Army of Darkness

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Sam Raimi
Written by: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Richard Grove

Year / Country: 1992, USA
Running Time: 85 mins.

You want some more Evil Dead? Come get some! Ash is back with a chainsaw attached to his wrist and a boomstick on his back. This time around he’s kicking Evil’s ass in medieval times. Isn’t it groovy? Well, yes it is.

Some horror fans have argued that this third and final entry in the Evil Dead series is too comical to be considered horror. While this notion might be true, Raimi should be applauded for taking his franchise in this direction. This movie is hilarious! And there is plenty of horror as well.

We literally get sucked into the action when our hero Ash disappears into a vortex. He is transported to the age of King Arthur where he is captured and mistaken for an ally of Arthur’s enemy Henry the Red. Arthur sentences him to a one-way ticket to ‘the pit’. After he has shown the primates some of his fancy tricks and gadgets they believe him to be the chosen one, who is to deliver them from evil.

Ash is sent on a holy quest to find the occult book Necronomicon. He finds it, but screws up the book lifting procedure and Evil is awoken. An army of deadites head towards Arthur’s castle to retrieve the book. Now Ash has to lead Arthur’s men into battle while he simultaneously has to rescue his girlfriend Sheila, who has been kidnapped by the evil forces.

Army of Darkness contains some fantastic set-pieces around which dynamic action scenes take place. My personal favorites are the pit and the S-Mart finale. The skeleton army is also an impressive accomplishment. Stop-motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen would certainly approve.

Besides Raimi’s action-packed script and trademark camera tricks, fans can enjoy a brilliant double turn from B-Movie star Bruce Campbell as Good Ash and Bad Ash. With his masterful comic timing, loads of one-liners and his lady man skills, he makes Ash a truly lovable hero. Not to mention a horror icon. Hail to the King baby!

Rating:

Biography: Sam Raimi (1959, Royal Oak, Michigan) started making 8mm films when he was around ten years old. In his teenage years he first collaborated with his good friend Bruce Campbell, who would later appear in almost all of his films. The style of Raimi is influenced by the Three Stooges, of whom he is a huge fan. By making the short movie Within the Woods he managed to raise the required funds to make his first feature; the outrageous horror flick The Evil Dead. After that he made similar films with varying commercial success. In his films Raimi displays a great talent for creating inventive visuals. Most of his movies also feature slapstick and comic book elements. In 2002 Raimi made Spiderman, his biggest film to date. It was an enormous box-office success and Raimi would go on to make two sequels. Throughout his career Raimi has also produced many films and TV-series, mostly in the horror/fantasy genre. He remains a director with a huge fan base and many exciting future prospects.

Filmography (a selection): It’s Murder! (1977, short), Within the Woods (1978, short), Clockwork (1978, short), The Evil Dead (1981), Crimewave (1985), Evil Dead II (1987),  Darkman (1990), Army of Darkness (1992), The Quick and the Dead (1995), A Simple Plan (1998), For Love of the Game (1999), The Gift (2000), Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007)

The Last Days of Frankie the Fly (1997)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Directed by:
Peter Markle

Written by:
Dayton Callie

Cast:
Dennis Hopper (Frankie the Fly), Daryl Hannah (Margaret), Michael Madsen (Sal), Kiefer Sutherland (Joey), Dayton Callie (Vic), Jack McGee (Jack), Karen Roe (Sal’s Girl), Bert Rosario (Miguel), David ‘Shark’ Fralick (Porn Actor), Nicholas Mele (Race Track Man)

Frankie the Fly (Hopper) is part of a mob crew. He’s the guy who always gets bullied. Hence his nickname ‘the Fly’. He eats shit from everybody. Especially from his boss Sal (Madsen), a psychotic who likes to collect his enemies testicles in jars.

There is one person who treats Frankie with respect, the porn actress Margaret (Hannah). She has occasional artistic differences with her sleazy director Joey (Sutherland), who makes porno films because he’s in debt with Sal.

Behind Sal’s back, Frankie makes a dangerous horse track bet on Joey’s behalf. In return, he wants to direct a movie with Margaret in the lead. But the paranoid Sal finds out which creates a serious problem for both Frankie, Joey and Margaret. The question is now if Frankie will stay a loser forever or finally stands up against his boss and the other bullies.

Sometimes you like a film without really knowing why. For me this is one of them. In essence it’s an ordinary story about mobsters and the underground L.A. porn movie industry. However the makers have managed to include some subtle twists and details as well as a dose of black humour. They also gave the film a fitting, colourful look.

The message seems to be that with the right motivation one can turn the cards for the better. No matter if that someone’s a douchebag mobster or a heroin addicted porn actress. Therefore ‘the last days’ from the title do not necessarily substitute ‘the death of’.

Rating:

Quote:
JOEY: “Fly, keeping your enemies nuts in a jar on the shelf is not an expression of power. It is a sick and demented act, created by a sick and demented person.”

Trivia:
Screenwriter Dayton Callie also plays Sal’s henchman Vic.

The Family That Eats Soil

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

OT: Ang pamilyang kumakain ng lupa

Director: Khavn De La Cruz
Written by: Khavn De La Kruz
Cast: Carlo Catap, Hamid Eton, Gil Mendoza, Elisabeth Marin

Year / Country: 2004, The Philippines
Running Time: 75 mins.

I caught this gem at the International Film Festival Rotterdam of 2005. This bizarre, underground film follows a Filipino family that – as the title suggests – engages in the eating of a meal of soil. Three times a day.

The film opens with a clay animation of a violent rape and shooting and sets the tone right away. Then we meet the family in question during their first meal, a ritual that will return frequently throughout the film. That aside, we follow the separate family members during their independent activities that include pushing drugs, prostituting and murder.

Surreal images and brutal violence mark this feature by Filipino director Khavn De la Cruz. It has a very underground feel to it, and the splatter and gore violence may be off-putting for some. There is also a lot of symbolism to be found, most notably the soil eating that stands for the strong Filipino family bonds (rooted as the earth), and their agrarian background culture.

Rating:

Biography: Khavn De La Cruz (1973, Manila) is a Pilipino underground director who shoots all of his productions on digital video. He is the founder and president of his own production company Filmless Films, where he produced around 60 shorts and 15 features. De La Cruz is also the director of the MOV International Digital Film Festival, which has so far been held in Manila and Cebu City. Olaf Möller wrote about De la Cruz; ‘he might look like a prankster punk, but in the end he’s also an ass-kicking rebel priest’.

Filmography (a selection): The Twelve (2000), Greaseman (2001, two versions; short & feature), Headless (2004, short), Greaseman (2004, short), Small Ali (2004, short), Barong Brothers (2004, short), The Family That Eats Soil (2004), Amen, a Brown Comedy (2005, short), Can & Slippers (2005, short), Don’t Fall in Love With a Super Hero (2006, short), Waiting for a Super Hero (2006, short), G-String Kings (2006), Our Daily Bread (2006, short), Pornoman (2006, short), Aquaboy (2006, short), Rugby Boys (2006, short), Two Super Heroes Taking a Crap: A Toilet Musical (2006, short), By the Suez Canal (2007, short), Squatterpunk (2007), An Open Letter to All Terrorists in the World (2007, short)

Evil Dead II

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Sam Raimi
Written by: Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie DePaiva

Year / Country: 1987, USA
Running Time: 85 mins.

Evil Dead II marks a welcome return for director Raimi and star Campbell. It starts with a recap of the first film, with the distinction that five friends became just Ash (Campbell) and his girlfriend Linda. After Linda is possessed by evil, Ash hacks her up and buries her. However the evil returns and possesses Ash himself. This is the point where the first film ended. It then turns out that when dawn arrives, evil vanishes and Ash is back to his old self again. He now has till evening to get the hell out of dodge. Of course he can’t (bridge broken, what do you know?) and Ash’s everlasting struggle continues.

Humor makes an entry in this second Evil Dead flick. Big time. But luckily the terror hasn’t been forgotten. The combination of the two make this an even more enjoyable film than the first one. Raimi also takes his visual style to the next level and does an outstanding job in creating one breathtaking shot after the other. The camerawork and editing are just seamless.

Then there’s the great performance by Campbell who deserves much credit for carrying this flick. During a lot of screen time, it is just him alone in the cabin (without other humans that is). With his brilliant physical acting and his great comical timing he totally absorbs the audience’s attention. The slapstick fight with his own hand is an outrageous and comical masterpiece.

But there is more twisted humor to be found. Often this is accomplished with inventive gruesomeness, like the hilarious flying eyeball or the work-shed flight. Another fantastic achievement is the nerve shattering sequence around the witch in the fruit cellar. With this film Raimi, may well have delivered his finest one to date, making this an absolute must-see horror flick.

Rating:

Biography: Sam Raimi (1959, Royal Oak, Michigan) started making 8mm films when he was around ten years old. In his teenage years he first collaborated with his good friend Bruce Campbell, who would later appear in almost all of his films. The style of Raimi is influenced by the Three Stooges, of whom he is a huge fan. By making the short movie Within the Woods he managed to raise the required funds to make his first feature; the outrageous horror flick The Evil Dead. After that he made similar films with varying commercial success. In his films Raimi displays a great talent for creating inventive visuals. Most of his movies also feature slapstick and comic book elements. In 2002 Raimi made Spiderman, his biggest film to date. It was an enormous box-office success and Raimi would go on to make two sequels. Throughout his career Raimi has also produced many films and TV-series, mostly in the horror/fantasy genre. He remains a director with a huge fan base and many exciting future prospects.

Filmography (a selection): It’s Murder! (1977, short), Within the Woods (1978, short), Clockwork (1978, short), The Evil Dead (1981), Crimewave (1985), Evil Dead II (1987),  Darkman (1990), Army of Darkness (1992), The Quick and the Dead (1995), A Simple Plan (1998), For Love of the Game (1999), The Gift (2000), Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007)