Creepy cults and the disintegration of humanity are on the agenda for this edition of What I’ve Been Watching…

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (2011) Subtle terror best describes this brooding thriller. The movie opens with a young girl calmly walking through a home, quietly so she doesn’t disturb the others. Once she’s outside, she begins running. Through sound design and camera work, you know this girl is running to escape. A dread immediately falls over the story. The girl is Martha played to perfection by newcomer Elizabeth Olsen. Martha contacts her sister and brother-in-law and they both take her in. There’s a distance between them and they are curious as to what Martha has been up to for the past couple of years. Martha is haunted by dreams…memories which we see in flashback. These flashbacks reveal her life as Marcy May and living with a cult run by the ultra-creepy Patrick (John Hawkes). As the movie progresses we learn more about the cult and their philosophies and that’s when the terror creeps in. Elizabeth Olsen is fantastic. John Hawkes’ performance is chilling; a kind and gentle person one minute, a seriously scary dude the next. I saw him last in “Winter’s Bone” and he was great in that movie, too. Martha Marcy May Marlene is filled with a tension and terror that runs below the surface, keeping you uneasy. This is not in-your-face terror, just quiet moments that are very creepy and unsettling. I loved a lot of the cinematography in the movie. Some scenes and their color schemes look like they leapt right out of a 70’s flick. I bet after one viewing of this you’ll be locking your doors at night for sure.

THE DIVIDE (2011) Starring Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Eklund. “The lucky ones died in the blast.” The movie opens with a bang as nuclear warheads shower down onto Manhattan. The camera slowly dives down an apartment stairwell as groups of people flee the building in panic. Nine people barricade themselves into a basement that’s been turned into a bunker by the superintendent. Are they the lucky ones to escape the fiery blast? I think not, because The Divide shows us the slow disintegration of humanity as the trapped people lose their hope and sanity, become sick and evolve into sexual deviants and violent savages. The director Xavier Gens takes the bleak material and creates visually stunning imagery, all within the claustrophobic confines of the bunker. The whole cast turns in brave performances, going deep into dark places. Michael Eklund made my skin crawl. The music is made up of beautiful pieces of piano that evoke feelings of sadness. There are a few twists that I won’t reveal that take the story down a different path than you’d expect. There were parts that made me angry and there were parts that saddened me as I watched the characters fall apart. This movie delivers some intense moments.

Check this out:
Xavier Gens also directed “Frontier(s)” (2007) which is an awesome French horror movie. It’s an insane and gory masterpiece that should not be missed by any horror fiend.

I met Michael Biehn at a movie convention and he was one cool dude. He was real friendly and gave me a signed Planet Terror lobby card for free. He’s a class act!

Besides the strange and bizarre movies I like to watch, I have caught a few other movies that are must sees for movie fans: Hugo, Cowboys and Aliens, and Immortals. I loved all three of them, especially Hugo which was brilliant! Till next time…

Up this week, more movies from across the pond. Flesh eating ghouls, people being hunted through the wilderness and foul-mouthed slackers graced the screen.

THE PACK (2010 – France) “La Meute” is another entry in the wave of French horror. We are first introduced to Charlotte (Émilie Dequenne), a very rough around the edges type of girl, who picks up a hitchhiker named Max (Benjamin Biolay). He’s a seedy sort of character and he leads Charlotte to an even seedier truck-stop. They meet the owner La Spack (Yolande Moreau) who has plans for Charlotte. She’s always in need for a fresh supply of flesh and blood for “the pack”, a group of ghouls who rise from the ground to feast. Turns out Max is her son and he helps do the “grocery shopping” by luring people to their trap. Throw in a wacked out cop played by Philippe Nahon (High Tension, I Stand Alone), and a lunatic motorcycle gang and you have a dark twisted flick. I really enjoyed this movie. The characters were all people you’d never want to meet but it worked well for the movie’s dark and eccentric tone. La Spack was an evil, cackling brute of a woman and very menacing. I loved Franck Richard’s direction. The camera glided around the dank and dirty sets. There’s no jarring, “found footage” camera work. The color pallette was dark and filled with shadows.
Once the ghouls rise from the ground you are in for a treat. It was like a page taken from a Tales from the Crypt magazine. The ghouls are awesome looking and in some scenes they shamble towards their victims with the full moon as a backdrop. Awesome visuals! “The Pack” is a great movie to throw in your player at the stroke of midnight. Available from Bloody-Disgusting Selects.

A LONELY PLACE TO DIE (2011 – UK) The Scottish Highlands are the breathtaking backdrop for this fast paced thriller. Five mountaineers are hiking and climbing through the wilderness. Their peaceful excursion is shattered when they hear cries drifting on the wind. The cries of a child. It leads them to a breathing pipe sticking up out of the ground. They brush dirt and leaves aside to reveal a door. They discover a little girl is trapped underground in a wooden room. With nothing but the breathing pipe and water, the little girl is weak and afraid. She is Serbian and they cannot understand her words. Alison (Melissa George) and the rest of her companions begin their trek back to civilization to take the girl to the police. That begins their nightmare as they are hunted down by mysterious assailants that aren’t too happy about them helping the little girl. To tell you anymore would spoil the intense adventure that unfolds for the remaining running time. Along the way there are several punches to the gut and by the end of the movie you will be exhausted. Beautiful cinematography, exciting mountain climbing action, startling violence and great performances are all wrapped up into one thrilling movie experience. Highly recommended. Available from IFC Midnight.

NEW KIDS TURBO (2010 – Netherlands) We’ll file this under “wild and weird”. Five yahoos get fired from their jobs and so they decide they are going to quit paying for things. They steal food and enormous quantities of beer. They are wreckless and idiotic, causing the police to send for the Ministry of Defense to put a stop to them. It all leads to a massive shoot out in the normally quiet village of Maaskantje. Well, I kinda liked this movie. Maybe because it was foreign and I didn’t know who the actors were. New Kids is a Dutch comedy sketch show featuring a group of rowdy foul-mouthed youths. Think a group of real life Beavis and Buttheads revved up on turbo juice. Hearing them shout obsentities in another language is funny. Their outfits and hairdos are fun; they look like retro gangsta rappers with mullets. I loved the hyper techno songs that were used as the soundtrack. Also, shock is the name of the game here. The humor was vulgar and very “un-PC”. There’s some gore thrown around during some of the film’s violence but it’s played for laughs. Maybe I’m getting old but the movie really went out of it’s way to be offensive and I didn’t care for some of it. I wanted to watch this because I’m anticipating the sequel “New Kids Nitro” in which this group of morons battle zombies. The trailer for that one looks cool. Kut!

While the rest of the Movie Madness Podcast crew checks out all the theatrical releases, I’ll be doing this weekly column about the movies I’ve been watching on the small screen. I like to stray off the path and check out films in the dark realms of horror, the cheesy world of b-movies and schlock, with action, sci-fi and exploitation sprinkled throughout. I enjoy a lot of foreign releases, movies from the 30’s and 40’s, and stuff that’s sometimes a challenge (and fun) to track down. Maybe you’ll read this and track some of the movies down…or run like hell from them! Enjoy.

SUDOR FRIO aka COLD SWEAT (2010 – Argentina) When a young woman helps her friend Roman search for his girlfriend, they’re led to an old building where two elderly men live. These two old men are the last members of an Argentinian terrorist group that disbanded in the 70’s. These old coots really despise the newer generation, and they get their kicks by luring young women to their labyrinthine hideaway to ghoulishly experiment on them with all sorts of acids and liquid explosives. Once Roman finds his girlfriend, who has been lathered head-to-toe in nitro glycerine, he faces the challenge of getting her out without blowing her to pieces. It’s like the Wages of Fear on crack. In fact, a cool touch in the movie, is Roman is wearing a t-shirt with a logo to the movie “Sorcerer” on it. “Sorcerer” is William Friedkin’s remake of “The Wages of Fear.” I love Friedkin’s movie and to see a nod to it in this movie was very cool. Anyway, “Cold Sweat” is fast-paced and fun. People do explode, acid is flung around, some rowdy neighbors join in and there’s a sinister secret in the cellar. It’s available from Dark Sky Films.

SECTOR 7 (2011 – South Korea) An offshore oil rig is under attack by an undersea monster. This was a fun creature feature. It has the classic setup; we are introduced to a group of workers who are struggling to strike oil. They make a different discovery…a slimy little tadpole-like creature. They take it to the two scientists on staff to study. The creature slowly grows in size. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding this lifeform but we soon learn that maybe some of the team already knows about it’s existense and have their own secret. The action kicks in when the creature escapes and begins taking out the characters one by one. The monster design was very cool and the fact that it’s blood was like a gasoline substance was a sweet idea. The effects were 50/50. For example, a motorcycle chase on the oil rig is plagued by some bad green screen and CGI. Most of the creature rendering was really good. I’d say it’s not as good as “The Host”, another monster movie from Korea, but it fits in nicely as a double feature with something like “Deep Rising”. I saw this in 2-D but it was released in it’s homeland in 3-D. It’s being released here in the U.S. by Shout! Factory.

UNDOCUMENTED (2010) A crew of student filmmakers document a group of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States. With cameras rolling they follow a “coyote” into the night. They reach a hidden tunnel and begin shuffling through the darkness. At the end of the tunnel is a dead body full of stab wounds. The group is horrified but the promise of the U.S. at the end of the tunnel keeps them moving. It should of been a warning to them. They come out on the other side and are herded into the trailer of a truck. Bad move. Unfortunately for them, they have been tricked and are delivered to a gang of radicals who aren’t happy about illegal immigrants. One of the radicals says to them “It’s not what you think it is….it’s much worse”. The nightmare begins. The menacing thugs force the filmmakers to switch their agenda and make a documentary or “recruiting” video for them. They are forced to film twisted and depraved torture inflicted upon the immigrants. My friends, this was a harrowing viewing. I was on the edge of my seat. You will question the situations, the hatred portrayed by some of the characters, and yourself. The ringleader known as “Z” is a chilling character. Just wait until you meet “The Artist”. Freaky stuff! The film is a nice mixture of traditional filmmaking and found-footage style camera work. There are some very eerie scenes with night vision. There are some insane set-pieces that are so twisted I was jumping out of my chair. It’s available from IFC Midnight.

Today is Friday the 13th and what better way to celebrate than to sit down with one of my favorite horror franchises. I remember the first time I saw Friday the 13th on HBO back in the 80’s. My dad gave me the blessing to watch it one night (he wasn’t the biggest fan of slashers). I remember being so giddy, watching the clock and waiting for the time when the movie would start. Leading up to that night, I remember flipping through Fangoria magazine and hearing the older kids talk about it. I wasn’t disappointed! The music is unforgettable. Tom Savini’s ghoulish effects were awesome! It was the beginning of a series that would stretch over the years with 10 movies, a remake, a mashup with Freddy, documentaries, and an “in-name only” television series.
My favorite of the franchise is Part 2. The body count doubled and the potato sack Jason freaked me out. I watched Part 2 late at night when my parents were gone and when Jason crashed through the window at the end I leaped out of my chair. I was freaked out for days.
I met Kane Hodder at Horror Hound Weekend and he was a real cool dude (see picture above of him crushing my throat). Kane’s portrayal of Jason is a fan favorite.
So grab your favorite Friday film and watch it tonight. Just make sure your house is locked up tight. Cheers.

Since I missed joining Doug and Craig with their top 10 of the year, I threw together my list of movies that chilled and thrilled me. My love for movies lie in the dark corners of the horror genre, the colorful worlds of animation, the spectacle of sci-fi and action adventure. I tend to like the little movies rather than big Hollywood blockbusters. Also, several of the movies on my list are foreign releases. They may be 2010 releases in their respective countries, but the U.S. was not blessed with them until 2011. So, here we go…

10. THE REEF (2010 – Released in U.S. 2011)
So Jaws is my number one shark attack movie and The Reef is right behind it. I thought this import from Australia was frightening. For most of the movie the camera is bobbing up and down in the water with the characters, and the director only lets you see as much as they can. And when the water splashes you know the shark is near and there’s nothing they can do until it’s too late. There’s a glutton of goofy shark movies out there but this is one that will scare you.

9. COLD PREY 3
I’m putting this Norwegian movie on my list even though it’s not a 2011 movie and there was no U.S. release for it. But I did see it in 2011 (my column, my rules). I love slashers and the Cold Prey series is top shelf. Part 3 gives a little insight into the origins and then flash forwards to the 80’s for more mayhem. The movie is beautifully shot and the suspense is thick. More of a moody piece than a gorefest.

8. DREAM HOME (2010 – Released in U.S. 2011) No, this is not the Daniel Craig movie, this is the blood soaked slasher movie from China. Gorehounds rejoice! The death scenes are so outrageous and gory you don’t know whether to laugh nervously or run away. It’s about a woman who begins murdering people in a condo to bring down the property value (which in Hong Kong is ridiculous). Flashbacks woven throughout her killing spree tune us in on why she’s flipped her wig.

7. I SAW THE DEVIL (2010 – Released in U.S. 2011)
Dark places is where you’ll be heading to with this Korean flick. You won’t have any time to catch your breath in between one brutal scene after another. A vengeful cop and vicious serial killer play a deadly game creating a nail-biting thrill ride. It’s a mash-up of unrelenting action and horror. If you want a taste of how wicked it is just watch the “Taxi Scene” on YouTube.

6. THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN
I was blown away by how real everything looked and yet it still had a comic book flair with the exaggerated features of the characters. This was a great adventure and I’ll be happy if there are more stories to follow. It reminded me of the glory days of Indiana Jones.

5. TROLL HUNTER (2010 – Released in U.S. 2011)
All the way from Norway comes this fun, mockumentary of a group of students who follow the “Troll Hunter” as he does his secret job in the dark and icy mountains. There are a variety of trolls to see and they are executed with flawless special effects. A ton of fun.

4. CARS 2
The talented people at Pixar never disappoint. More of an action-adventure than a heart-string puller, I had a great time at the theaters with my kids. The animation, colors and attention to detail are amazing! The spy-element was a great addition to the Cars universe.

3. ATTACK THE BLOCK
London street kids battle ape-like aliens with wicked teeth! At first I was put-off by the thuggish attitude of the main characters, but when alien ass needed to be kicked they came together to help. The main lead Moses went from a-hole to hero and with the help of his friends brought heat to the space invaders using everything from fireworks to samurai swords. The alien effects were awesome and the techno score pounded.

2. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
I love the Harry Potter books and films and Deathly Hallows Part 2 was a triumphant finish to a great series. Every frame was soaked in an inky darkness creating a sense of dread that built to an intense climax that will have you standing up to cheer. The special effects and camera work are stunning. Every performance is top-notch and I was teary eyed when the final frames rolled by.

1. SUPER 8
True story…my friends and I tried to make a zombie movie in the late 80’s on super 8 film. It was never finished because our lead actor was grounded. Anyway, I loved Super 8! It’s got humor, chills, action and a great deal of mystery and magic. It had the Spielberg touch and Abram’s direction was solid. The performances were so natural, I felt like these kids had known each other forever. I loved that they actually showed their finished zombie movie at the end. A great time at the movies!

Favorite DVD Releases of 2011:  Shout Factory’s Roger Corman Presents…
So far I’ve picked up Joe Dante’s Piranha, Humanoids from the Deep, Galaxy of Terror, Forbidden Planet, Star Crash…all of them cheap and cheesy gems from the 70’s and 80’s. These dvd collections are awesome! They all feature quality uncut presentations and the dvd sleeves are reversable with alternate artwork, all of them with the original poster art!

Ridley Scott is returning to the “Alien” mythology with “Prometheus”. The trailer is awesome, revealing imagery that may answer questions to the mysteries of Scott’s first masterpiece, “Alien”. I love how the title graphics slowly come together just like the opening of “Alien” and the music is so creepy. The visuals are amazing and I’m really looking forward to this!

Straight out of Middle Earth comes the amazing trailer for The Hobbit. Peter Jackson’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy blew my mind and I am more than excited for his return to that world with The Hobbit. It’s a year away…I’m going to go mad waiting for it.