Review: The Babadook

Chris Sabga and Matt Wintz Review This Sinister Australian Story

By Chris Sabga and Matt Wintz

To celebrate Silver Screen Halloween, Chris Sabga and Matt Wintz have teamed up to review "The Babadook." One of us liked it more. Who it was might surprise you.

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Remember Its Name – Babadook, Baba dook, BAAABA DOOOOK!

By Chris Sabga

Release Date: November 28, 2014 – U.S.

Rating: Not Rated

Genre: Horror

Running Time: 93 minutes

Director: Jennifer Kent

Writer: Jennifer Kent

Cast: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, 

Hayley McElhinney, Daniel Henshall, 

Barbara West 

A movie about an evil children's book could've gone so wrong in so many ways, but the Australian import "The Babadook" is genuinely creepy and unsettling in a way that most horror isn't anymore. Much of that should be credited to the film's almost singular focus on the characters themselves and their perpetually stunned reactions: Amelia (Essie Davis) is the tired mum at the heart of this spooky story, and Samuel (Noah Wiseman) is her six-year-old son, who looks lost and terrified throughout.

The little boy throws tantrums almost nonstop in the first half, but he thankfully quieted down just as I was about to reach my breaking point with his behavior. (Matt Wintz had far less patience, as you'll read below.) As irritating as it was to watch at times, it perfectly sets up the frightening frustration that follows.

The scares from the Babadook itself are mostly delivered in the form of quick shadows, sudden movements, and – most effectively – through rapid-fire clips of scary, silent, sometimes black and white TV programs that mirror the characters' mindset. A stark sense of unease and dread permeates the entire film. There is almost no relief.

Essie Davis is a striking beauty in that classical way you rarely see in today's movies. It's easy to picture her in the 1940s or '50s attending a gala ball adorned in a sparkling evening gown. Her uncomplicated good looks – she comes across as the mum next door – stand in shocking contrast to what happens in "The Babadook."

It's an incredible performance.

More than once, I wondered why Davis was shut out of consideration for an Oscar nomination. The answer, most likely, is because this is a horror movie – and in the immortal words of Rodney Dangerfield, those "don't get no respect."

"The Babadook" should be respected – and feared. It's one of the most disturbing cinematic experiences I've endured in years.

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Pop-Up Book Children's Chiller

By Matt Wintz

The newest venture into the dark of the Mortuary was brought on by a request, and both Chris and I decided to tackle "The Babadook." Brought to our attention due to my love for horror, this film had been sitting in my Netflix queue for the better part of a month, I just hadn't gotten a chance to sit down and watch it. The film had been getting good reviews from horror magazines and websites, and the limited imagery of the creature in question had piqued my interest, so it didn't take much for me to hit "play" on Netflix when I had a moment where the kids weren't around.

I'm going to keep it light on plot details and spoilers, but the movie deals with a widowed mother named Amelia and her son Sam who have been dealing with the death of Amelia's wife for six years now that occurred as he drove them to the hospital to give birth to Sam. Sam asks his mother to read him a story entitled "Mr. Babadook," a book she had no knowledge of him having, and the scary pop-up book ends up putting the child into hysterics. As time goes on, the kid continues mentioning that he sees The Babadook, and while at first the mom brushes it off, soon there's a little bit more to things that she can just brush off.

The movie drips with atmosphere and there is always a sense of dread and underlying horror as things develop. There isn't a reliance on jumpscares, instead very quick glimpses of the title creature. It develops more of the horror felt by mother and son in losing and dealing with the father, and there is a sense that "The Babadook" almost feels like a horror personification of grief than some demonic entity just out for kicks. It was nice, after having sat through another found footage film (a review that will come later) to have a movie that didn't feel the need for in-your-face horror. If there is one thing I will complain about from a vast number of modern horror films it is the need for the full camera jumpscare, which does nothing but elicit a momentary shock and not an overall sense of horror.

While I can appreciate the atmosphere, there are a few pieces to this Australian/Canadian horror film I wasn't too fond of. One of which was the son. Not that the acting was bad, but the kid was a straight up terror. I say this as a dad, but some of what this kid did just grated on my nerves. The biggest thing was how he seemed to have a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn about half-way through the movie. When the mother didn't believe in The Babadook, the kid was screaming and going through the motions seen in every other "I see something but mom and dad don't believe me" story in the history of horror cinema however once mom then began to seemingly take notice of The Babadook, he seemed to calm down and try to become this "I'll stop it at all costs" kid. While I can appreciate character change, this seemed so quick that it seemed implausible. The kid didn't seem to show much fear altogether that it seemed to dumb down the terror and threat The Babadook was. There were also moments that seemed slow. Now, I understand that movies do need to create their sense of atmosphere and dread, but again, this should not be a sacrifice of pacing either. While not all throughout, there did seem to be some parts of the movie that just seemed to drag. This criticism should not however negate the overall fact the film's atmosphere is fantastic.

The movie is definitely worth the time to check out, but people watching it need to keep in mind this isn't just a jumpscare movie or a movie content at throwing the monster at you any chance they can. The movie uses Babadook sparingly but effectively, and he does have a presence that when I would see him I would get a little unnerved. He is a fantastic looking creature, even if it's in a movie that doesn't necessarily explain everything about him or his intentions. And when done right, where it is here, that helps bad to both the uneasiness and terror being brought on the screen.

"The Babadook" is on home video release and streaming on Netflix, and catch Chris' review of the movie as well (above). A special thanks to Silver Screen Surprises reader Bill Zero for mentioning the movie, and I'm more than willing to take requests for future reviews. Until then, the Mortuary is closed, but always looking for another tenant.

Matt's Movie Mortuary: A Welcome Nightmare – A Small Salute to Wes Craven

A Short Look Back at a Legend

By Matt Wintz

When I was asked to write about the recent passing of Wes Craven, I knew there were several things I could say. I could talk about his lasting impact and how he turned the horror genre on its ear twice with his movies "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream." I could talk about his controversial movie "The Last House on the Left," or the fact young actors such as Johnny Depp and Patricia Arquette had found breaks in some of his movies. The thing is, when it comes to the horror genre, Wes Craven should also be remembered for how he made horror cool to like. A genre that critics and moral crusaders hated, Wes Craven created movies whose murderous main characters crossed over into the mainstream and were loved.

Freddy Krueger transcended the small piece of the horror cinema corner he slashed for himself. Brought to life through the writing of Craven and acting of Robert Englund, Freddy found himself on MTV, having his own show entitled "Freddy's Nightmares," and became a pop icon. Without the genius of Wes Craven, he could have just been a "one-and-done" character, but Craven crafted him to be able to be something more. And Wes Craven would do that again with "Scream" in the 1990s, resurrecting the horror genre from horrible movies and into blockbusters again.

Personally, the movies of Craven I enjoy the most are sometimes overlooked for "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream." I have always loved the original "The Hills Have Eyes." The bleak reflection of two families pitted against each other: one of contemporary America and the other a cannibalistic clan forgotten from the nuclear age, showed a young director with an idea and a passion who set out into the desert to make a movie. That feeling resonated with me when I was making movies of my own. Craven was part of a horror generation of directors like Romero, Carpenter, and Hooper who didn't get dissuaded from not having a large studio behind them. Without the benefits of the technology filmmakers have now, they just ducked their shoulder and worked hard to make a movie. After hitting it big, Craven attempted to make another Freddy Krueger-esque killer in the film "Shocker." While the film never caught on like Craven hoped, it still remains a film when viewed with an open mind can be one with great potential and feeling of fun.

I never had the honor of meeting Mr. Craven, but I had the opportunity to meet people who worked on films with him and they always spoke highly of him. He was an amazing artist, a brilliant writer and director, and always came across as hopeful for the next generation of genre filmmakers. In a section of film where people who cut their teeth quickly try and distance themselves, Wes Craven stood like a sentry at the gate of horror, proud of the work he'd done and aware of the possibility the genre had. He was one of the champions the genre and he will be sorely missed.

And we'll always have Elm Street.

Matt's Movie Mortuary: My Favorite Friday

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter – Only If You Stop Counting

By Matt Wintz

Release Date: April 13, 1984 – U.S.

Rating: R

Genre: Horror

Running Time: 91 Minutes (Theatrical), 

97 Minutes (Uncut)

Director: Joe Zito

Writers: Barney Cohen and Bruce Sakow

Cast: Corey Feldman, Kimberly 

Beck, Erich Anderson, Judie Aronson, 

Crispin Glover, Peter Barton, 

Lawrence Monoson, Camilla More, 

Carey More, Ted White

A bit of a bonus review for the Mortuary since it's been a while, as I wanted to take my first stab into the "Friday the 13th" series. Instead of starting at the beginning though, I decided to look at my favorite entry and also the movie that I think pulls off a perfect slasher film: the 1984 fourth chapter dubbed "The Final Chapter" although that would be untrue. However, that wasn't how it was originally planned.

The movie is pretty standard for the slasher genre at the time, thanks to the slasher boom in cinema the first "Friday the 13th" started in 1980. A group of teenagers/twenty-somethings are vacationing by a lake just days after Jason Voorhees had been taken down (as seen in flashback scenes from "Friday the 13th Part 3"). The movie does a great job of giving anyone new to the series some backstory, using "Friday the 13th Part 2's" campfire story from Paul, mixed in with scenes from the first three installments, to set up the Jason Voorhees mythos. We then get a shot of Jason still motionless in the barn, axe imbedded in his mask and head, and taken to the morgue. While Jason revives and murders a nurse and morgue attendant, we get introduced to the main characters Tommy and Trish Jarvis, and the house full of expendables. Notable entrants in this movie are Corey Feldman as Tommy and Crispin Glover as Jimmy. Just a year later, both these two would see great career moments with The Goonies and Back to the Future respectfully.

We are given insight that young Tommy is a monster mask/special effects kid and he goes through the swing of being a kid with young women next door, which makes for some interesting moments in the film. Trish is the protective older sister, trying to keep Tommy from both breasts and a serial killer throughout the movie, all-the-while with a feeling of young adult angst that she doesn't partake too much in the partying next door. As stated above, the house next door and the young people inside aren't of serious consequence, they are fodder for Jason. The character of Rob, a big brother from one of Jason's victims in "Friday the 13th Part 2," is portrayed as a possible male hero, but even he falls to Jason. This leads to the fateful showdown between Jason and Trish and Tommy, one in which Tom Savini's make-up effects are on full display to end Jason once and for all.

Or at least, that's how the movie was originally intended. Like I said, from a story aspect this movie doesn't do anything slasher films haven't done before, but it's in the spirit that they are done that make it excel past a majority of the movies done before it and during its time. Slasher movies are, to their detriment at times, formulaic. This movie is not a break from that, but its embrace of the formula is what makes it work. Jason isn't relegated to being a shadow a lot, you see him do the killing. The special effects, by wizard Tom Savini, marks Savini's return to the series since the first installment, and he shows off some of his great work here. It has even been mentioned that the reason he came back was to make sure Jason stayed dead. Joe Zito directs with a steady hand, showing that this wasn't going to be just a slapped together effort. The movie, from a slasher and horror film fan's point of view can be quite close to perfect: iconic villain, fun relatable hero, excellent special effects and kills, nudity and sex, drugs, weird 1980s dancing, and a good amount of jumps for a first time viewers.

The movie was intended to be the final chapter in Jason Voorhees' legacy, but that changed when the movie became such a hit. Made for only $1.8 million, the movie grossed $32.6 million and cemented the idea that movie-goers weren't intent on saying goodbye to Jason quite yet. This led to the resurgence of the series and the fifth film (which I know I'll review later), but this is the final chapter of "real Jason." Part five has a twist ending and part six begins the "zombie Jason" films, so here in part four we are given our last look at a realistic Jason. While some might think to themselves "How can he be real if he was chopped in the head with an axe in part 3?", and that question is not without merit, it can be explained as just being a serious wound not a kill-shot. The movie also creates Jason's most notable nemesis Tommy Jarvis, who appears in parts four through six, although Feldman wouldn't return to play him full-time.

Personally, this movie is not only my favorite of the series, but my favorite slasher movie ever. I watch this film on any "Friday the 13th" I can, and I remember fondly when I saw it for the first time. A good friend of mine and I would rent VHS horror movies from Hollywood Video when we were in high school or right out of it, spending our $2 a tape on four or five movies. We'd then go to one of our houses, grabbing food on the way, and settle in for an all-day horror fest. There were days when we'd get there in the morning when they opened and nine hours later bring back the movies, kindly rewound, and pick up more. "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" was the fourth of the series I had ever seen (in order – Part 3, Part 9, Part 1, than Part 4) but as soon as I saw it I was hooked. Jason Voorhees became my favorite horror movie character, I learned what the term "Dead F––" meant, and Corey Feldman became much more than just a Goonie to me.

So in honor of this amazing film, I don my hockey mask and remind you that the Mortuary is now closed.

Matt's Movie Mortuary: Digging Deep Into the Mortuary

Five Under-the-Radar Gems for Halloween

By Matt Wintz

Yes, that's Judd Hirsch!

One of the big things around this time of the year is website after website, reviewer after reviewer, talking about the horror genre and making lists of movies that you should go out and see. Many of these lists of course use movies that many people already know: "The Exorcist," "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Halloween," "Friday the 13th," and several others. While being the horror movie guy here for Silver Screen, I wanted to add my own list, but I wanted to do something different. I'm trying to stay away from "mainstream" or well-known horror films. So there's not going to be a "Halloween" entry, or "Paranormal Activity," but I do want to touch on a series of movies I'd definitely urge you to watch in the Halloween time.

A quick note, as my favorite movie of all-time, "Night of the Living Dead," is not on this list. That's because I will be writing a piece on that at a later time and how that movie single-handedly changed my life. Until then, however, let's take a look at a few movies I think you should dive into for the Halloween holiday.

<1> Hell Night (1981)

This film was the first movie I bought on DVD. I remember it well, picking up a new DVD player and deciding to pick up one movie for it too. Wanting it to be a horror film, I went over to the horror section of the Electronic Fry's I was at and began going through the titles. I found "Hell Night" behind a few others, the awesome artwork of Linda Blair screaming at me from behind a gate immediately drew me in. I bought the film and went home, watching it for the first time, and since then it has been one of my favorites. The story of four pledges needing to spend the night in Garth Manor plays as a bit of a slasher film and a little bit of a haunted house/monster movie. Against the grain of the time, there's no nudity, though Blair's outfit was enough for me to develop a crush on her.

<2> Return of the Blind Dead (1973)

The Blind Dead were the main antagonists of a four-movie series by Amando de Ossorio and they are a bit of a fun Spanish film series that have not seen anyone do any remakes of them over here in the U.S. That in itself surprises me. The Blind Dead are former Templar Knights who were doing all sorts of evil things and they are put to death by a mob of villagers, but not before they swear revenge. They get their eyes burned out by the villagers, and we are then cut to the 500 year anniversary of the village. And just in time for the celebration, the skeletal zombie knights rise from their tombs and ride their horses into town to cut up some people. The Blind Dead were always this creepy idea to me, skeletal zombies that can only go by what they hear, but when they find you will cut you down with swords or eat you type of monsters. I remember buying this on VHS thinking it had something to do with the "Evil Dead" films (this was released as "Return of the Evil Dead") and being disappointed when it didn't. Once my knowledge of horror matured though, this quickly became my favorite of the four movies and a great foreign horror movie.

<3> The Bay (2012)

Directed by Barry Levinson this was one of the many "found footage" movies I watched when binging on the genre a few months back. However, it is the one I've probably then watched a half-dozen times, always intrigued by it. It plays as a series of different videos found over the course of some time dealing with a Chesapeake Bay town that is plagued by sea creatures (a mutant form of Cymothoa Exigua) that get into humans and turn them into hosts before breaking out of them. Excellent for those with a disgust of "creepy crawlies" this film continues to fascinate me. The whole idea of toxins in the water due to hormones in chicken waste that gets into the water and the gory fun that ensues, all while keeping it in a "found footage" genre is fantastic. It's streaming on Netflix and definitely worth the 90 or so minutes.

<4> Phantasm (1979)

Might be the most "mainstream" title on here, Don Coscarelli's entire series is just mind-bending. Famous for the Tall Man, his flying silver death spheres, and creatures I've always likened to "zombie Jawas," I love this series and this movie. The story of two brothers and their ice cream selling friend Reggie taking on the supernatural Tall Man spanned from 1979 to present day, as a fifth film for the series, "Phantasm: Ravager" has been filmed and "Phans" of the movies are awaiting its release.

<5> The Halloween that Almost Wasn't (aka: The Night Dracula Saved the World) (1979)

While not a horror film this was a staple of my viewing as a kid. It was a TV special from 1970 that showed on ABC or the Disney Channel until the early 1990s and has never been released on DVD. Dracula, played by Judd Hirsch, brings together a Mummy, a Zombie, Frankenstein's monster, a Wolfman, and the Witch together for Halloween. Complete with Dracula's servant Igor, some fun (although maybe dated) humor, it's a cute story. For horror fans, Dracula even pokes fun at the other monsters for no longer being scary. If you can find it (I found it on VHS years ago) it's a fun piece of TV history (and Disco) that can be a little bit of a palette cleanser in-between all the gore.

Of course, I could make lists of all sorts of films that are always being played on Sci-Fi or AMC at this time of year, but these five are just a tip of the iceberg of horror movies sometimes looked over, but great for the holiday that is all about spooks.

However, it couldn't be a list of great movies without a few more well-known movies to throw in...

Horror of Dracula – Christopher Lee's first run as Dracula by Hammer Films, it is THE definitive Dracula for me.

Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter – The perfect slasher films. Blood, boobs, and Jason Voorhees.

The Fog – John Carpenter's original, ignore the remake at all costs!

Until next time, the crypt is closed.

Matt's Movie Mortuary: The Gruesome Splatter Films of Joe Spinell

A True "What If?" Story

By Matt Wintz

This edition of Matt's Movie Mortuary takes a look at two horror films starring Joe Spinell, who also had roles in more mainstream fare such as the first two "Rocky" and "Godfather" pictures.

Undertaker

Any movie that kicks off with blaring 1980s music and a montage of women working out intercut with a blurry female-led rock band as opening credits can't be all bad, right? How could a horror movie with jazzercise suck? Well, I was going to make sure to find out, and the fact is, it can do a little bit of sucking. Joe Spinell, who worked as a character actor and found a part in "Rocky" along with "Godfather" and "Godfather Part II" became well known to horror fans as the maniac in, well, Joe Lustig's "Maniac." Here in the film "Undertaker," we find him as an undertaker by the name of "Uncle" Roscoe but his murderous tendencies haven't exactly died off like the people whom he's hired to care for.

The story is pretty cookie-cutter in the aspect of Roscoe is a murdering undertaker bothered by voices in his head, and he spends a lot of time stalking women and watching "The Corpse Vanishes." From the get-go of the movie, I noticed that there might be more time spent to women working out then to the actual violence on screen, and this is a fact that definitely plagued the movie. For fans of women jazzercising, this movie could be your cup of tea, as there's no less than two nearly full routine workouts plus women jogging in the first forty-three minutes. In comparison, there are only three on-screen kills in the first forty-three minutes.

Character-wise, we have Spinell as Roscoe, the murdering undertaker. Rebeca Yaron plays Miss Pam Hayes, the teacher of Roscoe's nephew Nick who does seem to have this awkward hots for her while trying to show her Roscoe's parlor and that he might be keeping some of the bodies for some extra lovin'. What brings this about is Miss Hayes seems that teaching about necrophilia in a college course is acceptable, and this immediately makes Nick believe his Uncle is bumping uglies with the recently deceased.

Story-wise, the movie runs a little thin. While I can respect a film that is trying to be no-nonsense, the sad thing to this movie is the pacing is very slow. And not in a slow-burn, intensity building sort of way. It just seems to be a movie that is trying to hit certain points, but is crawling to get there. For the most part, editing is a series of cuts between shots that don't seem to fit well and there are several times where there are different scenes intercut. While this might be to try and show what's happening in two places at the same time, it kills the intensity of the scene when you go from a kill, cut to a couple in bed, back to kill, back to couple, back to aftermath of kill, back to talking, then cut to a scene that seems to be set a day later.

There were also decisions in this movie that I could see might have been made from a budgeting perspective, but made me laugh (unintentionally). For instance, it seems that a lot of people enjoyed public domain programming in the 1980s, as "The Corpse Vanishes" makes almost twenty percent of the films running time, along with clips from "The Terror", an Abbott and Costello piece, and Ronald Reagan hugging a monkey. I also noticed that in Roscoe's first onscreen abduction attempt, when he uses the syringe on the female victim, there's no contact with the needle on the victim. It seems like a good idea that when creating a scene like this, make sure the scene doesn't pick up the reflection of the whole needle in the light.

The film is noted as being Joe Spinell's final starring role, as he would die in 1989, and it's also written on the back that it was unfinished. From how the film ends, I was wondering if there was more to be done bet it never got a chance to be completed. Either way, while I respect the filmmakers giving Spinell another leading role and the attempt (possibly) to recapture the feeling of "Maniac," the film falls very short in both the movie's disturbing tones and onscreen violence.

Maniac

I will also take this time to bring this writing to a little bit of a side-note, and that is Joe Spinell and "Maniac" and why I have always seen that movie in a good light among horror fans. "Maniac" was co-written by Spinell, who played the main character Frank Zito, and the movie was directed by William Lustig, who also has directed the entire "Maniac Cop" trilogy. "Maniac" tells the story of Zito who lives in a small apartment, surrounding himself with mannequins, and during the night drives through the New York City area murdering and scalping women, putting his newly acquired trophies on the mannequins. The movie marries the amazing special effects of Tom Savini, coming off movies like "Dawn of the Dead" and "Friday the 13th," with the gruesome scalpings and Savini himself having his head blown off by a shotgun, with a disturbed story of a man who stalks a woman who he gets to know and how his underlying mommy-issues drive him to brutal attacks. The movie, a cult classic and having one of the best posters in horror movie history, was actually remade with Elijah Wood as the killer Zito.

The movie was put out on DVD by Code Red in 2010, and along with the movie there is a short interview with actor Robert Forster, and then his daughter Kathrine, that briefly touches upon their thoughts of Spinell. "Remembering Joe" is only a few minutes and the elder Forster talks about how Spinell was interesting and the only time he ever played a good guy was in "Hollywood Harry" with Robert and Kathrine Foster. Kathrine Foster then tells of a story from the rap party of "Hollywood Harry" involving Spinell, a Glad bag, and a swimming pool. Finally, trailers for Code Red releases of "Nightmare" (aka Nightmare in a Damaged Brain), "The Carrier," "The Visitor," "Slithis," and "Horror High" round out our special features.

Matt's Movie Mortuary: Devil's Due

Should Not Have Gone Full Term

By Matt Wintz

Release Date: January 17, 2014 – U.S.

Rating: R 

Genre: Horror

Running Time: 89 minutes

Directors: Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin

Writer: Lindsay Devlin

Cast: Allison Miller, Zach Gilford, Sam Anderson, 

Vanessa Ray, Roger Payano, Bill Martin Williams, 

Geraldine Singer, Julia Senton, Colin Walker

A review ago, I tackled a found-footage movie called "Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes" and I found myself staring at another one for this review, a movie I had been looking forward to entitled "Devil’s Due." It follows a young, recently married couple on their honeymoon by the names of Zach and Samantha McCall, and they are enjoying time in the Dominican Republic. When deciding to try and make it back to their hotel, they get picked up by a taxi driver who insists on taking them to a party, and they both end up passed out. Thanks to their video camera hidden in Samantha’s bag, we see they are taken to some sort of underground cult area where Samantha is the focal point of some sort of ritual. This then leads to the expected reveal weeks later that, even though she’d been taking her birth control pills every day, she is now pregnant.

Of course, with every pregnancy comes changes in the mother, and in "Devil’s Due" these take on a demonic nature. The vegetarian Samantha chows down on raw meat while in the supermarket, her rage is unexpected and powerful, like when she smashes in a car’s windows for nearly backing into her. She repeatedly goes into a semi-trance and when Zach tries to pull her out of it, she will snap at him or grab his arm and twist, bringing him to the point of pain. The couple also begin to notice people starting to watch their house or watch them from the street, and this coincides with a change in doctors at their next appointment. The group of people even go so far as putting hidden camera throughout the couple’s home while they are out, which allows for a little bit of a change of pace then the feeling that one character is carrying around a camera the entire time.

More strange goings-on occur during the last two months of Samantha’s pregnancy, such as at month eight when they attend the first communion of their niece. During the service, the priest is unable to take his eyes off Sam and is given a bloody nose and fit of violent coughs that result with him vomiting blood. After taking Samantha home, Zach begins to review the footage of the event, along with his honeymoon, and begins to realize there is definitely something wrong with both how his wife is acting and how she got pregnant in the first place, especially since the cab driver from their honeymoon is sitting in the church. He goes to meet the priest in the hospital, taking with him a series of symbols he found throughout the tape, and the priest tells him it deals with the coming of the first antichrist, and that there will be more. From here on out, Zach decides he needs to investigate a supposedly abandoned house down the street where he notices the growing number of strange people to be coming from. I don’t want to fully spoil the rest of the movie, but it does then delve into more "Paranormal Activity" realm as we get cult people, weird happenings, and an ending that does leave the movie a bit open-ended.

I mentioned before how I had been looking forward to this movie, and after finally sitting down to watch it, I have to be completely honest that there was a feeling of disappointment. Many of the weird things feel tired by this point, with four "Paranormal Activity" entries, along with numerous knock-offs, having done similar storylines or pieces. Whereas I had hopes of this becoming a great entry in the subgenre like "The Last Exorcism," this film just came up short in scares, characters, and story. When the weird things start happening, it’s far too late, as the movie seemed to slow burn with less-than-medium level scares up to this point. The best way to explain this movie is the way it has been described online, and that is a cross between "Paranormal Activity" and "Rosemary’s Baby," but nowhere near as good as either of those. This felt more like a low-budget direct-to-video release that was lucky enough to have a big budget treatment, and it never reached the heights that it set for itself. For a better found-footage horror film with great backstory, I’d definitely say stick with "Blair Witch Project" or "Paranormal Activity."

The other problem is the holes in the story that are meant to add fear or anxiety but just fall short. Why or how does the cabbie from their honeymoon show up in their church? What happened to the original doctor? Was she murdered or just left her practice? If the Priest is such a Godly guy, why does the mention of the Anti-Christ immediately make him unwilling to help someone coming to him for help? Okay, I get the fact the filmmakers wanted to add something unnerving or creepy to get you to go "Oh what the hell..." but here, it’s just more like "ho-hum." Nothing in this movie is scary, or even mildly creepy. It just seems to walk through a generic blue-print of found-footage horror.

Sadly, for the first time in the Mortuary’s short history, I have to say this is one that should be skipped altogether. It is currently available on Blu-Ray and DVD. 

Matt's Movie Mortuary: Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes

Something Demonic in Deutschland

By Matt Wintz

Release Date: March 1st, 2011 – U.S.

Rating: R

Genre: Horror

Running Time: 91 minutes

Director: Jude Gerard Prest

Cast: Yaz Canli, Kai Cofer, 

Christopher Karl Johnson, Nikki Muller, 

Annette Remter, David Reynolds, 

Robert Shampain, Korey Simeone, 

Gerold Wunstel

In recent years, the found footage genre has become quite popular among big-budget horror studios and those who primarily release direct to video. This genre has also been tag-teamed with the demonic possession genre as well, with movies such as "The Last Exorcism" or "Devil's Due" coming out in the theaters. "Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes" is one such film, based in the 1970s dealing with a young woman in Germany whose family is at the end of their rope. A small camera crew is joined by two doctors (one of which is American) who come to the house only to find two priests there in the process of trying to perform their exorcism. The movie, currently streaming on Netflix with only a one-star rating, caught my attention because anything usually believed to be bad has a need to be seen.

Right out the gate, you know something is at least a little off with Anneliese, as when she first appears on camera, she urinates on the floor in front of everyone and proceeds to lick it off the floor. We are then thrown into the obligatory feud between science and religion, as the two doctors try and push sedatives to try and calm the poor girl down while the priests hate the idea that the doctors are there and are being pushed by the religious parents to continue with the exorcism. This plot device is quite common in these types of movies and is usually to be expected. It's an easy way to create dissension in the group at first, only for the medical professionals to come around as the demonic activity grows to admit that they "have no idea how to explain what they've seen." In this film, this occurs a few times, such as when the bed shakes with Anneliese on it, or when she crawls downstairs only to open her mouth and a wonderful cornucopia of insects come crawling out.

To the movie's credit, all the cameras set up to catch the activity are black and white, and even one of the portable cameras is done in pure 1970s film style with grainy visuals and changes in audio quality. The main camera that is used by the documentary crew seems to always have a more tan hue to the filming, which does set the movie up as not feeling like a 2011 movie striving to be 1970s and failing. The documentary film crew characters, also to their credit, aren't annoying characters in the movie but seem to be played perfectly. They will ask certain questions, but aren't overly pushy when characters need space. While some found-footage movies make you wonder "why are they still filming" in times of crisis, this movie makes it seem perfectly logical that they would continue filming the entire ordeal. The standalone interviews that they do with the doctors, priests, and parents also come across very genuine. While not Academy Award winning acting, everyone in the movie does a perfectly capable job of carrying this story forward.

The movie isn't perfect, however, and it does fall into some of the tried-and-true trappings of the demonic possession film genre. Anneliese speaks in tongues or languages she shouldn't know, she calls people names, tries to molest a priest, and knows things about the people in the room she doesn't know. These happen in almost every demonic possession movie as when it comes to actual cases these are all shared traits of the afflicted, but it just seems tired. Also, the first death occurs a little over the hour mark of a ninety minute film, and while it can be seen as a "slow burn" leading up to the big payoff, it does feel like it took a little long. Also, once there is the first death, which occurs in front of the entire cast of characters, there's no urgency to deal with it. The priests don't seem to care and the entire action of the movie just seems to stop. It also then leads to the next scene where a character who just witnessed Anneliese kill someone then gets drawn into possibly untying her from the bed. It's been already proven Anneliese has never learned English, but then speaks perfect English to someone to get them to try and get her unbound. This leads to another "I know things I shouldn't" moment which again seems to just be a retread of things seen before. Another thing that seems to pull the movie apart is after the first death and the group is having a discussion, the priests refuse to call any authorities over the doctor's death and say that "these things happen" and it's no big deal. This then leads right into another character's death, and a scene where the main priest tries to explain to the documentary crew that this is just par for the course. I'm perfectly fine with a little bit of suspension of disbelief, but it seems like these priests in question are not in the correct line of work.

Overall, the movie doesn't deliver all the shocks as something more along the lines of "The Exorcist," but one shouldn't count out this little film. If you enjoy a movie that can take a little time to get going but fills that time with character building and the occasional creepy moment, then it's worth ninety minutes. Currently, this film is available on Region 1 DVD and streaming on Netflix.

Matt's Movie Mortuary: The Evil Dead – The Original, The Remake, and Within the Woods

There's Something in the Woods... Even 30 Years Later

By Matt Wintz

Professor Wintz

Note: Matt Wintz is an Adjunct Professor in the Humanities and Cultural Sciences Department of Mesa Community College in Arizona. He teaches "Women and Films," where he discusses the impact of women in different film genres. He has been making short films – specifically horror – for ten years now. He is currently in pre-production for "Pumpkill 2: Seeds of Destruction" and is also planning a web series that's an amalgamation of "Heroes" and "The Stand." Professor Wintz's column –"Matt's Movie Mortuary" – will feature reviews and articles about the spooky and surprising world of horror films.

Remakes. Re-imaginings. Whichever you want to call them the movie industry has seen a share of them, especially in the horror genre. The eighties had them with "The Blob" and "Night of the Living Dead" and as the new millennium joined us, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Halloween," "Friday the 13th," and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" got them. So did "Dawn of the Dead." In some ways the films were able to stand on their own, bringing something that the original was missing or didn't have the full ability to capitalize on. Some were, in the technical term, horse-shit.

When it was announced that there was an "Evil Dead" remake in the works, fans groaned. Even though Sam Raimi and Bruce "The Chin" Campbell were going to be involved, as producers, the fans clamored for a sequel to "Army of Darkness." There's only ONE Ash, there's only ONE chainsaw-handed, one-line spouting, S-Mart Employee of the month who's able to look at one ugly woman and say "Yo She-Bitch... let's go." So to say that this idea was met with skepticism was an understatement. However, with the original being such a classic (seriously, Stephen King praised it) and since I'd heard good things about the remake, I decided to settle in for a viewing. But I was going to do something else. I tracked down "Within the Woods," the short film Sam Raimi did before "Evil Dead" that is supposed to be "Evil Dead" before he got more money, and decided I would watch that film, the original "Evil Dead," and the remake and see just what worked, what doesn't, and what else was going through my head.

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Evil Dead (2013)

The remake kicks off with a girl in the woods being kidnapped by two "Deliverance" looking guys and being tied up in a basement/cabin, only for her father to be part of the kidnapping. We then see that they are trying to purge a demon from her because, well... in this movie that kind of thing happens. After setting her ablaze as she threatens to rip out his soul, the father then shotguns her to bring up the opening credits. We then get to the obligatory introduction of five young people showing up at a cabin, but this time we're not here for just a fun trip. Mia is being treated to an intervention by three friends and her brother David, and we're treated with some family background and drama as the scene becomes a dark and stormy night for Mia's first night of withdrawal.

As Mia complains of a smell, Olivia (who's a registered nurse) tells everyone it's the withdrawal. However, when the family dog paws at the rug in front of everyone, it uncovers a bloodstained floor and door into the cellar. Upon opening it, everyone reacts to a smell and we go downstairs to the cellar from the opening scene, complete with the Necronomicon and Double-Barreled Boomstick sitting on the table. Mia, the recovering drug addict, is the smartest one in the room, telling them they shouldn't have touched anything in the basement as they bring the book and shotgun up. Dun-dun... DUN.

Our hippie-looking high school teacher Eric decides to cut open the bag with the book and read it, aloud, as he cuts his finger on a page and bleeds on it. And even though it's written in BIG RED LETTERS to NOT read the book, he decides to. And we get the classic "Evil Dead" force running through the woods and hits Mia just as she throws up. She then begins seeing a creepy girl in the woods before coming inside and we're treated to Mia saying she needs to get out of there, the group refusing to let her go, and her running out and grabbing the car and taking off. She sees the girl on the road again and crashes the car into the river, and now we've established they won't have a way out when the demons come a calling. As Mia runs from the river, we're then treated to a remake of one of the more memorable scenes from the original when a group of trees decide to get a little frisky and proceed to, well... rape her, thanks to some black grossness provided by a possessed version of herself.

Eric and Olivia talk about how David is there, and there's no reveal of why Eric's pissed. David finds the dog dead, having been beat to death with a hammer, and David believes it to be Mia, leading to him trying to break the door in and they find her boiling in the shower. As David tries to get Mia out, we come to the bridge which has been washed out while Mia is going all demoness in the front seat. Olivia, who had been the whole "I'm giving her the treatment she'd get at a hospital" and leading the crusade is now becoming unraveled with what happened, and Eric talks about how things are getting worse. Mia then walks out, cracking her neck and bringing the shotgun with her. She shoots David in the arm and we get some demon stuff going on, followed by her saying "You're all going to die tonight" and she collapses. We then get a bloody deadite vomit bath on Olivia who throws Mia into the open cellar, and they close it on her. So slowly, the movie starts to pay homage to the original, and things begin to pick up steam. Eric then throws down the "It's witchcraft" gauntlet and Olivia then starts to show signs of getting possessed: we are off to the races. Olivia goes after Eric, and afterward Eric reveals to David that he read from the book and it's "something evil." David's girlfriend Natalie (who is finally given a name forty-five minutes into the movie) goes to find things to help treat Eric's wounds, and she finds that the cellar is now open and Mia is calling for her. And of course, she goes into the cellar.

I will give the movie some credit, they do come up with some pretty decent demonic one-liners such as "Your sister is being raped in hell." They also look to homage "Evil Dead 2" as Natalie's hand becomes possessed (much like Ash's in the original) and she decides to hack it off, but this time not with a chainsaw but an electric knife. They also use the old Professor Knoby reading from the first "Evil Dead" in the closing credits, which is a nice touch as well. I always loved that reading, it sets a great tone. And of course, the post-credits sequence is, well... "groovy."

The Evil Dead (1981)

Now of course one of the biggest critiques of the new "Evil Dead" is that it's simply not the original. The original, for those who are uninitiated, was the 1981 Sam Raimi classic that had a wonderful quote promoting the movie from Stephen King on the poster. Starring the greatest chin in the business, Bruce Campbell, the original followed series protagonist Ash Williams, his sister Cheryl, his girlfriend Linda, and their friendly romantic couple Scotty and Shelly as they ventured into the woods and were beset by demons after a tape recording of some of the readings from the same Book of the Dead that the remake brings in. One thing to remember about the original 1981 film, that some fans seemed to forget when the remake was announced, was that it played as a straight horror film. There was no possessed hand into chainsaw hand into wisecracking one-liner hero, Ash just happened to be the last one standing after a demonic nightmare that his friends succumb to. Here, the remake and original both stand together: this isn't necessarily a "splatstick" horror comedy. Is there humor at times? Maybe, but it's a horror movie, you're supposed to be squeamish as the trees rape the young women they do, and while the gore and blood is over the top, it's still meant to be a trippy nightmare.

Within the Woods (1978)

The entirety of the "Evil Dead" universe comes from a short film that Raimi and Campbell had done together as a precursor to all this entitled "Within the Woods." This doesn't have the Book of the Dead but deals with a possibly possessed dagger that is taken from its place in an Indian burial ground. The interesting twist here is that it's Bruce Campbell's character who takes it and is possessed, and it's his girlfriend (played by Ellen Sandweiss who plays his sister in "Evil Dead") who's the main heroine. Running around a half hour but having many bits of both "Evil Dead" and "Evil Dead 2" that would come later, the film was used as a way for Raimi to make money for a full-length feature. Found on the bootleg market (or Youtube) the film isn't horrible and if you can get past its low budget from 1978, it's definitely wonderful as a curiosity piece.

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Overall, I can say that I enjoyed the newer version of "Evil Dead" and there are some good moments that make the viewer squirm. This was not a remake that fell flat to the viewer or the informed public of the original, but it doesn't set itself apart like, say, the "Dawn of the Dead" remake that has gone on to break from the constraints of being just a remake and be an excellent stand-alone. Now of course, if pressed, I would say that the newer version isn't as great as the original, but that is part because of the aura the original (and its lead actor) have built for themselves over thirty years. It is possible, given a few years and the potential sequels being talked about, that this new saga of "Evil Dead" could pave its own blood-soaked path through the woods of horror history.

Until next time...