Month: December 2018

I've got to send out some fresh positive psychic vibes to MILL CREEK who just released a favorite flick from my adolescence on Blu-ray. I'm talking about ARTHUR HILLER's 1979 bonkers bat bonanza NIGHTWING! To make it even more irresistible it comes joined at the hip with the thematically similar SHADOW OF THE HAWK (1976). Both flicks are guilty of casting non-Native Americans as Native American leads but I'll give them a pass because such were the times and at least both characters are portrayed as honorable heroes. I'll vouch for these two flicks because they have their hearts in the right place and a healthy concern for the preservation of the environment and its animal inhabitants. Sure, NIGHTWING very wrongly asserts at times that bats are dangerous, even "Evil" (wha?) but the bigger message is about how mankind's greed is destroying the planet (which is still true today). Sure, I may have to do some mental gymnastics to defend NIGHTWING but the thing is, even though it is questionable PR for the misunderstood creatures, it still ignited my ongoing love for them. Bats are beautiful even when they are starring in a horror movie. I can't help it, the unintentionally adorable close-ups of the flapping critters in this movie still fill my heart with glee and affection. I even Googled "bats as pets" –turns out it's not a great idea.

I've swooned over NIGHTWING before when it appeared in MILL CREEK's earlier ANIMAL APOCALYPSE collection HERE. I was thrilled to view the movie in widescreen for the first time in a long while and take in its gorgeous cinematography. Of course, it's even more impressive in rich and sharp HD. I know not everyone enjoys this movie as much as I do but in my head, it co-exists alongside two other post-JAWS flicks: THE ISLAND (1980) and PROPHECY (1979) as memorably epic early film-going experiences for me personally. The trio represents a specific period when my whole family was finally of the age to experience a horror flick together. These flicks stand in a little bubble of time before slasher movies completely took over my mind. Maybe I'm being slightly coerced by nostalgia but having watched the film again, I have to say I don't get the shrug off it sometimes inspires in others. The movie is stunning to look at, I'm totally enthralled by the two main leads (NICK MANCUSO and THE SENDER's KATHRYN HARROLD), the score by HENRY MANCINI is lovely and there are at least two highly thrilling bat attack set pieces. The campfire scene! Allow me to quote myself from an earlier review…

"Right smack in the middle of the film, surrounded by all that ponderous dialogue is NIGHTWING‘s crown jewel, a campfire attack to end all campfire attacks. The special effects may be a tad crappy by today's standards, but the set-up and surprisingly sadistic tone more than make up for it. Watching co-eds meet the business end of gardening equipment may be fun, but you have not lived until you have observed stuffy, prissy middle-agers running about pell-mell with bats chomping on them from head to foot. What's remarkably hilarious is just how cowardly the male campers are (keep an eye peeled for CHARLES HALLAHAN whose head will later sprout spider legs in J.C's THE THING), they leave one woman to fall into the actual fire pit and catch aflame, and the other one is refused access to the safety of a nearby van. When the poor woman seeks refuge under the vehicle, her husband nonchalantly drives over her head!"

Oddly, the review I snatched that paragraph from is a lot more critical then one I would write today. Ten years ago I was complaining that NIGHTWING was "fatally dry and about three times more talky then it needs to be." Meanwhile, during my recent watch, I found its talkative nature a relief compared to overly busy modern fare. Either I've become less critical in my old age or I've learned to savor good old-fashioned quiet build-ups before a cinematic storm. That fondness for the less brash seventies came in handy while checking out the second feature on this disc, SHADOW OF THE HAWK. This movie sports a misleading mellow vibe that progressively turns downright eerie. A young JAN MICHAEL VINCENT stars as the grandson of a powerful shaman (CHIEF DAN GEORGE) who sees him as the heir to his mystical skills and enlists him to aid him in the destruction of evil forces. We're again in the PG-rated zone but don't worry, there's something genuinely creepy going on here especially whenever a seriously alarming white-masked ghost demon materializes.

Like NIGHTWING, CURSE showcases incredibly alluring location photography. Take my word or it, cinematographer JOHN HOLBROOK (GHOSTKEEPER) takes full advantage of the majestic mountains and forests of British Columbia. This is mostly a laid-back affair but the characters are truly likable and it's hard to not enjoy a movie that features a phantom black car, a man wrestling a bear and an exploding owl apparition. I only wish I had caught it on on TV back in the day, having no idea of just how deep into the trippy supernatural it ultimately ends up going. Having missed out on that, I can happily say it's a great fit with good old NIGHTWING. Both of these movies deserve a lot more appreciation than they've received in the past and hopefully by joining forces on a double feature disc they will receive it. If NIGHTWING has taught me anything, it's that there's strength in numbers.

It's so sad; all my brick and mortar DVD shops have disappeared! First they came for Tower Records and I said nothing, then the came for FYE and I said, "Yikes!" and then they came and closed down CEX an South Street and I was left a mere shell of my former self, DVD-detoxing in an alley. I know I can order physical media online but it's really about the joy of the hunt for me. I love to dig through piles of coal to discover a hidden gem (it provides a much stronger dopamine rush). It's gotten so hopelessly dismal that I've turned to the mangy offerings at 7-11 and the budget trough at my local RITE AID! These are sad days indeed! But as I've always said, (and feel free to put this on my tombstone) "When life hands you lemons- eat them because they are delicious." Recently at RITE AID I came across a movie called HOWL. How have I never heard of this bad boy before? It's about werewolves on a train (!!!!) and was written by ALAN GINSBERG (last part, not true).

Folks, it would be impossible for me NOT to purchase a movie about werewolves on a train, especially when it's only four bucks and boasts on the cover that it's directed by the dude who did the special effects for THE DESCENT (PAUL HYETT). It truly shocks me that I have never heard of this movie before (perhaps ignoring every conceivable Horror news outlet has somehow left me out of the loop?). Was I simply not paying attention in 2015? It's hard to believe that my ears wouldn't instinctively perk up at the mere mention of WEREWOLVES on a TRAIN because I LOVE both werewolves and trains; they are a perfect combination! Like Ginger Rogers and Fred Flintstone! Geez, how has the long-winded THE HOWLING series never addressed such a hairy predicament before? It boggles the mind.

Anyway, HOWL concerns a put-upon, mild-mannered train guard named Joe (ED SPELEERS) whose night shift turns out to be a nightmare due to a scraggly slew of passengers ripped straight from an AGATHA CHRISTIE novel and a deer-caused derailment that strands the motley crew in lycanthrope-land. Like any sadsack worth his salt, Joe also must deal with a haranguing bully (ELLIOT COWAN) and an elusive love interest (HOLLY WESTON). A lot of tension comes from the passengers failing to consolidate against the surrounding threat once it rears its snarling head and turning on each other with dire results. For the most part, many of the characters are as dimensional as CLUE cards but they're an entertaining bunch just the same. My lone gripe would be that an overweight character is too routinely presented as comic relief to the annoying point that he seems lifted from a lazy teen sex comedy from the early eighties.

But hey, who cares about characterization when the majority of the cast is going to end up either howling at the moon or ripped to shreds? The werewolves in this movie are pretty awesome and duly threatening. Up close they're like furry, roiding RAWHEAD REX sized mutants with few, if any, canine characteristics. From a distance, weaving through the dark forest is when they are at their most haunting and daunting. They're often presented as shadowy silhouettes with glowing eyes, not unlike the ghostly beings in THE FOG and it's damn striking. Actually, the whole look of the film is rather slick and stylish. I read some complaints online about the handling of the train itself, that the effect looks like a toy model but I have to say, I really dug that aspect of it. I think it gives the picture an unreal/dream quality and reads like an apathetic God's view looking down upon the tiny tragedy below.

All in all, HOWL is a blast of old school fun and probably the most enjoyable werewolf movie I've seen in a dog's age. It's perfect late night fare with its claustrophobic setting and its "who will be infected next?" paranoid vibe. I found myself worrying for the few passengers that weren't obnoxious and looking forward to the demises of the ones who got on my nerves and that's just what I signed up for (besides werewolves and trains). The end comeuppance for the film's main antagonist is especially gratifying. If you should stumble across HOWL hanging out in your local bargain bin I suggest you snatch it up right quick. I'm hoping and guessing as word gets out it will gain in popularity and cult approval over the years but in the meantime, it'll fit quite nicely on my DVD shelf somewhere between THE HOWLING and TERROR TRAIN.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the CATHY'S CURSE Blu-ray;
I am taking all my older copies and throwing them away (not really)
I am marching down the hall to hand a drink to good ol' Paul:
Her curse is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, Glory, Cathy's Blu-ray!
Glory, Glory, Cathy's Blu-ray!
Glory, Glory, Cathy's Blu-ray!
Her curse is marching on.

Forgive me. I got a little excited there. It's just that I was kind of on the fence about upgrading my CATHY'S CURSE based on the fact that I've already watched it a hundred times and I was thinking my moola might be better spent on something new- wrong! Excuse the cliché but it's an absolute revelation. I'm not even talking about the visual details that miraculously surface or the vibrantly blasting seventies flavored hues (has yellow wallpaper ever been more maddening?) that this remarkable upgrade allows. This blessed Blu-ray features a director's cut that is nine minutes longer than the U.S. version! Because I know every inch of this movie by heart, being exposed to new scenes is semi mind-blowing. Now I know what it must feel like to have repressed childhood memories recovered. This is my home but I've never seen it like this before. Doors open into rooms that I had no idea existed. I better lie down and put a cold washcloth on my head. Where am I?

I previously spoke of my CATHY'S CURSE obsession HERE and we were honored to interview CATHY'S CURSE star RANDI ALLEN over HERE but the news of the day is that suddenly this movie is starting to make sense to me (and that can't be good). In this longer version, we learn from the get-go a piece of knowledge denied in the U.S cut, that the Gimbal family had just recently suffered the death of Cathy's newborn sibling (!!!) It's one sentence spoken by the housekeeper but it makes mother Beverly's erratic behavior borderline understandable. Another unearthed tidbit involves father George Gimble and a statue that was meaningful to him in his youth. He picks it up to appreciate it only to have it break in his hands and much is made of him mending it with glue (only to have Cathy smash it to smithereens during a fit). I don't know why this new information is important to me, it just is…

God help me for cramming meaning into this nonsensical movie but to me, CATHY'S CURSE is suddenly about accepting the things you can't fix and becoming aware of the things you can. The film's most notoriously bonkers scene- involving the housekeeper cleaning up a broken plate (that Cathy has thrown to the floor) by picking up a single shard among many and proclaiming "There, all done" perfectly illustrates the household's dependency on blind denial. In a similar vein, mother Beverly loses her bearings and is sent to the hospital for a couple of days and then "There, all done" she's meant to be cured of the grief of losing a child. Throughout the movie everything seems to be breaking: pictures, mirrors, bottles and light fixtures shatter all over the place. The curse is only broken when Beverly opens the doll's sewn shut eyes and realizes that she is repeating the house's tragic history by abandoning one child in favor of the other. It's as if she finally accepts that she can't change what happened to her baby so she should focus on aiding her troubled first born. Help! This movie makes sense!

But like Jesus's face appearing in a taco- chances are I'm simply attaching the message I desire to see upon this familiar, possibly arbitrary data. But that's cool too! That's what I love about movies and art in general. It's like a dumb pop song suddenly becoming poignant because your heart just got clobbered. Maybe I am merely projecting my own baggage upon the screen, hearing a tune never intended by the filmmaker but isn't that perfectly fine? Isn't it cool that a film you've seen a million times, a film that's known for its indecipherable randomness could still come out of nowhere and communicate some kind of wisdom? I think so! Hats off to SEVERIN FILMS for treating this too often ignored movie with the care and respect it deserves and for consequently improving my life forever. Thanks to SEVERIN, Cathy's curse of a shabby image and a story incompletely told is now lifted (and there's even a charming and highly informative interview with beloved RANDI ALLEN as a special feature and that's worth the price alone). Take it from someone who's usually somewhat apathetic about upgrading my films from DVD to Blu-ray, SEVERIN's CATHY'S CURSE release is a marvel-worthy, non-stop treasure.