Vampire – We Are Movie Geeks

NOSFERATU – Review

Before Bela Lugosi created the image of an elegant Dracula in Todd Browning’s film DRACULA, F.W. Murnau made the brilliant silent film NOSFERATU, the first film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s eerie novel. Stoker’s estate refused to let the legendary German director use the book’s title but Murnau made the film anyway, renaming the vampire Count Orlok and re-setting the latter part of the story in Germany rather than England. Director Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU is an outstanding film that both honors and recreates Murnau’s great classic, while also adding a modern horror edge as well.

Fans of Murnau’s incredible silent horror film will delight in Eggers’ new NOSFERATU, which faithfully recreates several of the striking scenes in the original. NOSFERATU is visually astounding, with gorgeously eerie scenes and set pieces, often using the central, symmetric framing typical of the silent movie era. Scene after scene opens with either a perfect recreation of Murnau’s atmospheric composition or a sternly creepy vista that sets the tone for the horror to come. The dark, brooding scene of a coach wending its way through stark looming mountains, to enter the sinister castle, which is featured in the movie’s trailer, is but a small taste of the visual delights to come. Leaning into the visual power of the silent is the perfect choice.

Although there have been countless Dracula movies, only a handful have gone back to Murnau’s great silent, with his Count Orlok. Those exceptions have included SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, a chiller about the making of Murnau’s silent, and Werner Herzog’s NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE, with the great Klaus Kinski.

While Eggers’ based his script on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Henrik Galeen’s screenplay for the first NOSFERATU, there are a few changes. The source of the vampire Count’s fascination with his real estate agent’s fiancee (his wife in this tale) is different and references to Vlad the Impaler, the blood-thirsty Eastern European Medieval prince who was Bram Stoker’s partial inspiration for the vampire in his novel.

The cinematography and the script are near flawless in this homage to the brilliant original, and the modern horror elements added by director Eggers, including leaning into the psycho-sexual aspects of the story, help bring the story into the current era without violating its late Victorian gothic setting. However the pacing is a bit slow for modern horror fans. Further, Bill Skarsgard’s Count Orlok, after his first appearance, looks more like a bulky if decaying Prince Vlad than Max Streck’s skeletal Orlok, making Orlok seem more intimidating than truly scary.

The cast includes a splendid Willem Dafoe as the Van Helsing-like Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz. Nicholas Hoult plays Thomas Hutter, the first victim to aid Count Orlok’s escape from the castle, and Lily-Rose Depp plays his wife Ellen, who in this retelling is the reincarnation of Orlok’s former lover. Lily-Rose Depp’s performance is bold and over-the-top, sometimes veering into the absurd, but Nicholas Hoult’s more grounded, sincere performance helps balance things. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin do fine work as the Hutters’ friends Friedrich and Anna Harding, but the other supporting actors give the horror tale its real fire, with outstanding work by Ralph Ineson as Wilhelm Sievers and Simon McBurney as creepy Herr Knock.

This remake/update NOSFERATU is a treat in particular for fans of Murnau’s original, but may not connect for all horror fans not familiar with the silent classic. Hopefully, they will remedy that by seeing the Murnau film, ideally on a big screen with live music.

NOSFERATU opens Wednesday, Dec. 25, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

ABIGAIL – Review

An old saying goes that “You can’t keep a good man down”. Well, despite the meager box office returns for last year’s big Dracula flicks, RENFIELD, and THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, this weekend’s new monster movie believes that “You can’t keep a good vampire down”. Really, they just keep popping up, just check out those Christopher Lee Hammer Film classics (seriously, they’re loads of frightful fun). Ha, “down for the Count”…and enough of the “groaners”. Although this new flick’s working title was “Dracula’s Daughter”, this chiller isn’t officially connected to the Bram Stoker creation. For one thing, it’s set in today’s world, so a speedy beaten van replaces the horse-drawn carriages. Oh, and it’s got elements of a crime thriller. This tale concerns a “snatch and grab” crew who get more than they bargained for when their target is ABIGAIL.

The film’s opening moments introduce us to the title character (Alisha Weir), a preteen lass indulging in her passion for dance as she performs “Swan Lake” in an empty theatre. Ah, it turns out that someone else aside from the family driver is waiting for her to head home. Six black-clad adults in an old commercial van follow her towncar through the night, past the city, and into her gated mansion. As one of the crew hacks into the estate’s security system, a trio swiftly moves in. Young Abigail believes she’s safe in her bedroom, until the invaders burst in, and one injects her with a powerful tranquilizer. She’s placed in a large duffel bag, and the trio sprints back to the van just as another vehicle with Abigail’s father shows up. The van speeds away, far out into the country, and pulls up to another gated mansion, although this one has seen better days. They’re greeted in the library by the mastermind who has put them together for the “job”, the suave Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito). He explains that they will hide out there with Abigail for 24 hours until the ransom is met (plenty of food and drink are provided along with beds). He insists that they don’t reveal their own names, deciding to bestow “code monikers”. The surly leader is “Frank” (Dan Stevens). The slightly baked driver is “Dean” (Angus Cloud). “Sammy” (Kathryn Newton) is the loopy punk-rock “hacker”. The boozy “muscle” is “Peter” (Kevin Durand). “Rickles” (as in the the insult comic king, ya’ hockey puck) is an ex-military sniper (William Catlett). And the “druggist” who put Abigail to sleep is “Joey” (Melissa Barrera), who will be the one to check on her, though Joey will be masked. Lambert departs, as most of the gang hits the bar. Joey forms a bond with the now fully awake Abigail, though the the little girl makes an odd icy threat while putting out a creepy “vibe”. This alarms Frank who visits their prey and is more rattled when she reveals the identity of her powerful papa. He tells the crew they need to split just as steel plates slide over the windows and barred gates appear over the doors with a loud “clang”. Could the kidnapping have been an elaborate “set-up” to trap them? Then panic engulfs the criminals as something lurking in the shadows begins to strike…

Though she’s not the title character, the story’s main focus is the conflicted, tragic ex-combat medic played by the soulful Barrera. We find out some of her motives in taking the “one last crime gig”, which are also the reason Joey forms an intense almost immediate bond with Abigail. Barrera’s both tender and very tough as she clashes with her cohorts when they try to “lean on the kid”. Speaking of, the ads have let the “cat” (or is it bat) out of the “bag” on the “tiny dancer” (the crew’s codename for her). Weir switches from sweet innocence to murderous menace at the flutter of her tutu. Her dance moves turn “death stalk” remind us of the pre-murder “mamba” of “last year’s demon doll” M3GAN. And somehow Weir conveys that longing well after she reveals her true form. Much like Stevens who is the all too human monster in the story, a bullying blowhard who’s always looking out for “#1”.He’s engaging even as he sounds as though he stepped out of a late 40s noir crime caper. Stevens appears to be having almost as much fun as Newton whose Sammy almost becomes the audience surrogate as she is quick to bolt when things go too weird. Her funky free spirit lightens things considerably. Newton gets almost as many laughs as Durand’s Peter, the confused lunkhead who’s not used to responding with his brain rather than his fists, which are usually clutching a bottle. Catlett is more of a mystery as the tightly-wound triggerman, while Esposito is a terrific sarcastic snob as the effete master planner Lambert. However, the film’s real breakout star may tragically be Cloud as the hustling streetwise getaway man, who passed shortly after wrapping his role.

After jumpstarting the SCREAM franchise with the last two entries, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett try to put a new spin on the old bloodsucker on the loose in a haunted house genre but mixing in a criminal team much like those bickering, but still cool RESERVOIR DOGS, and assorted other “heist” flicks. And it does indeed inject some fresh blood into the genre, while also exploring the idea of an immortal killing machine trapped forever in a child’s body that was a big part of NEAR DARK and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. Plus the filmmakers surprise us with the amount of humor generously sprinkled in (something that many newer terror tales lack). The gang can’t quite accept the supernatural, then try to recall the “rules” from pop culture (how to kill them, powers, etc.). And this movie’s take on the classic monster is interesting, especially in the look of the vamps, eschewing the twin fangs and opting for a row of jagged choppers that shred throats. Unfortunately, this becomes part of the problem with the flick, as the settings and characters are constantly drenched in the sticky crimson fluid. I kept thinking about the actors rushing to the showers after they wrapped for what must have been a looong day. This indulgence adds to the unneeded length of the film, as characters engage in double and triple-crosses when not tossing each other in the walls and antique furnishings (we get that vampires are strong…move on). And the action doesn’t even adhere to the “new rules” they have for the undead. Perhaps the plot is spinning its wheels to establish the time passage from the wee hours to dawn and back to dusk again. It’s a shame since there are lots of original flourishes on vamp lore, though the finale result isn’t nearly as engaging and graceful as the dance moves of that bloody ballerina ABIGAIL.

2.5 Out of 4

ABIGAIL is now playing in theatres everywhere

MORBIUS – Review

Already, it’s been over three months, so who’s ready to return to the Marvel Universe via your nearby multiplex? Now, before the littlest hands “rise up”, be forewarned that this is the “dark, spooky” corner of Marvel. Oh, and technically it’s not the official MCU, but rather the “Sony-verse’ as this is labeled “in association with Marvel”, much as was the Oscar-winning SPIDER-VERSE animated epic and the twin VENOM flicks. But it does tie into our favorite “wall-crawler” as did the former films. To coincide with Spidey’s sixtieth (must be something extra in that radioactive “bite”). we’re getting another villain “spin-off” (insert web-spinning puns). Now, the oozing symbiote was from the 1980s and the “baddie quintet” from December’s blockbuster are all from the 1960s. So what about those swingin’ sparkly 70s? To be precise, 1971 saw a lot of change in the “funny books’ as the Comic Code Authority (a self-regulating group) finally let the monsters rise again. Naturally, Marvel tested the waters by introducing one to face the “amazing y’know”. And now he makes his big-screen debut (after a two-year pandemic delay). So put on your scarves “true believers”, here comes the very thirty vampire known as MORBIUS. As a count named Floyd would say, “ooooo, scary keeds’!”.

After a brief present-day prologue in Costa Rica, we’re whisked back twenty-five years to a childrens’ hospital special unit in Greece where we meet pre-teen Michael Morbius. He’s suffering from a rare blood malady, leaving him very weak and under the care of the kind Dr. Nikols (Jared Harris). We also meet Michael’s newest friend and neighbor (he’s got the bed next to him), Lucian, whom he dubs Milo (after the last occupant of the space). Michael’s already a science whiz, which leads him a couple of decades later to invent life-saving artificial blood. And now Dr. Morbius (Jared Leto) is the “top dog” at the Horizon medical center alongside friend (maybe more) Dr. Bancroft (Adria Arjona). But while Dr. M tends to the kids there, he’s got another project brewing, namely a cure for his own weakened condition. Now because some of his ideas are considered radical, Horizon won’t “foot the bill”, so Michael must turn to Milo (Matt Smith), who’s now a wealthy businessman (though the biz is more than a bit “shady”) and is still tended by Nikols. He really wants that healing “fix” so he hires a cargo ship out of Panama manned by local mercenaries to take Morbius and Bancroft to Central America. Onboard, the two perfect a “serum” which has disastrous side effects for Dr. M. After one of the crew knocks out Bancroft, Dr. M transforms into a powerful bat-like blood-drinking “demon”. When the ship drifts to the coast of Long Island with its crew drained of blood and Bancroft unconscious, two FBI agents, Stroud (Tyrese Gibson) and Rodriguez (Al Madrigal) investigate while searching for the missing Mobius. Meanwhile, he’s roaming the streets of NYC, secretly entering the Horizon lab, hoping to make a cure to his botched “cure” and trying to keep his “inner beast” caged by consuming his own artificial blood supply. But his body seems to crave the “real deal”. Will he turn the Big Apple into his own blood bank? And what about Milo’s mania for the cure? Could this lead to a showdown between childhood pals?

Leto brings some much-needed humanity to his role as one of Marvel’s early anti-heroes (many forget that Hawkeye and the Black Widow originally teamed up against Iron Man) and gives us a look into the conflicted nature of Michael. With dark, haunting eyes, Leto conveys the doc’s empathetic nature, first with young Milo, then with his afflicted child patients, gifting them with a bit of origami. But when the “hunger” overtakes him, there’s a feral intensity in those eyes, showing us that he’ll do whatever it takes to survive. Then the remorse sets in as guilt cast its shadow and Leto’s disturbed doc thinks that he must save the world from himself. Smith is very effective as the “flip side of the coin”, also ailing but with no compulsion about humanity, adding lots of danger to his “dandy” persona from ONE NIGHT IN SOHO. Arjona makes a terrific partner for Leto as the co-worker who challenges him while slowly sliding from the professional to the personal in their relationship. Harris brings lots of father-like compassion to his too-small role as Nikols. Plus Gibson and Madrigal make a good team, call it a “dour cop/wiseacre cop” team as the agents are almost always a few steps behind the monster mayhem.

Hey Marvel-maniacs, here’s the first appearance of Morbius fighting a multi-armed Spidey (don’t ask)!

The horror and superhero elements somehow mesh together under the assured direction of Daniel Espinosa working from the script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (and based on the Marvel character created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane). The brief “origin” sequence has a haunting childhood melancholy like a nostalgic nightmare. And that’s the correct way to describe the last part of that origin as the tragic “transformation” turns the cargo ship (check out its familiar name) into a floating deathtrap. Since Morbius becomes a vampire via science and not a magical curse, the effects team has found some interesting ways to twist the horror trope. Morbius in attack mode seemingly bursts into a mass of flying bats or leaves a trail of them in his wake. His speed is slowed down for a few seconds to highlight his animal-like stance and stride. When he must feed his face morphs into the lean angular rodent visage (I thought of the vamps that Buffy dusted on TV). One nice touch is the appearance of ridges in his earlobes when he uses his sonar abilities. Later when he leaps across the city a color trail (the orange jumpsuit) barely catches up to him. Set against the glittering neon cityscape, the visuals are stunning, but it doesn’t quite make up for some of the script’s problems. Nikols is an underwritten enigma, we’re not quite certain of Milo’s true “interest’, and the romance of Morbius and Bancroft feels like a bit of plot motivation. I did enjoy this more than the Venom films, but then I’ve also preferred this character in Spidey’s “rogue’s gallery”, mixing the ferocity of Lee’s Dracula with the romantic sadness of Frid’s Barnabas. And no, he’s not got that dark blue with red highlights open chested suit of the comics, but it’s not really missed in the long run. It’s not at all close to the scope of the last Spider-Man opus but there’s quite a bit of bite in MORBIUS.

3 out of 4

MORBIUS is now playing in theatres everywhere

THERAPY FOR A VAMPIRE – Review

Summer just officially started just a few days ago, so Halloween is months away. Perhaps a great way to get us cooled off, to put us in a Fall state of mind, would be to pay a visit to one of the oldest horror movie icons: the vampire. Everyone’s aware of how scary those fanged fiends can be, but you may have forgotten how funny they are (intentionally, of course). Movie audiences have emitted nervous laughter ever since Max Schreck emerged from the shadows in the silent classic NOSFERATU. And certainly there are bits (and bites) of humor (mostly comic relief supporting players) in 1931’s DRACULA and MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, both with Bela Lugosi. It wasn’t until 1948 that he was in an all out farce (though the Count is never lampooned) in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. After Hammer Studios brought back (in full gory color) the bloodsuckers ten years later, Roman Polanski made one of the greatest horror parodies ever, THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS OR: PARDON ME BUT YOUR TEETH ARE IN MY NECK (AKA DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES). Seven years later, screen legend David Niven donned the fangs and cape for OLD DRACULA (AKA VAMPIRA) followed in five years by “Mr. Suntan” George Hamilton in LOVE AT FIRST BITE. Almost twenty years ago, Mel Brooks, in his screen-directing swan song cast (C’mon Mel, ya’ got another flick in ya’!) Leslie Nielsen as the lead in DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT. And 2014’s WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS was an unexpected delight. Well, it’s time to chuckle, instead of whistle, in the graveyard once more. Hey let’s throw in another element for satire, psychoanalysis. It worked for mobsters, why not the undead? Let’s see, Vienna, the 1930’s…hmm…lets enlist Sigmund Freud (maybe fresh from assisting Sherlock Holmes in THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION ?). Really, nobody is more qualified to provide THERAPY FOR A VAMPIRE.
It’s 1932 in Vienna (just a year after that Lugosi classic). Struggling young artist Viktor (Dominic Oley) is in love with waitress Lucy (Cornella Ivancan). Trouble is that when she models for him, Vik paints her as his dream ideal gal with long blonde tresses and frilly, flowing gowns. But the brunette Lucy wears her hair pinned back and favors neck-high sweaters and (gasp!) trousers. One of his side projects is illustrating the dream images of the patients of Sigmund Freud (Karl Fischer), this for a possible book. Soon the doctor gets a new patient, a wealthy aristocrat who has donated heavily to his publishing concerns named Count Geza von Kozsnom (Tobias Moretti). Their sessions must be scheduled in the evenings, because the Count is an ancient vampire (natch’!). And he needs council because he’s lost his zest for life. He longs for his long, looong (500 years!) lost love Nadila since his marriage to his vampire wife has stalled. One big reason is that this lady, Elsa (Jeanette Hain) is one vain vamp! She misses seeing her reflection and begs the Count to describe her features in great detail. Freud suggests that she sit for a portrait, with his collaborator Viktor. Meanwhile, Lucy has seen those dream sketches and decides to prank her beau by showing up at his studio, dressed as his subject, complete with dyed golden locks and a stunning low-cut gown. She arrives just as the Count floats outside Vik’s window, and wouldn’t you know that Lucy is an undead ringer for Nadila! Soon he’s wooing her while his human familiar Radul (David Bennent) tries to cut in, while Vik avoids the deadly embrace of Elsa. Freud himself may need analyst. And a blood transfusion!

Moretti simply oozes old world sophistication as the world-weary Count. He’s tired of the “stalking a victim/meal” existence. His servant waits in dark alleys to club ladies, drain them of their plasma, and mixes it in a flask (“half street-walker, half virgin”) for his sullen master. More invigorating than the blood is the sight of his reincarnated paramour (love the way Moretti makes her name into a wail, “NaaaDeeeLahh!”). At the opposite end of the vamp spectrum is Hain, who still has a gleeful, nearly child-like delight in mangling her meals (almost playing with her food, eh?). The sets and actors are splashed with buckets ‘o’ blood (a macabre Gallagher concert). But she too has a sadness about her as she begins to forget her own face (alluringly framed by jet-black Louise Brooks-inspired hair). Bennent is not the usual “Renfield”-type of horror film lackey. He’s got a resentment towards his boss fueled by disdain and disgust (“the old impotent fool”). Plus he’s very funny as he scurries about like a lovelorn puppy. Fischer has some fun as he pokes holes in the stuffy, often clueless, very pompous intellectual. After all, these are really monsters of myth, nightmares of the ignorant actually. Oley has a great coiled energy as the youthful romantic lead. He’s not aware that he’s alienating his love by his need to give her an art “make-over”. The film’s breakthrough star may be the dazzling Ivancan whose Lucy yearns to be more than “arm decoration”. She’s smart, sassy, and open to the new (especially the perks of being…different). Hopefully this will open the door for many more compelling screen performances ( she’d be terrific as an adversary or confidant of a certain gentleman agent).

Director/writer David Ruehm has concocted a frothy farce that glides by, like a big thirsty bat, in just under 90 minutes (take note you movie comedy mavens). He effortlessly balances quick wordplay with breakneck (and “bite-neck”) slapstick as characters evade each other by seconds. The film has a lush look thanks to the old European streets and the period costumes and props (love the Count’s gleaming sedan). Ruehm mixes in a lot of clever visual tricks, many involving shadows similar to what Coppola employed in BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA along with CGI (love how Viktor’s pint brush bristles fan out, as if hitting an invisible wall, when he tries to paint Elsa’s face) and stunt work (wall crawling as well as a certain Marvel “web-head”). Lots of classic vampire lore is included (they must be invited into a home) along with one fairly new to cinema (and no it’s not akin to that sparkly TWILIGHT nonsense). Seems you can distract a vampire by tossing lots of stuff onto the floor, a condition known as arithmomania. They’ve got a obsessive compulsion to…count (maybe this explains that Sesame Street muppet). If you’re looking for a clever, expertly executed love letter to the heroes of your favorite heroes of those late night TV “creature features, then THERAPY FOR A VAMPIRE is just what the doctor, or the psychiatrist ordered. I’m sorry your session’s time is up. Next week then?
4.5 Out of 5
THERAPY FOR A VAMPIRE opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS – The Review

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS is REAL WORLD with bite. Quite literally actually. A colorful (well… mainly shades of palish white) group of vampires that range in style and age struggle to live together all under the same roof. Whose turn it is to do the dishes or why someone didn’t put down newspapers on the floor before biting someone’s neck are taxing conversations that showcase just how “normal” vampires really are in this entertaining mockumentary.

“I go for the look ‘dead but delicious.’” Fans of FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS will love Jemaine Clement’s turn as a stubborn and ultra serious vamp that comes across like a mix of Brad Pitt in INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE with Vlad the Impaler. He’s just one of the highlights in this stellar cast. Everyone involved – even smaller bit parts such as a pair of bumbling police officers – commits to the material and delivers in memorable ways. Taika Waititi is the pseudo-leader of the film as he guides the documentary crew spotlighting the house and its occupants. His prissy and sensitive manner juxtaposes nicely against many of the others in the house including a stoic and silent Nosferatu type.

WHAT WE DO… isn’t just all laughs though. There’s a rather clever sequence early on involving a male victim struggling to escape the house. Utilizing one long camera shot, we feel both the humor and the anxiety as he gets lost in a maze of hallways and doors. Around every corner lurks another one of the roommates in a hilariously creative and occasionally surprising manner. The backpack scare during his attempted escape is absolutely brilliant! Sequences like this recall fellow New Zealander Peter Jackson’s early scary but silly work.

By incorporating ancient drawings and art from over the centuries, directors Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi are able to give us a brief history of each of these characters. Little touches such as this effectively hides the low budget of WHAT WE DO… but also places these fictional characters in a bigger universe. As a fanatic of ancient cultures and fantasy mythology, it’s also quite fun to see these old and sometimes crude looking drawings.

“It’s this big homoerotic dick biting club and I’m stuck here ironing their fucking frills!” Hilarious lines such as this are constant in WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS. You don’t have to be a hardcore horror fan to appreciate this loving nod to things that go bump in the night – yes, even werewolves get in on the action, including one unforgettable scene between the two groups near the waterfront that had me laughing out loud. Thanks in large part to an exceptional cast, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS proves you can do quite a lot with the vampire shtick without feeling long in the tooth.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS opens at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre on Friday, March 6

Reality Reels: Have you met Jonathan ‘The Impaler’ Sharkey?

I am all about supporting one’s freedom of religion and freedom of speech, but this is one of the most disturbing movies I’ve seen in a long time. ‘The Impaler’ deals directly with the topic of our freedoms in America and how they apply to everyone, for better or for worse. Thus, we get to meet Jonathan “The Impaler” Sharkey and are taken on a tour of his life as a self-proclaimed Satanic Dark Priest, Hecate Witch and Sanguinary Vampire.

‘Impaler’ was directed by W. Tray White. I hadn’t heard of this documentary, released back in 2007, until I was playing around on Hulu recently and stumbled upon what I initially thought was a mockumentary. That is, until I actually started watching the movie and realized it was for real. I immediately found myself fixated on watching the bizarre story unfold, as is often the case with my taste in peculiar and strange documentary subjects.

‘The Impaler’ jumps right in at the beginning and reveals for us Sharkey’s experience running for governor of Minnesota, having successfully achieved getting his name officially on the ballot. Good for him, but it’s not difficult to believe from a state that elected Jesse “The Body” Ventura into the governor’s office and has voted Al Franken into the Senate.

No one in the film wants to take Sharkey seriously, except for himself and the less frightening and oddly tragic character of Julie Sharkey Carpenter, Jonathan’s wife. Julie comes across as a relatively sweet and innocent woman with “alternative” beliefs and ideas who is the unfortunate victim of being with the wrong guy at the wrong time. This is illustrated best when she loses her long-time job as a school bus driver. She was very good at her job and beloved by the kids and parents and teachers alike, until Jonathan revealed in a campaign press conference that she was a Pagan and subsequently was fired. Right or wrong, she was a casualty of Jonathan’s war.

While the first half of ‘Impaler’ focuses on Sharkey’s shot at a professional career in public office, the second half of the movie touches on his checkered past and his time as a professional wrestler. While both of these portions are detailed with fascinating interviews with characters from Sharkey’s past and present, it’s the moments of intimate conversation with Jonathan himself that create the tense and troublesome mood of this movie more than anything else.

Listening to Jonathan Sharkey tell about his beliefs, his lifestyle and attempt to intelligently explain his political ideology is an exercise in tolerance. Even the most open-minded viewer of this film is likely to find themselves questioning whether an individual like Jonathan Sharkey should be allowed to even run for public office. As we learn more about Jonathan and dig deeper into his life, we see him for the person he is and do eventually come to accept him, if not begrudgingly, as a fellow American acting on his rights as an American.

Overall, the movie is not perfect and could have used some additional time in the editing room, but is anything but boring. For some, ‘Impaler’ will have eyes wide with shocking disbelief and some won’t even bother to finish watching, while for others it will likely be a testament for their own life experiences. I enjoyed peering inside Jonathan Sharkey’s mind and his life (from a distance) but the added straight-on to the camera final moral message from Jonathan himself was a pure failure in documentarian filmmaking and ultimately dropped my rating by half a point.

[Overall: Formerly 3.25 stars out of 5, but dropped to 2.75 by the end credits]

Park Chan-wook has a ‘Thirst’

Fans of ‘Oldboy’ should take note. Writer and director Park Chan-wook is set to unleash a heap of awesome upon your fragile eyeballs with ‘Thirst,’ the filmmaker’s take on the vampire genre.

Travis first covered this film here, so check out his article for details. Below the break is the trailer and, even though it is all in Korean, it still commands your undivided attention.

Continue reading Park Chan-wook has a ‘Thirst’

‘Let The Right One In’ Remake decides original title is too long and is renamed to ‘Let Me In’

Most fans of the original Swedish film ‘Let the Right One In’ knew that it was going to be remade.Ã‚ According to Bloody-Disgusting.com, the remake has been renamed to ‘Let Me In’ and has also learned, via Production Weekly, that the re-do will start shooting in May of this year.

Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) has helmed the script and will behind the director’s chair as well.Ã‚ Distribution will be handled by Overture Films and Hammer Films for a tenative release on January 15, 2010.

Count the renaming news as Misstep Number 1 for me.

[Sources: Bloody-Disgusting.com & Production Weekly]

WAMG First Look: Park Chan-wook’s ‘Thirst’

Park Chan-wook returns (FINALLY) with his first feature film since 2006 when he made ‘I’m a Cyborg, but That’s OK’. Chan-wook is probably best known for his revenge trilogy that includes ‘Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance’Ã‚ (2002) and most famously ‘Oldboy’Ã‚ (2003) which is allegedly being remade by Steven Spielberg and Will Smith. In 2005, Chan-wook would wrap the trilogy up with ‘Lady Vengeance’.

I predict ‘Thirst’ could end up being the next big foreign vampire flick in what would absolutely make me giddy to find this becoming a new trend in re”vamping” (pun intended) the vampire genre. You may have noticed my unabashed love for ‘Let the Right One In’, a Swedish vampire flick of a different nature that came out in 2008. While the video clip below doesn’t show much, it is nice to see some really early footage. It looks to have Chan-wook’s usual visual style. Also, the fact the the clip is part of a Korean news segment is actually kind of neat to watch!

Synopsis: Sang-hyun, a small town beloved and admired priest who serves devotedly at a hospital, volunteers for the new infectious disease, F.I.V.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s, vaccine development experiment and goes to Africa. The experiment fails and Sang-hyun gets infected by F.I.V. but he ends up being miraculously cured and returns home. News of Sang-hyunÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s cure from F.I.V. spreads and people start believing he has the gift of healing and flock to receive his blessing. From those who come to him, Sang-hyun meets a childhood friend named Kang-woo and his wife Tae-ju. Sang-hyun is immediately drawn to Tae-ju. One day, Sang-hyun coughs up blood, dies, and comes back to life the next day as a vampire. Tae-ju is strangely drawn to Sang-hyun, turned vampire, and they have a secret love affair. Sang-hyun asks Tae-ju to run away with him but she turns him down. Instead, they plot to murder Kang-woo… [source: 24fps]

Found footage of ‘Thirst’ courtesy of 24framespersecond.net, via shocktillyoudrop.com

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