I love Lenzi's gialli offerings, or at least the one's I have experiences! I still need to see KNIFE OF ICE and A QUIET PLACE TO KILL. SPASMO and EYEBALL are some of my more favorite gialli viewings. Two very stylish yet, odd in nature but still very effective in the payoff!
It's been a long time since I first seen his SO SWEET... SO PERVERSE (1969), was that not just recently issued on DVD again??
I absolutely loved Freda's brilliant I VAMPRI! Now, what was the deal with Bava being uncredited for with this again? I know he had something to do with the overall direction, but what's the full story on that again?
Any opinions about this more recent giallo? I've heard some bad things but when I found it dirt cheap on eBay, I couldn't resist the temptation of picking it up. Figured I need to give some of the more recent horrer/thriller stuff a chance too. Still waiting for it to arrive and I'm not quite sure what to expect of it but at least it has a pretty good cast that includes famous transsexual Eva Robins from TENEBRAE (1982) and the good-looking Elisabetta Rocchietti, who has been cropping up in a lot of horror stuff like THE THREE FACES OF TERROR (2004), DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK? (2005) and THE LAST HOUSE IN THE WOODS (2006). Not to mention supporting roles by Florinda Bolkan and Franco Nero! Anyone here seen it?
Interesting looking film out of Italy with Irish/Spanish co-financiers. Directed by Italian SFX man Stefano Bessoni.
In the 1600s, long before the invention of photography, a scientist named Girolamo Fumagalli was obsessed with the idea of reproducing images. He discovered that by killing a victim and removing the victim's eyeballs, it was possible to reproduce on paper the last image imprinted on that person's retinas. He named this technique 'thanatography'. Today, the same kind of gruesome ritual and abominable crime recurs within the walls of an international school of cinema. -imdb.com
Also stars the daughter of Charlie Chapman, Geraldine Chaplin as well as her daughter Oona.
Well, it seems this is yet another Argento flick that is taking a beating in the review department. Even die hard fans are not too pleased with this outing. Anyhow, the PAL R2 DVD is now out via a Polish company that found it important to force the Polish subs!
Looks like this will be getting a UK release first via Arrow Films! I still haven't seen this, it was on my radar during last year's Midnight Madness during the Toronto Film Fest. The disc will be released March 15th..
I'd love to grab this, but for now I'm holding off on the Blu-Ray player for now, too unstable industry right now. Plus, the multi-region player are way too expensive!
(2007/CANADA) REVIEW BY-Devin Kelly DIRECTOR(s): John Geddes and Jesse T. Cook. PRODUCER: John Geddes and Jesse T. Cook CAST: Thomas Webb, John Geddes, Jesse T. Cooke, Steve Warren, Gary Fischer, Chris Warrilow, Matt Griffin, Gavin Peacock, Stephanie
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(2007/CANADA) REVIEW BY-Devin Kelly DIRECTOR(s): John Geddes and Jesse T. Cook. PRODUCER: John Geddes and Jesse T. Cook CAST: Thomas Webb, John Geddes, Jesse T. Cooke, Steve Warren, Gary Fischer, Chris Warrilow, Matt Griffin, Gavin Peacock, Stephanie Banting, Jackie Pampalone, Jackie Eddolls, Ted Lye, Melanie Brown, Sam Thomas, Olivia Bessel, Jason Derushie, Chris Rutte, Steve Vecchiola, Earl Haggard, John Cowan, Murray Knowles, David Lever, Kevin Doner, Cindy Crossley, Charis Chattell, Devin Pearson, Amanda Ayers-Clements Two Door Four Door Pictures / Bloodlife Films RUNNING TIME: 99 min. 48 seconds DVD SOURCE: Limited Edition DVD Screener
"Good food, good meat, good God, let's eat!"
One of the most endearing aspects of the low-budget horror film for me is that the many hands behind the mayhem are never reluctant to rough it. These films are fuelled by an unquenchable passion and love for the late night fright fests that grossed us out and scared us into an unhealthy lifetime obsession. Budget restrictions aside, many of the standout films of today from the horror genre are little Indy treasures waiting to spew the crimson in your face upon discovery. Look no further than SCARCE, a good old fashioned backwoods cannibal terror tale in which roughing it would be an understatement.
Directing and producing, as well as bringing forth painfully realistic and diehard performances, John Geddes and Jesse Cook are clearly certified horror fanatics, possibly headed towards mad geniuses. Not only is SCARCE genuinely uncomfortable in it’s display of unflinching unpleasantries, but the actors for the most part raise the believability factor throughout. Something that could have ended up run-of-the-mill is in reality a highly recommended little piece of down home splatter.
After much fornication and fun up and down the mountains of Colorado, three snowboarding, pipe passing Jersey boys, Owen (John Geddes), Trevor (Jesse T. Cook) and Dustin (Thom Webb) head for the road back home. Unfortunately for them, the road back home is a long stretch through unruly rural no man’s land right into the bowels of hungry hick hell. After a serious accident occurs while en route through Pennsylvania, both disabling the car completely and badly injuring Trevor, what has now turned into an already unfortunate and dire situation is set to become far worse. They’ll soon find out that rescue in this case has nothing to do with survival. It’s merely retrieval for future atrocities.
When Dustin and Owen venture off in search of help, unable to bring a virtually immobile Trevor along with them, it’s not long before they happen upon what at first appears to be a deserted ramshackle lodge. Assuming it to be abandoned, the two begin to rummage around before soon finding themselves startled by the abrupt arrival of the apparent owner. The peculiar, pasty faced loner, stunned by the presence of the boys, quickly switches to yellow-toothed grin, although making it clear, “Not a redneck, just oooold fashioned”. He concernedly offers the two a ride back to the site of the accident to recover Trevor and seek treatment for the nasty condition of his leg. He introduces himself as Ivan (Steve Warren) along the way. Much to their chagrin however, Dustin and Owen’s plight descends into almost helplessness as their return to the vehicle reveals that Trevor is now nowhere to be found.
With little to no clue on where exactly they could be and how to track down their missing friend in a massive and accumulating blanket of snow, they accept Ivan’s offer of shelter and reassurance that Trevor’s likely already been picked up. These fun loving snowboarders will soon realize however that good intentions often end up being the mask of a fate harsher than even the coldest of mid Pennsylvania Winters. Ol' Ivan just might have a screw or two loose and a couple of like-minded friends to boot.
Filmed almost entirely in and around the area of the Blue Mountains, located in blustery Grey County, Ontario in the dead of Winter, SCARCE is clearly a labour of unbridled love. From beginning to end on the miniscule budget through which it was created, the film delivers on all levels of the horror scale. Not only is it clear that film makers Geddes and Cook are driven devotees of all that is ghoulish, but even more evident is the fact that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to bring their nightmarish vision to fruition. If running around in snow up to their thighs in deathly freezing temperatures, wearing next to nothing isn't a strong indication of this, I don't know what is. Combine a guerrilla filmmaking quality with glistening, gloppy gore sure to make even veteran horror hounds wince and the efficacious realism of our minacious meat-munchers (played convincingly by Steve Warren and Garry Fischer) and we’ve got a diamond of the highest carnal persuasion here.
Building on a vast supply of influential chillers does not take away from the individualism of SCARCE at all as has happened with other less original, more blatant attempts. With elements popping up from grimy masterpieces of yesteryear and vacationers-in-peril fare such as Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977), Hooper's THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) and with even subtler nods to stalk and slaughter essentials like, MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981), and even perhaps more modern offerings such as, WOLF CREEK (2005), SCARCE slowly slips comfortably into it's own skin as the film moves along. Much of what makes it work, and something that often kills the atmosphere in other low-budget flicks of it's ilk, are quite simply the performances. Everybody for the most part is on the mark here, injecting a seriousness in their delivery with tongue rarely in cheek.
The characters all have their own unique quirks and nuances, which helps in not making them carbon copies of one another. Steve Warren (Ivan), Garry Fischer (Wade) and Chris Warrilow (The Slob) as our three central sickos are without a doubt the major reasons that SCARCE is so wonderfully entertaining. Demented, depraved, perverse and bloodthirsty, each one of them sends the creep meter through the roof with their own disgusting traits. Warren in particular is the one to watch here in the role of Ivan, whom without his participation would probably have made SCARCE less than the great little feast of celluloid carnage it ended up being. With a Jim Siedow semblance, Ivan could easily be today's Ed Gein. His lines are by far some of the best in the film, especially during the dinner sequence with Geddes and Webb. Whether it be serving plates full of miscellaneous slop and splashes of his home made Pennsylvania moonshine, Malarkey, or ranting on about the satisfaction in bringing home a fresh kill with your own bare hands, Warren is both fantastically horrific and a hoot. And our boy Ivan sure does require his daily feed of meat! "How do you know you're a real man eatin' a goddam hotdog on the street?!", he raves at the two weary travellers. It's little moments like that which make SCARCE as entertaining to take in as it is.
We cannot discount the equally slimy performances of Garry Fischer and Chris Warrilow either, perfect for their respective parts as Wade and The Slob and key to the storyline. Fischer is the epitome of evil here in the role of Wade, lacking the twisted good nature of his counterpart, Ivan, more focused on getting right to the guts of the matter, literally. Clearly one of Satan's minions dispatched by Beelzebub himself, Wade is a walking Grim Reaper adorned in black, clad in welding mask and clinching his trusty tools of torture like Death would it's scythe. Warrilow as The Slob, is well, slobbish beyond description. With a taste for cured flesh of the upmost grade A calibre and a penchant for misleading tourists and taunting his victims with severed penises, The Slob looks like a Grateful Dead groupie gone awry and fished out of the sewer. Definitely not an easily forgotten freak in the pantheon of film fiends.
Apart from the fittingly warped oddballs as the driving force in SCARCE, we've got some absolutely top of the line butchery going on here. The effects courtesy of The Brothers Gore (a moniker well deserved) are unbelievably good. One thing about the experienced horror aficionado is that over time we often find ourselves slightly jaded and more difficult to truly shock or cause to squeamishly squirm. That being said, SCARCE for the most part did not fail at all in making me at times feel more than just a little bit icky. The bleeding scene in particular (I won't spoil it with any further detail) is brutally effective and there's one moment in the film that will drop jaws and gives sickening new meaning to the word peephole. The sound effects too get right under your skin and are again, excellent. From Ivan's compulsive hand washing to the chomping and consuming of dripping wet people chow, much of it is suitably nauseating to the ear. Consistently throughout, the effects as well as the steady camera work are way above average.
When it comes right down to it, SCARCE is an unknown must just waiting to be discovered by a larger audience. I found it ten times more enjoyable than the majority of so-called horror and tiresome rehashings we're currently being force-fed by big budget production companies who wouldn't know the genre if the entire catalogue of every horror film ever made hit them square in the nuts. It's the perennial adoration of people who know and grew up absorbing every inch of the genre that make it live on and remain so popular. Films like SCARCE and passionate dreamers still able to envision what the genre should be all about, like Geddes and Cook, are reasons to be certain that the future looks darkly bright for fans who can't and never will get enough. Look for SCARCE to get an official DVD release from our friends at Anchor Bay in the near future.
"When you live here in the back hills, food can be scarce sometimes" -Ivan (Steve Warren)
SCARCE
One of the most endearing aspects of the low-budget horror film for me is that the many hands behind the mayhem are never reluctant to rough it. These films are fuelled by an unquenchable passion and love for the late night fright fests that grossed us out and scared us into an unhealthy lifetime obsession. Budget restrictions aside, many of the standout films of today from the horror genre are little Indy treasures waiting to spew the crimson in your face upon discovery. Look no further than SCARCE, a good old fashioned backwoods cannibal terror tale in which roughing it would be an understatement.
Winter, SCARCE is clearly a labour of unbridled love. From beginning to end on the miniscule budget through which it was created, the film delivers on all levels of the horror scale. Not only is it clear that film makers Geddes and Cook are driven devotees of all that is ghoulish, but even more evident is the fact that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to bring their nightmarish vision to fruition. If running around in snow up to their thighs in deathly freezing temperatures, wearing next to nothing isn't a strong indication of this, I don't know what is. Combine a guerrilla filmmaking quality with glistening, gloppy gore sure to make even veteran horror hounds wince and the efficacious realism of our minacious meat-munchers (played convincingly by Steve Warren and Garry Fischer) and we’ve got a diamond of the highest carnal persuasion here.
Apart from the fittingly warped oddballs as the driving force in SCARCE, we've got some absolutely top of the line butchery going on here. The effects courtesy of The Brothers Gore (a moniker well deserved) are unbelievably good. One thing about the experienced horror aficionado is that over time we often find ourselves slightly jaded and more difficult to truly shock or cause to squeamishly squirm. That being said, SCARCE for the most part did not fail at all in making me at times feel more than just a little bit icky. The bleeding scene in particular (I won't spoil it with any further detail) is brutally effective and there's one moment in the film that will drop jaws and gives sickening new meaning to the word peephole. The sound effects too get right under your skin and are again, excellent. From Ivan's compulsive hand washing to the chomping and consuming of dripping wet people chow, much of it is suitably nauseating to the ear. Consistently throughout, the effects as well as the steady camera work are way above average.
