Shudder: Metamorphosis

Catholic exorcists and Jedi masters agree anger is a singularly dangerous emotion that can make you prey for dark forces. Instead of anger, it is inexperience and self-doubt that plague Father Joong-soo. Unfortunately, his problems will become his resentful family’s problems after an exorcism goes horribly wrong in Kim Hong-sun’s Metamorphosis, which premieres today on Shudder.

The negative press surrounding Joong-soo’s failed exorcism during the prologue was so bad, it forced his brother Gang-goo to relocate his family. However, the worst part for the priest was the death of the possessed girl, right after the demon used her tongue to threaten his family. They do not want anything to do with him (except his young nephew) and he wants to keep his distance from just about everyone. Yet, when the demon starts terrorizing them in the guise of other family members, they are forced to turn to humble Uncle Joong-soo. Of course, he does not believe he can face the evil entity on his own, so he calls in his mentor from the exorcising hotspot of the Philippines.

K-horror has a knack for doing demonic possession, perhaps because Catholicism is widely practiced and also resented across South Korea, so it taps into some deeply held anxieties. Metamorphosis is nearly as scary as The Divine Fury and The Priests, but it arguably takes even darker and more disturbing turns. Kim shows no mercy towards Joong-soo and his family, so brace yourself.

AHITH ’18: Alive

There are really no circumstances that make waking up in a hospital bed a pleasant surprise—especially this hospital. It is like something out of a horror movie. In fact, that is exactly what it is. The unnamed man and woman have no idea who they are or how they got there, but they can tell their [mad] doctor is bad news in Rob Grant’s Alive (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, in San Francisco.

When the man wakes up, he feels terrible and looks even worse. His surroundings do not inspire confidence. It looks like he is being treated in an abandoned hospital with substandard sanitary conditions, as is indeed the case. After a rather ominous meeting with the mystery man in scrubs, he finds out he has a companion: a woman in exactly the same shape.

The male patient immediately suggests they plot their escape, but she is more inclined to obey and placate their dubious caretaker, until he really starts showing his sadistic craziness. However, the captive man also has concerns regarding the flashes of memory he experiences, suggesting he is some sort of thuggish convict. It is especially awkward, because the woman has had flashbacks leading her to believe she was the victim of a violent crime.

Actually, this film is not headed where you might probably be expecting. Not at all. It would be a shame to reveal too much, but hopefully we can get away with saying the seemingly nondescript title is absolutely inspired. Its big secret totally changes the context in which we see the film. Still, there is no getting around how disturbing some of the scenes of flat-out torture and body horror get. This is not a film for a horror movie starter kit. Yet, it is not really (or not just) the pain dished out that is so unsettling. It is the grim, grimy, grossness of the environment. Both the design and practical effects teams deserve considerable credit for making the forsaken hospital such an unnerving place. Frankly, viewers may seek out a tetanus shot after watching Alive.

Angus Macfadyen, the once and future Robert the Bruce (in Braveheart and an upcoming film), is surprisingly scary and altogether chilling as the medical bad guy, very much continuing the cinematic tradition of Peter Cushing’s Hammer movies and Vincent Price in AIP releases. Thomas Cocquerel and Camille Stopps are also completely convincing acting like they are in total fear and abject misery.

Alive might sound like it follows in the Saw-Hostel-New French Extremity tradition, as Charles Hamilton’s grungy cinematography would also suggest, but screenwriters Chuck McCue and Jules Vincent have devised some original and surprising twists. The film also radically alters our perception of Macfadyen (for the better). Recommended for serious horror enthusiasts, Alive screens Sunday night (12/2), as part of this year’s AHITH.

Luciferina: That’s Her Name, Don’t Wear It Out

Everyone knows “Final Girls” are expected to remain virginal, if they hope to survive. However, that is in slasher movies. This is demonic horror. Evidently, the rules here are different—much different. A naïve novice will have to adapt quickly in Gonzalo Calzada’s Luciferina (trailer here), which releases today on DVD.

Even though Natalia was never baptized, she felt compelled to run off to a convent. Her parents were always a little odd. Frankly, one of the reasons she left was to get away from them, but that meant leaving her older sister Angela behind. Rather awkwardly, Natalia must return home when an accident kills their mother and permanently incapacitates their father. She receives a somewhat frosty reception from Angela, but her sister needs her to participate in a weird ayahuasca-consuming rite.

Apparently, some really sinister stuff was going on back home while Natalia was gone. The details are a little hazy, but it seems her parents were not that much different from John Cassavetes in Rosemary’s Baby and the mother in Satan’s Slaves. To uncover their lost memories and exorcise their parents’ bad mojo, Angela wants Natalia to travel with her and her obnoxious friends to a remote island where there is an abandoned, deconsecrated nunnery, to participate in a hallucinogenic-driven ritual presided over by a sketchy shaman. Right, let the healing begin.

Except, of course it doesn’t. Instead, you know who crashes the party. Up until this point, Luciferina was a moody film, filled with foreboding and a steadily rising level off tension, but from then on, it goes completely nuts. However, we locked in, whether we like it or not, because Calzada’s set-up work is so effective. The vibe of the first two acts is reminiscent of vintage John Carpenter, which is high praise indeed, whereas the third act is like Ken Russell on a crack cocaine bender.

Sofia Del Tuffo is distressingly vulnerable and altogether disarming as the deer-in-the-headlights Natalia. Yet, the dilapidated sets and ominous locations regularly overshadow the human cast. It is the sort of film that routinely defies gravity, like Wile E. Coyote, when he takes a wrong turn over a gaping chasm. Easily recommended for fans of demonic supernatural horror, Luciferina is now available on DVD.

The Toybox: When Denise Richards Met Mischa Barton

Right, so the idea of taking a long road trip in a 1970s era RV does not sound miserable enough to you? Okay, lets make it haunted by the ghost of its former owner, a notorious serial killer. Now head out into the desert and kiss your butt goodbye. That is basically what happens in Tom Nagel’s The Toybox (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in Los Angeles.

After the death of his ex-wife, Charles gathers his family, two feuding sons, a daughter-in-law, and a young granddaughter for a tour of roadside attractions. It is supposed to be healing. He must have gotten a heck of a deal on the RV. Officially, it is not supposed to exist anymore. Out of respect for the victims’ family’s Robert Gunthry’s so-called “Toy Box” was slated for destruction, but obviously that did not happen.

So, for a while Charles is tooling down the highway, but he stops to pick up Samantha and her soon-to-die brother, whose car broke down along a lonely stretch of nowhere. Soon thereafter, the RV takes on a life of its own, speeding deep into the desert, where it promptly shuts down, leaving them stranded. At that point, Gunthry starts picking them off, either using the RV itself, or with his ghostly bare hands.

Frankly, Gunthry’s inconsistent nature would be annoying, if this film were worth caring about. Is he a proper ghost? Is he somehow embedded in the RV? If so, how does he take on corporeal form? We don’t know and we don’t care.

Arguably, Denise Richards peaked in the late 90s with films like Starship Troopers, while Mischa Barton’s O.C. prime was in the mid aughts, so there was probably never a time when having them together would have caused a lot of excitement. They both look great, but in 2018, this team-up screams direct-to-DVD. Unfortunately, they are both better than this material.

To give credit where its due, Richards convincingly portrays a justifiably worried mother, who almost makes us feel for her plight. Perhaps Greg Violand fares the best, managing to squeeze some tragic dignity out of Papa Bear Charles. Conversely, it gets painfully tiresome listening to the brothers bark at each other.

It is just not a lot of fun watching people see their loved ones die before their eyes. Nagel never gives his characters any hope, so there isn’t any suspense. As if that were not sufficiently depressing, the audience also has to spend time with that tacky 70s era décor. Not recommended, The Toybox opens tomorrow (9/14) in LA, at the Laemmle NoHo 7.