Recent Viewings, Part 2

[FatFreddysCat]

"Burial Ground" (aka "The Nights of Terror," 1981)
Three couples arrive at a villa in the Italian countryside, planning to have a weekend of fun and fornication. Unfortunately, they're soon under siege from a horde of zombies, awakened from an archeological dig on the property. Yes, that's the whole plot.
This virtually plotless Italian splatter fest has some cool looking zombies and gross-out effects, but the main reason it's remembered today is the bizarro casting of Peter Bark, a 25 year old midget, as a creepy 12 year old kid who has a rather, shall we say, unhealthy fixation on his boob-a-licious Mom. This eventually leads to the film's most notorious scene, which I will not spoil, but I will warn that it'll make you say "HOLY s**t I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY WENT THERE!"
You can safely avoid this one unless you have a fondness for barely coherent Spaghetti schlock.

[M.10rda]

THE PORTRAIT (1915):
At last, kind of an actual horror movie from the silent era! This is a rare live action effort from animator Wladislaw Starewich that originally ran 45 minutes. For a while, it was thought that only 8 minutes had survived, so I watched those on Youtube...

Wow! No spoilers in case you have 8 minutes to spare - this starts as a typical stagey silent flick and then near the end hits you with a legit jump scare that is super-creepy and well-executed. Starevich actually pulls off a "special" effect, similar though even more effective to the one in the beginning of 1919's EERIE TALES starring COnrad Veidt. If we could pretend that THE PORTRAIT was only 8 minutes long, it would be a 4.5/5 easy.

But, impressed as I was, I did research and found another 14 surviving minutes of the full 45-minute PORTRAIT. These scenes depict some of what happens to the main character after the jump scare, which is kind of boring. They also include a flashback which explains the backstory behind the jump scare... which is mildly interesting and includes another pseudo-"special effect", but which I could've lived without. I suppose THE PORTRAIT is missing its climax, which might be as exciting as the first 8 minutes, but who knows.

Another one of those "the more I knew the less I liked it" scenarios, though it's still worth watching those first 8 minutes!    3.5/5

[lester1/2jr]

Man of Faith: The Cord (2016) - I'm embarrassed to admit that I kind of liked a couple of the Pastor Steve Anderson clips I watched. He's a modern far right Baptist preacher who has gotten in some trouble for his anti gay rhetoric, among other things. I'm not anti gay at all, but I appreciated the fact that he seemed to be plugged in to what is going on and not afraid to ruffle feathers. In one thing, he talked about going to a synagogue and seeing The full Talmud. His reaction "God said all of this?"

Well, this isn't about any of that, at all. As punchy and overheated as his rhetoric is, it's pretty much par for the course for FOX News era megachurch babble. This documentary is specifically about the treatment his 12 (!) kids have suffered due to the insanely violent, demanding, and hellish home life he and his wife have created.

Anderson is a modern preacher and the director is a modern documentarian. He is seen attaching a lie detector to the four now adult kids before he interviews them. Key points that Anderson makes are dissected by other preachers. It's no surprise that Sanderson at one point taunts the director from the pulpit. Bottom line: It's pretty clear that Sanderson sadistically beat his kids. In a demented attempt to both justify and deny this, he quotes all kind of Old Testament scripture about disciplining children. The director, Paul Wittenberger is a far right conspiracy guy who's other documentaries include "Flouride: Poison on Tap".

5/5

[M.10rda]

I love it when one far-right guy decides to punch sideways at another far-right guy for a change!

[M.10rda]

THE DOUBLE INCARNATION OF WILLIAM SHEEP (1913):
This is a 13-minute silent from a French filmmaker who didn't make a lot of other stuff. It takes a few minutes (of watching guys playing chess) to get going but quickly gets to be a lot of fun (at least imho).

This is a doppelganger story ala "The Student of Prague" or Poe's "William Wilson", but I found it far livelier and more entertaining than the Conrad Veidt STUDENT OF PRAGUE feature... due partially at least, I'm sure, to its brevity! I'm partial to doppelgangers (as evidenced by my adoration for TWIN PEAKS and POSSESSION) and besides just being doppelganger-y, DOUBLE INCARNATION also has an evil ring, a diabolic trickster pulling strings, and of course chess - all motifs which reappear in TWIN PEAKS. (A Letterboxd reviewer mentions that DOUBLE INCARNATION also presupposes Bergman's SEVENTH SEAL.)

All of the actors give amusing performances; there's some fun/grotesque makeup (in service of human characters, not supernatural ones) and some implied sexual innuendo; and a spirit of humor generally pervades the film... in spite of the premise being inherently unsettling. I wish this director had a larger surviving library of horror flicks!    3.5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"This Is GWAR" (2022)
This immensely entertaining documentary on the long and tasteless history of everyone's favorite horde of hard rockin' outer space barbarians is packed with classic clips, interviews with band members and associates, and tons of gooey live footage. A total hoot. Long live GWAR.