kiddies in peril: goodnight mommy & cooties

Goodnight Mommy

Within the confines of a modern, sleek mansion of shut-blinds, disturbing dynamics emerge between a mysterious mother (inexplicably bandaged around her head) and her twin sons. Directed and scripted with elliptical flourish by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, this Austrian horror story builds up to a queasy, grim third act of torment and to what some may find to be a predictable, groan-inducing twist. But those who think deeper about the movie and its oddities, may find there's more than meets the eye (and some fun reddit theories). Many, including myself (I was most scared of sitting in a dark theater and half-watching the scenes of giant hissing cockroaches) may have been and will be duped by the brilliantly crafted trailer which suggests more of a standard, good entertaining fright flick than what the film actually is--a meditative, woozy David Lynch-ian nightmare.  ***

Cooties

Recently a report was released that the majority of fast food chains (including Starbucks) received poor grades on their meat products. A new creature feature from Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott exploits these American food fears with school tykes turning rabid after munching on infected chicken nuggets. Elijah Wood (sort of the prince of low budget horror these days) is a failed writer-turned substitute teacher; his foil is played with gusto by Rainn Wilson, a brash, gussied-up, big-wheeler truck drivin' gym coach who emerges as the unlikely hero. The movie is noisy and yucky as heck, the daytime scenes are nauseatingly bright and it sledgehammers a lot of the comedy (including school safety agent Jorge Garcia tripping out in a van) but there are some throw-your-hands-up-and-shrug laughs to be had in the thick, gruesome nonsense. Perhaps most disappointing is that the movie is more like its generic poster than the brilliant, canny retro one pictured here.   **1/2



-Jeffery Berg

summer '13 movie faves from justin lockwood

Star Trek: Into Darkness

J.J. Abrams is some kind of genius: amidst his many pop culture achievements, this sequel to his 2009 franchise reinvention is sublime pop corn entertainment.  The movie manages to honor the essentials of the Trek cannon and its characters—which this time include Benedict Cumberbatch’s perfectly sinister Khan--  while also finding fresh aspects to them.  The movie also pulls off the Christopher Nolan-esque feat of balancing a gripping yarn with compelling (but not heavy-handed) cultural subtext.  Most importantly, it’s a whole lot of fun.

The Great Gatsby

Baz Luhrmann’s colorful adaptation of the Jazz Age classic could be divisive; it seemed you either loved his anachronistic, more-is-more approach or you hated it.  But for me, this sumptuous film hit all the right notes: extravagant and over the top when treating the book’s parties and debauchery, well-acted and quietly powerful when hitting the emotional beats.  It doesn’t hurt that the movie has one of the most memorable compilation soundtracks in recent memory.

Maniac

A notorious 80s slasher flick gets a high end makeover in this gorgeously shot indie.  Elijah Wood gives one of his greatest performances as a tortured mannequin restorer whose issues with women lead him to butcher and scalp them—except, maybe, for the beautiful photographer in whom he finds a kindred spirit.  Director Franck Khalfoun’s film is tough to take—the gore is extremely graphic, and this is one of those movies that makes you feel every ounce of pain inflicted on the victims—but it’s also intelligent, humanistic, and grippingly stylized.  It zeroes in on the sometimes razor thin line between beauty and ugliness.

You’re Next

Adam Wingard’s home invasion caper arrived with an avalanche of hype, and those who saw the movie know it was earned.  It’s the latest in the line of fan-made horrors that cannily reference the past while also adding refreshing innovations.  When a dysfunctional family reunites for the parents’ 35th anniversary, the proceedings are interrupted by masked, cross bow wielding maniacs.  Like the best horror films, You’re Next understands that character matters—and in this case, a wickedly dark sense of humor, a satisfyingly twisty plot, and perhaps the best Final Girl since Halloween’s Laurie don’t hurt, either.


-Justin Lockwood

he's a maniac

Don't go on internet dates. That was one thing I took away from Franck Khalfoun's Maniac, a deeply lurid remake of the grimy and macabre exploitation 1980 horror flick of the same name.  On Halloween's first person POV killer's heels, the original film was a controversial one and a midnight matinee hit, pushing the limits of cinematic violence.  In an era of countless low-budget gross-out torture porn (though perhaps more glossily so nowadays) horror movies, this remake of Maniac seems somewhat superfluous, though it finds its own stylish and gruesome retro groove.  Co-scripted by Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, Haute Tension), Maniac literally gets us in the head of serial killer Frank (Elijah Wood) who scalps his victims and sometimes uses their hair for his collection of mannequins in his warehouse buzzing with flies.  Unaware of Frank's hunting knife murder prowls, pretty French photographer Anna (Nora Arnezeder) happens to admire one of his mannequins in his warehouse window and soon enlists him in helping with a gallery show.

The original Maniac was a grimy downtown Manhattan affair, this reboot lurks around downtown L.A. Sometimes darkly satirical about the city's pretentiousness, throughout, Khalfoun stages operatic, gory killings, set to a dirge-like, electronic score by Rob (of the French pop band Phoenix). Overall the film seems Drive-inspired. I loved the contrast between the sense of a larger population of people within the buildings of twinkling neon with the film's sense of suffocating isolation in all those dark desolate lots, apartment hallways, train stations, and alleys.

Maniac is a movie for horror fans. There are noticeable references to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Silence of the Lambs.  For those who like gross-out gore, this one definitely doesn't disappoint, including a very sanguinary coda with makeup special effects from Tom Savini's (who did the memorable effects for the original) protegee Mike McCarty.  I'm a horror fan, especially of the retro sort, but I do prefer a bit of a distance from my movie killers. Maniac goes for the jugular by almost always focusing things through Frank's perspective. This includes his victims' elaborate deaths, bright, shattering migraines, steel wool hand-washings and crude childhood flashbacks.  In this regard, Khalfoun's film is impressively mounted with compelling cinematography by Maxime Alexandre and skillful editing by Baxter, both of whom have worked on Aja's films.

The director notes, "Using Frank’s hands became very important to the concept. How to shoot his hands without it seeming comedic was a challenge onto itself. Now focal length, depth of field, and the actual rigs we used became dominant factors in telling the story. For some scenes, we had three actors playing Frank’s hands because of camera movements, and they had to be coordinated. Many days were trial and error and sometimes it took building three or four different rigs until we figured out a shot. Even though it seemed very simple and very low-tech at first, it was incredibly challenging."  This experiment is often pulled off quite well and I admired it, even if it may leave you, as it did I, deeply queasy.  **1/2