V/H/S/Halloween, on Shudder

Most anthology films are like trick-or-treats bags on Halloween night. There’s always a lot of stale candy corn mixed in with the candy bars. In this case, the ratio of candy corn to candy bars is annoyingly high. However, each installment faithfully respects the found footage format and the theme. A new V/H/S anthology film has become a Halloween tradition on Shudder, so they truly embrace the holiday with a series of Halloween festivities that go spectacularly awry in V/H/S/Halloween, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

Ironically, the least Halloweeny parts of V/H/S/Halloween are the framing bits, known collectively as Bryan M. Ferguson’s “Diet Phantasma.” Supposedly, Diet Phantasma is a Halloween soda, but it is a little too horrific, causing outlandishly gory side-effects for the test subjects. Frankly, these wrap-arounds are rather confusing, because it is never clear what is the nature of the soda that makes it so deadly, and illogical, because killing off one test subject after another creates huge legal liabilities in the real world.

Likewise, the trick-or-treating gone horribly wrong premise of Anna Zlokovic’s “Coochie Coochie Coo” is all too familiar buy now. The two mean girl prospective victims are also a chore to spend time with. This segment is only really distinguished by some gross-out imagery.

Fortunately, it is followed by one of the strongest constituent films, “Ut Supra Sic Infra,” directed by Paco Plaza, co-creator of the [REC] franchise. After a Halloween party ends in a mysterious massacre, the police bring the sole survivor to the scene of the crime for a re-creation of the deadly events. For reasons that make horror movie sense, the found footage cuts out after someone reads the cryptic titular inscription on the wall three times. Unwisely, they make it a scrupulously faithful re-creation. The results are wild and macabre. If anything, this segment could have been drawn out longer, but least it never overstays its welcome.

Arguably, that is exactly what Casper Kelly’s “Fun Size” does. It also features teens who are a little too old and a little too rude for trick-or-treating, but they encounter a more original danger. It starts with a bowl full of weird, retro-sounding candy nobody recognizes. The sign says only one per person, but one idiot takes two. Suddenly, the bowl magically sucks them into a sinister candy factory, where they are menaced by a massively creepy pumpkin-headed ghoul. At first, it is subversively funny, but then it starts to drag.

PSIFF ’18: Veronica

Supposedly, this was the first reported case in Spain when a cop or government authority figure of any stripe admitted to witnessing paranormal phenomenon. Sure it was, just like the Amityville and Conjuring movies are based on true stories. In any event, Det. Romero is in for an eyeful when he responds to a fateful 9-1-1 call. However, before the audience takes in the crime scene, we will watch, in media res, how things got so bad for the title character in Paco Plaza’s Verónica (trailer here), which screens again during the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Verónica (Vero) and her friends are about to try contacting the dead with a Ouija board, so that is pretty much all the explanation we need. To further raise the stakes, they are going to do it during an eclipse. Vero wants to speak to her somewhat recently deceased father, but something else crosses over instead. Of course, her fair-weather friends totally freak out, botching the ritual and thereby leaving the evil entity free to stalk Vero. Unfortunately, she is not the only one at risk. Her younger sisters Lucía and Irene, as well as their baby brother Antoñito are also very much in its crosshairs.

Frankly, Vero was already under a lot of stress. Her hardworking barkeep mother basically relies on her to look after her younger siblings. It is not really fair to her, but she accepts the situation out of love and a sense of responsibility. However, protecting them from this uncanny force will be a different proposition entirely.

Not to be confused with the Mexica identity-bending psychological thriller Veronica, Plaza’s Verónica recycles some well-worn horror tropes, but Plaza’s execution is tight and tense. The [REC] franchise co-helmer milks our general fear of the unseen and the specific innate Catholic dread of the demonic for deeply unsettling chills.

Sandra Escacena is a dead-ringer for Shailene Woodley, but she is probably a considerably better thesp. She is terrific working with the young supporting ensemble: Bruna González, Claudia Placer, and Iván Chavero. They really seem like a believably real and dysfunctionally grieving family. Consuelo Trujillo is also spooky as heck as the blind but all-seeing Sister Narcisa, a.k.a. “Sister Death,” while Chema Adeva adds plenty of genre-appropriate rumpled world-weariness in his wrap-around appearances as Romero.

Verónica follows an established arc, but Plaza and co-screenwriter Fernando Navarro come up with some creepy original details that deepen and intensify the atmosphere of mounting anxiety. Supernatural horror is always scarier in Spanish horror films, because the Devil remains a very real presence there—and is probably still ticked off about Franco. Recommended as some meat-and-potatoes for horror fans, Verónica screens again this Saturday (1/13), as part of this year’s PSIFF.

REC 3 Loses the Shaky Cam

It sounds awful to have the undead terrorizing your wedding, but at least that means there is a priest on hand.  Indeed, it turns out a good Father is useful to have around when it comes to holding off the zombie hordes in Paco Plaza’s [REC] 3, the third and penultimate installment of the Spanish walking dead franchise, which opens tomorrow in New York.

Clara and Koldo are meant for each other.  She has something important to tell him, but they are unable to get five minutes of peace together, even before the zombies attack.  Cousin Adria and Atun, a professional videographer, are recording the wedding and reception, in established [REC] style.  Uncle Victor does not look so good though.  He was bitten by a dog or something.  Then he starts biting people and they start biting people, and so on and so on.

Poor Clara and Koldo get separated in carnage, but they are determined to get back together.  The bride in particular is willing to do what it takes to find her groom.  Why yes, that is a chainsaw she’s carrying.  The Padre is also helpful, keeping the unholy multitude at bay with prayer.  As in the previous film, there is a religious element to [REC] 3 that distinguishes the series from the zombie pack.

Shockingly, Plaza breaks format early in the second act, abandoning the found footage motif in favor of a traditional omniscient viewpoint.  While shaky cam can be annoying, Plaza and Jaime Balagueró, co-director of the first two RECs, have a good handle on how to use it.  More than a gimmick, in the previous films, they shrewdly used the video-camera POV to control the audience’s perspective, literally keeping them in the dark at times, which rather works in context.  After all, things seen fleetingly out of the corner of the eye are always more unnerving than well lit but ridiculously over the top soundstage shots.

At times, [REC] 3 also goes for laughs, relatively successfully.  The wedding setting is an inspired set-up device.  Hasn’t everyone been to a reception that was totally dead but refused to die?  [REC] 3 is like that except more so.  Plaza and his leads also sell the newlyweds’ earnest devotion fairly convincingly.  Diego Martin’s Koldo is a bit of a bland screen presence, but he develops some presentable chemistry with Leticia Doleria, as the power tool wielding Clara.  As horror heroines go, she certainly has her moments.

There are some clever bits in [REC] 3 that should satisfy zombie fans, but it is the weakest link of the series, so far (whereas [REC 2] was the high water mark).  It will be interesting to see what happens when Balagueró assumes the solo helm of the forthcoming and final [REC] 4.  The comedic elements are fine, but he should probably stick to the franchise format.  Still, for those who enjoy gore and black humor with a touch of Catholicism, [REC] 3 delivers just enough.  Recommended for the core fanbase, the stand-alone [REC] 3: Genesis opens tomorrow (9/7) in New York at the Cinema Village.