Checking in again with another film diary. Started the year off right with a couple gialli and by revisiting some mid-2000s horrors.

Films watched between Monday 02/01/2023 and Sunday 08/01/2023.

Monday 02/01/2023
Four Flies on Grey Velvet / 4 mosche di velluto grigio (1971)

Director: Dario Argento

I copped the unusually limited Severin release of this during their sale; does anybody actually know why they didn't give this a general release?
It's a movie I hadn't seen in an exceptionally long time and the only bits I could remember were the bathroom murder of the private eye and the unforgettably evocative finale. Watching this one can instantly see that Argento was enjoying his time in the directors chair and the film looks gorgeous thanks to Franco Di Giacomo's expert lensing. Ennio Morricone's score is something else, specifically the track: "Come Un Madrigale / Like A Madrigal", it's one of the most uncanny and haunting pieces of music I've ever heard on a soundtrack. Essential Argento, mandatory giallo.



Tuesday 03/01/2023
I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (1978)

Director: Murray Markowitz

I'd been itching to see this title for years because of its placement on the section 2 (non prosecuted films) nasty list. So, imagine my excitement seeing the announcement of an impending release from Severin. Well, I watched it and I gotta admit this blew, a real stinker. I haven't gone so far as to write it off and part with my copy, I'll definitely revisit it at a later time to see if my opinion changes, but I reckon if not for the affiliation with the video nasty furore this would have fallen by the wayside long ago. It's a tedious mix of courtroom drama and then-burgeoning slasher clichés; wholly disappointing and a bit of a difficult one to recommend, perhaps for nasty completionists only...



Wednesday 04/01/2023
Play Motel (1979)

Director: Mario Gariazzo

Play Motel is another title to elude me for many years; it's a super sleazy giallo that plays more like a softcore thriller, and kinda marks the beginning of giallo cinemas gradual decline. Play Motel is a lewd tale filled with familiar faces of Italian genre cinema, including Mr. Ray Lovelock, but unfortunately it lacks the colour and conviction of earlier brethren. There's a notable fixation on exposed flesh instead of the intricacies of a could-be stellar plot that fails to completely enthral the viewer.
The flick comes in two flavours, a "hard" or "soft" version, with and without hardcore inserts. It is no doubt a must for gialli fans and sleaze hounds, but for casuals or those new to giallo, it may be better to give this title a miss.



Thursday 05/01/2023
Old People (2022)

Director: Andy Fetscher

An interesting, if somewhat ageist, premise that takes all of the tried and true outbreak tropes and applies them to the elderly. I wanted Old People to offer a unique take on an all too familiar setup of an outbreak/epidemic. I hoped it would standout from the usual Netflix and Shudder fare too, evidently I set my hopes a pinch too high. Admittedly, it opens very well and there's enough character building that you genuinely start to care about them, but it loses momentum during the second act and unfortunately becomes everything you've seen before. Terribly predictable and eye-roll inducing, check it out, but don't expect to see anything you haven't seen before, or done better with zombies, werewolves, vampires, rabies, flesh-eating diseases, etc.



Friday 06/01/2023
Grindhouse (2007)

Director: Quentin Tarainto, Robert Rodriguez

Grindhouse came out stateside while I was still in the first year of sixth form and I can distinctly remember reading an issue of Fangoria (issue #261 to be exact), with the melty guy from Planet Terror on the cover, in the library when I should have been revising. I first saw each movie separately via import DVDs, I can't recall exactly when I ended up seeing the fake trailers, but I remember getting a real kick out of two in paricular; Eli Roth's (Thanksgiving) and Rob Zombie's (Werewolf Women of the SS). Seeing the movie in its long-form, with the fake trailers included, is the closest a millennial like me is gonna get to that kind of grindhouse or drive-in experience. Both features, Planet Terror and Death Proof are great and completely opposing in terms of substance and style.
Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror is a zombie/plague movie with a strong emphasis on practical effects. A love lode to the 1980s era of jaw-dropping special effects, excessive gore and hideous monsters, à la John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) or The Blob (1988).
On the other hand, Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof is a throwback to the era of the 1970s road and revenge exploitation movies. The car crash with the four girls should be more discussed, in my eyes it's a modern day classic; seeing the crash and the effect of it to each character is as brilliant as it is outrageous. A must-see, as a whole or individually.



Saturday 07/01/2023
The Devil's Rejects (2005)

Director: Rob Zombie

An unruly homage to '70s exploitation and splatter film, but is it Rob Zombie's magnum opus? That really depends on who you ask, in my estimation it's certainly among his best work such as House of 1000 Corpses (2003) and The Lords of Salem (2012).
The Devil's Rejects is in fact a follow-up to the earlier House of 1000 Corpses with a story that begins with the downfall of the Firefly family. In a smart move, Zombie opens the movie in such a way that it's not necessary to have seen the previous film and in truth it works just as well as a solo piece. The Devil's Rejects possesses all the essential ingredients for an entertaining outing; a cast of immoral characters played by familiar faces to genre film fans, a bucket-load of bloodshed, jet-black humour, a Charles "Tex" Watson quote, and a road movie-esque finale.



Sunday 08/01/2023
The Menu (2022)

Director: Mark Mylod

There seemed to be a bit of a buzz about The Menu when it dropped on streaming services, so I bought my ticket and hopped aboard the hype-train to see what all the fuss was all about. I've got to say it amazes me when a film such this, something that harnesses exploitation tropes, manages to puncture the cultural zeitgeist and suddenly becomes a major talking point for just about everyone and their nan. In all, it was much tamer than I expected, or would have liked; it's a darkly satirical exploration and commentary on the food industry and its subsequent byproducts; celebrity chefs, the meat industry, hospitality sector, etc. I just don't think it went far enough, but there's definitely fun to be had and Ralph Fiennes knocks it out of the park as Chef Slowik, celebrity chef turned cult leader, check it out.