The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
H.P. Lovecraft has always been one of the few major horror writers to not get wider recognition in pop culture. Unless you're into the works of Stuart Gordon, or get the references placed into THE CABIN IN THE WOODS or the EVIL DEAD series, you probably have never heard about the man who helped influence the likes of Stephen King. A group of Lovecraft fanatics pulled their resources together to deliver a near accurate adaptation of one of his most famous stories, all under the guise of a 1920's style silent film. A man recounts to a psychiatrist all of the information he stumbled upon in his late uncle's notes of deadly dreams, a homicidal cult in Louisiana, and a disturbing exploration of an unmarked island. Like the story, the film has a nice slow build-up with escalating dangers and further exploring the origins of the squid-like being that seems to be referenced everywhere. It doesn't overstay his welcome, clocking in at around 50 minutes, so if you want to get your feet wet or just want to see a splendid indie project, this is certainly the best gateway.
FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5
Carnival of Souls (1962)
A young woman is the only survivor of a car accident, only to then be stalked by some ghastly figures. Could it have to do with the abandoned dance hall/carnival that she has a strange bond to? This cult film, along with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, helped push the American horror genre during the 1960s. The terrors suffered by the main character are intended to both scare you and make you think; the woman's cold behavior towards humanity seems to caught up to her, as she's often unable to communicate or appear to others, until the sounds of life slowly return to her senses. The eerie organ-based score always puts you on edge though it can be a bit annoying. Director Herk Harvey does occasionally pull off a crafty shot or edit, especially whenever his ghost-like figure appears on screen. The other actors are pretty one-note, mainly do to often being in Harvey's industrial short films, but that stilted feel does benefit the uneasy atmosphere of the picture. A fun classic.
FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5
His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2009)
"The ultimate retrospective", my ass. This documentary is supposed to celebrate the popularity of the major slasher franchise, the pop culture impact of the Jason character, and examine the individual films in both their contributions to the series and the process of being made. It does cover all of that but only in fun size portions, giving you hardly any insight beyond the surface area. Unless you know or have watched all of the films, you'll not understand what is going on, especially since the film keeps reminding you of who all these people are every five minutes. Instead of following a easy to digest structure like being in the order of the films, the entire feature is instead a series of scrambled-up montages. Everything is just quick cut, quick cut, white fade, as editor Monica Daniel deliriously fluffs up the piece or makes odd transitions. To make it even more aggravating, the film leads to a final push for the horrible FRIDAY THE 13TH remake, as it spins how this travesty will please old fans and bring a new generation of hearts and minds. The glad-handing doesn't stop there because there's also Anchor Bay deliberately pushing Adam Green's HATCHET to you and Ken Kirzinger saying that people accept him now for replacing the popular Kane Hodder in FREDDY VS. JASON. It also likes to shoot itself in the foot, as with the special transitions where host Tom Savini engages in recreated FRIDAY set pieces. These sets weren't created solely for this documentary but are actually pieces from a special amusement park ride. I could blame director Daniel Farrands for this but this feels more like a butchered cut produced and run by Starz' studio notes. I say this because he and other crew members later did a masterfully huge NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET retrospective (NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY) and just recently re-did this series with an adaptation of CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF FRIDAY THE 13TH. I haven't check that out yet, but I'll gladly take 400 minutes of information compared to this 95 minute, TV friendly cut.
FINAL REVIEW: 2 / 5
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