Off topic and then kind of back on track

It might surprise some folks to learn that I don’t just watch vampire movies! I recently picked up the special edition DVD set of Mariano Baino’s Dark Waters and felt that I should mention it to you all, simply because this is the way a DVD set should be. The set comes with a moulded tile of the stone amulet featured in the film. There is a lovely booklet with illustrations, storyboards and script excerpts. The film is digitally remastered (and looks gorgeous) and there is a second disc of short films by Baino.

The film itself is slow paced, perhaps too much for some tastes, and fairly bizarre, that bizarre nature offering a dreamlike feeling that accentuates the slow pace. A Lovecraftian atmosphere runs through the film and you are plunged into a bizarre world populated by creepy nuns. If I had to complain it would be that the effects at the climax of the film leave a little to be desired – a problem with budget undoubtedly.

The title of this article mentions kind of back on track and for that we must go the director’s short flick:

Honourable Mentions: Caruncula

This was a 20 minute short film by Biano from back in 1990 and the flick itself starts with a series of disturbing images surrounding the mutilation and torture of dolls. The maniac, as he is referred to, is a sadistic/masochistic killer. The attack on dolls showing his twisted nature. He goes a-hunting and gets more than he bargained for.

This comes in the form of a woman who lives with her child and her mother and we see, almost from the beginning that something is not quite right. Her writing and spelling (in respect of a shopping list) are imperfect, her mother uses the oven to store slippers. She goes out to the cinema.

Having been sexually harassed by an employee at the cinema (who is the maniac's first victim) she finds herself hunted. At first she is the standard horror victim but, once cornered she reveals rows of sharp teeth and proves herself to be the more dangerous creature – something that the maniac obviously recognises and is submissive to.

Is she a vampire? It is difficult to tell. There is certainly a neck bite but there is also a full consumption of the flesh of her victims. She and her mother are both this type of creature and the director’s commentary doesn’t help as she is simply described as not human. The “cula” in the title is an imperfect road-sign and might be referential to the Caruncula lachrymalis, the nodule in the corner of the eye. To be honest she could be one of a variety of monsters – vampire and ghoul are the main two that spring to mind and she might just be a mutant variety. This might have been a ‘Vamp or Not?’ but it was so inconclusive, and genre interesting at the least, that I plumped for the honourable mention instead. The short does not have an imdb page at time of writing.

30 Days of Night – review

Director: David Slade

Release date: 2007

Contains spoilers

Okay, this is the normal routine for a review. I watch the film, taking notes, taking screenshots and juggling coffee (no mean feat I can tell you). Then I tend to edit through the screenshots and try to decide which will look best (and more often than not with a few ideas of illustrative aspects I’ll want to keep as the review will already be forming in my mind). Then I leave it for a little while and let the film mull around my head. Then I write the review and then do a little research as necessary, on-line and through various books as applicable. A quick edit and I’m ready to rock and roll.

This time was a little different. Before writing this I went back to my first impressions and had a look at what I’d previously written. Then I wondered if I had been a little harsh, then I thought about the graphic novels and novelisations and thought not. I’m in a quandary and, hopefully, by the end of the review I’ll have decided what I truly think! It is, however, going to be impossible to divorce this from the source material which begins with the graphic novel of the same name.

So, as I continue to mull, let’s look at the story. Barrow, Alaska – a place that falls into 30 days of night each year. This year a stranger (Ben Foster) arrives, all the indications being that he’s come from a ship (on which, I assume, are the vampires but the film doesn't tell us that). He trudges through the snow and looks down upon Barrow.

Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) has some problems. He and his deputy Billy (Manu Bennett) have found a bunch of satellite phones burnt in a snow hole. They wonder who could have done it but Eben dismisses the idea that it was kids. They look to the last sunset, a sight which most of the men took their future wives to see on first dates (apparently) and it becomes clear that Eben is estranged from his wife Stella (Melissa George). On the way back to town Billy follows the tradition of reducing the population sign (to 152) – most get out of town for the month of night.

Unbeknown to Eben is the fact that Stella is in town, due to her job as a fire marshal. She’s hoping to get in, do her job, get to the airport and get out on the last flight without being noticed. All this goes wrong when she is involved in a road accident with some heavy plant machinery (and don’t you just know that the plant machinery will be used later). She has to call Eben, who sends Billy to give her a lift and she misses her flight.

All kinds of things are going wrong in town. The helicopter has been vandalised to the point of being useless and sledge dogs have been slaughtered. Eben ends up arresting the Stranger who taunts him, Stella, Eban’s brother Jake (Mark Rendall) and grandmother Helen (Elizabeth McRae) with hints of a coming darkness, as it were. Things really hit the fan when the communications and main power goes down. Eban looks for the station manager Gus (Grant Tilly) and finds him, or at least his head on a spike.

The vampires have come to town, the stranger has prepared the way and they want to feed. What we then get is a survival horror tale involving some rather nasty blood suckers.

There are nice moments, an aerial shot of the initial devastation is really quite nicely done but the film has flaws. The first ones are concerned with the transfer from graphic novel but there are other inherent flaws. Slade keeps his vampires hidden for far too long for my liking. I could see what he was doing but when Eben and Stella first spot the vampires we see nothing. In the graphic there was an iconic view of the vampires and this was missed. The attack on their car, thereafter, was nicely done and used shaky camerawork quite well but that shaky camera was maintained and was simply annoying. Regular readers will know that I deem shaky camera to equal uncomfortable with directing the action sequences.

The vampires are quite well done, they are vicious, nasty creatures. The Ricean pathos has been replaced by just plain evil. This did work well. I have heard people say they were more like zombies and I disagree. They communicated and had a rank structure, with Marlow (Danny Hutson) as the leader. They removed the heads of victims to prevent turning and thus maintain their numbers. They used survivors as bait to draw out other survivors.

There were aspects that didn’t work. For such intelligent creatures we didn’t get any form of characterisation – at all. The stupid click, click language didn’t help, preventing Hutson from being able to emote through dialogue, and was in itself unnecessary. The Vicente sub-plot, from the graphic novel, was missing and it seemed a little odd that Marlow would cause such devastation then want to clean it up and make it look like an accident – Marlow, in the graphic, causes the devastation, Vicente arrives to clean it up.

They pass on the infection through a bite or scratch and can be killed by losing their head or through sunlight. We see the effect of sunlight when Eben uses a sunlamp on a female vampire, but the whole set up was a little hokey – just an aim for a set piece. Why Marlow then kills her was a little beyond me, as she wasn’t dead surely she’d heal. I did like the animalistic aspects of the vampires and their screeches were rather impressive.

There is a child vampire scene that should have been so good, but unfortunately missed the mark. Perhaps it was the speed at which the shot was made that caused it to lose the atmosphere it should have carried. I don’t know. The aftermath of that attack on Jake’s feelings should have been explored in depth but characterisation was a low priority in the script and whilst referenced it felt glossed over. I am sure that having Eben and Stella estranged was meant to build a characterisation aspect into the film but seemed pointless and the film would have worked better with their relationship intact.

So, why can’t the vampires find all the survivors? Who knows? It would have only taken a day or so to rip through every house. In the graphic we discover that their sense of smell has gone because of the cold, that isn’t only missed but contradicted towards the end with a moment of dialogue. The fact that the survivors kept peeking out of a gap in an attic window, with the light on, would have drawn the vamps like a moth to a flame – this was answered in the film’s novelisation but missed in this – which was sloppy. Indeed, as I think about it, there were a lot of lights on, in certain areas, for a town running on backup generators.

I felt that the entire thing could have been crisper in the shooting, it was too grainy. The acting wasn’t fantastic – but then again there was no real dialogue on which to build a performance. I really didn’t care for the characters that much. Incidentally, though the ending was the same as the graphic, the way it was put together was a lift from Blade 2.

A word about the graphic novel that comes with the DVD as a little extra. Anyone expecting a new franchise graphic will be disappointed. There is an excerpt from the first graphic and then shorter excerpts from Dark Days and Return to Barrow. Perhaps this underlines the problem. The free graphic novel was basically an advert and the film was basically a money spinner. Hollywood ruled and integrity went out of the window. Yes the vampires are vicious and nasty – kudos for that – but the whole thing fell short.

As a take your brain out (and you’ll have to because of the obvious holes, not all of which have been mentioned) this is an above average horror/action flick with a survival horror bent. It is not, however, the iconic film I hoped to see. 5.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

A new era?

You would be forgiven, given that I reviewed 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails yesterday, for thinking you’d get a review of 30 Days of Night today. Normally that would be the case and a review is just about ready to go… tomorrow.

For today, however, I felt I should remind you that this very day marks the start of the Hammer flick “Beyond the Rave” over on MySpace and the first three webisodes are up – each coming in around the four minute mark and available in HD as well - though you will need a MySpace account to view it. Is it any good? Is it the start of a new era? At this point it is difficult to say, though the Gothic aspect we loved in respect of Hammer has gone – but that is hardly surprising; the film is modern, set in modern times.

Other than that, I’ll let you be the judge…

30 Days of Night: Blood Trails – review

Directed by: Víctor García

First aired: 2007 (internet)

Contains spoilers

30 Days of Night: Blood Trails was a good marketing gimmick that has ended up on its own DVD. Essentially it was a series of 7 free webisodes that appeared on Fear.net (and having gone to see if they are still there I have been politely informed that the site’s videos can not be viewed outside the US). They told the story of what occurred in New Orleans before the events of 30 Days of Night and were used as a teaser into the film.

This fit in nicely with the first graphic novel, in which some scenes take place in New Orleans, but then fell apart when the actual film expunged all that sub-story. This is now available on DVD and my first reaction is that it should have been an extra on the movie DVD – but, of course, that wouldn’t have pried extra cash from my wallet.

The story surrounds George (Andrew Laurich), a junky trying to get clean and trying to get his girlfriend clean. We first see him covered in blood, running up to a police officer and being pushed to the floor, his warnings of an impending attack ignored. The film then jumps back two days.

In order to get clean, George is working for Judith (Marilyn Johnson). She is aware something is happening amongst the vampires and her network are trying to crack the servers the vampires use. She sends George to meet a contact who has got a code disc. By the time George gets to him he is dying but writes a code, in his own blood, on George’s arm. As George tries to complete his mission, more and more people die. The vampires are aware of their activities and are trying to tie all the loose ends.

The film is gory, which is good, the effects being complimented by judicious use of darkness and fast cuts, but it suffers from shaky cameras. This was not as apparent when watched in very small online streaming video but is all too readily apparent on the DVD. The DVD allows you to play the separate episodes or play all, but it has not cut the film into one complete piece so you are constantly interrupted with “Next time on”’s and opening credits. That said, the webisode nature ensured that the whole thing was a rollercoaster of action to keep folks interested.

This, of course, meant that characterisation was kept to a minimum but, then again, as a reader of the graphics it was nice to see what occurred just before the Barrow attack. I also liked the fact that there was some original Ben Templesmith artwork used within the production.

When I mentioned the webisodes, I stated that “for a freebie it is rather good.” However, here is the rub, this is now something that folks need to spend money on. Yet I still feel a little bit of loyalty to the project. The acting wasn’t Oscar winning but was comfortably good enough for what it was originally designed as. The entire thing is very short, but that again is due to its origins. It should probably have never been released as a stand alone, but fans are going to want it. I’m going to have to say 3.5 out of 10 and point out again that it was a marketing tool, on a larger screen the shaky camera becomes an issue, the characterisation is poor, it is very short and as a freebie it was much more worthwhile. Had this been released as a full on filmmaking project it probably would have scored a little less and if you are not a fan (and perhaps a die hard one at that) of either the film, the graphics or the genre generally you can most likely lower this score and ignore the product.

The imdb page is here.

New film: Last Blood

Benderspink, the producers behind A History of Violence and The Ruins have picked up a vampire vs zombie movie (I hope we get a good one at last) called Last Blood.

Now, what is exciting is it is based on a graphic novel and, as I couldn’t find much about the movie project, I had a search for the graphic. Turns out it is an online graphic available for free perusal. I don’t know how I missed this on my various online excursions but the good news is that, not only is it a professional looking piece, it actually has a good story. So, what are you waiting for, nip on over and take a look.

Karin – review (series)

Directed by: Unknown

First aired: 2005

Contains spoilers

Karin is an anime series that is a step away from the normal vampire anime I have seen and is more a romantic comedy than a fantasy adventure. That said there is some unusual lore within the series that is worth looking at. The comedy elements, on the other hand, didn’t work that well for me but there might be a reason for that in relation to the DVD set I have.

The series itself surrounds a family of vampires, the Marker family – though the family moved to Japan 200 years before and the kids have adopted the kanji version of the name Maaka. Karin (Sayuri Yahagi) is the middle child and goes to a normal, human school. We discover later that the elder brother, Ren (Junichi Suwabe), also went to school until he awakened as a vampire. Youngest daughter Anju (Yuka Inokuchi) does not seem to be in school, though she is in the manga.

Karin begins with a scene, when Karin was younger, and first bit a human. We discover later, however, that she is not your normal vampire. She is a blood-producing vampire. Rather than needing to feed, her body produces too much blood and she needs to inject this into her victim, or release it through nosebleeds. She is getting along okay until a new student arrives, named Kenta Usui (Katsuyuki Konishi). Karin discovers that her blood reacts to misfortune and his misfortune is so great that her blood constantly increases. Karin makes it her mission to make him happy and the two grow closer.

Karin has, due to her unusual condition, no real vampire powers. She daywalks and her senses are dulled to human standard. The other vampires burn in sunlight, have eye mojo and the ability to wipe memories. They are not effected by holy items and garlic is repugnant only because its pungent aroma offends their heightened sense of smell.

As to how else they can be killed, we are unsure. We certainly see survival from being staked in a back story section concerning Karin’s grandmother Elda (Yuri Shiratori). It is through Elda that we discover that being kept locked in a coffin (Elda was locked away by her daughter-in-law Carrera (Emi Shinohara)) actually makes a vampire become younger rather than wither.

The real difference, and something I really liked, in the lore was that each vampire is attracted to a different emotion/trait. Carrera prefers the blood of liars, Ren of those who are stressed and Karin’s father Henry (Dai Matsumoto) prefers the blood of the proud. When they feed they draw that emotion/trait from the individual. That is all well and good when it is something negative but Elda is drawn to the emotion of love. As for Karin, when she transfuses her blood into someone it makes them happy and full of energy.

The comedy, to me, did not work that well. Much is set around embarrassment – particularly that of coming of age and first sexual blossoming. Thus Karin and Kenta find themselves embarrassed by their feelings. Things are complicated by the arrival of vampire hunter Winner Sinclair (Kouki Miyata). He was, unbeknown to himself, Karin’s first bite and falls head over heels in love with her, much to her embarrassment. As nosebleeds are a metaphor in anime for sexual attraction, Karin’s habit serves a double function.

The comedy seemed a little off to me, but that might have something to do with the subtitles on the Malaysian release of the DVD being very literal and thus the nuances of the joke became lost. The whole coming of age issue also became a little stale and things became much more interesting when winner’s vampire hunting grandfather and Elda came into the story.

There is some joking also around the size of Karin’s boobs, which seemed a little inappropriate due to her being shown as only 16 – this is a cultural difference obviously. Elda and Karin are almost identical (bar eye colour and hair length/colour) except with regards to boob size and much pointing out the difference and grabbing by Elda, asking where they came from, went on.

The art style is also one that may not appeal to the casual anime viewer. Whilst a variety of styles was used there was a lot of use of, what is commonly known in the West as, chibi or ‘super deformed’ stylisation. This style is used to show exaggerated emotion and I quite like it, but it is not to everyone’s taste.

The romantic comedy sections did drag a little in places but there were certainly some interesting ideas contained within this. Overall, however, I feel it is a little above average compared to other vampire orientated animes I have seen. 5.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

Honourable Mentions: Tenderness of the Wolves

The main thrust of Taliesin Meets the Vampires is to look at vampires in popular culture, books, TV and cinema in the main. However, as well as the supernatural vampire and other media spin-offs, there have been real life killers who have displayed vampiric tendencies – in other words a lust for drinking (and sometimes bathing in) blood.

One of the most infamous was Fritz Haarmann, known in the press at the time as the Hanover Vampire. His crimes were sado-sexual and he was the murderer of at least 24 young men (or at least that is what found guilty of). For more information on the real-life Haarmann the Wikipedia page for him is here and a more sensationalist write up can be found here.

Haarmann has been the focus of, or mentioned in, several films, perhaps most famously the Peter Lorre vehicle, directed by Fritz Lang, M (1931), in which his case is certainly mentioned. He has also been mentioned in vampire vehicles, an allusion to him seemed to be made during the TV movie The Night Stalker. The “Tenderness of Wolves” was a 1973 German vehicle based on the case and directed by Ulli Lommel.

The film itself is somewhat of an oddity, probably due to how they portrayed Haarmann (or at least how I felt they did). Haarmann is played by Kurt Raab and there is a clash, I felt, between portraying a sexual monster and almost trying to make Haarmann sympathetic – in as much as he was almost portrayed as sad and pathetic.

The film’s timeframe is messed up. Whilst the historical blurb mentions 1925 the film itself seemed to be in another timeframe. A cast off remark about the Nazi period didn’t help, the earlier incarnation of the party was certainly around but there was no 'period', at the time of Haarmann’s crime, to refer to. EDIT 08/11/2015 - in fact the booklet with the Blu-Ray release mentions that the filmmakers transposed the story to just after the war due to budget constraints not allowing them to make a period piece.

Haarmann is, in the eyes of corrupt inspector Braun (Wolfgang Schenck), a petty criminal and black marketer with a long rap sheet. He was picked up for solicitation of a young boy at the beginning of the film and released under the condition that he worked for the police. I am not sure if that happened but it certainly helped his actions in the film, giving him an excuse to cruise the train station picking up vagrants.

Much of the film concentrates on the various scams indulged in by Haarmann and his partner Hans Grans (Jeff Roden), which included Haarmann posing as a priest in order to collect donations of clothes which they would then sell on the black market. Whilst there is a hint to a relationship between Grans and Haarmann, artistic license has been used, making Grans unsympathetic in his dealings with Haarmann and implicit in his capture. Grans (who is sometimes called Graf, depending on the source) was imprisoned in real life due to his involvement in the crimes.

Much of the horror of the case is hinted at. Haarmann’s ability to get meat for a nearby café – and to throw dinner parties – hints at cannibalism, that he butchered his victims, without being explicit. That is fine, in that there is only a suspicion that he did so in real life. As hinted as it might be, the concept is still stomach churning.

His interaction with his victims builds, visually, as the film goes along. We see him throttle one boy, bite his neck, strip him and then drag the corpse into the bedroom. Offering a cornucopia of sado-sexual concepts that are not, necessarily, shown to the audience. Reading about the real crimes, however, the visuals do seem mild – perhaps just as well.

We hear tell of a werewolf stalking the streets – and are reminded that as well as being accused of being a vampire, he was also labelled as a werewolf by the contemporary press. The only transformation we actually see is one of gender, when Haarmann wears drag. Whilst this is a queering moment within the narrative the idea that gender fluidity is associated with homicidal tendencies is, of course, unfortunate.

The conclusion of the film sees a more vicious attack, when the boy is still alive/conscious. This attack is during a sting operation and thus the boy survives. The impetus driving the criminal is shown here as he continues to lunge for his victim, even though he is held by the police. It suggests that he was driven to do what he did.

Raab does give an extraordinary, and in many respects understated, performance. One couldn’t help but wonder whether the decision to have Haarmann portrayed bald, as they did, was to draw a simile with Nosferatu - perhaps, at this point, I am reading too much into the visuals.

I mentioned that the film tries to develop a sympathy level, however do not get me wrong. The film never tries to make us relate to Haarmann but shows him in a sad light, abused by those he is closest to and driven to perverse impulses. The man himself, still comes across as repulsive and that is where the film fails as the pathetic character never gels with the repulsive character. There is some lovely atmosphere generated in the shots but the film does meander in an arty way without drawing the thriller aspects, which are necessary, to the fore. Interesting, flawed and an insight into a dark piece of criminology.

The imdb page is here.

Vamp or Not? Inugami

This was a 2001 Japanese film by Masato Harada and the central creature within it was the Inugami – which is a traditional Japanese dog spirit. However I have seen it referred to as a quasi-vampire film and thus thought to look at it here in order that we might bottom out if it is part of the genre.

The film itself looks gorgeous, thanks to sweeping shots of the Japanese landscape but, story wise I felt somewhat in a quandary as this is a film which reveals the truth in layers and I wouldn’t want to spoil that for someone watching the film. Yet we have to peel at least some of those layers away in order to get to the heart of the vampire question. I find myself, therefore, treading a thin line I normally wouldn’t when I do a ‘Vamp or Not?’ article.

The film centres around the character Miki Bonomia (Yuki Amami), she is a spinster living in rural Japan who makes traditional paper. Actually some of the paper making techniques filmed were fascinating to watch in their own right. As the film begins, and a biker travels towards the location, we see the clouds moving with unnatural rapidity and a force in the air knocks the drying papers over. This was the inugami and it is the most we see of them, an almost invisible force in the air.

The biker is the new teacher at a nearby town named Akira Nutahara (Atsuro Watabe). As well as a teacher he is a calligrapher. He runs out of gas on the road and is picked up by paper trader Seiji Doi (Eugene Harada). Seiji promises to take him to town but, first, they have to go to the village, where the Bonomia are a large family, so that he can pick up some of Miki’s paper. On the way to the studio Akira seems to be effected by something and faints.

His arrival seems to trigger events in the town. Miki begins to seem younger.

The grey in her hair vanishes and she stops needing to wear her glasses. Misfortune strikes at many and the villagers blame the Bonomia family as their female line is cursed with the inugami – or so it is believed. We hear how the eldest female is tasked at counting the inugami in a jar and ensuring they are all there and not causing misfortune. The spirits themselves are referred to as gods. The various goings on do not stop the two (Miki and Akira) becoming romantically entangled.

There are many hidden secrets surrounding Miki, most of which surround her past and an accidental act of incestuous love. It is the peeling of those layers of mystery that makes the film and I do not wish to step into that storyline deeply. The inugami themselves are spirits and there is some degree of ghost story in respect of ancestor ghosts, I took it that Miki’s becoming younger was tied into that ghost aspect and nothing else.

We do get a moment of rapid decay (or so it seemed), leading to death, but it is a spiritual assault on another and I very much took it as allegorical or symbolic. There are protagonists viewing this and afterwards it is said that the character died of a heart attack, despite the effects we saw. It becomes more of a question of whether what we see is real, but there are odd effects with a computer later that might have been intended to show that the effects are occurring in the real world.

There is one solitary bite, during a black and white sequence, but it is an assault and nothing more. There is no vampire element to the attack. I wasn’t sure about the black and white sequence itself, clearly shot that way with a purpose in mind, it was during an ancestor rite, I felt the film had more atmosphere in colour than in the monochrome sequence. When the film explodes back into colour, however, it is a fantastic visual treat. There is also a licking of blood from a wound, but it was dog-like rather than vampiric.

The film was very interesting and unusual, certainly, though ran at perhaps too slow a pace for some viewers. It was focused more on character, as well as themes of familial honour, than the supernatural. But is it vamp? Frankly, no. It is neither vampire nor is it quasi-vampire.

The imdb page is here.