MEDOUSA

While many genre cinema and cult movie fans are familiar with the wealth of titles coming out of European countries like France, Italy, and Spain, Greece is certainly one of the more neglected cinematic locales on the continent. But thanks to the great Mondo Macabro, lovers of weird movies can add a new entry to what it is admittedly a short, but fascinating list with this release of writer-director George Lazopoulos' Μέδουσα or Medousa (1998), a surprisingly contemporary entry in the label’s roster of obscure but indispensable cult films. A blend of horror, fantasy, and crime drama, Medousa is a dreamlike thriller that nearly defies description and richly deserves a wider audience.

A knife-throwing enthusiast with a complicated past, the young Perseas (Thanos Amorginos) is the leader of a small band of thieves in Athens who habitually rob empty homes when their wealthy owners are temporarily away. His frequently rebuffed girlfriend Katia (Vana Rambota) learns that he is determined to discover what happened to his mother (the mesmerizing though only briefly seen Eleni Filini), who disappeared when he was a young teen. He is disturbed by strange memories of a faceless woman with beautiful black hair and soon locates the countryside home she has been occupying, leading his gang there at the same time that local police discover the apparently petrified bodies of missing men, who all seem to have been turned to stone…

 Greek mythology is a fertile ground for genre cinema — replete with monsters, gods, strange supernatural beings, family trauma, and often horrific acts of violence — but it’s sadly underrepresented outside fantasy films. Though there are some fantastic arthouse examples, such as Cocteau’s Orphée (1950) or Pasolini’s Medea (1969), there are few horror films that mine similar territory. Those that do exist, like the underrated The Gorgon (1964) from Britain's Hammer Studios, bear very little relationship to actual Greek myths. Medousa, on the other hand, attempts a modernized retelling of the myth that pits Perseus, Greek mythology’s greatest early hero, against the Gorgon Medusa. Hideously ugly, winged, and with writhing serpents for hair, she is one of three sisters, underworld beings whose purpose changed throughout the centuries. Later Greeks, such as Ovid, described her as beautiful and wove in a rape-revenge aspect to the tale, while Freud described her as the physical manifestation of castration anxiety.

Medousa’s chief strength is perhaps that it makes the most of its strange, surreal tone and striking visuals. The film has a compelling sense of mystery and even — like I assume most people are — you know the mythic story, it’s often not clear what will unfold and the film’s plot is generally hard to get a solid grasp on. As a child, Perseas’s father figure seems to be a knife thrower in a cabaret-like carnival and as an adult, he takes up this practice, throwing blades at poster reproductions of famous paintings. In addition to a number of distractingly beautiful women, Perseas’s relationship with them is often fraught. His memories of his mother are tinged with erotic longing, while his girlfriend is coldly neglected for much of the running time.

Admittedly, it is quite different from other Greek genre cinema, in the sense that it makes it hard to place within a specific national tradition. It’s (thankfully) a far cry from Kostas Karagiannis’s Land of the Minotaur (1976), a Greek production shot in English with British actors like Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence, which is essentially a campy riff on British folk horror with a cult of minotaur worshippers instead of Satanists. It’s similarly unlike Nico Mastorakis’s spin on Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Island of Death (1976), an exploitation film also shot in English about British tourists who travel to the Greek isles to indulge in an orgy of torture and violence. If it has any loose contemporaries, a film like Crystal Nights (1992) — a WWII-set surreal drama-romance with themes of telepathy and reincarnation — comes closest.

Like Crystal Nights, Medousa is short on exposition and there is plenty about the film that will frustrate viewers looking for a more straightforward plot and conclusion. Some things are never explained — such as the origin of the creature — and characters come and go with little resolution. A woman whose face is never seen keeps masks hanging in her closet, a young girl obsessed with taking Polaroids leaves Perseas the only keepsake of his mother, and the knife thrower who helped raise him are barely sketched out in the script. But this is the source of much of the film’s charm and it’s rare to come across a genre film that’s so delightfully difficult to define.

And if Medousa reminds me of any other horror films at all, it’s actually the small wave of strange, surreal, occult-themed movies from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, several of which involved Clive Barker, titles like Angel Heart (1987), Nightbreed (1990), Candyman (1992), Nadja (1994), or Lord of Illusions (1995). Like a lot of those films, there are so many leather jackets on display and the characters tend to be young adults existing in a subculture and/or on the fringes of society. The collection of misfits that surround Perseas are strangely fascinating, despite the fact that they have little dialogue or screen time, and director George Lazopoulos builds a convincing, if shadowy world that seems to exist just beneath the surface of our own.

Medousa comes highly recommended and though it won’t be for everyone, I’ve really fallen in love with it. Mondo Macabro have done a wonderful job rescuing it from obscurity, though it was made a bit later than their typical fare, and I hope they manage to unearth more unusual Greek cinema in the future. There are some nice special features included, such as an interview on the making of the film with Lazopoulos and another with lead actor Thanos Amorginos, who is a musician that Lazopoulos discovered in a bar and convinced to star in the film. Despite his obvious lack of experience, he’s strangely perfect for the role. Also included is a trailer for the film.

Originally written for Diabolique.

PHANTASM IV: OBLIVION

Don Coscarelli, 1998

Starring: A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm, Bill Thornbury

This fourth film in the Phantasm series opens the same way as all other sequels – exactly where the previous film left off. Mike, with a sphere planted inside his head, is running from the mortuary and the Tall Man. Reggie is trapped by the Tall Man and his lethal spheres, but is inexplicably released to fight another day. This review already makes no sense to anyone new to the series. The rest of this very confusing film is split between Mike and Reggie. Mike is trying to find out about the Tall Man’s origins, which involve time and dimensional travel. Reggie is searching for Mike and hoping to find a way to finally defeat the Tall Man.

Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm are always fun to watch, and it’s even nice to see Scrimm in a different sort of role (as the kind old man in an alternate dimensional version of the Tall Man). The best thing about the film is the melancholic, dreamlike insertion of extra footage from Phantasm, made up of random shots of young Mike bonding with Reggie, often in the ice cream truck. His palpable sense of loneliness is a reminder of why Phantasm was so great – and serves to link us directly back to that film – but also stresses what Phantasm IV tries to achieve and clearly lacks. The use of this footage is pleasing, but could have been magical if it was more streamlined with the script and made more sense.

That’s the main issue with Phantasm IV – there is no clear storyline. It attempts to go back into the past of Phantasm as well as forward into a future world that Coscarelli simply couldn’t afford to portray on screen. Coscarelli asks even more questions than he did in Phantasm III, but fails to answer any of them, only occasionally offering suggestions. There is so much potential that just fails utterly. It’s deeply disappointing.

Phantasm IV was initially intended to be a big budget final entry in the series, costarring Bruce Campbell and based around a massive, final war with the Tall Man set on his planet in another dimension. When Coscarelli failed to raise that budget, he wrote a new script adapted to the tiny budget he had to work with (smaller than Phantasm II or III) and loosely organized around unused footage from the earlier films. Simply put, it’s a mess. Michael Baldwin is not a strong enough actor to lead the film on his own and it’s a major detriment that he and Reggie Bannister are split up for almost the entire film. Their camaraderie was a strong point in the first two films and somewhat in the third.

Slowly paced, non-linear, and utterly confused, Phantasm IV could have felt like Phantasm by way of Alejandro Jodorowsky, but instead, it’s just a disaster. This entry isn’t even really a horror film – lacking scares or gory set pieces – and focuses more on an exploration of how the Tall Man came to be and how Mike can save himself. While there is a fittingly dark, subdued, and depressing tone set against a beautiful desert landscape, there is just not enough about the film that works.

There is a lengthy scene where Mike attempts suicide by hanging in the desert, but the Tall Man ultimately prevents this. Why? Who knows. There is yet another scene where he begins to develop powers of his own. Why? My theory is that this happens because he begins regularly practicing dimensional travel, but it’s never really explained. Jody, Mike’s dead brother, also appears in this film both as a spirit possessing a sphere and as a helpful (sometimes harmful) specter. Why? I have no idea why he turns from good to bad. Tim, the little boy in Phantasm III is disposed of and ignored without further explanation. The Tall Man allows Reggie to live for no apparent reason, but then spends the rest of the film trying to kill him in all sorts of absurd ways (including via a zombie cop who comes from out of nowhere).

Phantasm IV was clearly a misguided labor of love. I would have preferred no fourth film than a flawed effort that clearly wasn’t what the director initially intended. The budget scraped the bottom of the barrel so much that devout fans made some of the digital effects for free and KNB EFX contributed some, apparently out of love for Coscarelli. I don’t understand why he didn’t try to wait and possibly raise more money, maybe piggybacking on John Dies at the End’s success, but that’s just crying over spilt milk. I can’t recommend the film, but it is sort of fascinatingly, thought-provokingly bad and should be seen by all Phantasm series completists. It’s available on DVD, but proceed with caution.

PHANTASM III: LORD OF THE DEAD

Don Coscarelli, 1994

Starring: Reggie Bannister, Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Gloria Lynne Henry, Kevin Connors, Angus Scrimm

Picking up immediately where Phantasm II left off, Mike, Liz, and Reggie are beset by a new Tall Man, who comes out of a dimensional portal just after they kill the former Tall Man. The hearse explodes and Liz is killed. Reggie is barely able to save Mike, who now seems to be the sole target of the Tall Man. Mike spends a lot of time in the hospital recovering – he has been in a coma for several months – and when he awakens, he has a vision of his dead brother, Jody. Jody later appears to both Mike and Reggie and tries to help them. He is driven out by the Tall Man, but is able to enter into one of the spheres, using it to help them. He is not able to safe Mike, who is kidnapped by the Tall Man.

On his way to rescue Mike, Reggie has a number of adventures. He’s kidnapped by looters and meets a violent 10 year old named Tim, who he reluctantly teams up with after Tim kills all the looters. They also team up with Rocky, a tough young woman on her own after the Tall Man took her entire family. The three head after the Tall Man, hoping to find Mike and get vengeance for their dead families, though they are unprepared for the new obstacles the Tall Man sets in their path…

This third entry in the Phantasm series is confusing and is a total mess in terms of plot structure. It’s probably the weakest of the four films, though Phantasm fans should give it a chance. It still has some of the fun, endearing, and thoroughly wacky elements that made the first two films cult favorites, though I would not in a million years recommend this to Phantasm virgins.

Perhaps the saving grace of the film is that Reggie Bannister is great, once again, and has even more of a role to play in this than he did in the second film. He has essentially become the main character at this point, still slinging the double shotgun and driving the Hemi, but sadly lacking the ice cream truck. Angus Scrimm is also fantastic and perfectly menacing, though the script makes some odd decisions with his character. He gets a fair amount of needless dialogue and Coscarelli’s attempts to unravel his role in the Phantasm universe only make things far more convoluted.

It’s actually almost useless to go into the plot developments here, but they loosely involve Mike and Reggie trying to get to the bottom of who the Tall Man is, why he has so much power, and why he is after Mike. Keep in mind that they are assisted by Mike’s dead brother, Jody, who puts his essence into a lethal metal ball, as well as an ass-kicking lady and 10 year old boy who is slightly-less ass-kicking. The mind reels.

Gloria Lynne Henry (The Devil’s Advocate) is actually likable as Rocky, the ass-kicking lady who apparently has Army training and wields nun-chucks. Michael Baldwin makes a welcome returns as an adult (and very aged-looking) Mike, a sadder and less adventurous man than his previous incarnations. I found it disappointing that Mike was not really the focus of this film (as he was in the first two), but you will find out in the next film that this was only setting the stage for Phantasm IV.

This is probably the single Phantasm film with the highest number of implausible characters, as we have everything from a ‘50s-style looting gang turned into zombies and the little kid who dons a mask and literally eviscerates people who break into his home. This is never explained, outside of a way to introduce the kid, but the scene is like Three Ninjas combined with Home Alone on meth and steroids. Thanks to this and a few other moments, there is plenty of gore, though maybe not more than the second film. On reflection, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead might be worth watching just for the scenes of a kid using razor-edged toys and some terrifying booby traps to defend himself against a gang.

Fortunately, Phantasm III is available on DVD, though it hasn’t yet made it to Blu-ray. It would be nice to see III and IV receive the same kind of treatment Phantasm II got from Scream Factory, hopefully sometime before the upcoming fifth film’s release later this year. I can’t really recommend Phantasm III, but I also can’t really steer you away from it. Proceed with your own judgment. 

AMITYVILLE DOLL HOUSE

Steve White, 1996

Starring: Robin Thomas, Star Andreeff, Allen Cutler, Lenore Kasdorf

This eighth Amityville Horror sequel is the final film in the series, not counting the 2005 remake and its sequels. What possessed anyone to make eight of these is beyond me and yet, here we are. Amityville Dollhouse is neither the best nor worst of the series, but is surely one of the most pointless and rehashes elements found in the earlier sequels. 

Bill and Claire move into a house that Bill built himself. Their new family is made up of Bill’s son, Todd, and Claire’s children, Jessica and Jimmy. Along the way, Bill finds a doll house that happens to be identical to the Amityville Horror house at 112 Ocean Avenue and brings it home for Jessica. Soon after the doll house arrives, a number of strange things happen around the house.

When Jessica accepts the doll house at her birthday, they learn that strange dolls are hidden inside. While visiting the house, Todd’s girlfriend Dana has her head spontaneously set on fire, a voodoo doll makes furniture and other things fly around the house, Jimmy’s father appears as a murderous, fairy tale-telling zombie, a pet mouse becomes giant and ferocious, the family car almost kills Bill in the garage, and so on. Bill and Claire contact their friend Tobias, a biker with occult expertise who sometimes hunts demons, with the hope that he can save the day. 

While Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes had a possessed lamp, the sixth film, Amityville 1992: It’s About Time, had a demonic clock, and the seventh Amityville: A New Generation concerned a spooky mirror, this film focuses on a possessed dollhouse. I guess they were really running out of ideas with this one, but the inclusion of the biker occultist was pretty delightful. Fortunately no more nauseous priests or nuns were recycled, though just about every scene includes something from an earlier Amityville Horror film. Where the earlier films had swarms of flies, this one upgraded to what I think are supposed to be evil, mummified hornets. A fly gets stuck in someone’s ear and there’s also a surprise tarantula, which emerges from a piñata for no apparent reason.

The incest subplot from Amityville II is also resurrected, as Claire develops a sudden, unwholesome passion for her stepson. A number of minor elements from the earlier films return, such as maniacal household appliances, possessed headphones, and a giant mouse with glowing red eyes, to replace the red-eyed demon pig from the first film.

As with most of the sequels, the real problem here is that it's simply boring. There are some unintentionally funny scenes and a few are downright entertaining, but too much of the screen time is absolutely dull. This is producer Steve White’s sole directorial credit, but he worked as a producer on several of the Amityville sequels as well as The Devil’s Advocate. Using one of the series’ producers to fill the director’s role is often laziness of the highest order, but I can’t say I’m surprised that they were scrapping the bottom of the barrel by this eighth film. 

The actors are mostly unknown. Star Robin Thomas’s most famous roles were on Who’s The Boss and Murphy Brown. Starr Andreeff, who played his wife Claire, was also a television actor with her biggest role on General Hospital. And so on. The acting is average at best, but certainly not as bad as some of the drivel in the third, fourth, or fifth Amityville films. 

I can’t recommend Amityville Dollhouse, but if you were wild about the other sequels for some reason, I’m sure you’ll find something to like about this one. You can find it on a cheap DVD. Personally, I’m just glad that it’s over and I don’t have to review any other Amityville Horror films ever again. 

AMITYVILLE: A NEW GENERATION

John Murlowski, 1993

Starring: Ross Partridge, Julia Nickson-Soul, Lala Sloatman

This seventh Amityville Horror film was direct to video and continues the theme introduced in Amityville 4 and 6, where an item from the original Amityville Horror house becomes possessed and finds its way to new owners. In this case, photographer Keyes Terry finds a strange mirror after he snaps shots of a homeless man. He takes it home, but his girlfriend hates it, so he gives it to his neighbor, a painter named Suki. After some misadventures with the mirror, Suki begins painting demons and soon kills herself at the mirror’s prompting. Keyes comes to realize that the mirror is possessed by the spirit of his father, who killed his family years ago in the house in Amityville, NY. Can he resist the rising urge to kill within himself being stirred up by the mirror?

There aren't many scares and the gore of A New Generation is sparse, but there’s certainly more sex and nudity than the earlier films with -- count them -- two topless scenes. Unfortunately this has a lot in common with Amityville Curse. It’s fundamentally a boring film, one that has precious little to do with the Amityville series, and it wastes the opportunities presented by a cast of all adults. Unlike the other films in the series, both Curse and A New Generation focus on groups of adult friends rather than families. Granted the characters here are mostly dull, unlikable artists who spend most of the running time being annoying and self-important. 

The first part of the film is dreadfully slow, though things pick up a bit when Inspector Clark arrives. Played by Terry O’Quinn (The Stepfather), Clark is one of the most likable and best written characters. Keyes was played by forgettable B-actor Ross Partridge (Lost World: Jurassic Park). Model and actress Lala Sloatman (Pump Up the Volume) co-stars as his girlfriend, though Sloatman is perhaps most well-known for being the niece of Frank Zappa and ex-girlfriend of Corey Haim. 

Julia Nickson-Soul (Rambo: First Blood Part II) is decent as Suki, a likable if poorly written character who is one of the few victims of the mirror. She does paint some interesting demonic art. While I wish they could have taken this further, I can only imagine the bad effects that would follow. There are also a number of appearances from genre actors, such as Richard Roundtree (Shaft), David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London), Tom Wright (Creepshow 2), Lin Shaye (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Robert Rusler (Nightmare on Elm Street 2).

There are a few interesting scenes in the film, such as when Keyes begins to have nightmares about a house where a family is murdered during Thanksgiving dinner. The flashbacks of the murder are surprisingly well done, even though this seems to be a different murder than the one that took place in Amityville II: The Possession that the events of The Amityville Horror followed. To clarify a little, the real life murders involved the Defeo family. In Amityville II: The Possession, they are renamed the Montellis and here the family is called Bonner. As with Amityville Curse, A New Generation would probably have been a more effective film if it wasn't shoehorned into the Amityville series, but so be it. 

I can’t recommend A New Generation even though it is exceedingly silly. The mirror is just stupid, far worse than the lamp or the clock, and whenever anyone looks into it, it shows the Amityville house or a cheesy, cartoonish demon face. And to make matters worse, almost no one dies. What do you take me for, New Generation? If you really want to watch it, download it or rent the DVD. 

AMITYVILLE 1992: IT'S ABOUT TIME

Tony Randel, 1992

Starring: Stephen Macht, Shawn Weatherly, Megan Ward, Damon Martin

"It's about time, that's what!"

Jacob, an architect out of town on business, picks up a stately old clock in Amityville, New York. He brings it home with him to California, where he lives with his two teenage children, Lisa and Rusty. His ex-girlfriend Andrea frequently stays with them and watches over the kids, even though she has a new boyfriend. Once Jacob brings the clock home, things take a turn for the strange. They are unable to get rid of it and it begins intruding on their lives. Rusty begins hallucinating and Jacob is attacked by a neighborhood dog. Andrea agrees to care for him, even though he is suddenly very unpleasant. 

The hallucinations spread throughout the household and time changes dramatically for all the characters, speeding up and slowing down at will. A number of other crazy things happen, including swastikas drawn in blood, malicious black ooze, nightmares, etc. One of the characters who figures out that the clock is the source of the evil is soon killed. The remaining characters must try to survive each other and the diabolical clock. 

Amityville 1992 thankfully ignores Amityville Curse and picks up where Amityville 4 left off. In 4, the characters had to contend with a possessed lamp that came from the original Amityville house. Here it is the clock and one of the later sequels would continue the theme with a possessed dollhouse. I honestly enjoyed Amityville II and 4 a hell of a lot more than the first, supposedly classic film, and It’s About Time continues the theme of rampant absurdity introduced in II. II, 4, and 6 all fall under the description of so-bad-it’s-good, but as far as ‘90s trash goes, it’s solid gold.

There are actually some decent effects at work here that include a pretty great face off between man and dog, death by some of the black goo that seems to make its way through most of the Amityville Horror films, a seduction scene between a girl and her mirror image, death by stork, etc. The scriptwriters really go out on a limb and present things like time travel, surprise aging, and a doozy of an ending. Like most of the other films, this deals with a central dysfunctional family. As far as repeating themes go, as with the second Amityville film, there’s some brother and sister incest, though it is only hinted at here. 

Most importantly, the reason the clock is haunted is because it once belonged to 15th century occult dabbler, serial killer, and companion of Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais. What? The screenwriters also threw in some Nazi symbolism for good measure, insuring that absolutely anything goes in this sixth Amityville film.

The most surprising thing of all is that there’s actually some good acting here, led by the delightful Stephen Macht (Monster Squad and many more). Megan Ward (Encino Man, PCU) gives a nice performance as his troubled daughter and Dick Miller (Gremlins), beloved by all fans of ‘80s horror, also briefly shows up. Hellraiser II’s Tony Randel directs and put more heart back into series than I thought would be possible this late in the game. It may not have a large budget or a firm grip on reality, but It’s About Time is surprisingly entertaining and deserves to be seen by all lovers of trash cinema.

And, without giving away too many spoilers, the ending is insane. Someone gets turned into a baby by the evil clock. For this scene alone, you might want to check out the film. It’s available on DVD under its newer title, Amityville: It’s About Time. 

THE AMITYVILLE CURSE

Tom Berry, 1990

Starring: Kim Coates, Dawna Wightman, Cassandra Gava, Jan Rubes

Marvin and his wife Debbie buy a house in order to renovate and sell it. They get three of their friends to help them with the renovation project, but a number of strange things begin to occur around the house. The old housekeeper pays them a visit and is killed. They learn that a priest was murdered in the neighboring church. It just so happens that their basement contains some of the church’s furniture, which may be haunted with the priest’s spirit. It becomes clear that a murderer is loose in the house and they have to figure out whether it is a ghost or an all too human perpetrator before they are all killed. 

I watched this a few years ago on TV because Canadian actor Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy) stars, but that was as much a mistake then as it is now. This U.S.-Canadian coproduction has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the Amityville Horror series and it is a mystery why it’s called The Amityville Curse. Sure, it happens to take place in Amityville in an allegedly haunted house, but it’s a different house than the one featured in the first three films and has a completely different backstory involving a murdered priest. Though the producers and director allegedly got the rights to the Amityville Horror franchise, they did not remotely attempt to use the same exterior house and very, very few references are made to the first four films. The film is also allegedly based on Hans Holzer’s book of the same name, but I don’t see how. 

Allegro creator Tom Berry directed the film and it is worth mentioning that his production company is responsible for some other late ‘80s and ‘90s Canadian B-grade disasters like The Paperboy. If only Amityville Curse was as entertaining as The Paperboy. I wish I could say some good things about this, as there are a few entertaining scenes, but it is so, insufferably slow that it’s impossible to recommend. The characters are poorly written, as is the script in general, and the acting is appalling. Kim Coates is marginally entertaining, Czech actor Jan Rubes (The X-Files) appears as the priest, and Mark Camacho (Punisher: War Zone) makes an appearance. Otherwise the main cast is obscure and forgettable. 

Debbie (Dawna Wightman) is almost likable, but spends almost the entire film whining and crying about various things. She does manage to get her hands on some weapons and survive till the end of the film, though. More could have been made of Debbie and her husband’s abusive, somewhat disturbing relationship and I wish they had focused on this instead of the absurd priest’s ghost in the basement, allegedly lingering to get revenge on his killer.

Though the screenwriters tried to force this to be a haunted house movie - an Amityville Horror sequel no less - it is essentially a slasher film about a bunch of people being murdered in an old house. I think it probably would have been a better movie without these enforced changes, but I guess we’ll never know. As a loose slasher, it suffers because we pretty much know who the killer is from the get go. The haunted elements ineffectively cross over with real human threats and there is bizarre mix of scares and spooky events. The clocks are stuck at the same time, someone is attacked by a tarantula, a bathtub fills up with blood, Debbie writes strange things in her sleep, and books launch themselves across the room. Maybe I missed something, but why is there a tarantula?

The Amityville Curse has never been released on region 2 DVD, but if you are determined to be bored, there’s a region 2 DVD or you can easily download the movie online. Absolutely not recommended. 

TESIS

Alejandro Amenábar, 1996

Starring: Ana Torrent, Fele Martinez, Eduardo Noriega

I don’t deal well with the heat. As a result, going to movie theaters has become a habitual summer activity and I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’m willing to tolerate a lot more fluff than in the colder temperatures. I’m disgusted to report that while I've seen a number of entertaining bad action films, the only effectively scary movie I've seen all summer has been a rental of Amenábar’s excellent Tesis (Thesis), also known as Snuff. Released in 1996 and starring Ana Torrent and Fele Martinez, this was Amenábar’s award-winning first feature film. It cleaned up at the Goya’s, which are essentially the Spanish version of the Oscars, and received rave reviews in the Spanish press.

A graduate student, Ángela, chooses to write her thesis on violence in film and media, so she seeks out the help of her adviser and a fellow student, Chema, who is obsessed with horror films. Her professor locates a snuff film in the school archives and has a heart attack while watching it. Ana steals the tape and convinces Chema to help her get to the bottom of where it came from when they recognize a missing student in the film. Their nosing around draws them close to the heart of the mystery and within dangerous grasp of the murderer.

Tesis has a lot to offer. There is some capable acting, helmed by the lovely, wide-eyed Ana Torrent as Ángela. Her character is pitted against the awkward, antisocial Chema and the charming, handsome, but potentially dangerous Bosco. Ángela’s sexual desire thickens the plot and brings her self-destructive tendencies to light, namely when she begins to have violently sexual dreams about Bosco. There are also some delightfully terrifying moments that take place in either semi or total darkness in the bowels of the school. Not genuinely a horror film, Tesis is part thriller and part commentary on the obsession with violence, violent sexuality in particular, in the media.

With that said, this is not a perfect film. Though it is a great first effort, it is overly blunt in parts, particularly if you’re expecting any sort of complex philosophical analysis of the attraction to violence that brings so many of us horror nerds to the genre in the first place. It is a successful riff on the great giallo films of the ‘70s and reminds me of the better efforts of Brian de Palma, particularly Dressed to Kill. Amenábar deftly displays his excellent visual style, which includes numerous scenes of people watching and listening to media in a subtle, suspenseful way.

Coincidentally, at the dawn of the string of appalling Hollywood remakes of European and Asian horror films, Tesis was loosely remade as the dreadful Nicholas Cage vehicle 8MM, which you should avoid at all costs. Fortunately, Tesis has been re-released in a special edition DVD; it was out of print entirely too long.

LORD OF ILLUSIONS

Clive Barker, 1995
Starring: Scott Bakula, Famke Janssen, Kevin J. O'Connor, J. Trevor Edmond

I haven't really thought until recently about how big of an impact Clive Barker has had on me. It seems obvious, but I was growing up and discovering horror around the end of his major burst of film work. Hellraiser, Nightbreed, Candyman, etc. I was old enough to be scared by his films and fiction, which is something I can't say of many people other than David Cronenberg. And fortunately my dad is a huge Clive fan (yes, we're on a first name basis), so he was an artist on the edge of my consciousness much earlier than he otherwise would have been.

Lord of Illusions, for some reason, is a film I didn't get around to seeing until recently. I'd heard a lot of mixed things about it and it just sort of slipped under my radar. I was pleasantly surprised. It's a flawed film, but definitely belongs in the Clive canon. Written, directed, and co-produced by him, it has many of the pleasures of his earlier works -- tortured protagonists, sexual menace, monstrous humanoids, and the thirst for forbidden knowledge. It also has beautiful set pieces and cinematography. Lord of Illusions is along the lines of the some of the later John Carpenter films in the sense that it's flawed, but remains dark, creepy, and fun. ...And it has SCOTT BAKULA. I don't know how I missed that Bakula was in it, but I love him thanks to hours of Quantum Leap in my childhood.

Lord of Illusions is based on Clive's short story "The Last Illusion" from the Books of Blood. Down on his luck private eye, Harry D'Amour, is hired to go to L.A. and track down some insurance fraud. Instead, he gets mixed up in the world of Swann, a famous illusionist, and stays to investigate Swann's apparent death when one of his illusions goes horribly wrong. He also wants to nail Swann's wife, the young and very hot Famke Janssen. It turns out that Swann was using real magic in his illusions, which he learned from a scary magician/cult leader named Nix. Nix lost control and Swann was forced to kill him. As you might imagine, some of Nix's old followers hatch a plan to bring him back and let him wreak havoc and revenge.

I would definitely recommend Lord of Illusions to all Clive Barker fans, but don't set your hopes too high. It's not Hellraiser. My chief complaint is that the film tries a bit too hard with the magic and the special effects are not advanced enough to catch up. Barker does a great job combining film noir and the supernatural. There are a lot of similarities between Lord of Illusions and Angel Heart. The Harry D'Amour character, strangely, is also almost exactly like an American John Constantine from the Hellblazer comics. Coincidence? I have no idea.

I'm reviewing the director's cut, which you should make sure to see. It's 11 minutes longer than the cut-to-shit theatrical release and contains one of the best and most chilling scenes in the film. The former cult members resurface, dispassionately kill their families, and set out to the desert to welcome Nix's resurrection.

On a final note, I think one of my favorite things about Barker's films is that they are pretty well critically received and remain genre films with a toe in the mainstream, but they also have unabashedly gay elements. I'd love more of that across the board in horror, which tends to be a genre steeped in normative heterosexuality. For instance, it's a breath of fresh air that one of Lord of Illusion's characters -- Butterfield, played by a fantastically reptilian Barry del Sherman -- wears gold snake-skin pants.