travis, who most of the town in which he resided believe has been simply murdered. Others, such as Mike and the rest of the men present that night, stick to their belief that foul play of the otherworld-type was involved, and the latter's beliefs may be confirmed when Mike is the recipient of a strange phone call one evening from someone claiming to be Travis...



So, we're thirteen days into this darn thing, and aliens haven't made a single appearance yet? I guess that has to change. 1993's Fire in the Sky is a movie that I'm mostly familiar with due to assorted YouTube clips that were floating around for a number of years before they were taken down by the powers that be (don't search for them unless you have no issue with most of its core moments being spoiled). Despite my lack of interest in exploring the unknown and headache-inducing UFO studies & conspiracies, I can still enjoy a fun picture about them from time to time if enough effort is put into the project itself. 


I do feel as if I was slightly deceived by my prior knowledge of Fire in the Sky though, as there is a very strong case to be made about why this can't truly qualify as a horror movie. Sure, the core concept of alien abduction and the paranoia that it instills in everyone involved with it is quite the characteristic for pictures of the more terrifying variety, but save for something that I will discuss in the next paragraph below, most of Fire in the Sky is a very slow burn, moving more like a drawn-out mystery rather than a full-fledged horror flick. Some people might find this to be very distracting or disappointing, but I had no qualms with it whatsoever. When you take into account that this is supposedly based on true events, you do find yourself a little more drawn and stuck to the film, wanting to conduct some research yourself after the credits have rolled. Plus, getting to know or possibly care for your main cast is something that I don't frown upon, especially when you have such a solid list of performers at your service. Our poor unfortunate abductee is portrayed by Life as We Know It star D.B. Sweeney, and considering that he's absent for most of Fire's second act, he still manages to garner a lot of sympathy. He's a blue collar individual with a good heart, and when we see him (literally) return to Earth, the amount of sheer horror that he manages to project with his body language and facial expressions makes you feel as if you're there with him, and you just want to give the guy a hug. His concerned coworkers are also fairly easy to identify with, especially Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Faculty), who gives a solid enough performance that it actually led to him being cast in another alien-related property many years later. Craig Sheffer (Nightbreed, One Tree Hill), Henry Thomas (E.T.), and Peter Berg (Shocker) also pop up in in the cast, but I couldn't for the life of me remember anything about their characters. Nobile Willingham of Walker: Texas Ranger fame also has a supporting role as a somewhat clichéd sheriff, whose primary reason for existing seemed to be as the overseeing skeptic of the group. A big cavalcade of people, sure, but their experience and tenure help to keep the motion picture afloat.


A large chunk of Fire in the Sky's main appeal will no doubt come from the "did it happen or didn't it" scenario that is offered to the audience, but unlike some of its brethren, director Robert Lierberman's product has a firm stance of telling you that all of this is absolutely, without question true (insert a Giorgio Tsoukalos quote of your choice). For someone like me, not leaving it up to the audience to decide can be a bit of a disappointment, but when you have to bear witness to what Travis supposedly went through, you will very likely shut your mouth for a few moments. I have managed to sit through a multitude of strange cinematic releases so far this year, including ones that involved a massive, gooey orgy of special effects during its final twenty minutes, and one that included a man committing oral hara-kiri with a pair of scissors. And yet, those could not compare to a haunting, unsettling ten minute-long sequence found in Fire's third act. If ever there was a better depiction of "realistic" kidnapping and experimenting by visitors from beyond the stars, then I've yet to see it. I don't recall the last time that I covered my mouth in disbelief and almost gagged during anything affiliated with science fiction, especially during a movie that is about a subject that very rarely interests me.


The entire event's plausibility withstanding, Fire in the Sky is a pretty fine little picture when you get down to it. While it does seem to not be quite certain about what it wants to be (also classifying it as drama isn't entirely silly to do either), the overall package is fascinating enough to warrant a recommendation. Those who are uncomfortable about situations involving extraterrestrials, especially the ones who share the darker urges and tendencies that some of the worst of humanity also has to offer, could find this more of an uneasy watch than expected. Unless you are willing to drop a pretty penny for the hard-to-find DVD release, your best method of viewing this 1993 piece is to check it out on Amazon Prime.



Or maybe, if you're nice enough to the whackjobs behind Ancient Aliens, they'll lend you one of the thousands of copies that I am positive they have stashed away in their closets.




Tomorrow, we're sticking with the unknown visitors, but at least this time, they might give us a bit of a warning...