Author: Andy Triefenbach

I is movie geek. Hear me rawr. Ok, time for the professional speak. I have always been a movie geek. For serious. My dad fed me on a healthy diet of Blade Runner & Clockwork Orange. My mother introduced me to horror & psychological thrillers like Rosemary's Baby & Robert Wise's The Haunting. These mere morsels of celluoid only whet my appetite. During my teenage years, you could find me searching for the next Full Moon pictures joint on the old VHS shelves. I dug through the archives of backwoods slashers of the 80's and ate spaghetti with the Italian maestros by the flavors of Bava, Argento & Fulci. Now, I have reached the lower realms of depravity by thinking that Cannibal Holocaust is required viewing & running a weekly podcast, DESTROY THE BRAIN!, covering horror & genre film. Hmmm, I'm going to stop while I'm ahead. Favorite Films: Halloween (1978), La Haine, Vertigo, Rosemary's Baby, Fight Club, Nightmare on Elm Street, Kidnapped (Rabid Dogs), The Blair Witch Project..and the list just keeps growing.

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN Comes To St. Louis Next Weekend!

Destroy The Brain’s LATE NITE GRINDHOUSE program returns to the Hi-Pointe on June 3rd and 4th with the St. Louis Premiere of the exploitation, 80’s genre film tribute, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN!

This entry into complete cinematic anarchy will inhabit the Hi-Pointe for two nights only. Don’t dare watch this film on your computer or on-demand, see it with an audience as it was intended! Arrive by 11:30pm for their special, one of a kind preshow that includes vintage trailers and other zany videos displayed on the big screen. Also, DTB will be hosting the theatrical premiere of the trailers for Wicked Pixel Cinema’s Ratline and the locally made The Bloodfest Club.

Friday, June 3rd and Saturday, June 4th
Preshow starts at 11:30pm & the film starts at Midnight.

RSVP for Friday Night’s Show on Facebook
RSVP for Saturday Night’s Show on Facebook

A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN – The Review

Stellan Skarsgård stars as Ulrik, a man who is recently released from prison after serving a 12 year (!) sentence for murder. While he seems like he just wants to live the rest of his life in peace, his past connections have abandoned him.  Ulrik’s wife has left him and his son, who is now an adult who is married, has pretty much wiped all existence because of the 12 year absense in prison.  The only person that seems to still care about him is his small-time mob boss, Rune, who is trying to give some drive to Ulrik and find the person that ratted him out to the cops which resulted in Ulrik’s imprisonment.

That first paragraph might make you think this is a action packed film, but let me assure you it is not.  It is a very quiet and subdued film that plays off as a dark comedy of a man who is trying to establish an honest, normal life.  He gets a job at a garage and gets a roof over his head, yet because of Skarsgård’s superb acting, we all know that something is bound to interrupt this plan.  The audience is treated to some hilariously uncomfortable scenes between his landlord who brings down dinner for him and continues to sit on a crickety bed and watches tv with Ulrik.

Ulrik is trying to turn over a new leaf and wants to try and rekindle a relationship with his son.  While his son doesn’t initially take an interest, it becomes to blossom in a way a dirty secret would as Ulrik’s son, Geir, doesn’t want to tell his wife about his father’s history and has previously told his wife that Ulrik was dead.  Instead of owning up to the false story, Geir tells his wife that Ulrik is his uncle.  While Ulrik is a little hurt by this, he understands why and appreciates that there is at least some attempt in trying to get to know each other.

All the performers are spot on and with some subtle yet effective direction by Hans Petter Moland (ABERDEEN from 2000), we know that no matter how funny some of the situations Ulrik is getting himself into that the final result may result in violence.  The whole film can be looked at as simply a tale or yarn, but I saw it as asking the question of if someone who spends time behind bars for over 10 years, are they really better off released into a world that has moved forward without said person?

A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN is a touching look at one man who tries his hardest to return to normalcy. Yet, due to preconceived notions from his society, is pigeonholed into someone who can be used and or should be feared.  It is a must see for foreign film lovers for Skarsgård’s performance alone.

This review was originally published on November 25, 2010 during the 19th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival.

SLIFF 2010 Review: A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN

Stellan Skarsgård stars as Ulrik, a man who is recently released from prison after serving a 12 year (!) sentence for murder. While he seems like he just wants to live the rest of his life in peace, his past connections have abandoned him.  Ulrik’s wife has left him and his son, who is now an adult who is married, has pretty much wiped all existence because of the 12 year absense in prison.  The only person that seems to still care about him is his small-time mob boss, Rune, who is trying to give some drive to Ulrik and find the person that ratted him out to the cops which resulted in Ulrik’s imprisonment.

That first paragraph might make you think this is a action packed film, but let me assure you it is not.  It is a very quiet and subdued film that plays off as a dark comedy of a man who is trying to establish an honest, normal life.  He gets a job at a garage and gets a roof over his head, yet because of Skarsgård’s superb acting, we all know that something is bound to interrupt this plan.  The audience is treated to some hilariously uncomfortable scenes between his landlord who brings down dinner for him and continues to sit on a crickety bed and watches tv with Ulrik.

Ulrik is trying to turn over a new leaf and wants to try and rekindle a relationship with his son.  While his son doesn’t initially take an interest, it becomes to blossom in a way a dirty secret would as Ulrik’s son, Geir, doesn’t want to tell his wife about his father’s history and has previously told his wife that Ulrik was dead.  Instead of owning up to the false story, Geir tells his wife that Ulrik is his uncle.  While Ulrik is a little hurt by this, he understands why and appreciates that there is at least some attempt in trying to get to know each other.

All the performers are spot on and with some subtle yet effective direction by Hans Petter Moland (ABERDEEN from 2000), we know that no matter how funny some of the situations Ulrik is getting himself into that the final result may result in violence.  The whole film can be looked at as simply a tale or yarn, but I saw it as asking the question of if someone who spends time behind bars for over 10 years, are they really better off released into a world that has moved forward without said person?

A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN is a touching look at one man who tries his hardest to return to normalcy. Yet, due to preconceived notions from his society, is pigeonholed into someone who can be used and or should be feared.  It is a must see for foreign film lovers for Skarsgård’s performance alone.

A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN will play during the 19th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival on Monday, November 15th at 7:00 pm and Tuesday, November 16th at 4:15 pm at Plaza Frontenac.

Review: DUE DATE

Todd Phillips helmed one of the funniest movies of last year, THE HANGOVER.  The film was a monster hit and helped launch careers, or at least put them in more of a mainstream light, of some of the actors.  One of those actors is Zach Galifianakis.  Team him up with a more mainstream stable comedic actor like Robert Downey Jr. and you should have a hit on your hands.

When “actor” Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis) gets himself and Peter Highman (Downey), a husband with a child expecting wife who is home in L.A., kicked off a plane bound for Los Angeles, Peter is forced to ride with Tremblay from Atlanta to his home via rental car due to Peter leaving his wallet on the plane.  Peter’s wife is expecting their first born child very soon and without any money or ID, he is essentially at Ethan’s will.

As you can expect, the road trip isn’t a simple one.  It has plenty of funny detours and hijinks, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a movie.  A lot of which comes from the zany and off-kilter Galifianakis and our normal, level headed Downey.

While I enjoyed DUE DATE and laughed at it a few times, it did seem stale.  Galifianakis is essentially playing the same character he did in THE HANGOVER and Downey is playing the levity role.  There are a few cameos in the film by Jamie Foxx, Danny McBride, RZA (in probably the worst cameo in a while), and Juliette Lewis – however, most of these are spoiled by the trailers.  Essentially, since THE HANGOVER was such a success, Warner Bros. felt the need to really promote DUE DATE with over 10 different TV Spots that include different scenes.  If you have seen the TV Spots and trailers, then you have seen the film without profanity.

There is nothing too outrageously vulgar in this film – the closest it gets involves a particular activity that Ethan and his dog share and even that is shown, edited, in a recent TV Spot.

While I think the chemistry between Downey and Galifianakis is good, it isn’t really the best.  The film seems to be going through the motions and I think it really highlights the fact that Galifianakis might be a one-trick pony when it comes to mainstream comedy films.

All in all, DUE DATE isn’t the worst comedy out there, but it feels more like a film you should rent, more than it is a film to see in the theater.

Review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2

[This review was cross-posted from DESTROY THE BRAIN as Andy is a contributor to WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS and is the creator of DESTROY THE BRAIN.]

Last year, a relatively independent film called PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was released due to an aggressive and smart “You Demand It” campaign via Eventful. For hardcore horror fans, most of us heard about the film when it premiered at Screamfest in October 2007 then showed at Slamdance 3 months later. There was talk that once Paramount picked up the film that they were going to remake it, instead they did the smart thing and released the original. While PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 might seem more of a product like the Saw franchise that it is trying to edge out, there is actually a story that compliments the first film here. The question is, what, if anything, does this new entry bring to the table.

I will do my best to not spoil the film, but keep in mind that there might be some things you might not want to know and I suggest going into the film pretty cold. However, if you weren’t the hugest fan of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and the last time you saw it was in the theater last year, you might want to read on to lay some of the story groundwork prior to viewing the new entry.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 follows a family consisting of a husband, his 2nd wife (this is important), a teenager and their newborn child, Hunter. The film begins when the parents bring home Hunter then seems to skip ahead a bit, yet the film doesn’t really clarify this, it just happens. Later (like half way through the movie), slowly but surely, some things start to happen that could be attributed to the paranormal. Or, it could just be pans falling off and electronic devices acting up. After experiencing more of these incidents, the ladies of the house start to grow concerned that there is something happening beyond their control. Someone decides to break out the Ouija board in order to get to the bottom of what is happening.
Of course, when weird stuff happens in a house, it is time to break out the Ouija board and use it as an investigative tool. Usually, the Ouija board is mocked and I’m sure it gets its feelings hurt and asks for demonic back up to give an “I told you so” response to the inhabitants of the house. Ok, maybe I’m making light out of a bad situation, but it is exactly how it went down in the first one as well and anytime Ouija boards are used in film, we know it is a gateway to the “bad people”. I guess this family doesn’t watch a lot of horror movies like I do.

I wasn’t a fan of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and I’m here to say that if you didn’t enjoy the previous entry, this one doesn’t bring anything new as far as structure or visual. It turns out that PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 is a pseudo prequel that by the end catches up to the same night that the prior entry ended on. All of this takes place in 2006 and the last time I checked HD camcorders were not really available in the small, compact consumer forms that they are in this film. Hell, when you look at PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – and footage from the original is in this one – you can tell that this entry has better quality from its handheld cameras than the main one used in the first one.

All technical believability aside, this new film actually does improve on some things that I had a problem with from the previous film. First off, I felt that in the first film there was a lack of intrigue. When you do faux “found footage” film, it is tough to get dramatically involved with the characters – especially in the original film – because you have a disconnected, voyeuristic view of the events. With a film like The Blair Witch Project, I think the majority of audiences could relate to the characters, even have emotions towards them. I just didn’t care about the characters in PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, I actually somewhat was annoyed with them. This time around, the family is very relatable and likeable. The scares are a bit more effective as well as they seem to be happening throughout the house as opposed to just the bedroom. By doing this, we know that the house, as a whole, could not have one safe place inside. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 almost feels like a “found footage” version of Hooper’s Poltergeist, but like a 4th generation VHS copy version of it.

I felt like there are some missed opportunities in this film. It dives into the mythology of the setup of why this is happening to this family – turns out that the stepmother is related to Katie from the first film and could be the cause of this. I like that they introduce some instability to this film by introducing an infant to this scenario. However, I feel like the filmmakers stuck to what worked for the majority of audiences the last time and didn’t want to deviate from that formula. The structure is exactly the same and, with the audience I watched it with, it got stale. After the formal introductions to the family, you feel like pressing the fast forward button past the day scenes just to get to the juicy night stuff. Even then, some of night scenes are a tease and do not offer anything.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 improves on some my issues I had with the previous entry, but ultimately feels like a product as opposed to a continuation to any story introduced. To the people who enjoyed the first one, you may or may not like this one – I only say this because of the crowd reaction I heard coming out of the screening. I can say for certain that if you didn’t like PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, you won’t really find anything new in its latest entry. There are some scares that got me in PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 unlike its predecessor, but still walked away with that familiar sense of the absence of fulfillment.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

DESTROY THE BRAIN presents EVIL DEAD 2 – October 22 & 23 in St. Louis

[Andy is the creator of DESTROY THE BRAIN’s LATE NITE GRINDHOUSE and is also a contributor to WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS]

It’s October and everyone is in the mood to watch some scary flicks.  How about a cult classic shown on the big screen right here in St. Louis?  Well, this weekend you can check out EVIL DEAD 2 in St. Louis!  Read on for more… Continue reading DESTROY THE BRAIN presents EVIL DEAD 2 – October 22 & 23 in St. Louis

Review: MY SOUL TO TAKE

When a director from horror’s heyday comes back to visit the genre he helped shape, most horror fans will show interest in their new entry.  My Soul To Take is Wes Craven’s latest entry.  The first film that he has written and directed since New Nightmare – one of my favorite Freddy flicks.  While most of you might have been driven away from the trailers are out, I’m here to tell you to ignore that and hear me out.

My Soul To Take deals with a group of teens called “The Riverton Seven” who all share the same birthday.  Their birthday shares the same day with the date of disappearance of the local boogeyman named The Riverton Ripper.  Legend goes like this: Every year on the aforementioned date, since the Riverton Seven have been able, they will send one of their own to go into the river to keep the Ripper away from the town and away from the group.  As I’m sure you guessed by now, this year doesn’t work out as planned and some bad juju is placed upon our main character Bug (Max Thieriot) because he didn’t complete the challenge.  Poor Bug.  Before you know it the kids are being taken out one by one and it is up to Bug and his friend Alex (John Magaro) to try to figure out if they are dealing with something supernatural or if it someone else who is killing off their peers.

I went into the film with very low expectations – honestly, I thought the film was going to be terrible.  The advertisements I have seen on the film depict the film as a paint by numbers slasher-mystery with teenagers.  Imagine my surprise when that was really just the backdrop to what has to be one of the most unique, off-kilter genre films I have seen come out of Hollywood in a while.

Craven really gets the best out of his actors in this film.  It is a very unconventional script when dealing with dialogue so I can only imagine the young actors looking at this film on the page and questioning what the hell they are doing in here.  Most viewers – as evidenced in the public screening I attended – will see the film as a bit of a mess.  I can somewhat agree with this statement.  It seems the writing is a little clunky but, to me, it works with the film’s nature.  The start of the film really sets the tone for the film as we are dealing with a character who has a pseudo combination of schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder.  The way the film’s opening scene is edited coincides with these multiple personalities.  While disorienting at first, I believe it works once you get used to it and it definitely holds a visual presence that demands your attention.

You will hear a lot of people talk about the dialogue of the film.  There are some batshit crazy lines in this film like “Now, where’s your bitch?” and “If it gets too hot, turn on the prayer conditioning.” will always stand out.  Not all of the dialogue works as I found myself getting lost in some of the terminology of the punches that the jock figure distributes – “Give him an 8.”  Some of the dialogue seems like Craven was trying to relate to an audience in the same way Diablo Cody spits out some dialogue.  Not all of the lines are like this, but some are.

Like I said earlier, the actors are what excels the script.  Max Thieriot as Bug does a phenominal job with not only having the audience relate to him but also spitting out and mimicing lines of other characters.  Another highlight of the film is – what I call the comic relief – the character of Penelope.  Essentially she is the religious factor of Carrie’s mom from DePalma’s Carrie personified in a teenage body – she is also the sole owner of that Prayer Conditioning quote.

Craven’s signature is all over this film.  Luckily, I don’t remember seeing that hand coming out of the wall scene you see in the trailer in the film.  However, there is a scene in a boiler room that is almost surreal in seeing in a film that is not part of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

I honestly have no clue why this film is in 3D.  It is obviously a move to garner more money from patrons and I believe it hurts the film.  General audiences still think that 3D is supposed to “pop-out” at you.  It isn’t.  However, these audiences see 3D mixed in with a horror film and it is the first conclusion they jump to.

I will be the first to admit that this film is not for everyone.  The crowd reaction when I walked out was leaning towards the negative.   The dark humor of the film doesn’t hit most general patrons over the head with it,s o I think it went over their head – not trying to talk down, but I think it’s true.  At the very least, the film is not mediocre and I am thankful for that.  My colleagues may give me some crap for this, but myself and two other writers of the site were all on the same page when we walked out.  If you get a chance, try to see this in 2D though as I think the post-converted 3D hinders the film quite a bit.

My Soul To Take is a refreshingly unique and off-kilter genre entry that breathes some fresh air into the slasher/teen mystery archetype, even if it is batshit crazy at times.

Review: LET ME IN

Vampires.  They have been a hot topic (no pun intended) the past few years.  With the unfortunate popularity of the Twilight film adaptations and television adaptation of the Sookie Stackhouse books from Charlene Harris in the HBO show True Blood, vampires seem to be the new popular villain – like zombies a few years back. Two years ago, I saw a Swedish film called Let the Right One In at the local film festival and fell in love with its rather subdued nature.  It was story about friendship and touched on the coming of age subject of love and interest in the opposite sex.  It was also a story about a young person needing blood to survive.  After the success of Let the Right One In, it was inevitable to remake the film for American audiences.  When I initially heard about the remake, I was up in arms.  I was mad.  I loved the original and new that the tone would more than likely not be duplicated.  However, Matt Reeves does bring some interesting things to the table.

If you are not familiar with the novel or its previous adaptation by director Tomas Alfredson, it is pretty by much the same in this American remake except the names have changed.  We are introduced to a socially awkward child named Owen (previously named Oskar) who is constantly bullied by his male classmates.  Shortly after the introduction of Owen, a young girl named Abby (previously named Eli) moves next door to Owen and a friendship forms.  Meanwhile, murders are occurring and one of them happened to be a former classmate – which is how Owen becomes aware to it.o  It is then learned that Abby needs blood to live and that these murders seem to have begun as soon as Abby and her father figure, played by Richard Jenkins, move in.

People who admire the quiet delivery of the previous adaptation might be put off by this film’s loud delivery.  However, I’m happy to say that the performances from the children in this remake and the direction by Matt Reeves are exceptional. There is one scene in the film that will have most movie geeks and maybe even general audiences talking about it after it is over.

Let Me In opens introduces a character, a detective, that was not in the original novel or it’s Swedish adaptation by director Tomas Alfredson who is played by Elias Koteas. My only issue with this was the fact the majority of this remake highlights and focuses on the children. Granted., that is the way it should be.  However, with this new version, you do not receive the same tragic feeling you received with the caretaker of the Abby character.  That is where the book and the original adaptation excel ahead of this film.  Koteas’ character is just there, just like Jenkins’ character which is unfortunate, but not that damaging to the overall film, as this is a story about Abby and Owen.

The film is beautifully shot and the direction is top notch.  The performances by Kodi Smit-McPhee & Chloe Moretz are what really carry the film.  Many people will mention the – soon to be infamous – car sequence, but don’t get the wrong idea that the film is full of visual gimmicks.  The drama is still there.  If you never saw Let the Right One In, this film is for you.  If you have seen it before, just know that you may or may not like this version better.  I saw it divide some fans at Fantastic Fest this year.

Tease yourself with some HATCHET II

Yahoo! Movies scored the first teaser trailer for Adam Green’s Hatchet 2. Now, I wasn’t the hugest fan of Hatchet (Listen to my thoughts in an early episode of DTB! here). However, I could see the film as a fun flick that was essentially a throwback on the Friday the 13th franchise and it delivered with some nice gore. I could tell from Green’s enthusiasm, that I would give him another chance if he made a sequel. He did and beyond the break, you can see a short teaser trailer for Hatchet 2…

Continue reading Tease yourself with some HATCHET II

Review: ABBEY OF THELEMA

Oh Sweet Baby Jesus!  Being a horror fan comes with its stereotypes.  I wanted to start off this review with a personal note.

When we received this film for review, Travis – our head honcho – contacted me because the plot deals with Aleister Crowley.  If you don’t know, Aleister Crowley was an esoteric individual who dealed with the occult and founded a religious philosophy call Thelema.  People still practice in this belief today.  Travis figured that with the name Crowley popping up in the plot, which is usually entangled and mentioned with the occult and horror films, that this would be a film up my alley, or at least, I would be interested in reviewing it.

The plot, which is beat into your head as actual events, chronicles Crowley’s life shortly after WWI when he was a painter.  From there, he becomes sexually entangled with a few of his models that he used for his paintings.  One of them, Leah, becomes pregnant with Crowley’s child.  The other, Ninette, becomes possessive over Crowley and becomes obsessed with Crowley’s religious beliefs as Crowley tries to create a house for his followers – The Abbey of Thelema.

Quite honestly, I might not be giving the plot that much justice but on the same token, the film doesn’t give Crowley much justice either.  The very little I do know about the actual Aleister Crowley is that a lot of his beliefs influenced filmmakers and artists world wide – mainly in England.  This film essentially feels like using the history of Crowley’s sexual escapades to give the main actor a reason to make out with girls that probably wouldn’t give him the time of day.

The film’s production values are amateurish, the writing is horrendous and the execution of the whole film is just god awful.  I have seen better films made in 24 hours than this piece.  Oh, Ron Jeremy…he is in the film for about 5 minutes or so and his scenes as a priest – which I thought was funny on paper – really don’t add to the story plus they were obviously filmed in a cheap hotel room in order to use Jeremy’s name to sell copies.

Even if a film is bad, I can usually find good qualities about it.  Sometimes, bad movies can be a laugh riot (Look at TROLL 2).  However, this is a bad movie that is also boring and painful to look at.

Overall Rating: 0 out of 5.  If a copy comes near you, burn it!

P.S. The music is credited as by “THE DEVIL”.  I really was hoping the dude would have been a better composer.