Saturday is Horror Day #177 - Infested

 Infested

Kaleb (Theo Christine) hasn't had an easy life. Almost 30, he's fighting with his sister Manon (Sofia Lesaffre) over the inheritance left by their late mother, an apartment located inside a rundown French apartment building. Although they are at odds, she attempts to help with the maintenance of the apartment. Kaleb is also estranged from his one time best friend Mathys (Jerome Niel). Kaleb's one passion is exotic animals. He has a number of them in his bedroom, but he becomes upset whenever his sister turns off the power to his room because it endangers his animals. To help make ends meet, he resells designer footwear illegally.

One day, Kaleb acquires an unusual spider. He takes it home and makes it as comfortable as he can. But 

the spider gets loose, to his chagrin. He searches for it high and low throughout the apartment building. Which is when he discovers that this is no ordinary spider - not only does it reproduce rather rapidly, but each generation is progressively bigger than the one before. But the worst part is that they aren't afraid of humans, and will be more than happy to kill them...

I ran across this French film on Shudder and I didn't know what too expect. But I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The characters are well-written and interesting, especially Kaleb. He seems much younger than his years would indicate, but in some ways, he also seems worldly-wise as well. He tries to portray himself as tough, but you know he is hurting inside for the people in his life that he has loved. I thought the acting was good, as was the direction and editing. And spiders... already creepy by nature, these spiders would paralyze me with fear too. There are scenes where I don't know what I would do, and I'm very glad not to have to decide or be in that situation.

Altogether is was an enjoyable but creepy film to watch. Probably not advisable for people with arachnophobia. I give this film 4 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #165 - Death Line (aka Raw Meat), All About Evil

 Death Line (aka Raw Meat)

People have been going missing in the London tunnels. But it isn't until Alex (David Ladd) and Patricia (Sharon Gurney) comes across a man in trouble who turns out to be a government official that the situation is taken seriously. They tell the authorities that a man is lying on the steps, maybe dying, but when the police return he is gone.

Inspector Calhourn (Donald Pleasance) is in charge of the case, although he spends more time questioning Alex, as though he's guilty of something, than searching for anyone. However, he gets more than a little defensive when MI5 tries to step in, after the disappearance of James Manfred OBE (James Cossins), in the form of  Stratton-Villiers (Christopher Lee0. There is something odd in the tunnels, and it's looking for trouble.

This film dates back to 1972. It has an unusual and interesting premise, but I didn't realize what it was 

until I read the synopsis.  That premise, though, does seem a little farfetched, although I'm not going to give it away. And although Christopher Lee is given top billing with Donald Pleasance, he only appears in one scene, so it's actually more of a cameo. Still, watching Donald Pleasance act is always a treat. And if you like bodies and gore, then this is the film for you. Did I find it scary? Not really. I'll give this film 2.5 Stars, mostly because of Pleasance and Lee.

All About Evil

As a little girl, Debbie Tennis (Mikayla Rosario) was close to her father Walter (Robin Calvert). He encouraged her acting and showcased her at his theater, The Victorian. But life does not always work out the way one wants. Years later, Deborah (Natasha Lyonne) works during the day as a librarian at the local library and by night at the failing theater, along with her projectionist Mr. Twigs (Jack Donner). Steven Thompson (Thomas Dekker) is a high school student who is fascinated with horror and is a devoted fan of the theater and of Deborah. He would love to work there someday, although his mother Linda (Cassandra Peterson) isn't exactly thrilled with that idea.

Deborah grieves the recent loss of her father. One night, her mother Tammy (Julie Caitlin Brown), who 

she is not close to, tries to coerce her into signing the papers that will sell the theater, which they are co-owners of. Deborah refuses, but her mother presses the issue until Deborah snaps and kills her.  Unfortunately, the theater's cameras caught the whole thing. Even worse, while Mr. Twigs is running an errand, he's late to return and Deborah, who just killed her mother, has to start the film. She doesn't know what she is doing, and accidentally screens the footage of her killing her mother. The audience loves it. And so does Mr. Twigs, who catches it upon his return.

And now they have an idea of how to bring the theater back to life, as well as Deborah's dying film career - snuff films! But no one realizes they are really killing the people in the film!

I actually found this a fun and interesting little film I never heard of before. I know I've seen Natasha Lyonne before, but she does play crazy well in this as she gets more and more involved with the killing of people for art's sake, along with some rather willing accomplices.  She ends up making some short classics, such as The Maiming of the Shrew and The Scarlet Leper. Among the cast, look for Cassandra Peterson as Steven's mother. In case you don't know her, she is Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, but in this film, she looks nothing like that (Do look at the poster in Stephen's room, though, it's an actual poster of Elvira). I had fun watching this and I would watch it again. I'll give this film 3.75 Stars. You can catch both of these films on Shudder, as of the date of this post.

Saturday is Horror Day #71 - Umma, The Bunker Game

 Umma

Amanda (Sandra Oh) left Korea some sixteen years ago. She now lives quietly on a rural American farm, along with her daughter Chris (Fivel Stewart) who is sixteen and has no real knowledge of her heritage, not speaking any Korean either. Amanda is a beekeeper and makes a living selling her honey, which is in great demand, through a local shop owner, Danny (Dermot Mulroney).  It's an isolated life, made even more so because Amanda can't be around electricity - it makes her sick.

The unexpected arrival of Amanda's uncle changes everything. He brings word of her mother's death... and has brought the deceased to Amanda in a suitcase. He chides Amanda for her lack of respect for her mother, and for the way she has raised her daughter in ignorance of her heritage. Amanda hides the suitcase away, determined to have nothing to do with it, and she lives to Chris that anything has happened. But then she begins to see her mother, who calls her by her birth name, Soo Hyun, and Amanda begins to worry that she is becoming her mother.

I read some criticism of this film as not being much of a horror story, but I disagree. You have to look at 

it on more than one level, though, to gain a better understanding of what it's about. There's an element of horror, yes, but it's also about family and heritage, as well as mothers and daughters, and growing up and letting go. I watch a lot of horror films, obviously, but I'll admit straight out that I jumped a couple of times during this. Sam Raimi was a producer on this film, and he has a pretty good idea of horror movies, I think. I give this film 4.5 Stars.

The Bunker Game

A group of LARPers roleplay an alternate history in an actual underground bunker, playing Nazis. When the game is unexpectedly interrupted, the guests leave and the staff are left to deal with the aftermath. Things begin to go horribly wrong, and they find themselves trapped in the bunker, along with what might possibly be a ghostly entity. One that seems intent on killing them off.

I'm not going into the plot in much depth because frankly I was lost most of the time, trying to sort out the characters they were playing from their own personalities. The drama really starts when the mastermind behind the game, Greg, disappears, after learning that a girl he's involved with is pregnant. Really pregnant, unlike the fake pregnancies exhibited in the game as a form of eugenics. (Nazis, remember that). The staff is torn between concern for his safety and being convinced he's pulling something over on them.

There seems to be a ghost involved, one that seems to share consciousnesses with one of the women, who ends up in the actual time when the bunker was occupied, as the ghost.  Another aspect that is confusing is why a black man or a non-binary person would choose to role play as Nazis. I finished the film, but I had to read an explanation of what I just watched. Never a good sign. Still not sure what happened. I'll give this film a shaky 2 Stars. Personally, I think you're better off watching something else.