Flesh, TX (2009)

Keep your family close and your enemies closer...to your stomach

This is an ultra low budget straight to video horror--camera humming, rushed lighting setups, low dialogue, computer made soundtrack, low key actors: you name it--that revolves around an amoral household in a small Texas town.

They're an oversexualized, overindulgent family of four women and two men: one of them happens to be Sheriff and some of them both daughters and partners. Each visitor that comes across the dwelling meets their end with a hint of barbeque sauce and the tip of a fork. When people aren't coming to them, one of the seductive daughters named Sugar lures 'em in--the bigger the better. Though this time Sugar gets ahold of a bratty little girl who wanted to initially run away from her mother on their way to California. The demented family prepares to cook a little Sunday night treat and go back to their ways with the others in the town all the while remaining hush-hush. Though the mother persists since she doesn't believe her daughter would have gone on a bus and just left like that. The situation acts as a catalyst to break up the family and cause some to question what they've been doing all along.

The tone has moments of being tongue-in-cheek by poking fun at backwoods folks and movies that have exploited the subject, while trying to exploit it further themselves. Sometimes it's meant to be sadistic fun, at others it comes off as far too cartoonish, such as one character wearing an obvious wig or another with a blatant blacked out tooth. This comes in and out of trying to pull your leg and also attempting to be serious, though not always finding a comfortable balance in between. The concept--if you can call it that--feels incredibly short sighted and stretched thin with little to say. Why they're eating people is never made to be a point, so the shock value of it all underwhelms.

A Sheriff that has full control of the town for his own gain has been better outlined and made more believable in even the most throwaway made for TV movie. It makes "Roadhouse" seem plausible because at least you get a better perspective of the town and how it all works. I mean, they're actual tax payers with a corporate brand gas station and an established Sheriff's headquarters, not some place that fell off the map with shoddy construction and outdated cars. They seem fully aware and unsheltered, so what gives? The story is extremely simplistic to the point of feeling like there isn't an actual story as a result of the pacing having its highs and lows and long periods of insignificant activity. If we're to be mindlessly entertained at least pull out enough situations to keep one busy and to forget all shortcomings. Easy fun and formulas are fine, so long as they're steady.

There were a few small glimmers that made it seem like the filmmakers might be on top of things and "had" it, but otherwise this feels like a practicing grounds for those involved. One particular scene went all out with some true weirdness when one of the daughters named Fancy sniffs her hands from greeting a new comer and begins to erotically touch herself as the mother smiles on and the guest looks uncomfortable enough to run on foot to the next state over. The exceptional scenes come too far few and in between, such as two girls cannibalizing a body, only to then drop a piece of flesh from one mouth to the other's.

The accents are there one moment, gone the next; it makes it a challenge to take it seriously when they're actually trying to do so. With little to work with the performances don't always get a chance to stand out enough to be remembered later. Dale Denton, playing the Sheriff, had some inspiration during some scenes either by living on the wild side at home or in charge when in uniform to get everything in order so he can continue with the former. He had conviction in either one but lacked the little touches to bring them together to make sense. Joe Estevez has a small part as the rambling town drunk who wants to come clean but is otherwise only used as a recognizable name. One thing that's appreciated is at least they gave the character of the mother with the missing daughter some strength instead of just getting pushed around like a punching bag or a helpless victim that only screams and trips over her own two feet.

Rating: 2.5/10

From Black to Red recommends instead: "Delicatessen": This French made dark comedy centers on an apartment building in an apocalyptic universe where food is scarce.

Director: Guy Crawford (Starved, Dark Places, Withered One)
Stars: Kathleen Benner, Dale Denton, Joe Estevez, Davina Joy
Link: IMDB

Hunger (2009)

The threshold for civility

This is a low budget, single location horror about human beings put in a pitiful situation to see how long they can keep civil. The experiment is controlled with only one goal in sight, so the events unfold more gradually than a natural occurrence as the characters have to get adjusted to their pseudo environment if they choose to give in. Movies like "Saw" and even "Kill Theory" in the same year treated their captives with a little more engaging, over-the-top games and personality than this, which leaves the more measured out "Hunger" with more of a message but still left with some areas that are better described in theory than actually played out for the cinematic experience.

A woman, later named Jordan with a medical background, wakes up alone in the dark with another female screaming for help. Soon enough there are five total in the same dire situation with no clue as to how or why they're there. The lights turn on to reveal a different room that has barrels of water and a hole for sanitation. Meanwhile a man is shown operating controls and cameras and jotting down notes to his own superior satisfaction, as if he knows what's to happen next. Yet, little does he know what the final result will yield... The captives try and pick up common clues amongst themselves as to why they're there when their true answer comes when they find a scalpel and a message along with it: "The average human body cannot last for more than 30 days without food."


This shares a formula of past efforts, which can take away true shock, though it actually tries to take the torture subject more seriously with a little more to think about than its past counterparts in horror that spilled all its guts in the first scene. That might have been refreshing for more of a psychological experience, except the issue is this single location film doesn't fully shed its skin to be more than just a concept and seems to play it so basic at times to the point of keeping the audience unconcerned. Their dreariness is felt except to the point of tedium for the viewer as well. This gives little snippets about themselves to keep up some kind of mystery element but they aren't always given enough to make them steadily captivating. The medical background of Jordan feels more included to provide answers than an inherent trait. Even potential for a drama angle feels rudimentary about who they are up till then.


There are flashbacks for a tragic event with the kidnapper. The transition of what made him get to the present point or why he never let it go is eluded to the point of being somewhat far-fetched, especially considering how orderly and productive he is in present state. But, on the other hand, probably rightfully so as it might bring into play logistics and it does give a self-fulfilling reason albeit a lunatic one. A few goals and some false hope occurs but aren't enough to be a driving point as a layover till the desperate hunger begins. If you happen to watch the doom and gloom local news, you'll realize how vile people can get, though double that with the desperate set of circumstances by this point here.

There are some noticeable inconsistencies when it skips ahead some days with not only their clothing and appearance but their behavior as well, which can take one out of believing it's all really happening. For a low budget film there's still less areas to compensate on than others that have patches left and right for their lack of production. The performances come with some hits and misses--such as some scenes being over or underplayed--but are mostly adequate for what they're given with a basic script that doesn't always come with a full outline of where they're coming from.

The message of "Hunger" doesn't seem to be about putting fear into a viewer to where it can happen to them. The events go from modest beginnings to balls to the wall for what the captives are capable of. It shows once someone gives in or reaches that point there's no going back. When people act terrible all of the time those with restraint and conviction stand out instead of what should be the other way around. That sentiment gives this film a certain level of hope for a horror film, albeit still a small shimmer for humanity's sake.

Rating: 5.5/10

Director: Steven Hentges (Jacklight)
Link: IMDB

Pandorum (2009)

Where the future reverts back to our past

This is a tale of extreme survival in the distant future for what's possibly to come when over population hits. "Pandorum" is a splice between something like "Planet of the Apes" and "The Descent" with the state of evolution with humans mixed with "The Shining" and "Event Horizon" with the horrors that can happen in an inescapable enclosed area and how the mind can get mixed up. This was actually produced by director Paul W.S. Anderson of "Event Horizon," which I believe is his best film to date. This feels like an apocalyptic future on a ship, where resources are even slimmer than they would be on an impoverished Earth. It uses the uncomfortableness and shock of the horror genre and the speed and physicalities from action to accelerate the story. There's also an element of mystery as the characters are thrown mid-stream into an unknown situation that they have to manage to stay afloat till the deadly pull is over or they can find the shore with solid footing.


It's the year 2174 and the population has grown to such a degree that food and water is scarce. On a ship called Elysium, a man wakes up in a hypersleep chamber with no memory of who he is except the name Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) on the outside glass. Another man with Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) printed wakes up an hour later and together they try and figure out where everyone else is and what they're doing there. Payton stays in the control center and directs the younger man through the corridors. Bower runs into strange alien looking beings with warrior strength who are trying to kill and eat him. He encounters other humans who treat their dire situation as an every man for himself one. He teams up with a buff, English-less Vietnamese man (Cung Le) who was in the agriculture department and a fierce German woman (Antje Traue) who is protecting the specimens for the planet they were headed to called Tanis that's supposed to be like Earth. Bower has to fix the reactor of the ship that is causing power surges or else they'll get cut off in what could be the middle of space. Meanwhile Payton runs into another man named Gallo (Cam Gigandet) who was part of an earlier team and claims the others went through "Pandorum": a rare condition that makes someone with a tendency for a psychological disorder snap from paranoia due to a side effect of being in deep space.




The movie has an onrushing charge that still manages to take a breather to explain its backstory in steady increments that lead up to a building culmination. The characters run, hide and fight to get through the ship with traps and nests waiting in their way. People aren't who they say they are, things aren't what they seem and some revelations and twists are in store. The performances are more with physicalities and facial expression than with line delivery and the dramatic. With the exception of Payton and Gallo's back and forth banter about making rash decisions, emotions are usually suppressed due to the harsh environment. Though the story and sets act like anchors in this regard to brace the development of the characters and how they interact. There are some grisly scenes when it comes to violence. Some of the fights are choreographed like a martial arts film with high jumps and ferocious kicks and punches, along with makeshift barbaric weapons that cruelly sink into flesh as if this reverted back to the caveman days. The sets are filthy and unkempt, almost like an industrial factory with metal structures and the remnants of everything vile that has crept through. There are some worked up scenes that play on anticipation and the discomfort of it all, such as an incredibly claustrophobic scene where Bower has to crawl through tight spaces with no clue where he's going, little air and no way to turn around. "Pandorum" shows what we're capable of becoming as human beings when adapting to a new situation outside of our normal environment--backstabbers, cannibals, crazed--just taken to the hilt due the unique set of circumstances the film suggests: when space brings out our primal tendencies instead of progress.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Christian Alvart (Antibodies, Case 39)
Stars: Ben Foster, Dennis Quaid, Antje Traue, Cung Le, Cam Gigandet
Link: IMDB

Dying Breed (2008)

Fact and fiction collide in the backwoods of Australia

This is mostly a formulaic retelling of the backwoods horror film subgenre, though it still comes with some added differences. "Dying Breed" is not trying to be a monumental film or strictly fit in, but include a few tweaks to an already established template. It has the usual amount of taboo breakers such as cannibalism and inbreeding but it plays out as a more gradual and less in your face film compared to others that have amped up the level of atrocities since "Deliverance" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" with some real life legends to make it come more to life...or death however you want to look at it because usually these films come with stacks of fresh corpses.

A prisoner named Alexander Pearce escaped back in the 1800s in Tasmania, Australia. A group of four are trekking out in the wilds to this region in present day to search out the thought to be extinct Tasmanian Tiger--a carnivorous dog/wolf/marsupial hybred with strips on its back resembling a tiger--that hasn't been officially documented in 100 years. A woman on the trip named Nina (Mirrah Foulkes) had a sister that incurred an accident years earlier and she wants to pick up her research where she left off. Her boyfriend Matt (Leigh Whannell) scored a favor from a wild and prankster friend Jack (Nathan Phillips) who also brought along his girlfriend Rebecca (Melanie Vallejo) for the experience. The level of tourism in the area is sparse and the group soon finds some trouble from the male dominated locals with damaged property and snooping eyes.


The next day they head deeper and decide to stay in a cave for the night. At one point they think they spot a Tiger and immediately things turn for the worst when one of them gets attacked and they try and search that person out but get separated. A little girl they encountered back where the locals live suddenly appears along with two other men looking for her with a revelation about Nina's deceased sister. This doesn't play on the usual terrors at first, but instead goes for some mistrust of others and uncomfortableness since they're dealing with strange people in an unfamiliar setting. It plays on an anxiety angle of surviving a set of dire circumstances instead of charging forward with a pounding chest. The issue is you're not always given substantial amounts of scares, action or a lot of collective information to go on at a time since this is aiming more towards being a subtle film. It unfolds in the moment by moment as if it's leading up to something but then that something doesn't fully culminate into making everything you just seen entirely worthwhile since it's partly obvious by the time it gets there. It does have areas that are stretching it but by including that added bit of measurement it attempts to give some authenticity to its plot. That works towards it and also somewhat holds it back. More often than not they strike a balance with some built up anticipation and a level of being trapped by both nature and man by doing all you can to get out.

All and all there are a few twists and turns to surprise or mess with the audience and some stand out scenes to remember for the experience. Though it could have used more of them to truly clench the total package instead of playing it safe on the formula in some areas. There are some jokes, seriousness and caring tones among the roles to give some divided personality. The performances held their own and filled out their respective parts with separation of character. Some parts include charisma without being distracting or over doing it, while others feel like caricatures of their type, such as Jack being the loud and macho kind each time and the boyfriend Matt being the sympathetic crutch for the duration of the film. There isn't much on growth with the characters, as they go in one way, use what they have and remain in that state. This does well with a share of showing rather than telling of its storyline, which steers it away from potential cringe worthy one liners that are usually for the audience's sake but can take one out of the experience. This is still more towards being a tasteful film with the subject matter at hand. The gory scenes aren't always over-the-top but more for necessary shock value, which can leave this somewhat tame for some ravenous gore hounds but still possess terror for the general viewer who's not accustomed to their fellow man being turned inside out.

Rating: 6/10

Director: Jody Dwyer
Stars: Leigh Whannell, Mirrah, Foulkes, Nathan Phillips, Melanie Vallejo
Link: IMDB

Ravenous (1999)

When your dinner walks, talks and breathes

The studio didn't give this the promotion it deserved back in the day. I remember seeing a preview early on by my guess to test the waters, but then some time later this passed by theaters without even warming the seats. Needless to say I caught this on a rental, and thought it was an effective film that got lost in the shuffle due to not having an established movement to back it up. It also might be that it didn't come with powerful filmmaking names. This was only the second film made in the US by the director--who had to take over after another dropped out--apart from a dominating list of TV projects in the UK. It also comes from a first time scriptwriter. The lead, Guy Pearce, didn't have impacting star power at that point for American audiences. Then it was shot in Europe about a time period in the U.S. that usually comes as either a western, adventure or period drama. It seemed like people--promoters included--weren't taking a chance with this irregular film at first. Though what makes "Ravenous" worthwhile after the fact, is it wasn't trying to fit into horror or even the time period it focused on. It was a somewhat unique film that dodged what you'd expect.

A Lieutenant named John Boyd (Guy Pearce) during the Mexican-American War in the 1840s pretends to be a goner while his men are dying left and right. Despite at first being a traitor, something awakes in him when he gets the taste of blood and he gets the courage to capture the enemy command. He's promoted to Captain but his superior is still disgusted at his initial cowardice and sends him to a place called Fort Spencer in California. There are seven others of various abilities to accommodate travelers passing through. Boyd doesn't quite fit in as he's quiet and contemplative about the traumatic war experience that originally caused him to freeze in his tracks and then afterwards rear at the sight of blood. A man named Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle) suddenly arrived in bad shape with a story to tell about a previous adventure gone wrong that involves six laid up in a cave during a run of bad weather and it resulting in cannibalism for lack of anything else to eat--shoes and belts included. They form a party to go investigate, but not before George, the native American, explaining about the Weendigo (Wendigo): a myth that when resorting to cannibalism, a person can gain another's strength and spirit, only to become even more hungry--or ravenous.

People turn into something else, traps are in place and Boyd has to make a decision to muster up more courage to beat the tempting desire to feed and a competitive force out to consume more flesh on people's backs. With less dialogue and outward personality, Boyd seems to be a character that the filmmakers speak through with morality to put in perspective all the conquering people around him. What's effective here is he can be viewed as either weak or strong depending on where your perspective lays. Since he's always bloodied or bruised up, he can be seen as a martyr that stands up for a cause--or even a weakling that's unable to adapt and conform to a new situation. It's left in the eye of the beholder. He's playing a mental chess match with a madman who is willing to do what it takes to feed an enormous appetite that never ceases. That's the other character in the equation that seems to mirror not what's necessarily happening in the 1800s but rather how far we've taken our drive since. Not to mention our search for easy solutions at the expense of others. That need-for-more message is delivered a little more subtly than turning it into a let's-all-get-along experience. The film can be point blank at times. There are some bloody scenes, though it doesn't always go for broke to put the grizzly subject matter in the audience's face. Shocking, but not to the point of going for superficial sensations to miss out on the contemplative portions. This has a strangely humorous environment in that it's not always laugh out loud as it's just a satirical play on situations that could have been otherwise stiff, grim or gray. Some of the characters carry a more serious tone, while others provide direct amusement or even deadpan humor that gives it a somewhat black comedic taste.

Sometimes this has off-beat, somewhat abstract music that partially carries a tone of the times but in a much more tainted way that would still seem alien to someone in the 19th century. Occasionally it can be loud, to imperceptive in volume or even missing for awhile altogether to let the visuals and dialogue take a turn. It makes it that much more harder to pin down, with anticipation of what will be played next with its unguessable sounds that are a foreign matter on the first passing. The sets and outdoors look like the Americas despite being filmed in Czech Republic. Nature is captured as well as the harsher times of the 19th century without looking too polished and with formal actors in unfamiliar situations. The subject matter is handled rather effectively in that it flows from one transition to the next without jumping into the proceeding portion of the story too quickly. This is a thriller at heart, but it still moves at a steady pace to get a feel for the situation and surroundings. It makes it feel less inevitable than other films like all the revised slashers at that time from "Scream" to "Urban Legend," which fortunately makes it dodge being formulaic, though it still comes with some irony to give it that horrific touch in the face of morbid curiosity.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Antonia Bird (Priest, Face)
Stars: Guy Pearce, Jeffrey Jones, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette, Neal McDonough
Link: IMDB, history of a Wendigo

Historical questions from the Black and Red (Answers below, don't cheat!):

1. In which state did the Oregon Trail begin?
2. What were the people nicknamed in the California Gold Rush?
3. Between what years did the Mexican-American War last from?
4. What was the name of the party in the 1840s that participated in cannibalism on their way to California?




------------

Answers:
1. Missouri 2. Forty-niners 3. 1846-1848 4. Donner Party

I Am Alive (2010)

Like ants placed in the middle of an ice box

Since two motion pictures, A & E, PBS and National Geographic have jumped in after the newspapers and best selling books, The History Channel gives it their turn surprisingly with a formative take even after all of the documentation before it. This time around the main perspective comes from Fernando "Nando" Parrado who played a key role in the Andes plane crash of 1972. The Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 involved 45 passengers, including a team of rugby players called The Old Christians and other family and crew, who were on their way to Chile with no danger in sight until the pilot makes a grave error that caused everyone involved to make impossible decisions to hang on for survival in a weather stricken region with no wildlife or vegetation in sight.

A share of the tone of this documentary is somewhat calm and relaxed and more text book at first than other mediums that have concentrated on putting the audience in the now from a dramatic side. Towards the latter half with Nando and Roberto going through the mountains, they can't help but tell the story with straight feelings, as that's all they had to back them, apart from their skin and bones which nearly gave out. Both of the segments from A & E's "Minute by Minute" from 2002 and National Geographic's "Trapped" from 2007 tried to do the subject in under an hour by concentrating on the main portions of action, but still didn't give a completely thorough approach or show exactly how they got to each one of their motivations apart from jumping dot to dot. Those served more as introduction pieces to further the ambitions of upstarting TV shows and point to another medium. Though "I Am Alive" stands on its own by being thoroughly researched, even if you've seen the other documentaries on the subject. It doesn't seem forced with distracting poetic license or snazzy filmmaking. While they still give some brief reenactments, this focuses on getting a clear perspective from facts and fine details with passionate interviews from the survivors and related experts who still find the experience endearing and engrossing this many years later. This includes mostly spoken English with some overdubbed Spanish.

"I Am Alive" unfolds like a picture book with a share of information and visual representations of the accident and the 72 days that followed. While moving "Stranded" documentary from 2007 focused on the spiritual bonding of friends and how they viewed their situation from an emotional context, this is by far out of the documentaries that I've seen the one that gives the most clear and concise technical understanding. For instance, precisely how and why the plane crashed. There are even diagrams with historians telling their track record. "Of the 78 Fairchild FH-227s built, 23 crashed, and there were a total of 393 fatalities." There are real life pictures of where they hit the mountains, and then CGI graphics to show how lucky they were to land just so to have not made a sudden impact and disintegrated. The surrounding area is shown of exactly where they ended up on the side of Argentina, not in Chile like the pilots anticipated.

As the events come up, the experts give facts about head injuries, starvation, avalanches, inventing devices from supplies, traveling through the Andes and mountaineering. A climber and a team went back to cover some of the same distances Nando and Roberto did, which took them 10 days and 37 long and hard miles till they seen green. Photos were taken of the road that Roberto saw from the top of the first summit that they argued about at the time if they should head that way, but at that point being lost, unsure and hungry and then making the wrong move could have been life or death. I found it interesting that they discussed if they went east towards Argentina instead of west towards Chile if their chances would have improved. In the after author Piers Paul Read talks about his book "Alive" and the fear from the survivors of how it would be written after all of the sensationalist press around the globe.

What's mostly effective about "I Am Alive" is they weren't frequently making justifications for their actions after the fact. Nando carries the bulk and speaks somewhat unscripted as if he knows the story like the back of his hand. At times they still speak their piece, such as Nando calling what they did "anthropophagy" rather than cannibalism, since it didn't follow murder. At other times he speaks rather candidly, such as explaining that the avalanche saved the remaining people's lives due to it covering them from further storms, and then incidentally taking 8 more bodies that they used for food for the remaining days till they could trek out when weather conditions improved. It says a lot for him and the 15 others, but not so much for those that didn't make it out. It does state some facts a little directly and somewhat coldly as a result, though, on the other hand, it leaves room for the viewer to decide their stance. What makes this work is it's capable of uncovering more answers from stepping back somewhat and not making this completely a heavy hitter that "Stranded" already did so well.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Brad Osborne
Link: IMDB

Stranded (2007)

United in the Andes

Native Uruguayan director Gonzalo Arijon, who later located to France, was friends with some of the survivors from the 1972 Andes plane crash where only 16 came back alive and many others were lost over the course of 72 grueling days. With his "Stranded" documentary celebrating 35 years since the devastation turned miracle for some, he's capable of getting the survivors to open up--in their mother tongue of Spanish with subtitles--much more than on past documentaries. However, even this many years later, they still get choked up when talking about certain people or scenarios. Each of them gives their own varied interpretations, yet compared to "Alive: 20 Years Later" from 1993 it follows a more gradual flow along with a time line to keep it focused and capable of growing from the outset with a viewer latched on to each word and picture of their harrowing story.

This moves fairly steadily at first before the passengers make it to the plane as if it's just another day, despite the superstitious date of Friday the 13th, in October no less. As it progresses, it cuts to longer shots to get a contemplative grasp as well as a down and close perspective of the situation and time period of the early '70s in the surrounding region of South America. There are some current still shots with individual survivors, brief past reenactments and various shots of them with friends and family today. Some of them return to the area of the site and see it differently now from an older set of eyes, yet can still recall exactly what they felt at a particular moment like it's seared into their head. This begins with various points of views before even getting on the plane, from one feeling like something was going to happen, to another thinking everybody looked their happiest. They speak about those that didn't make it as if it was only yesterday in either what they were doing prior to the crash or what they had planned when thought to arriving in Chile. It gives a look at their moment-by-moment thought processes and how they struggled to react to it all and attempt to grasp exactly what's going to happen next. Some kept to themselves, while others jumped in to help as if by second nature. However, as it moved along, they eventually viewed themselves as a sort of "new society" that had to do unfamiliar things that they wouldn't have done before, along with the fuselage feeling like their home away from home, partly because with failing health they had no strength, never mind stepping out to use the facilities or to leave.

They went through a varied range of emotions from the outset, as each day they didn't know if it was their last. They got to the point where they accepted death and realized it would have been an easier way out. There were some black and white pictures taken during the ordeal where some smiles are on their faces despite. Out of boredom, there were even some bets and verbal guesses on who would die first. Some pushed away feelings to go on with determination, while others gave up and it lead to their deterioration. It seemed like everyday was different, with some having strength at one point and at another losing hope, but so long as they had a support system to stay united they could carry on. Today some have guilt about why they made it and others didn't, as it was completely random as to what happened to whom. Their outlooks after the fact can be somewhat philosophical and give something deeper to learn from watching this. Then, on the other hand, this can be candid at times, from including more details about the cannibalism portion of their survival, to even mentioning that they made powder out of the bones for calcium because they were low on essential vitamins and nutrients. They speak of having to hit and pound on each other to improve circulation or else the cold could consume them, or having to rotate or stack themselves for warmth.

Some things are included that weren't shown in the "Alive" film, such as the search effort from the surrounding countries and parents that wouldn't give up, as well as the factors of why it didn't work. A few aspects also differed, such as one of the other people mentioning eating the dead first, as well as a few people at once eating a small amount at the same time. After the avalanche they also had to eat their friends around them that just died since the other bodies were outside. In my own personal view, I feel the avalanche stands out as one of the worst of the scenarios, since they were already down and struggling and yet another accident took more people that initially survived the crash, weather and hunger before that. Though it's interesting that a few describe their near suffocation almost serenely, which I would have guessed would have made me feel trapped and helpless, but then coming to might be more hellish than those few moments of pain till the beyond.

From a filmmakers stand point, "Stranded" is capable of changing up into different modes, locations and interviews with ample time to get an overall feel of what happened without skimping or glazing over important areas. It's not grand on past reenactments, but, then again, it gives you a visual for context and leaves the cinematic experience for the movies "Supervivientes de los Andes/Survive!" and "Alive." This concentrated on bonds and emotions, rather than being flashy or coming with a filmmaker's signature. This was emotionally capable without being overly manipulative--bar slow pianos and extended strings--or even having to show the people break down on camera to get the message through. It puts the harsh realities into their place without always holding back, though still with respect to the other families and their friends, as a share live in the same area and word gets around for those that are trying to forget. This shows that they got bombarded with news stories--some sensational, some compassionate.

"Stranded" portrayed what took away their hope and also what gave them strength, such as their families back home, present friends and faith to give them a crutch to go on. There's something to learn here despite their circumstances being a special case that would more than likely never be repeated again. This was documentation at its finest, and stands as the definitive audio and visual experience of the Andes crash in 1972 at this point, even over both movies, which serve mainly as mere introduction pieces compared to the amount of information here.

Rating: 10/10

Director: Gonzalo Arijon
Link: IMDB

Alive in the Andes (2007)

A stylized retelling

This was fittingly the first episode for a National Geographic television spot with episodes that ran under an hour that focused on disasters that involved people who were "Trapped." Those involved in the Andes mountains plane crash back in '72 carrying a team of Uruguayan rugby players along with other passengers, weren't trapped in an enclosed place with walls, but still locked down to a certain area by harsh weather conditions in a remote terrain with no wildlife or vegetation.

This is a high-octane version of the events that lasted 72 days in below freezing temperature, with a share of flashy filmmaking techniques to amp up the juices. Forty-five passengers get quickly dwindled down to sixteen and makes the Andes look like a serial murderer, with crude medical terminology to study its unfeeling ways. The reenactments--with English spoken with American accents--coupled with loud sound effects and bombastic performances hit the viewer with force as they over-emphasize to grab your attention by being the loudest person in the room. To its benefit, from what starts out in the viewer's face somewhat cools its heals and extends a few scenes to get some thoughts and emotional contemplation in about their impossible situation and what they had to endure. Though this still concentrates more on the action and movement of what they went through than always about the friendships, bonding or spirituality of what they felt, which ultimately helped them make it through. However, it did show the lengths Carlito's father went through despite it being a plane crash with record weather conditions and a number of days since. He felt his son was still alive and it was truly captivating by showing the other side of holding on to those that matter most.

This is challenging story to tell in under an hour's time frame for one of the most harrowing tales of survival in the last century since a share of landscapes turned into concrete jungles. "Trapped" did handle the events with more depth than A & E's "Minute by Minute" episode from 2002 titled "The 1972 Andes Survivors." Instead of learning from a spiritual stand point like the documentary "Stranded," that also came out in 2007, this takes educational facts about their surroundings with alternate scenes of CGI that shows a transparent human body, such as hypothermia and dehydration, and then what they had to do to overcome those obstacles. Still, there are chunks that are missing. At one point it's going with a day by day analysis, which helps to reasonably work up to why they had to eat human flesh for sustenance than sensationalizing it, then skips from Day 17 to 43. What's disappointing with a share of "Trapped" was it took an event from 1972 in South America and attempted to translate that to audiences nowadays. Though it feels like it carries more of the modern times than how those people lived or what was going through their heads that was relative to the year. It feels somewhat hip and trendy to 2007, and carries more a style and trademark from the filmmakers to the point of being distracting in areas from those originally involved. The narration adds flavor and includes a characteristic voice, yes, though it still seems out of place with his flamboyant, oddly syllabified proper English.

Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Tim Wolochatiuk
Link: IMDB, video on Youtube

The 1972 Andes Survivors (2002)

A pep-me-up retelling

This was a 45 minute spot from a TV show called "Minute by Minute" that ran from 2001-2002 on A & E. This recounts the story of the Andes survivors, from before the original 45 passengers stepped onto Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 destined for Chile all the way up to when the 16 remaining made it back home from two members of their party trekking over the mountains from rescues being called off. This is a good starting point if you've never heard of the events before, or only in passing and want to know more in 45 minutes.

This was a snappy retelling with the intention of getting a viewer's heart racing to see what happens next, rather than being thoroughly informative despite the show's title of "Minute by Minute." If you've seen either the films "Supervivientes de los Andes" or "Alive" or even read one of the books, this isn't going to say very much that's new, except to possibly show them at the 30 year mark still alive and living life to the fullest is captivating in itself. I did find it interesting to note that they didn't go straight from Uruguay to Chile, which some of the other retellings show, but had a layover in Argentina due to the weather conditions, but then proceeded forward the next day anyway. The meat of what they went through is here (no pun intended) with quick edits and clipped narration with a steady flow of information to get charged by. Though for an emotional context, this doesn't always leave room for the characters to truly open up, since a specific person never says more than a few lines at a time, rather than to give a brief and succinct factual version of their account with frequent time lines displayed on the screen for that "Minute by Minute" touch that makes it feel too planned and not translate that everyday was unsure as the last.

This only gets a few perspectives of the account. It has spoken English interviews with Roberto Canessa, Canessa's girlfriend Laura Surraco, Fernando "Nando" Parrado, Carlitos Paez, Coche Inciarte and Inciarte's fiancee Soledad Gonzalez. Dubbed English with General Jorge Massa (Chilean Air Force), Carlitos's father, Father Andres Rojas and Dr. Jose Ausin (first doctor to examine them). There is still enthusiasm to tell their tale even after 30 years at this point. Though this isn't a story that can be effectively told in a short time frame, since major events don't happen one after the other. They went through 72 intense days with an array of emotions to battle, one of them being that they didn't know if they would live or die tomorrow or after going to sleep. What actually happened to them is more a slower crawl till the light at the end of the tunnel, than the usual survival in the wilderness story where you can put emotion on the back burner to stay alive. On the other hand, for a viewer who gets touched fairly easily, the tone here is kept somewhat upbeat and hopeful in most areas, despite what the survivors have stated they felt on other days in different interviews. I guess that shows what the power of editing can do.

Rating: 6.5/10

Link: IMDB, video link Youtube

Alive: 20 Years Later (1993)

From up to 72 days to 20 years later

"Alive: 20 Years Later" is a companion documentary piece to the 1993 film "Alive" that fills in some of the gaps of what the movie couldn't slow down to show in a reasonable time frame. This is broken up with spoken English and some dub overs in Spanish, along with a narration courtesy of Martin Sheen. Survivor Nando Parrado speaks a majority of the time, along with some others such as the Strauch relatives as the time progresses.

Twenty years later and a share of the sixteen survivors look back on what was going through their heads and how it has affected them up till the present day of the early '90s. There's behind the scenes shots of the movie "Alive" that show Nando and a few others visiting the set as technical advisors. Actors of the film are only shown from a distance as the focus is more on the real life people. Though there are some brief interviews with the filmmakers in between. The fuselage that was built to recreate the aftermath of their accident is so accurate according to one survivor that it brings back instant memories. They fill in some of the gaps of the 10 day journey through the mountains that also involves the final rescue and knowing that everything was okay at that point. Some black and white photographs are shown in the after with faces buried in beards but smiles of elation emerging from underneath.

Many of the survivors live in the surrounding area as not only to each other but also the ones that didn't make it out. Even though the families are reminded with their presence, they have to be careful with what they say, as it can get around to someone who is trying to forget. Therefore, the bodies that were used or in what order are never disclosed. They speak about some divided views of whether or not it was right that they ate their friends to survive, which was hot on people's minds right afterwards. I mean, "Soylent Green" had a related twist that caused people to reel in their seats just a year later in '73; not to mention that point was only in the script and not in the prior novel. Their priest gives his thoughts of the events, along with some who did the act and how it affected them, or whether they would do it again. There's honesty here with admitting to not being as strong and then others who did more not wanting to be considered heroes. No one wanted to be there but they made the best of it and use it as a growing point to live on. It's an inspirational story that shows how much spirit a group of human beings has. Most of us never had to do even a fraction of what they did, and probably will never have to, so it's something to hold in the back of one's mind as a reminder.

As a definitive documentary, this doesn't capture everything. Though as a piece to give a sampled overview of the events, "Alive: 20 Years Later" works in that regard as it gives out various snippets of information and shows some visuals of the then and now. The behind the scenes of "Alive" are only briefly covered and none of the performers spoke of how the role affected them or how they prepared, nor how it came to be made into a movie again. Also, some sections feel like they're too compacted and succinct to give room for contemplation or to feel the emotional impact. This is told somewhat out of sequence and with some roving thoughts pertaining to the events, which doesn't always make it progress or grow from the outset when it jumps back and forth. This is relatively brief and sometimes to the point in areas like either the filmmakers or the interviewed have somewhere else to be. That or the editor went a little overboard or they had to fill only a select time frame since it clocks in at around 50 minutes. There are still some interesting tidbits that aren't in the "Alive" film, nor "Supervivientes de los Andes/Survive!" from '76 based on the same events.

Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Jill Fullerton-Smith
Link: IMDB

Alive (1993)

Perseverance in the face of an accident

This was based on real events about survival and holding on when an impossible event, that includes friends and loved ones, causes others to make decisions and sacrifices that they would have never done before in their comfortable lives. "Alive" wasn't made to be an action/adventure story in the wilderness but more of a drama that concentrates on the people and the emotional impact of how far they had to go to hang on.

In 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and other passengers are passing through the Andes mountains for a match in Chile. Everything is fun and games with the world in the palm's of their hands, until they choke up when going through a rough patch of weather. Before everyone knows it, it's the real deal as the vision of the pilots gets blurred by the atmosphere and they clip a mountain top before crashing into the freezing, snow covered terrain. A share of the passengers flew out of the plane before impact and then there are those that are injured or dead when they abruptly stop, luckily without explosion (see Hollywood, not everything is combustible), but still with a wrecking impact of toppled seats and contorted passengers. Various wounds and psychological trauma runs rampant and those that are better off scrounge up supplies till they can get rescued. Communications are out, temperatures drop at night and food is scarce among the remaining at that point who use the somewhat intact fuselage as a shelter.

The captain of the rugby team, Antonio (Vincent Spano), keeps everybody together with a game plan and reassurances, until matters get worse when they think they're going to be rescued and the remaining food is quickly gone through. Roberto (Josh Hamilton), who was attending medical school, acts as stand in doctor after their team physician died, along with his wife. It becomes a test of human will and endurance as the days pass by with little hope in sight but what they make of their pitiful situation. They see how hard it is to trek even a small ways as young and athletic as they are. A man named Nando (Ethan Hawke) isn't taken seriously at first when he boasts that he's going to go out on foot and then eat the flesh of the dead pilots for sustenance because they were the ones that got them in the situation in the first place. Desperation hits with bad news from a hand held radio. Nando tells all his proposition and it's taken mostly with disbelief and derision. "I don't think I could do it. How could we go back to our families?" "You could go back alive. I think they'd prefer that." "...are you ready to go out there and cut flesh from a human body and eat it?" "It's like communion. From their death, we live."

The story and events gradually unfold as you get a feel for the passengers. The simple things are shown as they bide their time with song, prayer and idle talk to stick together as a unit. This comes with some emotional scenes but it didn't seem like they set out to make this a through-and-through tear jerker. There's some humor and other areas where they have to push their feelings aside for the time being if they want to keep going. They first go through a crash, battle starvation and then if that wasn't enough combat acts of nature. A few take a trip to retrieve a battery from the detached tail end to get the radio working to call for an SOS. Though the repair work was harder than it looks and this time they plan out an impossible journey with only makeshift equipment and a desperate hope to get help for the rest who are deteriorating in health and spirit.

Their English at first might seem somewhat formal in areas, but my guess is that they phrased sentences how it would be closer to Spanish. Thus despite U.S. actors, they didn't include any blatant Americanisms in their speech. Still, some parts come off as a little forced and unnatural when trying to convey the array of emotions that the real people felt, but, on the other hand, I'd imagine it's better that the actors performed somewhat unpolished to show spontaneity to the situation rather than going with clipped dialogue delivered from a comfortable movie set. They didn't lose sight of the real events with a distracting amount of poetic license--even though there are some aspects glazed over for the sake of narrative as well as handsome and recognizable actors in place of the real people--it sticks close to what happened. The rescue attempts aren't shown and it's kept focused on the people at hand. The '70s version "Supervivientes de los Andes" used a framing technique to show the government working to find the plane, but it was spaced so far apart to lose its driving power. The after isn't shown beyond a brief but rewarding scene, but, then again, it shows them as a connective group by my guess to not single anyone out as a lone hero--for which Nando in real life says he's not--not to mention this is a means to point a viewer towards another medium and serve as the audio and video introduction.

There are some enthralling shots of the scenery with a landscape that has seen countless days, months, years and seasons, as well as generations of species pass by and still to continue going on well past the mentioned's lifespan. It goes to show that nature can be both beautiful and treacherous, even when people are caught in the middle. It makes no judgments, which gives thought to wonder if it should be studied, feared or awed--probably a combination of all of the above.

Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Frank Marshall (Arachnophobia)
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Josh Hamilton
Link: IMDB

Supervivientes de los Andes (1976)

No vegetation or wildlife...just your amigos

Based on the book "Survive!" from '73, this was a Mexican made film that quickly jumped in for the cinematic experience of real events that happened just four years prior in '72. The story involved a group of people that after an accident had to make impossible choices for their survival that they would have never done otherwise. To take that even further, this was a special set of circumstances that would more than likely never be repeated by someone else again. Both this and the much bigger budget version of "Alive" in the '90s show how the main events occurred similarly, with some minor scenes emphasized more than each other. However, "Alive" was the more dramatic and captivating version for the visual experience and for an introduction to how some of these people made it out to tell their harrowing story. "Supervivientes de los Andes" didn't capture the full effects of the events, with the exception of some grisly bits that were amped up in marketing tactics for the U.S. dubbed version called "Survive!"--which has a different running time and some other alternations. Shock value sells, and it makes you wonder about "Soylent Green" coming out a year later after the Andes' events with its final twist that wasn't in the original novel it was based on.

Goodbyes are said at the airport with a group of young rugby players and other passengers from Uruguay on their way through the Andes mountains in South America. There is some foreshadowing dialogue in the beginning as if the characters had an intuition for what's to come; that or for a wink-wink to those who already know the story. In the air, weather conditions and confusion on both of the pilots' behalves causes them to crash into a remote area of the mountains where there isn't any vegetation or wildlife and the temperatures are freezing if that wasn't enough. A share are dead, others are injured and the rest try to overcome the harsh and snowy conditions with little provisions. They attempt to stay warm in the remaining portion of the plane, though get at each other with in fighting, until they realize they have to stick together as a union. What originally started with 45 passengers at the outset begins to dwindle with lack of food and slim chances of a rescue attempt. They're losing hope and starving, though soon enough one of them propositions they eat the meat on the dead bodies so as to remain alive.

The avalanche scene--which killed more of their party and in real life caused them to be held up for a few days--in the movie is over and done with in an abrupt and brief scene, causing it to lose much of the impact and then only revert back to shots of cannibalism. I found it to be one of the more emotional scenarios they had to go through because they were so beaten down by that point that it caused the remaining survivors to reevaluate their chances all over again. Their health is failing and they realize a trek with a selected strong few is their only chance out to save the rest. Towards the close it gets a little too drawn out with anticipation before the final pay off. After seeing how down and desperate they were beforehand, the viewer is dying to see some resolve by that point. There's a framing technique with alternate shots of a rescue attempt, not just to detail that they tried, but to make it somewhat of a driving point. However, it comes off as anticlimactic with too much space between the shots of the survivors to put the audience on the edge of their seats.

What's disappointing here, is a share of the transitions between events feel as if they're laid out like a formulaic storyboard, while missing out on some of the emotional impact of the real occurrence or even how they got from one action to the next. In theory, things are bleak and hopeless as they sit around, but it feels like watching this from a distance with the screen still blocking contact between you and the characters. Sometimes the performers don't feel as individuals rather than a general group, therefore there's more concentration as an overview than on specific character's thoughts or their interpretations and motivations. Watching this now or in '76, doesn't always do more than a written account, as the audio and visual cues to translate the events aren't always done justice here. There aren't any memorable performances as a result that stick out--with the exception of the fathers trying to hold on despite not being extensively shot--or even stand out acts of the dramatic, and it can make the story turned into the cinematic experience feel somewhat flat. The production values range from makeshift to just meeting the grade. It comes with some model airplanes to make one stretch their imagination, as well as not so convincing snow sometimes thrown this way and that when they're filming the fuselage on what looks to be a sound stage with actors missing icy breath. Other shots of the surrounding outdoors appear to be filmed on location and give it more of the realism of being there in the barren surroundings. This has some stock sound effects, such as a looped wind effect that becomes tedious after a while, and even some cries from the characters are overdubbed.

This is kept simple in some areas, yet it switches over to show some candid shots of eating flesh of what's supposed to be humans, not to mention cutting it off and laying out strips so the survivors can economically munch their portion. My guess is to curb fighting over it and keep it civilized. It's somewhat shocking as the camera doesn't pull away even when the point is made, but they also didn't kill to eat or do it in a way that's rapid, which makes it more an act of human will to hang on for life and see your loved ones on the other side than something outright animalistic. From being backed into a wall, they were still conscience as to what they were doing to make it out: from first the plane crash without falling out or exploding, to the weather conditions, to their own bodily functions failing, to then having to trek through mountainous terrain. To point out, if any one of the those situations failed, they were dead, so focusing on the cannibalism portion does feel somewhat leaning towards sensationalism, though I'm sure the investors had to sell tickets for the morbidly curious.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Rene Cardona (Night of the Bloody Apes)
Link: IMDB

Roadkill (1994)

Not even a pittance of hope here

I first caught snippets of this one through a Necrophagia music video and didn't realize I had already seen another by director Jim Van Bebber just prior, which made me search out "Dead Beat at Dawn" and think the guy should have done more with the down, dirty and depraved talent he's got. This is along the lines of a really seedy version of "Eraserhead." The picture quality of "Roadkill: The Last Days of John Martin" makes it seem much older than the '90s, though it still adds a certain washed out grime and includes an atmosphere that feels surreal with strange and abstract music. This 14 minute film is nothing short of a nightmare as there's no resolve, just pain and a kind of dehumanization that comes with chills and sweats when the credits roll.

Enter a dwelling that any "flip this house" money maker would save the investment and move on as it looks like one of the nastiest hellholes imaginable. Never mind how someone could feel so at home there. A homeless man in a third world country would even be put off with the trash, rats, nonsensical writing, blood and even human skin masks on the walls. If they could make a special smelling device for the cinematic experience, then I'm sure it would implode in on itself with this one. Though he miraculously has a shower and a razor to keep up a regular front on the outside. This is like a roller coaster, you anticipate the risk beforehand, live the danger when riding by building to a culmination, and then finally the experience ends but with a plethora of sensations rather than a narrative story to tell afterwards.

John Martin is a loner, a cemetery stroller, a raw animal muncher, a binge drinker, an excessive TV watcher and who could forget a maniacal cackler. The beginning setup shows you just how crazy and unlikable he is until he steps out of his depressive dwelling and puts on the nice guy act when he meets two unsuspecting people who need a lift after their car conks out in the middle of nowhere. It creates an unpreventable trap with predator and prey to account for, but not a hero in sight. Not to mention the audience has no way to stop it and is given no way out, so you look on just to witness how far he takes the depravity that includes some gore and unsensual nudity. Even in the survival-of-the-fittest animal kingdom certain species will have competition among themselves, though they'll still form pacts to hunt outside species. This, on the other hand, has one antisocial human using cunning manipulation on desperate human beings for a sadistic gain. It shows that you can't let your guard down for anyone, because people aren't always who they seem, and with some much more worse than others. Just as you'd see a lion interact and go out on a hunt in a documentary, this is essentially the before and after of how a psycopath named John Martin stalks. Except in a way that's as filthy and disgusting as you can imagine to get that insider's look without holding back.

What makes this effective as a short is it gets right to it, no prancing around, no letting up with the oppressive feeling, no explanations so as to keep up the mystery and morbid curiosity, just a candid look at the sadistic and detestable. The experience is essentially more about those sometimes unexplainable emotions, rather than a constructive story to follow. So as a longer piece it most likely wouldn't have worked as it might have desensitized or lost the focus of viewers, but as is it packs a severe punch to the lower gut.

Rating: 8/10

Director: Jim Van Bebber
Stars: Mark Gillespie, Marc Pitman, Maureen Allise
Link: IMDB

Cannibal Campout (1988)

You axed for it

"Cannibal Campout" is an ultra low-budget, straight-to-video, shot-on-video feature with your everyday college students camping in the woods pitted against a few degenerates who have an acquired sweet tooth for debauchery and human flesh. If it sounds like the typical '80s slasher met some cliche backwoods folks, then you wouldn't be very far off the mark.

This is purposely campy and as a saving grace sometimes humorous as a result. This has self-degradation in the form of outright parodying another movie--Friday the 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, even Top Gun--to being whimsical on its own with certain lines and out-there villains. The music ranges from simple melodies to random keys in a desperate attempt to spice up the not-so-scary mood and paper-thin story line. The acting fluctuates between wooden line reading to nearly pulling off that character. Richard Marcus' character is hands down the most effective due to this kind of crackbrained eccentricity that's in the vein of Chop-Top. There's blood and guts shown mostly in full view instead of the camera pulling away like in a number of "Friday the 13th" sequels due to censor boards.

You can't expect much from these lost, need-an-extensive-map-to-find-'em '80s pictures except to get some kind of brief entertainment or nostalgic value. This could have been cut in half to make an effective short, as there's not much to fall back on as a viewer between all the walking-in-the-woods filler except so many death scenes and some tongue-in-cheek quirkiness that can soon be forgotten after it's over.

Rating: 3/10

From Black and Red recommends instead: "Mother's Day." This is another low-budget flick centered in the backwoods with a couple of sadisitc degenerates tormenting unsuspecting victims. It has a dark sense of humor and scenes worth going back to.

Stars: Jon McBride, Amy Chludzinski, Christopher A. Granger, Richard Marcus
Link: IMDB

Splatter Farm (1987)

Not a faux pas missed

This is another scummy shot on video feature resurrected for DVD that plays on what other more marketable movies of the '80s were too afraid or weren't aloud to show due to moral crusaders at the MPAA. It's a simple film that doesn't have layers and since '87 the shock has been more effectively exploited. At the gory heart of it, "Splatter Farm" plays on taboos: thrill kills, mutilation of the dead, same sex acts with the dead, collecting dead parts, cannibalism, coprophilia, self-mutilation, animal slaughter, flagrant masturbation and, last but not least, incestuous overtones. As amateur and sometimes clumsily put together as it is, it's going to play on a viewer's nerves one way or another.

This truly is a DIY affair with only four main actors who did just about everything else behind the scenes also. Two of them are twins who are visiting their elderly aunt and late teens cousin on an isolated farm for their summer vacation. Their cousin is a make-up wearing sociopath who has no one to stop him from giving in to his sadistic urges. The movie started out pretty unsettling and strange with more focus on the demented cousin with too much time on his hands. As it progressed, it started to give the audience a break and lean towards the level-headed twins who are getting suspicious and attempting to put it all together. The aunt is caught in the middle and starts to make excuses either from blind motherly love or something of her own to hide.

As terrible as the production values go--including fake bodies that wouldn't fool the near-sighted even without their specs--this is unsettling in the dark ideas it brings to the chopping table. This gets right down to the nitty gritty of amoral without hesitation and with the help of the video quality makes you think there could be a case somewhere like this as out there as it is. Instead of lazily stomping on a synthesizer, the music helps stir up some mood by treating certain scenes with piano melodies and other abstract sounds. "Splatter Farm" had a number of flaws, but underneath the atrocious film quality this has what other underground and even mainstream horror films miss out on from time to time: a little bit of genuine creepiness. It could have faired better with a bigger budget and more time but all and all it's worth a single watch if that's your cup of bitter tea, otherwise the movie is more than likely going to be horrendous if you're only used to horror on a bigger scale.

Rating: 5/10

Stars: Todd Michael Smith, John Polonia, Mark Polonia
Link: IMDB

The Mountain of the Cannibal God (1978) - Part 1 of 3: Westerners in the Wild Trilogy

You never forget the taste of human flesh

"The Mountain of the Cannibal God" is an action adventure film intertwined with intrigue, shock and candid looks at nature and those closet to it. This is far from other films that share the tag as this goes for realism rather than fantasy or heroism, is a party pooper when it comes to fun, and is steady with violence and gore to appease a depraved fan of horror compared to someone looking for a safe and easy ride in the jungle.

This is going for a documentary feel with an intimate look at how beautiful and cruel the wild can be. A group of brave westerners with some natives are assembling a trek to this mysterious, remote mountain in New Guinea. When the urbanized natives steer clear and give warning even if it means saving someone, take heed. Though the party members are tightening their boots and stuffing their packs with purpose no matter the peril. But maybe that's because they have their own hidden motives to drive them forward or that cannibals are just things for the imaginative daydreamer. Just maybe.

There's credible tension between the characters as they battle the terrain and encounter deadly animals, along with experiencing inquisitive peaks into odd customs and superstitions along the way. A big sensationalist draw here is there are non-simulated animal vs animal and man vs animal attacks. Its stark and unnecessary realism will be argued from here to the moon, but it ultimately creates an environment where no one is safe and it could be your turn at any moment, so best to keep a blade handy and one eye open when you sleep.

Time is taken with "Cannibal God" to pace the story and build up surprises. The atmospheric and sometimes downright uncomfortable music leaves emotion on the screen like another appendage of the actors. This is structured so the audience feels the tension as much as the performers do in the moment it's occurring. It gives the film a sense of believability over other Mondo cinema that falls short of maintaining that the events taking place could actually happen. Compared to "The Great Alligator" and "Screamers/Island of the Fish Men," this is by far the best in the Sergio Martino, as I like to call it, "Westerners in the Wild Trilogy" starring the late Claudio Cassinelli due not only to a bigger budget but most importantly a more refined focus.

Rating: 8/10

Director: Sergio Martino (The Case of the Scorpion's Tail)
Stars: Ursula Andress, Stacy Keach, Claudio Cassinelli
Link: IMDB


Facts from the Black and Red:

- Cannibal derives from the Spanish word "caníbales" for the Carib people.

- Michael Rockefeller--son to former NY Governor/Vice President Nelson Rockefeller--mysteriously disappeared in 1961 in the New Guinea area while researching a tribe called Asmat that were known for cannibalism and headhunting.

- Survivors from Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in 1972--after running out of their only food and with nothing to hunt or gather in the cold climate--ate the flesh of their dead friends for sustenance.

Cannibal (2006) - 2 of 3: Internet Death Fetish Trilogy

Once opening this door, it's impossible to shut behind you

This reminded me of a two man version of "In the Realm of the Senses" in regards to focusing primarily on the physicality of a relationship than a layered story or strict narrative. Going with that, "Cannibal" is probably THE most twisted "love" drama out there in the wide world of cinema. While it doesn't succeed in the normal sense, it's a film for most that is going to be incredibly difficult to watch, not because it's overly sad or intentionally going for terror, but because as you're witnessing the bizarre events unfold you realize this was based on a real life encounter between Arwin Meiwes and Bernd Jurgen Brandes of Germany only five years prior to the film being released. The filmmakers included their own poetic license but left the rest up to our two friends to fill in the rest with their piece of strange history committed.

This is paced very slowly, at a purposeful rate and with extremely tight close-ups to the point of where it's hard to focus on what's going at moments. Communication wise, this goes for subtlety and tone rather than a reliance on dialogue. The music gives more mood towards sentiment than ominous overtures to come like in a typical horror movie going for suspense. This definitely has the potential to be shocking but the filmmakers leave that up to the viewer, as everything is shown point-blank, as is, no acceptance or dismissal of it: it was what it was. I found it downright uncomfortable, as it plays on odd and unfamiliar fetishes between two men that includes frequent kissing, fondling, tender touches and insertion. Not to mention it treats the material extremely personal without a hint of cutting away. There's no break here, except if you count dining on some privy body parts, lounging around completely nude with unsightly appendages dangling this way or that, or soaking up the sun while feeding a garden with left over human remains.

This won't make tops of lists of items to watch again, nor is it a film to invite others over to see with you. That is unless you've got time on your hands with some explaining to do, or you're playing a daring game of who can keep their eyes on the screen longest without covering up or looking away. It's hard to call this a "good" film. Though in the basic and unconventional framework that it delivers in it's an effective one. I haven't had to take a break when watching a picture since seeing "Salo"; this is even over no story exploitation pictures like "The Devil's Experiment" and "Aftermath" where I've killed a party and had other people leave the room, never to let me put on another film again. I can't say I agree with anything I seen here but the filmmakers were able to display a certain event without even having to inject little horror-like scares, but by just showing the audience what happened behind those walls that you'll wish never came down. If you didn't take the hint: get out now. This isn't scary, as you'll probably win the lottery and get struck by lightning in the same day before it happens to you. Except for maybe giving hope to those strange folks who's irregular interests stunt dating, the regular viewer won't be put in their shoes and there are no real relating points that are emphasized here, such as with the movie "Grimm Love" about the same subject and the whole sentimental approach and look into their background.

In the end there isn't a big purpose as it leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, guy soiling himself as he's missing his member and then leaking out the other end as he's dying and all. They squeezed in some tie-ins to "The Brothers Grimm" for some ambiguous meaning that seems a lost cause, though it doesn't appear like there is anything to ponder about here, except maybe why they would do this with each other and have the other one so willing to be a participant, or even how two guys like this lived so close? Is it just a modern thing, is the Internet the accelerator? There aren't going to be any heroes or villains, story arcs, layered surprises, just a non-stop candid look up to, during and briefly after these mens' interaction. Nothing fundamentally more, nothing sincerely less.

Rating: 6/10

Stars: Carsten Frank, Victor Brandl
Links: IMDB, Real story link

Grimm Love (2006) - Part 1 of 3: Internet Death Fetish Trilogy

A heavy-handed sympathy piece

This was inspired by the real life case of Armin Meiwes who put an ad over an Internet site looking for a willing victim to be slaughtered and their flesh consumed. What made the case so unusual was he was not only serious but another man named Bernd Jurgen Brandes obliged apparently without being physically forced as a share of the event was captured on videotape. "Grimm Love" is a tale that paces as a dark narrative drama with a fictional college student named Katie Armstrong, played by Keri Russell, returning to where these two lived in Germany in an attempt to get inside their heads for a research paper.

Instead of concentrating on horror and shock, the filmmakers switch back and forth between the present with Ms. Armstrong and also in the past with the two men who eventually meet up in a kind of twisted, interconnected fate. Oliver (based on Meiwes) is shown as far back as adolescence with his father leaving, trouble fitting in at school, as well as having no life apart from taking care of his ailing mother. He's alone and looking for companionship, though his way of connecting with people isn't hugs, kisses or long conversations, but instead a longing fixation of consuming the flesh of someone special to feel stimulation and closeness.

Simon (based on Brandes) is a homosexual who fears showing his feelings in public out of misunderstandings and ridicule. He has severe depression and searches for a sense of belonging through some normal and not so normal ways. He looks at extreme fetishes on an Internet chatroom as a way of feeling alive from a life that never accepted him. In 2003, Gay Chinese actor/composer Leslie Cheung was successful but still committed suicide by jumping off a building, likewise Simon also has things going for him, though it's too much and he wants to meet his end with symbolism that directly "severs" ties with his burdensome sexuality that gives him a guilt complex from his mother's suicide at an early age.

Dodging the pulse-pounding route of "Silence of the Lambs," this comes across more like "Kalifornia" by hearing the thoughts and experiences as they come through with narration. It also flows as slow as Cronenberg's "Spider" in an attempt at an on-the-surface character study of these atypical individuals' thought processes and motivations. Though the college student's montages about how these two men affect her take up extra screen time away from finding out more. There are metaphors and poetic wordings interspliced to sway the audience towards deep sympathy for these two fractured individuals. Sometimes making you think with introspection, but at other times being desperate to make a point and forcing their way in, like some of Keri Russells' obvious voice overs instead of letting the camera do the talking.

"Grimm Love" isn't going to be like watching a biopic on the History Channel by just stating the events as is, as the filmmakers are doing select reporting to be more convincing towards a certain compassionate, sentimental way of thinking than letting your own thoughts flow free. To some it's going to be touching, to others it's going to be sympathy for the devil. The heavy leaning towards the first here can take away from the experience as it feels written with a prior agenda in mind, not to mention before all things were considered in the case as the real events took place in only 2001 and an overturned verdict came in 2006 when this came out. I like the angle of diving into their background even if it breaks psychology down for the layman, though this would have worked better as a biography with anecdotes from relatives, friends and experts. Or if a story is to be had, something like the route taken with "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," where the director of that film said he feels that he shouldn't have to decide a stance for the viewer, that that's up to them.

This isn't an exploitation film that takes advantage of real events such as "Men Behind the Sun" did, as it's more suggestive than showing candid nudity and bodily infliction like "Cannibal" about the same events. Though by the time it closes--right after the infamous scenario between the men that's akin to the real life events in "In the Realm of the Senses"--it can't seem to decide what it wanted to be. In the beginning and middle it was going out of its way to reason with the audience that these guys aren't just a couple of kooks with mental issues like the media sensationalized. Though by its close they left the story up in the air and ambiguous with the young woman being either deeply moved or having a change of heart. It makes me believe she was only included as a ploy for the writers to speak through her and then at the end decided it was time enough to let the audience choose. Not to mention at an inopportune time as it ends abruptly and doesn't show what happened next.

Rating: 4/10

Stars: Keri Russell, Thomas Kretschmann, Thomas Huber
Links: IMDB, Real story link