Home for the Holidays: ThanksKilling/ThanksKilling 3

 Happy Holidays! Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. It's been an interesting few days. I spent some time watching ThanksKilling yesterday. At first, I didn't know what to make of it. It's a film. I'll give it that. I honestly have no idea who this film's audience is. I know that there are some people that consider it to be a film that's so bad it's good. I think that I'm probably one that isn't for that audience. And now that it's the wonderful holiday season, thought it'd make a good one to start with. 

    Okay, so ThanksKilling came out in 2009. It's very much a film that feels like a Troma film. Honestly, ThanksKilling feels a little bit like it's a parody of terrible horror films. Jack Frost is definitely the first one that springs to mind. And no, not the Michael Keaton version. Stay tuned as that'll be a film I'll tackle at some point during Home for the Holidays. Now, the story of ThanksKilling is super simple. A group of college kids are being terrorized by a fowl-mouthed bird. The kids have to try to figure out how to kill the turkey. While the film is only a small hour and six minutes, there are definitely parts that feel like it's there to pad it out into a longer running time. And honestly, it doesn't work. I kept wondering exactly how much longer the film would have left. I honestly wish I could get in touch with the filmmakers to ask questions about this and the sequel, ThanksKilling 3. 

    The characters in this film are just so generic. I get that's the point. But take Dude Bro Party Massacre III, that's another horror parody. But what makes that film work is that it gives some depth to its characters. So therefore, you enjoy getting to watch the film. ThanksKilling no. And same goes for ThanksKilling 3. 

    Why were these films made? I have been racking my brain trying to understand why. Yeah, if you want something to turn on when you turn your brain off. You are in luck. ThanksKilling delivers it in spades. And ThanksKilling 3 even manages to outdo the original with its meta-inspired story. 

    Seriously, ThanksKilling 3 is about Turkie trying to track down the last copy of ThanksKilling 2. So that he can make people remember him. And he's accompanied by his child after brutally murdering his wife. Honestly, the whole effect sequence with that is done pretty well. I mean it helps that it's all puppets really. That was the thing that racked my brain even more about ThanksKilling 3 - its cast really is puppets. There is occasionally a person or two, but for the most part - be prepared to watch a cartoon come to life. 

    These films know exactly what kind of films they are. I mean in the first seconds of each of these films - immediately the screen is filled with nudity. Oh man, we have nudity in our film. We can check it off our list. Though, the first film manages to have a scene where Turkie uses a condom to have a good time with one of the other characters. What? That is a sentence that I'm just not sure I'd ever have to write. There are gore in these films. But honestly it's very small budgets. 

    When I had seen that some people were talking these films up, I was a little intrigued. I knew that they were terrible. But I didn't have any idea exactly  what I was getting myself into. Both of these films feel like fever dreams. I honestly don't see myself returning for a second helping with either. 

ThanksKilling Rating: 1 out of 5. 

ThanksKilling 3 Rating: 1.25 out of 5. 

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Night of the Reviews: Land of the Dead

     Welcome back to Night of the Reviews. After the last installment, we have now covered the original three Romero films. There are some that have dubbed them as Romero's Holy Trinity of his Zombie saga. After Day of the Dead's success, Romero took some time and made some other horror films. During this time, we also saw a remake of Night of the Living Dead directed by Tom Savini. It was a solid film and will be covered a little later in this retrospective, so stay tuned for that. And then the zombie genre started making a resurgence with 28 Days Later, the first Resident Evil, and the Zack Snyder Dawn of the Dead. 

    Romero had seen that the genre was coming back. He had started brewing an idea for a fourth installment for his series. He had started the script and seeing different studios. One of the studios that was seen was Fox. Fox had wanted the film to be originally titled Night of the Living Dead. Romero questioned that as he had the name Dead Reckoning in mind. Funny thing is that Fox was looking to own the rights to the Night of the Living Dead franchise. Thankfully Universal Pictures would be the ones to get Romero and his fourth entry. Universal was quick to suggest calling it Land of the Dead instead of Dead Reckoning. 

    By this point, I had seen a lot of the zombie films that were being released. I had enjoyed a lot of them. Yes, even some of the lesser ones that may not have aged properly. When I had heard that Romero was coming out with Land, I had only seen the original Night of the Living Dead and the Savini Night. I had tried watching the original Dawn of the Dead but at that time it just never clicked. I was excited about it. I had tried to go see it at the theater. But I never realized just how dumb the release was for this. It was like a limited release instead of a wide release. So my local theater never received it. It was absolutely dumb. The first day it was released on dvd, I went and picked it up. I was ready for it. I had a bit of high expectations for it. 

  In a world where zombies form the majority of the population, the remaining humans build a feudal society away from the undead. Ruthless Paul Kaufman rules and protects this microcosm but enforces painful class distinctions. Second-in-command Cholo DeMora attempts to lead a secret rebellion against Kaufman's tyranny, but when the zombies begin to evolve, the survivors must discover a way to protect themselves from a zombie hoard that can learn and adapt. 

    This is a very basic approximation of the film story. There's also Riley, who wishes to find a way to get out of the city. He wants to be on his own and be his own person. Riley's only friend is Charlie. Charlie may seem a bit off. However, he is awesome as he can hold his own and has Riley's back. It's a very great pairing and feels like a callback to Of Mice and Men with George and Lennie. But Riley has to stop Cholo to gain his freedom. Riley enlists the help of Slack to aid him and Charlie in this mission. 

    In this rewatch of Land, it's interesting how there's three different sides to the story. It feels very much like the world in Day of the Dead. That's very evident as our three characters feel like natural evolution and callbacks to our characters in Day of the Dead. Riley feels like Sarah, Cholo feels like the mad scientist, and then Kaufman is very much mad like Rhodes. When I had originally watched the film, I loved it. It was nice seeing Romero return to the genre he helped create. It honestly still does. 

    The film definitely feels bigger than Day of the Dead. It's also interesting seeing how Romero was able to finally utilize the ideas he had for the original Day of the Dead script in this. So for this, it feels like Day and Land are the two sides of that original script. There is a fair bit of action in the film. However for me, the biggest thing was seeing Romero getting to show more of the evolution of the zombies. This is the film that began to open things up even more. I mean our main zombie, Big Daddy was a gas station worker originally. He is able to find a way to communicate with the other zombies. It's a bit simple but effective. He also is the first zombie that is able to use a gun. He ends up using an AR-15 (if I remember right) to put a zombie head out of its misery. It is interesting seeing how they overcome their love of fireworks to stay on track. 

    Honestly, Land of the Dead doesn't feel like a cash grab in. It feels like a natural fourth installment. It does have some elements that may feel a little familiar. The opening feels like a callback to Day's opening. The ending is definitely fashioned very much after Dawn of the Dead's with the onslaught of zombies getting what they wanted. The cast in this film is great. Robert Joy is one of the biggest standouts for me. His performance as Charlie is fantastic. He knows that he can chew the scenery a bit. But he steals a lot of his scenes. I wanted to see more of Charlie. Simon Baker is solid as Riley. He doesn't feel like a ruff and tuff man. He feels like a real person. Plus the interactions between Riley and Charlie is just so good. It's a great friendship. Asia Argento was someone I hadn't seen much of before this. I hadn't realized that she was the daughter of Dario. She does a good job in her performance as Slack. It honestly feels a bit like Catwoman from Batman, especially with the interactions between Slack and Riley. John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper are also fantastic. They chew the scenery so much as Cholo and Kaufman. There was a time or two where I honestly began rolling my eyes. Eugene Clark also steals the show with his performance as Big Daddy. He is so expressive and emotive. It's a beautiful evolution of Bub from Day. And then we have one of our largest ties to the previous three films with Tom Savini appearing as a Zombie Biker. This is a really cool continuity moment as it is literally the same character from Dawn of the Dead. It would have been cool to see more of these type of moments. But it's a nice callback for fans. 

    There is definitely gore in this film. It doesn't disappoint. The only version I had seen of this film was the Unrated Directors Cut. I did look up to see what was added to it. After knowing that there were moments with Big Daddy and the zombies missing from the theatrical cut, I can't imagine what that would be like. This is very much their film as the humans. 

    Overall, Land of the Dead is a fantastic entry in the Romero saga. It holds up pretty well for me. Yeah, sometimes the action may feel a little generic. Same goes for the gore. But for me, it's the smaller beats with the zombies and interactions between Riley and Charlie that make the film for me. It's honestly one of my favorite installments. I definitely recommend it. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5. 

Previous Installments of Night of the Reviews

Part 1: Night of the Living Dead

Part 2: Dawn of the Dead

Part 3: Day of the Dead

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Night of the Reviews: Day of the Dead

 

    

   Welcome back everyone to Night of the Reviews. I hope so far you have enjoyed my thoughts on Night and Dawn of Romero's Dead saga. Whose ready to talk about Day of the Dead? 

    By this point in time, Night of the Living Dead was continuing to be heralded as a classic. Dawn of the Dead was released to much success as well. Everyone seemed to be on board of the Romero train. The way he tackled his sequels was a very cool way to approach things. It allowed us to see a wider scale of what was going on with society and the zombie apocalypse. It also gave us a different set of characters. I mean it would have been very difficult to find any way to save any of Night's characters as all of them perished at the end of that film. The interesting thing was that we see Peter and Francine survived the end of Dawn. Unfortunately, Romero was not able to bring those characters back for Day of the Dead due to copyright issues. For me, I don't know if I would have been happy if we would have seen them return. It would have been nice but unneeded. It would have also taken away from the anthology approach that these films were going from Night to Dawn. I also have to applaud that Romero didn't rush things for Day of the Dead. He was able to secure a three picture deal from a studio. But he wanted to find a right story and to take some time with other films.

    Day of the Dead tells a smaller personal story than Dawn. It's a very different world than when we last seen. The zombies have overrun the world and outnumber the humans. A group of survivors live in an underground bunker with a military presence. Scientists and Military come to clashing over determining what to do about the zombies: educate, eliminate, or escape. Everyone in this movie deliver amazing performances. Lori Cardille delivers a strong performance as Sarah. This honestly feels like a prototype in a way of what Barbara would become in the Savini version of Night of the Living Dead. Joseph Pilato absolutely kills it as Rhodes. He is our villain and brilliantly makes us hate him as the military leader. Richard Liberty gets to give us his best creepy doctor as the scientist that makes the story come to a head. Honestly without him, the movie wouldn't move forward. He is the catalyst of why the story goes absolutely bonkers. And he does it all in the name of science. And then there's the big standout for the zombies with Sherman Howard's portrayal of Bub. This is such a fantastic performance that many would try to emulate later on. 

    That's one of the brilliant things of Day of the Dead. It's a story ultimately about three sects of humanity coming to a head. We have our typical survivors with Sarah, Miguel, Bill, and John. These are all characters that feel very much like what we had seen in Night and Dawn. Rhodes is the leader of the military. He doesn't want to accept the role. It was just unfortunately something that had passed down to him. And the responsibility of all it all, it just drives him absolutely mad. There's honestly no way that Rhodes could not have gone any other way. And then we have the scientists represented in Logan, who is trying to find a way of rationalizing everything. But through the way he's handling things, it's just driving him further into madness. Especially as it becomes evident that he's utilizing Rhodes' soldiers to further his experiments with the zombie, Bub. And then in the background of all this, we have our zombies doing what zombies do.

    When compared to Dawn, I love Day of the Dead so much more. It is very well paced. The interactions between the three groups is fantastic. The really interesting addition for me was seeing the evolution of the zombie lore with Bub. It's interesting seeing that there is more going on with them. They are not necessarily mindless after all. They just are a bit more simple than humanity. It continues to push the idea that they are us and we are them that Romero is a bit known for. I also love the descent that Miguel and Rhodes both go into. It establishes that there are high stakes in this world and everyone at any moment could have this happen to them. 

    The effects in this film are also extremely top notch. They definitely have evolved since Dawn. I mean look at the zombies in that film and compare them to this one. It's in a way like night and day. They seem a bit more further along as well in their process. They look more dried out like jerky. It's super brilliant. And yes when the gore is on screen, it's there in spades. 

    Oh yeah, when I was researching this film I found out something pretty cool. Originally written, George had some elements that seemed a bit overbudget. It was expanding more on how the rest of society would be. And apparently it was elements that would later be reused and fleshed out for Land of the Dead. That's something that is super cool to hear. It took George at least three different rewrites to make Day into what it is known as today. Fun facts and the more you know. 

    In the end, Day of the Dawn is a great entry in this series. I definitely recommend it. 

Rating: 4.25 out of 5. 

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The Blue Review: Free Guy

   

  What's up everyone? Matthew here once again with another entry to The Blue Review. Last time, I had the pleasure of talking about Venom and Let There Be Carnage. Both of those were a lot of fun. Since then, it's been a while since I watched anything not horror related. 

    

    Today, I took it upon myself to just jump the gun and dive into another film. Now the title of this will give it away what film I'll be talking about. But just take a moment to think on things. It's a movie about a man realizing that there's more to life. The possibilities are endless on what he can do. He has so much in front of him. All of it happened because he met a girl. Now his world is endangered and so he must do what he can to save it all. Does that sound like The Lego Movie? How about Ready Player One? By this point, it takes a little bit to give this film a distinct voice. I'm talking about Free Guy. 

    

    Free Guy is one of the latest new Ryan Reynolds films released this year. It was one that I had actually been looking forward to for a time. I had first heard about it back in 2019 because Jacksepticeye had mentioned it. When I had heard the initial sypnosis for it, I immediately thought Oh, Lego Movie and Ready Player One. What's this going to do to differentiate it from those? Well, the trailers for the film paint it solely as being closer to those films. 

    

    However, this film has a lot of heart to it. Ryan Reynolds delivers a fantastic performance as Guy, the Blue Shirt NPC Bank Teller that is tired with his life. He can play naive really really well and make it very amusing. While the jokes seem to fly a bit, its the more earnest moments with him that are so awesome. He just plays those moments with Guy having his heart on his sleeve. There comes a moment though where Guy has to question everything. While its nice seeing Ryan actually conveying everything with his comedic timing ("They don't have thumbs, Phyllis."), its just the performance going on behind it that was even more powerful to me. The super subtle stuff. 

    While this was led by Reynolds, Joe Keery, Jodie Comer, Lil Rey Howery, and Utkarsh Ambudkar all bring their A-game to this ensemble. The friendship between Lil Rey Howery's Buddy and Guy is just so good. They are the absolute bestest of friends that have one another's back. Joe Keery does a solid job, though there is a slight romantic interest with Comer that felt a bit overplayed. I mean it felt completely obvious that he is head over heels for Millie. But then it took the time and she finally realized it. It felt like a moment that was unnecessary. Jodie Comer does a great job as well. 

    Now what's an entertaining movie without its villain. Free Guy does have a fun villain in Taika Waititi. He is so over the top playing a software yuppy. He is all about the numbers on the products. He doesn't care whatsoever about the product. It's a very honest portrayal. I mean look over at Gearbox's Randy Pitchford and look at the Aliens: Colonial Marines mishandling that happened. It felt very much like Taika's Antwan. But Taika is clearly having a lot of fun with the cheese in the film and bouncing off of Keery and Ambudkar. The one thing that I was very surprised is that the film didn't find a way of having Taika playing the game to fight Guy. Instead the way that he handles it, it's very much more a realistic approach than what the film trailers would lead you to believe. 

    There are a few action sequences. A lot of them are pretty solid. However in the overall film, the action is a lot less than the character interactions. It's honestly the smartest way to approach the film. There are also a lot of Youtuber/Twitch streamer cameos. Never once did they feel like it was overkill. Everything was all pretty balanced. 

    In the end, Free Guy was a lot of fun. It was a little less action than I expected it to be. But it's okay. It's a fun ride and something that can be watched with the whole family. There's definitely a lot going on in the backgrounds. I look forward to my next watch to see if there's anything else that I notice that I didn't the first time.  I recommend it. 

Rating: 4 out of 5. 

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Night of the Reviews: Dawn of the Dead: The Argento Cut

 Welcome back to Night of the Reviews. In the previous installment, we talked about the Romero's classic - Night of the Living Dead. It was a film that birthed the genre. However, Romero had a bit of a tough time over the next few years. One of the biggest issues was the copyright mishap. As it has been discussed over the years, the original Night of the Living Dead failed to have a copyright on the title. This left Romero and his team unable to make money from the film. The money they would have received instead went to the Producers. It's a big reason why there are so many different reboots and remakes of that original film - it's in the public domain. If you see a movie and there's a film showing on a tv somewhere in it, chances are it'll be Night of the Living Dead. Romero continued going on to make other films. His fans though were shocked that it'd take so long to have him return to the genre that he started. His reasoning was that he didn't want to be sterotyped as a horror director. 

In 1978, Romero released a sequel to Night of the Living Dead. Dawn of the Dead was an interesting approach for the director and writer. It brought a more anthological approach to the world of the Living Dead. Gone were the characters and setting in the original film. This time, it was a much larger look at what a zombie apocalypse could have on society. The scale of everything was a bit bigger. Hell, the effects present in the film were jaw-dropping. But Romero was still able to bring great characters to life in his story. 

The story of Dawn of the Dead is a very simple one. That's the wonderful thing about it as was for Night before it. It basically boils down to two personnel (Francine and Stephen) from a TV station and two policemen (Roger and Peter) set off in a helicopter to find a safe place to hide out. Their search leads them to a shopping mall where they manage to find a place that, while not zombie-free, is quite secure. 

What a better place to have a story in an apocalypse than a mall. It makes a lot of sense as you'd have a lot of access to everything you could probably need. The characters in this film are just as strong as the characters from Night. Stephen is someone that is a bit headstrong. He strongly believes that he's doing the right thing in the very beginning by getting Francine to safety. He's also incredibly cautious about who to trust especially when meeting Roger and Peter. He's trying his hardest to be the knight in shining armor for Francine. Francine feels a bit like Barbara from Night. However over the course of the film, she really comes into her own. She is able to show that she's her own person. This is honestly greatly depicted during a scene when she rejects Stephen's attempt at a proposal. I get it's the end of the world, but is it really necessary to propose Stephen? To me, it feels like Stephen's trying his best to try to find some sort of way to control some element of what the world has become. Roger and Peter have two great introductions in the film. They were apart of a SWAT team that was going through an apartment building - which was filled with zombies. They were able to showcase their great weapon skills during this sequence. Plus Peter is also pretty headstrong as he quickly puts Stephen in his place after Stephen's failed attempt at taking out a zombie. Roger seems like a pretty good guy. He's Peter's right hand man. They both are on the same page and seem to understand how to work together as a team. 

There are lots of messages hidden within the film. Well not exactly hidden, but are covered. Some of them could be considered a bit dated. But looking at everything Romero wanted to discuss, it's all relevant still to today. Yeah, the topic of abortion has changed greatly from when the film was initially released. But it's still an important topic today. The biggest topic of discussion that arises from this film is consumerism. At first, all of the characters become lost in it. They are all caught up in the moment of having to have it all. Roger and Stephen are the biggest examples as they literally lose themselves in their material possessions. Everything has a value. To the point of even money having a false semblance of value in this new world. Thankfully, Peter and Francine both are able to shake the lure of this. 

This whole thing is still so relevant that it's a bit sickening. I mean think about it. During the early stages of COVID-19, what is one thing that people were protesting? The malls being closed. They just wished so much that could be able to go back to their leisurely activities. Not because it would be a way of helping the economy. But because they wanted to get back to a 'normal life'. It's honestly not much different. 

The zombies in this film are definitely different than in Night. In Night, it was hard to gather exactly what the zombies look like. Mostly because that film was in black and white. Tom Savini worked on this film for the effects and it definitely shows. The only thing that Savini has come out and said over the years is that he wished he hadn't made the zombies a grey color. Due to this film being in color, it causes the zombies to be a little blue at times. This is especially evident in the Argento Cut. The gore is also a big sign that this is a Savini Effects film. When the zombies bite something, they don't just bite something. They take chunks out with the proper blood spurting. It greatly helps brings Romero's disastrous zombie apocalyptic nightmare to life. 

Now the only version of Dawn of the Dead that I own is The Argento Cut. When I began to research this film, I learned that there were three different cuts for this film. That's a lot of different ways to enjoy the film. It also allows a lot of flexibility to the viewer in terms of what they may be interested in. There is the original theatrical cut that runs a solid 127 minutes - this is the version that has been released throughout the years. There was also the Extended Cut that brought the film to 139 minutes. This added some more character beats to scenes to help flesh things out. Some people could say that it's not bad to have more of the world that they enjoy. Now the 139 minute isn't Romero's preferred version - that distinction belongs to the theatrical. 

Because Dawn of the Dead was a joint Italian Production, Argento had helped co-finance the film alongside his brother Claudio and producer Alfredo Cuomo. Their big idea for helping finance the film was to have the international distribution rights. This led to Romero and Argento separately editing the film. The Argento Cut featured mostly score by the band Goblin. This Argneto Cut is kind of a cliff-notes version of Romero's original film. It's much faster paced. However, it removes some of the heavy dialogue and comedy to focus more on the horror and the action. 

I have tried watching Romero's original theatrical cut. I understand why some people will prefer it. For me, I tend to gravitate more towards The Argento Cut. It feels more in tone with Night and the subsequent Day. It's the version I would recommend for the awesome Goblin soundtrack. 

Rating: 4 out of 5. 

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Night of the Reviews: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Hello everyone, I hope everyone is having a solid week so far. Whose ready for our next series of retrospectives? I been tossing around a few different ideas for a while now. But decided that it was time to start diving into the Romero films. 

Thus Romero Reviews was born. But as nice as it was, I kept thinking that if I'm going to cover the originals - I might as well go all in. So, Night of the Living Reviews has been born. During the course of this series, I will be covering all of the Romero zombie films as well as the remakes and reboots. I'm sure there are still some that I won't be covering, but I'll try my best. 

And so here we are to kick things off and do it right. Join me as I dive into Romero's original classic, Night of the Living Dead. 

Night of the Living Dead was released in 1968. It was a film that was ahead of the curve. Over the years, it has continued to thrive as it's finds newer audiences. It's definitely one that is solidly a part of film history. 

One of the interesting things is how it treats it's characters. Every one is equal and on the same standing as one another. Yeah, Harry is a total douche that cuts down Ben every chance he's get. But honestly that's something that is a part of every day. Romero knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to turn the mirror back onto the audience. To help highlight the world we live in. And that's something that makes this film feel relatable so much. 

Night was something that wasn't happening in the far future. This was something that was happening in the present and now. Of course, no one would have much in terms of weapons or whatnot. Who would think Oh yeah, it's the end of the world and now we have to defend ourselves against ourselves? That is another thing that just shows how powerful this film is. 

If you haven't seen the film yet, Night of the Living Dead centers around a group of people defending themselves at a farm house against a horde of flesh eaters. At this point, they were referred to as ghouls or corpses. The word zombie wouldn't be established till much later. It's a very simple story. It's honestly so simple of a story that it has been remade or reimagined countless times. However, none of those attempts can ever capture what made the original so iconic and memorable. I mean the 1990 Savini helmed remake is honestly the best attempt as recreating the original. 

The one thing that tended to strain on me is the character of Barbara. I get that it's a character that has been through a lot and is pretty traumatized. However for most of the film, she is locked into frightened terrified mode. It honestly felt a bit one note and shallow. We are not even given the time to know more about the character. I understand that there will be some that will consider that a hot take. 

One of the biggest points of Night of the Living Dead is it's casting in Ben. This is Duane Jones one hundred percent. He delivers such a fantastic performance. Honestly if the character of Ben didn't work, this film wouldn't work. He is the heart of the film. 

For me, this is my favorite of the Romero Dead saga. This was the first film I was introduced to. The opening of the film was included on a old VHS tape called Creepy Classics hosted by Vincent Price. That was a fantastic introduction for me to horror. It included other trailers and clips from other films. But the opening of Night of the Living Dead was the part I remembered so much. It's such an iconic beginning with Barbara and Johnny visiting their parent's grave. Lumbering in the background is that tall scraggly ghoul. 

After that opening and Barbara making it to safety, I hadn't seen the rest of the film for the longest time. When I had seen it, it was only parts as I always turned it on when it was a way into the film. It wasn't till around 2007 or 2008 when Diary of the Dead released alongside a remaster of Night that I had seen the rest of the film. It definitely lived up to the expectation that I had. 

This was Romero's first and for me, one of his best. This is a classic that has stood the test of time. It shows some gore to it, but nothing too over the top. By today's standards, it's a pretty tame film. But it's the message and characters that helped the film reach the success it has seen. 

Come check back as I'll be looking at the Argento Cut of Dawn of the Dead. 

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.

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Antlers (2021): Beware Some Spoilers

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It's been a bit nice having some time for a breather around here. My partner, Mandy and I had the pleasure of getting to have date night this weekend. Our son went to his Papa's. And we were left trying to figure out what we were going to do. We tried seeing if our friends had plans, they did. Mandy was driving home and just wanting to do something besides going home. Typically for us, that's usually the plan. 

So I made mention of let's go see a movie. It had been some time since they had seen a movie in the theater. For me, it was just a few weeks ago for Let There Be Carnage. Well, I went through what movies were available. Eternals - pass, that's more of a Bruce and I thing. Though, Mandy thought the trailer looked pretty cool. Last Night in Soho? Nah. Halloween Kills? Can see that on Peacock. And as I went through the list of movies, I came to Antlers. 

I immediately remembered seeing the trailer when I went to see Candyman. It looked like it was going to be pretty interesting. Sounded like what the doctor ordered. So, we drove past our house and within five minutes at our theater. The next showing was in six minutes. Absolutely perfect timing with it all. 

We sat in our seats. There were about seven or eight other people as well. It's a shame really. But again, kind of an art house small indie film is a hard sell these days. The trailers play and had some decent ones. The King's Man is one I'm pretty excited about. We also saw the Resident Evil trailer. Mandy hadn't seen that trailer yet so this was a cool experience for them. They were excited about it. So when that comes out, I'm sure you'll be seeing a review from me as Mandy is set to go when that's released. 

Also I would like to give a huge warning. If you are someone who is photosensitive, Antlers has quite a few sequences where there are flashing lights. The film also included a warning for this as well. However, our movie theater failed to give any notification about this. Big disappointment in that. This was something that was very crucial to us. Mandy has a bit of photosensitivity. So there were times where they had to look away from the screen and I had to describe what was going on. 

Now, the trailer for Antlers hadn't shown much. It set up a general idea for the film. A small-town Oregon teacher and her brother, the local sheriff, discover that a young student is harbouring a dangerous secret with frightening consequences. This was basically the jist I was ready for. Mandy hadn't seen that trailer but I gave that general sypnosis for it to them. So basically a pretty blind approach to going into a film. 

I just knew it had Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons in it. Keri Russell is one that is sometimes a hit and miss for me. Jesse Plemons is one I remember from Friday Night Lights and American Horror Stories/Story. I was excited to see what he was going to do. Both of these performers delivers a rock solid performance for me. I wasn't bored or rolling my eyes - it had me anchored. Jeremy T Thomas also delivers an incredible performance as young Lucas Weaver. Literally this film could have easily fallen apart if those three performers weren't solid. 

Holy crap. This film left me not knowing what was going to happen next. I couldn't help but be enamored with where things would go next. There are quite a few different ways this film could have played out. However for the most part, it felt like a drama mixed with some creature elements. Then it would just continue to ramp up on the creature elements. Some people may have issues with certain elements of the film. As a father of a child, the film felt like a gut punch at a certain point. If you have read this far and all this sounds interesting, go check out the film. I really don't think you will be disappointed by it. 

Now I would like to dive deeper into the film, so there will be spoilers. It's something that I cannot stress enough. Do not spoil this film for yourself. If you proceed any farther into this review, you will spoil things for yourself. 

3...

2...

1...

Are you sure?

Do you really want to spoil it? 

Okay, you had your warning. Nothing else I can do to deter you from spoiling it. 

Okay, earlier I had mentioned that there was a creature in this film. Now this is a creature that I have seen before in television shows like Supernatural. Wendigo. This is something that I honestly have not seen much of. Typically in this type of film, high chances are we would have seen a werewolf in it. But just having a Wendigo changed things up so much. It made the whole thing felt very refreshing. There were some aspects of it that could have been fleshed out a bit more. Like how exactly did Lucas's brother Aidan come down with it? Mandy had mentioned after the film that it seemed like the Wendigo infected as a pair. An adult would become a hunter and a child would become a decoy. This was something that I hadn't truly thought bout at first. The more that I think about it, the more I really dig that possibility. It also plays into the ending of the film so very very well. 

There was also the whole Father subplot for Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons. This was something that wasn't necessarily at the forefront. Some aspects of it were shown. But overall, it felt a little light and didn't hit the right way it could have. Especially dealing with Jesse Plemons character, there's a scene where he talks to Keri Russell and says that she had no idea what their Dad had done either. It's a bit of a powerful scene. However, I wish we would have had a little more time that could have fleshed things out a little more. As of right now, it just feels a bit shallow as if only there for padding. Or to have some way for the characters to reach out to Lucas. 

The tension in this film is a bit tense and heavy. Throughout the run time, there is always something haunting a scene whether it's the Father subplot or the actual Wendigo itself. Wherever I looked things just felt creepy or out of place. There is blood in this film as well as some of the acts of violence themselves. Holy crap. 

I don't wish to give anything else away. There is a lot going on with this film. The sad thing is that it's probably one that will go under the radar for many. But it is so good and honestly if there is more to say with a sequel - I am down for it. 

Rating: 4 out of 5. 

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Inside 'Bad Ben': A Chat with Nigel Bach

Hello everyone, Matthew here at BlazinBlue's Horror Review. Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and last few days. It's been a bit quiet around here and I am okay with that. It's a nice little breather if you will. 

Today, I am back with another interview. This one is a bit different than my normal ones. Yeah, it's for an indie film. But it's different because this is a bit of another milestone here at The Blue. 

Now, I have watched the Bad Ben film series. I have watched the first four as of right now. It's in the found footage genre. It's a bit of guerilla indie film making that I appreciate. I had seen the films on Amazon Prime. But the ratings seemed like it was a bit hit or miss. Honestly that alone reminds me of the Paranormal Activity series. But it wasn't till I had seen my friend and colleague, Fred (Fred's Horror Corner), talking more about them. He's a real good guy and runs a pretty awesome channel over on YouTube so check it out. That was when I decided to look more into the films. 

The Bad Ben series is a pretty unique series. Again, it's a guerilla indie style of films. Just people making movies cause they love it and having fun. It makes the films interesting to view in that light. 

So after viewing some of the films, I decided to reach out to Nigel Bach, the man behind the films. After a few days, I hadn't heard back. I was like okay, I gave it my shot. It's okay, I tried. I mean there had been a few others that had reached out to for interviews but nothing came from those. So, I thought nothing of it. 

.

A few days later, Mr. Bach had replied. He had just been a bit busy with some things going on. So join me as I talk with Nigel Bach about his Bad Ben series of films. 

How did you get your start?

I was producing TV Commercials as an independent contractor for Comcast Cable Advertising at the same time I was writing and pitching screenplays. Breaking into the screenwriting business is extremely difficult if you don’t have family in the business. People started saying to me “you own cameras, make your own movie” but they didn’t understand, just because you own a camera doesn’t mean you can make Avatar.

What was your introduction to the genre?

Knowing I couldn’t produce a cinema quality film with the equipment I possessed, I began wondering what I could produce with the equipment I had. That’s when I realized I could make a film like Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity, films that looked like they were made on the equipment I had.

How did you come up with the idea for Bad Ben?

I had surveillance cameras in my home to keep an eye on my elderly mother who I was the sole caregiver of. Often at night when the house was quiet and dark, I would look at the cameras on my iPhone and think ‘wouldn’t it be creepy if something walked across that room’ or ‘if something moved?’ That’s when I came up with the idea of shooting a found footage film using surveillance cameras (I actually used GoPros). My mother passed in 2013 and after several years of pitching screenplays, I decided to make my own film in 2016. Originally, I hired 6 actors. The female lead’s parents were out of town and she was having her boyfriend and two other couples over and one by one they would disappear…typical horror movie stuff. One by one as the shooting start date approached, they dropped out until all that was left was the female lead. I figured I would just shoot the film with her, home alone, and weird stuff happening. The Thursday before we were to begin filming (in May of 2016) I was driving home in the pouring rain and I got a text from her: ‘moving to LA, can’t be in your film, sorry, good luck.’ So you know, I don’t expect anyone to work for free like a lot of indy producers do. These performers would have been getting paid.

I was very frustrated and dropped the phone on the passenger seat of my car. For about 10 seconds I had given up. Then I scooped up my phone and started filming myself as I drove and pulled into my driveway saying ‘not bad for a Sheriff’s Sale’…the scene that became the opening to Bad Ben. I had my doubts wondering who would want to see a 50 year old, fat, bald guy getting the crap beat out of him by demons and ghosts but I figured I’d give it a shot.  

What has it been like making each of these films? 

All the ones that I was in alone (1, 4, 6, and most of 9) were improve without a script.  They were a blast.  The other films where I used other actors were a bit more challenging because their schedules were difficult to align.  They were all enjoyable to make.

What was the response like for the first one? 

I didn’t know what to expect but it took off and streaming 1.2 million minutes on Amazon Video the first month, 1.8 million minutes the second, and 1.2 again the third.  They were so popular I won the AVD Stars award the first 3 months the films were on-line.

How soon after the first one did you think you could do another?

Immediately I began planning the next one in the Bad Ben Series. I made a mistake here, though. Originally, I thought I was making a horror with Bad Ben. Fans did find it scary, but they also found it funny. The second one, Steelmanville Road, I made much darker. It was a prequel designed to explain why the surveillance cameras were in the home, who Bad Ben was, etc. I hired a great group of actors for this one. The problem was, the fans liked the buffoon Tom Riley and without him in it and with the serious tone, it wasn’t as well received as the first one. When I decided to embrace the fact that fans wanted scary and silly, the films did better.

Did you think that this would grow into such a franchise as it has?

No. After all, these are basically just long YouTube videos, but the fans have embraced them.

What do you think it is that connects with audiences?

Tom is like Michael Scott in the US version of The Office…a moron who thinks he is brilliant. They like how he reacts to the Paranormal Events taking place. He has an “I don’t give a shit” attitude and refuses to give up no matter what happens because if he does, he will lose everything.

In the fourth film, we see a multiverse of different Toms coming to the house. It is a very smart and bonkers idea. What was that like? Each one after the initial one feels different than the previous one. What was your favorite? 

The one with the dolls was my favorite because I had to come up with a way to move a camera and track the moving doll. I did that by making it seem like I attached a camera to the doll with a blue-tooth tracker. I thought it was original.

I was waiting for at one point seeing Tom get out of the car and then just getting attacked right away. 

 I think that's another reason why I appreciate these films so much now. They are fun. They definitely don't repeat themselves either. 

What was it like making Bad Ben: Pandemic? 

I’m stating the obvious here when I say bringing people together during a Pandemic to film would not be wise.  My fans are so awesome I asked if they wanted to be in a Bad Ben film by submitting segments of their own and I’d edit them together as if they were video chatting with me for guidance about dealing with events going on in their lives.  Over 30 people shot their own segments which made up the film.

What goes into deciding what the story is going to be for these films? 

Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of what goes into these is ‘improv’…like in Badder Ben when Schmiddy reveals his real name is Tristan Carmichael. I looked at the footage we had shot up until that point and realized he wasn’t in most of it, so I said to him ‘film a testimonial’ and on the spot he made that up. Each one is connected to the previous one in some matter. Although they can each stand alone, it helps if the viewers have seen the previous films.

What can you tell us about Bad Ben Benign? 

Bad Ben 9 (BENIGN) picks up the moment Pandemic Ends. Not all the fans watch the credits but in Pandemic, there is a break in the credits and a scene is shown where Tom gets shot…it’s relevant to how Benign begins. Tom walks out of the woods where he was shot and back to the house. Unlike the previous films, Benign is continuous, meaning, it represents 90 minutes in time as it happened…so from the beginning to the end, it’s 90 minutes from Tom walking out of the woods until the film ends. There is no cutting to a later time or the next day.

The best part of these films is it feels like a pure indie horror film. The kind where it's like Okay, going to get some friends together and make something. 

Are the films available to purchase? If so, where? 

I sell DVDs on BadBen.com but in the very near future that will be taken over by the distributor, Breaking Glass Films so the answer is actually…they will be.

Bad Ben: Benign and the rest of the series are available on Amazon, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, and VUDU.

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