Horrorfest 2017: Lisa and the Devil

Another Joe Dante favorite about a bunch of weirdos living in a house together! This time it's the Italian/Spanish/West German flick LISA AND THE DEVIL from 1973. This one was directed by the Italian master of horror and Horrorfest alum Mario Bava. Apparently at one point it was reshot and re-edited to cash in on the success of THE EXORCIST, but I watched the original version.

Elke Sommer stars as the title character, a tourist on vacation in Spain who becomes lost and ends up in  crazy mansion run by a sinister butler played by Telly Savalas. Savalas happens to look exactly like the image of Satan Sommer saw in a mural, so naturally, she's freaked.

This movie has lots of fun with its eccentric characters, weird flashbacks, creative uses of mannequins and of course Bava's famous slasher scenes and bold colors. Although the movie is basically just a murder mystery about the secrets of the family in the mansion, it plays out like  a weird dream or nightmare. It doesn't always make total sense, but there's one thing that saves it and that's Telly Savalas as the creepy butler.

Savalas is so commanding, so conniving, so sneaky and so at home in the movie that it's worth watching just for his performance. There's a running gag where he's not supposed to smoke in the mansion, but is happy to do so as long as no one is looking. In the mean time, he sucks on lollipops to keep his mouth busy. Apparently this was Savalas' own idea, and it's these little quirks that make the movie interesting.

Horrorfest 2017: Spider Baby

Now here's a weird one. We're going to start a string of Joe Dante favorites, another Horrorfest alum. He's generous enough to have lots of favorite movies listed online, so we'll be hanging out with him for a while.

First on the list: SPIDER BABY. This black and white oddity from 1967 features the last starring role of Lon Chaney, Jr. Here's a man whose career has spanned the critically acclaimed (OF MICE AND MEN) to the iconic (THE WOLF MAN) and everything inbetween, including B-movies that are far more embarrassing than this one. In this flick, it looks like Chaney's in on the joke and happy to be there, instead of desperate or doing someone a favor. So that's nice.

But what's it about? Well… good question. I guess it's about this family the lives in this big old house out in the middle of nowhere. The family is stricken with a disease that makes them remain in a child-like mental state even as their bodies grow. So, for instance, cult movie favorite Sid Haig plays a baby, even though he's his usual physically imposing self. Chaney plays the man entrusted to take care of them, and spends most of the movie attempting to prevent some rich relatives from taking over the property.

One of the kids, the titular Spider Baby (Jill Banner) likes to play a game where she traps innocent passers by, like the mailman (Mantan Moreland!), in her makeshift web and then stabs them to death.

Even though this all sounds gross and disturbing, the movie's pretty funny, and you have to wonder if the minds behind THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE were fans. We know Joe Dante's a fan, and I can see where he was probably thinking about this movie when he made THE BURBS. The movie was directed by Jack Hill, who went on to become an exploitation king, directing the likes of COFFY (also starring Sid Haig).

All in all, this is a genuine oddity that also happens to be entertaining and well made. I'm glad Joe Dante brought it to my attention.

Horrorfest 2017: Twentynine Palms

I saw a great horror film a couple years ago called WITCH – a brand new release directed by Robert Eggers. Apparently he's moving on to make his follow up film, another remake of NOSFERATU. I'm expecting big things from this guy, because WITCH is the real deal and you should totally watch it. Anyway, here's one of his favorites.

TWENTYNINE PALMS is a French/German/US co-production from 2003. I have to admit, after watching about a half hour of the movie I had to stop and look up the list of Robert Eggers' favorite horror films again to make sure I had the right movie. For most of its running time, TWENTYNINE PALMS just plays like an indie drama about a hipster couple's relationship falling apart. But, via the Internet, Eggers assured me this was a horror movie, so I kept at it.

The film stars David Wissak and Yekaterina Golubeva as the hipster couple in question. I think Wissak is meant to be American and Golubeva is meant to be French but I'm not positive. In any case, they're traveling to Joshua Tree National Park on a photography assignment, alternatively having sex and fighting. Both the sex and the fights get more intense until eventually the couple falls apart so thoroughly that you think the movie must be over.

But, they get back together, and then the real horror begins. I don't want to spoil the ending, if you dare to sit through the first 2 hours, but it is sudden, unpleasant, and both what you've been fearing and out of left field. Looking back on the film, it's interesting how certain things are foreshadowed. But, they're foreshadowed in such a way that, on first watch, you aren't sure if it's on purpose or not.

For instance, some of the sex scenes are a little awkward and weird, with the way Wissak treats Golubeva. When you're first watching the movie, not knowing what's going to happen later on, you might think, well, it's naturally awkward because it's more explicit than your average film, and it's not romanticized, so it feels voyeuristic, so while it's uncomfortable maybe it's just the viewer's expectations that make it uncomfortable and it's not necessarily the film, etc. But, it's totally the film.

One thing that kept me interested was the location. Most of the movie takes place in San Bernardino County, which is where I  went to college, so while they didn't necessarily visit locations I 100% recognized the whole thing looked familiar and they made great use of the magnificent desolation, the windmills, the Joshua trees and the palms.

Horrorfest 2017: Pieces

Now we move on to a favorite of director Eli Roth, the Italian/Spanish/Puerto Rican slasher PIECES from 1983. I went into it figuring it was probably a mistake. After all, I've never seen an Eli Roth movie I liked, and he specializes in the kind of horror/exploitation that can really easily be done horribly wrong. Still, not many directors have lists of their favorites online, and Roth is a big name in horror, so here we go.

PIECES is about what you'd expect from a movie loved by Eli Roth. It starts out with a bang, as a kid is interrupted putting together a puzzle of a naked woman by his furious mother. The kid snaps, murders his mother, then fools authorities into thinking someone else did it while the kid hid in the closet.

After that, we flash forward to a college campus, years later. Women are turning up dead on campus with missing body parts – a head here, a torso there. After each murder, we in the audience are treated to a scene of the assailant completeing the naked-women puzzle from the opening sequence. So it's clear – whoever the killer is is this kid, now grown up, taking "pieces" of women to "build his puzzle."

A couple cops (Christopher George and Frank Brana) suspect the big man on campus (Paul L. Smith), but he's innocent so he teams up with an undercover cop (Linday Day) to figure out who the real killer is. I'm guessing Roth loves this movie not just for the over-the-top gore and gratuitous nudity but also for the "Creativity" of the murder scenes. In an era when FRIDAY THE 13th and HALLOWEEN were shocking people, PIECES was taking it to a whole other level.

I'm guessing this kind of flick was probably cooler to have as a favorite before people could easily access it. If you had a beat up print you saw at a 2nd run movie theater one time, or you had an old VHS you got at the video store that no one else ever rented, it could blow your mind and then you could spread the legend of how great it is and then its reputation could precede it. Now that basically everything is easily accessible via digital means, it's easy to call the bluff.

Horrorfest 2017: The Entity

Now for another favorite of Martin Scorsese, the 1983 ghost story THE ENTITY. The movie doesn't waste much time getting to the scares. Within a few moments of meeting single mother Barbara Hershey, who works an office job and takes night classes, a malevolent poltergeist attacks her in her own home. The attack comes out of nowhere, and is over almost as quickly as it began, but here's the worst part: it's clearly a total violation – a rape.

On one hand you might say the idea of a horror film in which the protagonist is repeatedly raped by a ghost is the stuff of cheap exploitation. But I think the majority of the movie plays as a metaphor for real-life sexual assault. Aside from dramatizing all of the feelings of helplessness, insecurity and post traumatic stress, the film also covers the territory of friends, family and even medical professionals not believing the victim – telling her it is in her head, or she dreamed it, or it's a mental problem that is only manifesting itself because of something she may have done in the past – say with her father, or with a previous boyfriend or husband.

One of the medical professionals, a doctor played by Ron Silver, starts out as a sympathetic character. He's personable, seems smart, takes a special interest in Hershey. As the film develops, he ends up alienating her because while he wants to help her he can't accept that ghosts, entities and poltergeists are real. There must be a rational explanation. If this was real life, I'd agree with him. But this is THE ENTITY, and his attempts to support Hershey while also mansplaining to her and victim blaming are exactly the kind of things "nice guys" do to women all the time.

There is real satisfaction when Hershey's constantly attacked and disbelieved character finally has proof of what is happening to her, and has people on her side who both believe her and want to help her. The movie had me going the whole time, and was almost perfect, except they bungle the ending a little bit. I guess this movie is based on a "true" story (forgetting that ghosts aren't real), so it has an unsatisfying ending as a result. I'd rather see a version where Hershey is not only at peace with herself but also gets the best of these asshole entities.

Horrorfest 2017: Isle of the Dead

As spectacular as Technicolor special effects extravaganzas are, nothing says Horrorfest to me than a good old black and white chiller starring Boris Karloff. So it's nice to discover one I've never seen before, thanks to Martin Scorsese. One of his favorites is 1945's ISLE OF THE DEAD.

Boris Karloff stars as a Greek general commanding troops in the Balkan Wars of 1912. Because of the unsanitary conditions of the corpse-covered battlefields, the threat of plague is imminent. The story begins as Karloff travels to a nearby island to pay respects to his wife, who is buried in a tomb there. What's meant to be a quick trip turns into a several days-long stay when Karloff comes upon the home of an archaeologist (Jason Robards, Sr.) and his guests, one of whom seems to have perished from the plague. Until the group can decide whether the plague is really upon them, and whether or not it has been contained, Karloff commands that no one can leave the island, for fear of spreading the disease.

At first everyone goes along with Karloff, but the longer they stay on the island the more people turn against each other. Some want to leave, so Karloff prevents them. Others decide he's a tyrant and insane. Some even believe there are supernatural forces at play, instead of a plague – "vorvolaka", an evil spirit that takes over humans.

The movie has tons of atmosphere, including a stunning matte painting of the island itself, showcased as Karloff approaches via boat. There's a creepy old house, the misty woods on the island, a destroyed tomb and even a couple ghostly shots that will have you wondering if your eyes are playing tricks on you.

In a way this makes a nice companion with THE WAR OF THE WORLDS because it is about how society breaks down and mankind turns against itself. Karloff is well intentioned, but good intentions are not enough in the end.

Horrorfest 2017: The War of the Worlds

The days are getting longer, the leaves are falling and the rain has come to stay. You know what that means. Time for Horrorfest again! This year I'll be focusing on favorite horror films of famous or up-and-coming directors. 31 horror movies in 31 days! As usual I'll focus on movies I've never seen before, but every now and then one might slip in that I've technically seen but barely remember.

In fact, that's the case with this month's first selection – 1953's THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. This is a favorite of both Wes Craven and Steven Spielberg, two Horrorfest alums with spectacular filmographies. Spielberg even remade the film decades later.

The famous Martian invasion story will forever be linked with Halloween thanks to Orson Welles' infamous Halloween-eve radio broadcast of the story. I checked the record out of the library as a kid, and it scared the hell out of me.

This Hollywood version scared the hell out of me also. In fact, when I watched it as a kid, I don't remember if I was able to watch the rest of the movie after we get our first startling glimpse of a real, live Martian. So, now I'm checking it out again.

The film follows the broad strokes of the H.G. Wells novel and Orson Welles radio show – a strange object falls from the sky and alien machines emerge from it, blasting everything in sight. This version has been updated to take place contemporaneously with its 1950s release and stars Gene Barry as a scientist and Ann Robinson as the local pastor's daughter who he falls in love with.

WAR OF THE WORLDS' greatest successes are the bold uses of color and the great special effects. It's important to note that while the special effects likely look quaint by today's standards, other similar films being produced around this time had vastly inferior effects and the subject matter of Martians invading Earth was usually relegated to B-movies, not big budget extravaganzas. Even the Martians themselves are not just "men in rubber suits" – they're humanoid forms, but with spindly arms and legs and a weird, three-section eye. Their effective design, and the minimal use of it, and the surprising first entrance of the monsters, was what scared me so much as a kid. The suspense leading up to it helps, as well.

As the movie concluded I was surprised how far ahead of its time it was in many ways. These days there are mainstream TV shows where every single episode is about the apocalypse and the break down of society. In 1953 these kinds of images were fewer and farther between, unless you count the real life footage and memories of the all-too-recent World Wars. But in the realm of fiction, it's impressive to see such an early example of complete chaos – this is not a rousing story about how mankind comes together to defeat invaders, but rather how mankind crumbles and devours itself as invaders approach, and only an outside influence can save us. It's bleak for mainstream entertainment of the time, even with the religious overtones.