Juan of the Dead (2011)

Now here's a true hit classic!  And the first horror film from Cuba in the last 60 years, or something like that (so now I can add "Cuban" to my labels).  I watched this with a group and it is a confirmed crowd-pleaser that begs regular screenings.  In fact, I'm going to save a detailed review for my second experience.  Do yourself a favor and get your hands on this gem!

Rating: 4/5

Detention (2011)

I just can't get on board with this one.  It could have been a lot of fun, but the pacing was so fast I grew tried of the structure within a half hour.  Then it seemed monotonous to the point of drudgery: it became a chore to finish it.  On a positive note, though, it is a fairly unique blend of genres (is anything missed?), including coming-of-age drama, history, slasher, comedy, satire, thriller, sci-fi, time travel, and more.  Its commentary on horror culture isn't on par with the Scream series (especially Scream 4) but it does do a great job making me extremely sad to witness the vacuity of the current teen population.  In any case, this is not skippable, in my opinion, as I think it will work for some; it's definitely worth a watch.

Rating: 3/5

Some Guy Who Kills People (2011)

If you're like me, the title of this film won you over immediately.  How could I not indulge in a movie called Some Guy Who Kills People?  Speaking in terms of film title only, a film like this catches us off guard in the way that I imagine a film like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre affected audiences in its time.  A film titled like TCM, at that time, was so over-the-top that it automatically generated interest (whether positive or negative).  Now, in the twenty-first century, we are used to such overtly bonkers titles that it takes an overtly obvious title like Some Guy Who Kills People to spark attention via title alone.  And boy am I glad it piqued my interest!

It is indeed about some guy who kills people, but the plot it much more developed than the oversimplified title implies.  That is to say, there is much more substance to the story of the film than the supposed generic slasher or meta-film usually carries with it.  In some ways it is a dual character study of the lead guy and lead gal, whose life experiences come to mirror each other.  From the opening shots we are pulled into the psychology of the central character, Ken (Kevin Corrigan), who manages to be interesting despite the demands of his role.  Because we've seen the misunderstood, bullied, loner character a million times.  But Kevin Corrigan breathes new life into the archetype; and in addition, Amy (Ariel Glade) absolutely lights up the screen with a dazzling contrast-character that compliments Ken with optimism and spot-on humor.

In terms of aesthetics, the film is well shot--crisp, clean compositions--and the transitions are quick, nearly abrupt, which works to keep the plot driving and the viewer more and more engaged.  I can say that gore hounds looking for graphic kills and interesting violent effects should abandon their expectations, though I, myself, found it easy to trade expectations of effects and violent intensity for the main purposes of the film--these purposes being more in-line with the psychological thriller subgenre.  Again, thinking of the film's title, the film is a satire, and satire's main purpose is keep the user moving with the speed of the story, as quickly as possible, without lingering on anything too long.  Thus, whether something dark and despairing happens or something light and jokey happens, they are both treated equally, both taken just as (un)seriously as the other.  In  poetry, for example, there are certain metres that work better for satire for this very reason: the rhythm makes the reading quicker.  Or think of Voltaire's Candide, which is full of terrible events, but the events are narrated without any emotion, which works to make it absurdly humorous.  Such is the foundation of the satire.

And speaking of satire, the black humor in this flick is perfectly executed, especially with the two cop characters.  These two kept me laughing almost every time they were on the screen.  These stock characters also appear, at first, to be just that: stock characters; but they end up being fresh, just like the lead character, Ken.  The elder officer at first appears to be the typical unprofessional, small-town officer who overlooks the obvious, but then we're constantly witnessing that he in fact is quite brainy and sharp. The way in which this is executed on-screen caused me to really laugh--as in a deep belly laugh that caused me to have to rewind a little bit so as not to miss any subsequent dialogue.  For anyone who's seen the movie, how funny is this part concerning the elder officer's description of the killer's tableau: "Surrealism.  Dada."?

So, to sum up, this is certainly a movie worth seeing.  And it should reach out and be effective with audiences who aren't into horror movies (e.g. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil), though, of course, experience with the conventions of slasher movies will enhance the experience.  Then again, the movie I watched before this one was Baby Blues (review forthcoming), so perhaps SGWKP really worked on me because I needed some comic relief from the darker Baby Blues.  In any case, if you want a film that is a balanced mix of humor, plot, and character development, packaged as a satiric psychothriller, then you will do well to procure Some Guy Who Kills People and give it a watch.

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Possibly the most entertaining horror movie I've ever watched, The Cabin in the Woods cannot disappoint genre fans.  Luckily, aside from it having overt allusions to Evil Dead, I didn't know anything about the film beforehand; and for that reason I don't want to say too much.  If you're a horror fan, this movie is for you.  In fact, if you like to poke fun at horror fans, this movie is for you.  If you like to watch movies, well, this movie is for you, too!

Cold Fish (2010)

Like a lot of Asian horror films, this one was about one hour too long. Had that been trimmed, I probably would've walked away more satisfied. As it is, I'm just sort of indifferent to the film, nothing really stuck with me except my impatience for the thing to be over. It's your typical good-guy-gets-bullied-and-caught-up-in-the-wrong-crowd plot, and it seems the movie was made more to make gratuitous use of Megumi Kagurazaka that anything else. So, if you're in the mood for a crime drama wrapped in typical black humor, this great. But, then again, I guess I have to be thankful that I watched a J-horror flick sans ghosts!

Tokyo Gore Police (2008)

Rating: C-
It had been a while since I'd watched any J-horror, but then again, I got bored with vengeful spirit-inhabited electronics and houses. So, the compromise: a movie that promised shock cinema in the form of a satirical gore-fest, Tokyo Gore Police. And it was just that. At the beginning of each fight sequence, I swear I heard someone yell, Mooortaaaaal Kooooombaaaaat! Then, the movie gave way to all out splatter-punk. Unfortunately, it isn't my thing. For me, there is a very fine line when it comes to gore. In the case of this film, it was too over-the-top, and while it was sometimes laughable by design, everything about the movie became too gratuitous and redundant à la Ichi the Killer (sorry Miike die-hards; I do like his other work though). What saved the film from being a complete flop? Eihi Shiina, who beautifully executed her role in Audition, and the hilarious social satire commercials.

The People Under the Stairs (1991)

Ostensibly, this was a horror movie, but in fact it was a highly entertaining satire about impoverished black people overthrowing their rich--and evil--white landlords when threatened with eviction. Besides the tensions between urban blacks and suburban whites, a major theme was money being the root of all evil.

I regret not seeing this movie back when I was a kid because that seems to be the common factor among a lot of the movie's fans. Not only was it recommended to me by someone because it freaked them out as a kid, I also found a handful of reviews on Netflix that say the same thing. For me, it worked as a dark comedy.

Breakdown: A pair of rich white landlords are tearing down a dilapidated apartment building in the ghetto in order to make more money off of expensive condominiums. One of the tenants, a young boy called Fool, teams up with a couple of older con artists who intend to steal valuable gold coins from the landlord's house. What they find is a pair of twisted maniacs who have a dark secret...there are people living in the walls and under the stairs!

The story behind how the people got there is revealed to us by Alice, the well behaved daughter of the two landlords. Apparently, her mother and father had tried over and over to have the perfect boy, but each one was bad in one way or another. So, the father "cut out the bad parts" (e.g. their tongues) and locked them in the basement, giving them nourishment by taking people prisoner and cannibalizing them. Finally, they had Alice who succumbed to their outrageous demands and keep her confined inside the house.

Though released in 1991, the movie is dated and shows just how far the genre has come in such a short amount of time. The special effects are terrible and the "scary music" reminds me of those old instructional videos they used to show in P.E. class. The acting was so bad, and the lines so cheesy, that the gore was incongruous. At one point, the landlord was running through the house dressed like a dominatrix Power Ranger, and in the next moment he was acting like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. The woman shouted "ka-ka" after Fool jammed his fingers up her nose. Of the twenty-some men locked in the basement, one of them, named Roach, zips around inside the walls with a hyperactive disorder while the rest of them appear to be evil zombies.

After getting the story behind the people under the stairs out in the open, the movie becomes predictable and a tad boring. It seemed like an hour of people running around in a labyrinth, shouting, gouging, chasing, cursing, falling, sliding, and spouting off lame threats and insults. By the last twenty minutes of the movie I found myself dusting my bookshelf and cleaning the mirror in my bathroom. To top things off, the ending consisted of the rich people's money showering over all the ghetto folks while a hip hop song played into the credits (Do tha right thang!). All I could do was laugh and double check the director's name to make sure this was the right People Under The Stairs.

All the aforementioned aside, what made this movie enjoyable was Fool's humor. Here are some quotes that amused me:

"One day I'm gonna buy you a Cadillac for each foot and you gonna skate around town lookin' so bad!"
"You thought he was white before, you should've seen that sucker now!"
"Your father's one sick mother, you know that? Actually, your mother's one sick mother, too."
"No wonder there's no money in the ghetto."
"You ever seen a brother before?"

There were so many humorous lines that I couldn't keep up with them all. Please comment on this post and add your own favorites from the movie!

The People Under The Stairs is a great starter movie for those who are thinking of getting into horror flicks but are easily frightened. It has a lot of horror movie elements with enough humor to overshadow the otherwise grim parts.