Fantasia '19 Film Review - The Wretched

Ben (John-Paul Howard) who been acting out since learning of his parents plans to split up goes to spend the summer with his dad at a Northern Michigan boating community. Despite a broken arm, he lands a job working at the Marina where his dad is the manager. There he meets Mallory (Piper Curda) a sharp new colleague, his Dads current girlfriend Sarah (Azie Tesfai) and a group of spoiled rich kids that like to prank the new guy. The stage is set for a summer of sun, fun and moderate territorial battles but lurking in the woods beneath the root of an ancient twisted tree lies a witch with the power to inhabit and move between female bodies, render men docile servants with a whisper and an appetite for young children whose existence she wipes from the memory of loved ones and families minds.

Directors Brett and Drew Piece blend a couple of different witches from folklore to obtain the qualities they wanted in their monster. Being anti CGI they use practical effects wherever possible with Madelynn Stunkell as The Wretched in full costume and makeup covered in chocolate syrup interacting with the children giving the actors something tangible to react to. They also break the sacred Tennent of showing violent attacks on kids. From the prologue set 35 years in the past where The Wretched has occupied the body of the mother of the house feasting on her toddler in the basement. To the Witches appearance, present day snatching a baby from a crib and munching on its flesh.

Ben notices changes with his next door neighbour Abbie (Zarah Mahler) that are also picked up by her son Dillon (Blane Crockarell). The witches powers grow as she builds a shrine of rocks, branches, and skulls dotted with photos of those abducted, erased or set as the next target. Mahler is key in establishing the essence of the witch. How she takes hold of her intended host, shapeshifts into their skin, turning males into drone like servants while making them with a whisper into the ear forget about their small children. The exposition is done physically here which is much better than a stuffy subject matter expert giving a nauseating soliloquy on the topic.

The Wretched is full of classic horror elements. Evil living among us, animals and nature knowing what it is and reacting first, followed by kids, teenagers and lastly adults. The Pierce Brothers have taken their time here as storytellers to bring to the screen a physical, practical anti-structure horror  film that I can recommend.

*** Out of 4.

The Wretched | Brett & Drew Pierce | U.S.A. | 2019 | 95 Minutes

Tags: Prelogue, Seperation, Honor System, Marina, Casserole, Skinny Dipping, Ancient Fable, Salt, Child Abduction, Mind Control.

Fantasia '19 Film Review - 1BR

Sarah (Nicole Brydon Bloom) has moved to L.A. for a fresh start. She has a talent sketching and sewing planning to take a course locally to hone her craft and make new contacts. She is staying in a motel room, her Dad regularly calling her to come home believing that she does not have a solid plan. She works as a temp in a law firm for the worst kind of boss one who blames her mistakes on her subordinates and drops urgent projects on them at the last minute. She learns of a one-bedroom apartment available that would be perfect for her needs. Sarah goes to the open house almost walking out immediately seeing the number of interested parties. She is encouraged to stay by the Manager Jerry (Terry Nichols) who helps her to fill out the application where she gets stuck on the no pets question. Sarah gets the place, is warmly greeted by the residents who are more like a community especially handsome next-door neighbour Brian (Giles Matthey) who always seems to pop out of his apartment as she is walking past.

However, the dream apartment is not as advertised. At night the pipes creak and knock leaving her sleep deprived. Peculiar tenant Lester (Clayton Hoff) keeps staring at her from afar and she begins to get anonymous messages reminding her of the no pet policy meaning  that someone knows she smuggled in her pet cat Gyles. Plus everyone seems to have a copy of the book The Power of Community, that emphasizes Selflessness, Openness, Acceptance, and Security. The reality of the situation hits Sarah hard one night when she awakes to a burning smell and noise inside her apartment. The Asilo Del Mar residence are not as expected nor is their version of Community.

Director David Marmor researched many Groups / Utopian communities in crafting the story. L.A. is a breeding ground for them as many people escape to the city looking for a new beginning. Many may have left a trauma behind making them vulnerable to these entities. Here, Sarah is trying to put as much distance as she can between her and her father who cheated on her dying mom with the treating nurse. The tenents of these communities are a tool used to wedge the individual away from their family, friends, former life and into a state where the Group becomes their whole world.

1BR is an exercise that is autobiographical for Marmor. He moved to L.A. in his twenties, lacking confidence, entering a world that his parents didn't understand giving pause as he walked around waving to new faces. These groups are out there for the lost and traumatized. Scooping up new recruits each day disappearing them from their families and loved ones.

*** Our of 4.

1BR | David Marmor | U.S.A. | 2019 | 90 Minutes.

Tags: Los Angeles, Open House, Temp, Utopian, Community, Tennents, Brainwashing, Feline.

Fantasia '19 Film Review - Blood on Her Name

Leigh (Bethany Anne Lind) has just made a catastrophic mistake. She is in her auto repair shop Tiller's Auto with blood on her that's not her's staring at a body by the car hoist as a growing pool of blood forms. She is not unaccustomed to trouble. Her husband is in jail, her son Ryan (Jared Ivers) has to meet regularly with his parole officer and pee in a cup plus her dad works for the Sheriff's office but has fractured a serious rule on more than one occasion. Leigh grabs her cell phone to call 911 but stops. Deciding instead to get rid of the body setting in motion a series of events each making it harder to escape her inevitable fate over the likely result if she had made the call.

Director Matthew Pope who along with Don Thompson wrote the story of a series of desperate people living on the fringes in flyover country. Money is tight, prospects are worse and the players seem doomed to follow the behavioural patterns of the generation that came before. The writers put a sharp edge on the narrative that gives it bite. The wardrobe is mechanic grease and sweat stained with the beverages of choice being domestic beer and whiskey.

Bethany Anne Lind gives a strong physical performance as Leigh. She does a lot of heavy lifting but has an underlying sense of justice that can lead her astray. Will Patton is cut straight through to quick as Sheriff Department Officer Teller. He sizes up a situation ready to act whether the intended course adheres to or is against the law. Elizabeth Rohn is drawn into this conflict late as the victim's wife holding her wits well against the seasoned foes opposing her.

Blood on Her Name is a story that will hold interest throughout its brisk 85 minutes run time. It starts in the middle of the central event then introduces the well composed core group of characters who have depth seemingly from the moment they appear on the screen. It's a weighty presentation by a first time feature director that is well worth the watch.

*** Out of 4

Blood On Her Name | Matthew Pope | U.S.A. | 2019 | 85 Minutes.

Tags: Running Cars, Mechanic, Auto Repair Shop, Murder, Shrinkwrap, Parole, Necklace,  Colorado.

Fantasia '19 Film Review - Swallow

Hunter (Haley Bennett) seems to have everything anyone would want. Her husband Ritchie (Austin Stowell) is an extremely fit financial market heavyweight that has been just been promoted to run the family firm by his no-nonsense father (David Rasche) while her mother in law Katherine (Elizabeth Marvel) was in her shoes when she became Michael's bride offers on the balance helpful advice.

However, in the opening frames of film underlying issues emerge. She is ignored when she begins to speak as the three adults move on to more important issues. She lives in a remote glass house that her father in law bought. She appears to have no family, car or friends of her own with her only goal being to make Ritchie happy.

Events turn darker when she discovers that she is pregnant. Ritchie is elated telling his parents right away. Hunter begins to work on the nursery but in reality, she is losing more sense of herself, falling further into the tight grip of this high powered family. She reacts by ingesting unelidable objects, first a marble, then a push pin followed by a battery. In her mind, these small acts of rebellion give her back a sense of control until she winds up in the hospital needing surgery. The family now have reason to tighten to noose hiring Nurse / Babysitter / C.O.  Luay (Laith Nakli) "The Best in the Business" to watch her 24 hours a day.

Writer-Director Carlos Mirobella-Davis explores a topic that bubbles under popular discourse. The victim is viewed as lucky, the bruising is on the inside and not out and the damage is psychological and not physical.  The crux being Hunter is in a prison, with no say on what she does, who she sees, or what she can or can't do with her body. The most subtly chilling example of the latter occurs when Mother In Law Katherine comments on her hair and how Ritchie likes the hair on his girls long. Leading to obsessive touching of her bob likely thinking each time that it is making Ritchie unhappy.

Swallow is a psychological struggle of a young wife with whom many would gladly switch places. Haley Bennett produces a multi-layered performance as Hunter spanning the range from subservient to reckoner.  Austin Stowell is perfectly cast as the silver spoon neglectful husband while Laith Naki shines as the former Eastern European soldier turned Au-Pair. Look for Mirobella-Davis' unique way of weaponizing texting as a tool to show overt indifference.  It's an important look at a common yet ignored aspect of society where women in this predicament often are not helped or supported.

**** Out of 4.

Swallow | Carlos Mirobella-Davis | USA / France | 2019 | 94 minutes.

Tags: Job Promotion, Weaponized Texting, Pregnancy, Nursery, PICA Disorder, Self-Help Book, Surgery, Marble, Push Pin, Battery, Nail

San Diego Comic-Con '19 (Short ) Film Review - The Whistler

Rise and be Baptized, Rise and be Baptized, Rise and be Baptized is the opening refrain to The Whistler as an overhead shot sweeps along a river in the woods. Teenage Lindsay (Karis Cameron) openly displays her displeasure to her parents as they are dressed heading to a work dinner while she has to stay home and babysit her grade school-aged younger sister Rebecca (Baya Ipatowicz). Lindsay has no time for her younger sibling or Becky's missing pet rat Freddy knowing that she's missing out hanging with her friend Cara at THE party when Rebecca asks to hear a bedtime story pulling an oversize book from the shelf. Lindsay begins to read the kids tale of a passing visitor then stops to tell the real story of child abduction leading to nightmares for Becky and even high stake consequences for Lindsay.

Director Jennifer Nicole Stang checks off all of the essential horror elements in this 12-minute short. The suspense is palatable, the soundtrack helps to build the tension as liberal use of slow-moving overhead shots brings home the density, mystery, and danger that is the forest behind the Weaver home.

*** 1/2 Out of 4.

The Whistler | Jennifer Nicole Stang | Canada | 2019 |12 Minutes.

Tags: Short Film, Babysitting, Texting, Bedtime Story, Traveler, Forest, Lantern, Woods, River, Sewing, Pet Rat.

The film will screen at San Diego Comic- Con Friday July 19th at 7:20 P.M. Marriott Grand Ballroom 6 Marriott Marquis & Marina Hotel.

Fantasia '19 Film Review - Letters to Paul Morrissey

An enduring struggle and writing to the same recipient are the links between five stories presented in monochrome in Armand Rovira & Sadia Benzal's Letters to Paul Morrissey. Morrissey a staple of Andy Warhol's The Factor and director of several films in the Velvet Underground era including Trash in '70, Heat in '72 and his most famous collaboration with his influencer Chelsea Girls in'65. The first in German follows Udo Straus (Xavi Saez) as he flees from commercialism in Berlin to a Monastery in Spain in an attempt to escape his inner monologue of anxiety. All the while he becomes increasingly frustrated that God will not speak to him. The next and briefest a hard-edged love letter to drug abuse recited by Factory Alum Joe Dallesandro remarking that being a junkie is a true commitment, a way of life and the feeling of euphoria it brings is worth the seedy places, sights, and smells one must endure to possess it.

Co-writer Sadia  Benzal directed and has a supporting role in the fourth Spanish language segment that is more improv dance than scripted prose. Here we find two heavily linked souls separated by a barrier but so close they can strongly sense each other's struggle to make physical contact. The third and closest related to Morrissey/Warhol features Olena Wood (Maria Fajula) an aging former It girl that starred in Chelsea Girls preparing to attend a re-release of the film after suffering the indignity of ordering up a male companion through Man-connections. Her looks fading with the passage of time no longer possessing the ability to turn a man's head. The segment drips with dark humor chronicling the male/female dynamic, pool aerobics, and the precise art of putting on eyeliner.

The last and clearly the most scientific in Japanese charts Hiroko Tanaka (Almar G. Sato) as she tries to find a cure for a constant frequency buzzing in her head that she has dubbed Hoissuru. The key might be a woman's voice she hears by chance in a comic book store (Agnes llobet) coupled with a song from her youth Viola by Francois Hardy song. The very different subject matter of each story flows together nicely fuelled by Rovira's eye for imagery as all tell their tales of pain in a form of confession to the New York based auteur.

***1/2 Out of 4.

Letters To Paul Morrissey | Armand Rovira /Saida Benzal | Spain | 2018 |

Tags: Berlin, Monastery, God, The Factory, Chelsea Girls, Tick Tock, Candles, Breathe, Frequency, Nose Bleed, Hypnotism, Francois Hardy.

Fantasia '19 Film Review - Chiwawa

Introduced to a gang of friends by group member Yoshida (Ryo Narita) as his new girlfriend; Chiwawa (Shiori Yoshida) soon touches each member of the crew that hangs out to all hours of the night at Sedgwick in Tokyo. Straight off she makes a bold move to endure herself to the crowd solving a problem for the friends who want to have a great summer but have money to do so. The film then makes its first time shift to a morning newscast sometime after the initial night of partying and hijinks reporting that Chiwawa's body had washed up in Tokyo Bay.

© 2019 CHIWAWA Chang PRODUCTION COMMIIEE(TOEI VIDEO, VAP, KADOKAWA, GEEK PIKTURES, TOEI ADVERTISING) 

Miki (Mugi Kadowaki) who's the glue that holds the group together and Yoshida's prior girlfriend takes on the task of unraveling the mysterious persona that was Chiwawa. She was a first rate party girl that did not have a passport, loved the water but could not swim, quickly became the centre of any circle she entered but sought praise constantly.

© 2019 CHIWAWA Chang PRODUCTION COMMIIEE(TOEI VIDEO, VAP, KADOKAWA, GEEK PIKTURES, TOEI ADVERTISING)

Writer-director Ken Ninomiya tells the story using a series of key interactions between Chiwawa and the gang. Beginning with Miki who finds herself alone with Chiwawa after the formers bold act each of the young people come to the fore to recount a key moment or their last encounter with the deceased model turned couch surfer.

The tensest of Miki's discussions is with her ex- Yoshida. He's annoyed that she has taken this on, doesn't want to talk to her as he is preparing to go for an interview then flips in an instant to be the author of the most disturbing act of the film. In any police investigation, he would be the prime suspect. The boyfriend that Chiwawa was complexly dedicated to at the outset, caused the strain in their relationship then she traded up to a famous photographer who captured her essence by breaking her down then building her up again.

Chiwawa is the story of death by misadventure. The titular character took the name because she was short "5.1 like Mr. Bean". Her neediness made her vulnerable. Her beauty and openness made her an Instagram star then modeling CoverGirl. But her insecurities lead ultimately to her downfall leaving her in debt while her friends contemplate what could have been as the older generation blamed the victim as a symbol of young people today: low morals, no scruples, and even less work ethic.

*** Out of 4.

Chiwawa | Ken Ninomiya | Japan | 2018 | 104 Minutes.

Tags: Tokyo, Tokyo Bay, Memorial, Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol, Theft, Bribery,  6 Million Yen, Video, Photography, Instagram, 3-day blowout.