31 Days of Horror (Films) - Day 26

RABIES

At first glance the title of this Israeli film (billed as the country's first horror film, btw) seems incredibly incongruous. I mean there are no slavering Saint Bernards or rabid raccoons attacking the protagonists anywhere in the film. But once the sardonically wry ending unfolds you realize that the title is incredibly apropos; the core theme of the film is rage, violence, and erratic behavior.

To this end we are greeted with a diverse ensemble cast consisting of incompetent map readers, incestual siblings, creepy cops, jealous lovers, serial killers, and innocent accidental participants. Toss in some rusty bear traps, forgotten land mines, and peeing in the woods and you've got yourself one helluva comedy of terrors.

Those are just some of the things bubbling through the insanely bugged out plot of this 2010 release. In short, Rabies is a strange melange of genre tropes, yet despite its familiarity it resonates with a fresh sense of off-kilter consternation. 

The best thing about this film is that you never know just exactly where it’s headed; it starts going one way and then veers precariously into a completely different direction. Keeping the audience on their toes and constantly guessing is its major strength. That and a wonderfully weird sense of macabre humor.

31 Days of Horror (Films) - Day 25

 THE CURSED (aka EIGHT FOR SILVER) - streaming on Hulu and Kanopy[/B]

Holy hairballs and gnarly fingernails!

Despite an ever-so-brief theatrical run, this film has largely flown under the radar, which is a shame because it’s a nicely made little neo-gothic horror gem.

Dripping with moody atmosphere (copious amounts of fog and shadows, plus some great camera angles and shots), well-paced action and drama, and containing some solid thespian turns (all you Yellowstone fanboys can rejoice at seeing Beth Dutton gussied up in 1882 French couture), the film delivers on the chills and thrills.

The only slight is the debatable CGI, but thankfully it is used sparingly; the film definitely would have been better served with more practical FX, though.

Still, it has this opulent Hammer-esque sense of production design, great period costumes, and a keen air of suspense. 

31 Days of Horror (Films) - Day 24

THE EYES OF MY MOTHER

Borrowing a page or two from the Ed Gein mythos by way of Psycho and the likes of Polanski’s Repulsion, writer/director Nicolas Pesce’s debut feature presents a good case against home schooling.

Filmed in crisp black & white, it’s a steadily paced descent into supreme dysfunctional family fallout. Pesce does a fantastic job with alluded to gore and grue and keeps the macabre musings moving along with enough cringe worthy moments to keep you unnerved. 

Sure, most of the plot points are old hat, but the cinematography, pacing, and acting insure that things feel just fresh enough.

31 Days of Horror (Films) - Day 23

HOUSE

This 1977 Japanese flick is a trip. Imagine if Hanna, Barbera, and Sid & Marty Krofft had collaborated on a horror film. Yeah, it’s that wacky and weird, plus it’s a bugged out mind-fugg to boot.

The insane blend of pure strangeness, tilted humor, and off-kilter horror obviously rubbed off on cats like Sam Raimi (specifically Evil Dead II), Tim Burton (mainly Beetlejuice), and Sion Sono (Tokyo Vampire Hotel). Heck, you can even see this film’s influence on the similarly titled 1985 American horror comedy starring The Greatest American Hero and Norm.

But enough of those ruminations. Nobuhiko Obayashi’s film is off-the-nuts entertaining. While not particularly scary, it is creepy and eerie and the sheer manic absurdity is near brilliant.

It’s the type of film one wishes they could see in a packed midnight screening or at the drive-in with a large crew and a keg of brew.

31 Days of Horror (Films) - Day 22

DEAD OF NIGHT

This 1945 anthology is a veritable Old School horror film, relying more on creepy atmosphere and supernatural allusion than jump scares and gratuitous gore. Produced by Ealing Studios (the oldest continuously operating movie studio in the world) it was apparently a rarity for the time as Britain had banned the production of horror movies during WWII. Additionally, it has been name-checked by Martin Scorsese in interviews.

While not particularly scary, it does resonate with a strange eeiriness and is definitely a precursor to things like The Twilight Zone and Final Destination.

The wraparound story is particularly cool and a delicious bit of a mindf@$k.

31 Days of Horror (Films) - Day 21

POSSUM

Best described as “psychological horror,” this British export is disturbing and unnerving. There is a sinister undertone that runs at a constant velocity leaving you wondering exactly what in the hell is going on. The exposition is left to an almost nonexistent bare minimum, requiring the viewer to fill in the blanks. This is a tricky tactic that actually ends up working, as it helps to create an even more oppressive sense of  eerie dread. 

I’m not even gonna talk about the titular character; it’s harrowing and nightmare inducing, to say the least. And Sean Harris is brilliant as the ostracized loner who may or may not be crazy.

31 Days of Horror (Films) - Day 20

THE MIND’S EYE

Certainly not a great movie by any stretch, it is at least, in many ways, it is the true spiritual sequel to Scanners, as it’s heads and tails better than either Scanners II or Scanners III.

Director/screenwriter Joe Begos inserts a few interesting elements into his story about people with super acute mental powers and his antagonist is promising. The film flounders, however, by not making the villain dastardly enough and by not taking the effects and gore to more creative levels; Begos, who is known for his over-the-top splatter effects, keeps things rather tame here. Plus he more or less sticks to the blueprint devised by Cronenberg. The one stand-out is the sound design (the film even begins with the prompt: "This Film Needs To Be Played LOUD”), which is intensely immersive.