Scary Movies XIII: Noise

It is a lot easier to close your eyes than to close your ears. Ironically, in this case, Joo-young’s hearing aid finally represents an advantage. She has so much underdog cred (working a blue-collar factory job, with her hearing impairment), Joo-young looks like a natural “final girl” candidate. Regardless, finding her semi-estranged sister will be her primary goal in Kim Soo-jin’s Noise, which screens tonight as part of Scary Movies XIII.

Joo-young briefly lived with Joo-hee, but she tired of her sibling’s erratic behavior, so she moved out—right before things really got weird. According to the cops, Joo-hee has been missing for weeks. Yet, as soon as Joo-young moves back in, the crazy neighbor below complains of the constant noise coming from their empty apartment. This noise-rage taps into reportedly common Korean complaints, stemming from high population density and cheap concrete construction. Such inter-building noise is less of an issue here in New York. That’s why we love our “pre-war” buildings.

Indeed, the brutalist apartment complex is rife with weird, disconcerting noises. Even Joo-young can hear them when her hearing aid is turned on. Joo-hee’s boyfriend, Ki-hoon, does not have that option, but he doesn’t understand the degree of the audio distortion he will have to contend with when he offers to help Joo-young find her sister.

Rather cleverly, the FSLC paired Noise with the similarly audio-themed Rabbit Trap for their press screenings, but the public screenings fell on different days. Maybe that is just as well, because the two films together constitute an exhausting sensory overload. However, that also means both sound teams did some incredibly potent work.

Kim also cleverly capitalizes on Joo-young’s reliance on voice recognition apps and her on-and-off hearing aid to cleverly build suspense. Yet, despite a vibe and style clearly inspired by classic J-horror and K-horror, screenwriter Lee Je-hui maintains a coyness whether the film is supernatural horror, or a devious murder mystery of human origins and design. Either way, there are some deeply unnerving moments, thanks in large measure to the sinister sound.

Chainsaw Day: Chain Reactions

Roger Ebert famously gave The Texas Chainsaw Massacre only two out of four stars. Yet, he conceded the quality of the performances and productions values might surprise viewers, “not, however, that you’d necessarily enjoy seeing it.” Ebert was hardly alone. At the time, Tobe Hooper’s career-making film was decidedly divisive amongst critics. Unfortunately, viewers really do not get a sense of that diversity of opinion in Alexandre O. Philippe’s Chainsaw Reactions, which has a special nationwide “Texas Chainsaw Day” screening this Monday, along with the 1974 film it documents.

Fifty years and change later, everyone involved with Philippe’s doc takes it as a given that Hooper’s film is a classic. Again, he uses an approach like that of Lynch/Oz, essentially presenting extended critical analysis from five experts/critics/fans, while showing evocative clips from the film. Fortunately, these five waxers-poetic repeat themselves far less than the cast of Lynch/Oz did. However, the lineup of Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Australian film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama will not appeal to all fans equally, to put it diplomatically.

Still, listening to Miike and King discuss anything horror related will be an opportunity few fans would want to pass up. Miike’s perspective is particularly notable, explaining Texas Chainsaw’s reception in Japan and tracing its influence on some of his more extreme films, like Ichi the Killer. King also has some worthy contributions, but he never mentions Hooper’s Salem’s Lot, which remains one of the best King adaptations of all time.

Annoyingly, many of the fab-ish five still reflect the same general perspective, especially when trying to score polemical points with respects to the alleged rising level of violence permeating American society. However, the film would have benefited from the more nuanced analysis of Joseph Lanza writing in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Film that Terrified a Rattled Nation, which situates the film within the context of late-1960s and early-1970s violence, definitely including the New Left-adjacent Manson Family Murders, which go unmentioned in Reactions.

Scary Movies XIII: Rabbit Trap

Daphne Davenport was on pace to become another Laurie Anderson or Naim June Paik. She describes her concrete-adjacent electronic-distorted found music as “influential” rather than popular. Unfortunately, true fame will probably elude her, because she is a character in a horror film. She hoped to discover some inspiring natural sounds with her recording engineer husband Darcy, but they also find a sinister wild child in director-screenwriter Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap, produced by SpectreVision, which screens tonight as part of Scary Movies XIII.

Daphne is the “artiste” and Darcy is her enabler. He spends hours doing the legwork, roaming the Welsh moors, making field recordings of squishy-squashy natural noises, which she samples into her industrial soundscapes. It is a reclusive life, but apparently, they needed to get away from the London scene. They are also clearly carrying a lot of baggage that they never discuss, but it comes to a boil when the kid shows up.

Even the Da-Da’s notice how cagily their visitor remains nameless. However, the wild child brims with knowledge regarding the local animals and flora. The strange youngster even seems to have a special connection to the rabbits, especially the dead ones. Indeed, the nature child should remind Nat Kind Cole fans that “Nature Boy” is actually an extremely creepy song. Yet, despite this squirreliness, Daphne forges an unhealthy attachment to “the child,” which encourages not-so-subtle attempts to undermine her marriage.

Soon, Darcy starts freaking out over their little stalker’s behavior. He also passes out and loses time after ill-advisedly walking into a fairy circle. Admittedly, the little weirdo warned him not to do it, but he did so anyway, losing time and consciousness as a result.

In some ways, Rabbit Trap is like an Enys Men, flavored with an extract of Blow Out, which makes it ten times more grounded. The folk horror runs heavy in these parts. The atmosphere is thick and it has amazingly clear audio fidelity. The grungy 1970s period details are also highly evocative. Frankly, this is a world you wouldn’t want to visit, but it definitely sounds massively eerie.

Witchboard, Chuck Russell’s Reboot

It used to be a garden variety Ouija board that picked up a bad passenger, but for the reboot, it has been upgraded to a very rare and very evil antique. That will not be a trade-up for those who handle it. At least the food is better this time around, because the setting moved from California to New Orleans. However, a young woman still falls under the sway of a creepy forerunner to the magic 8-ball in Chuck Russell’s Witchboard, which opens today in theaters.

Emily, her fiancé Christian, and their friends were out foraging for mushrooms when she stumbled across the evil board. They weren’t for recreational purposes. They are for the opening of Christian’s hipster restaurant. Apparently, everyone was so busy planning for the premiere, they missed the news of the museum heist that made off with a notorious witchcraft relic.

The board still basically works the same way. It just has more bells and whistles. Ominously, Emily grows increasingly obsessed with the board’s divining powers, after it leads her to her misplaced engagement ring. Indeed, the recovering Emily has an addictive personality that makes her acutely susceptible to the board’s malevolent influence.

Nobody really thinks about why the board was there in the first place. Anne Ricey-looking Alexander Babtiste, a wealthy expert in the dark arts, commissioned the theft, but was double-crossed by the hoodlum now decomposing in the forest. Ill-advisedly, Christian’s torch-carrying but well-meaning ex, Brooke, refers Christian to Babtiste for occult guidance. Clearly, he does not have Emily’s best interests at heart.

Russell and co-screenwriter Greg McKay’s screenplay wildly departs from the 1986 original, but Babtiste’s shadowy conspiracy to resurrect a notorious 17^th Century witch is the best thing going for the film, admittedly in a wacky and outlandish kind of way. There are times when the film ventures quite deeply into the tall weeds of left field (to compound metaphors).

Went Up the Hill: A Ghost Story

When you reach a certain age, nursery rhymes start sounding creepy. Jack and Jill are definitely old enough, so maybe the irony of their names should have been their first warning. He journeyed to New Zealand’s least populous South Island to mourn his long-estranged mother, but maybe she isn’t really gone, at least not completely in Samuel Van Grinsven’s Went Up the Hill, which opens today in theaters.

The late Elizabeth’s grieving wife Jill is surprised to see Jack at her wake, while Jack is surprised that she is surprised, because Jill called him, asking him to come—or so he thought. Nevertheless, Jill immediately agrees he should be there and runs interference with Elizabeth’s inhospitable sister Helen. Jack never really knew the mother who gave him for adoption at a very young age. Yet, he and Jill quickly bond in their radically different forms of grief.

Jack yearns for answers from his mother, which Jill helps facilitate when Elizabeth’s spirit (call it whatever you prefer) takes possession of her body. The supernatural communication works both ways, allowing Jill to talk to Elizabeth when she possesses her son, in turn. The process just requires both son and wife to be asleep, allowing Elizabeth to jump from one body to another. Initially, the ghostly encounters are consoling, but viewers soon start to suspect the deceased profoundly mistreated both Jack and Jill.

Went Up the Hill is an unusually elegant and austere ghost story—so much so, some critics argue it isn’t really horror. Yet, Van Grinsven’s film is far scarier than supposed horror movies like Get Out or Bodies Bodies Bodies. Those films have their merits, but they aren’t really scary. In contrast, there are moments in Hill that will chill you to the bone and make your hair stand on end. In terms of tone and potency, it compares favorably (but does not surpass) Assayas’s Personal Shopper.

Butterfly, in The Epoch Times

The action is super-charged, but the parenting is difficult for the black op mercs in Prime's BUTTERFLY. The fight scenes are terrific and so is the lead, Daniel Dae Kim. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

The Glassworker, in Cinema Daly US

THE GLASSWORKER is an elegantly hand-animated, slightly fantastical coming-of-age film that takes clear inspiration from Japanese anime and Pakisstan's own tragic history. It expresses its grown-up anti-war themes in complex and sophisticated ways. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Mononoke the Movie: Chap. II—The Ashes of Rage, on Netflix

It is a term rich with anime and folkloric significance. “Mononoke” are vengeful spirits, not unlike yokai. Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke” was not really a mononoke, but rather a human foundling who had a rapport with spirit creatures. The mononoke of the Mononoke anime and manga franchise are definitely mononoke. In fact, they are about as mononoke as they get. It is the “Medicine Seller’s” calling to exorcise them. Think of him as a medicine man, in that he holds shaman-like powers and peddles medicinal cures. He cuts an odd figure, but even the most secretive and powerful players in the Edo court will not turn him away when an enraged spirit terrorizes their Lord’s harem chambers in Kenji Nakamura & Kiyotaka Suzuki’s Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II—The Ashes of Rage, produced by Toei Animation, which premieres today on Netflix.

Thanks to the Medicine Seller, the Lord Tenshi’s concubines already survived one incredibly put-out mononoke in the previous film (which was a continuation from the 2007 anime series). Unfortunately, just when you thought it was safe to go back to harem’s super-restricted Ooku, another mononoke strikes. Obviously, the Medicine Seller needs to investigate, but his all-access pass is no longer valid, because it was issued by the former Ooku manager—now deceased.

Tensions were rising in the Ooku, even before the new mononoke peril emerged. The unseen Tenshi’s favorite, Fuki Tokita is showing signs of pregnancy, which should be a good thing, because an heir is needed. However, Tokita hails from “common stock,” even though we would probably consider her family middle to upper-middle class, from out contemporary perspective. Regardless, the prospect of debasing the Imperial lineage with common stock and allowing a less than pristinely noble family that kind of influence has the elite power-brokers alarmed.

Botan Otomo is perfectly placed to take action. She was selected to serve as the new Ooku manager because of her family’s power and prestige. As Tokita’s longtime rival, she openly resents Fuki’s inappropriately close relationship with Tenshi. However, she also feels loyalty to her Imperial lord and his prospective heir, whoever it might be. Instead, it is the angry mononoke of a wronged concubine who terrorizes the Ooku halls. Yet, before the Medicine Seller can dispel it, he must learn the reason for its grudge—much like Christian exorcists need a demon’s name to take dominion over it.

Without question, Nakamura’s Mononoke films represent an energizing respite from overly slick (and consequently soulless) 3D computer generated animation. While digital techniques were employed, the Mononoke features have an eye-popping, mind-blowing baroque style that resemble a fusion of Edo-era ukiyo-e woodcuts with Peter Max headshop posters. Each frame is an absolute explosion of color. Frankly, it is a good thing Ashes of Rage is a relative shorty, because extended exposure to the utterly distinctive animation could induce sensory overload. Yet, it is always wildly cool to behold.

The Rainmaker, on USA

After the great stress and expense of law school, incoming associate expect to take their place as newly minted masters of the universe. Unfortunately, Rudy Baylor couldn’t quite cross the finish line into the promised land, because he was unwilling to pay the final costs of admission: his dignity and his personal integrity. Instead, he talked back to the bullying senior partner. At least Baylor will see Leo F. Drummond again, as opposing counsel, in showrunner Michael Seitzman’s The Rainmaker, based on John Grisham’s novel, which premieres Friday on USA.

Reportedly, Grisham considered Francis Ford Coppola’s 1997 movie to be the best film adaptation of his books, so the pressure is on for co-creators Seitzman and Jason Richman. It is hard to remember, but back then, getting cast as Baylor was career-making coup for Matt Damon, so British thesp Milo Callaghan can only hope for a similar boost. As a promising start, he sounds passingly accentless as the working-class Charleston kid on the verge of making good.

However, Drummond tries to use Baylor as a punching bag during new associates’ orientation at tony Tinley Britt. Baylor talks back, which gets him fired. The only firm left that will touch him expects their lawyers to cover their salary by drumming up personal injury business. Jocelyn “Bruiser” Stone and her luckless paralegal Deck Shifflet (a six-time bar exam flunker) might lack prestige, but they are colorful.

Baylor also has a line on a potential money-maker. Dot Black wanted to sue the hospital whose malpractice allegedly killed her son, but Baylor could not previously advise her, because the corporate medical group was a Tinley Britt client. Now, he would happily give his former (briefly) firm a black eye. However, things will get complicated, because his girlfriend Sarah Plankmore happens to be a junior Tinley Britt associate, who was just assigned to the hospital account.

As Baylor’s relationship frays, he risks the wrath of his neighbor’s abusive husband, who (rightly) suspects the trainee-attorney has eyes for his wife. Baylor also has the increasingly risky task of finding Melvin Pritcher, a former nurse fired by the hospital under suspicious circumstances, who will likely be news to fans of the book and movie.

Ironically, Seitzman & Richman’s departures from the source novel will make the series more “Grisham-esque” for viewers who only know the author from movies like The Firm and The Pelican Brief. Based on the first five episodes provided for review, they give the story a decidedly more thrillerish tone.

Indeed, Dan Fogler is massively creepy as Pritcher. His character might be new and different, but his performance works. Of course, John Slattery is back on familiar ground playing the arrogant and devious Drummond, but he still chews the scenery with relish.

Weirdly, Lana Parrilla can now proudly lay claim to playing the same role as Mickey Rourke, that of “Bruiser” Stone. Obviously, Seitzman & Richman did a bit of gender-swapping and backstory fudging. In their defense, it is a lot of fun to watch Parrilla sashay through her scenes, snarling at all the dumb men around her. Frankly, her portrayal of the cynical, hard-drinking, sexual confident Bruiser would not be out of place in a Bravo reality series.

Checkpoint Zoo: Putin’s War on Animals

It was like Dunkirk for animals. There were 5,000 beasts, of nearly every variety, at the Ferman Ecopark, all of whom had to be evacuated after Putin’s invasion. Nobody was prepared to pack up their own lives and flee, but transporting the zoo’s entire population would even more challenging. Yet, finding a place to take them all would be even trickier. The resulting rescue mission was a logistical nightmare and a humanitarian imperative the surviving ecopark employees revisit in Joshua Zeman’s documentary, Checkpoint Zoo, which opens this Friday in theaters.

Initially, Oleksandr Feldman thought the ecopark’s location outside Kharkiv, near the Russian border, was a perfect location. That was before Putin launched his war. Conceived as a combination wildlife shelter, zoo, animal rehabilitation center (both wild and domestic), and therapy animal clinic, the ecopark was home for wide variety of species. Unfortunately, it landed right in the middle of no man’s land during the Battle of Kharkiv, just beyond the final Ukrainian government checkpoint (hence the title), where it endured artillery barrages from both side that fell short.

It was several days before staffers could return to feed and water the animals, but some habitats remained too dangerous to reach. The animals grew hungrier, which made the predators dangerous.

Anyone with an ounce of compassion for God’s creatures will be deeply disturbed and angered by animal suffering documented in Checkpoint. The sight of the emaciated and trembling moose is especially shocking. However, it is important to remember there is only one man to blame for their condition: Vladimir Putin.

Indeed, the film makes this point several times, even when the starving and terrified big cats lash out at their frustrated care-givers. Of course, the Russians did their best to make a bad situation worse, launching mortars at the ecopark whenever their drones spotted multiple vehicles at the Feldman facilities. Zeman and the sound design team also viscerally convey a sense of how the sounds of war terrify and disorient the animals, because of their heightened auditory senses.

Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, on Apple TV+

The Peanuts comic-strip premiered in 1950, but Charlie Brown and the gang have always been Gen X’ers at heart. Think about it: they stay outside all day long and they never have any adult supervision. That is why they love camp, except maybe Sally. She is like the Gen-Z’er of Peanuts, who would rather stay home watching TV. Just for the record, this is not Camp Remote from Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. This is Cloverhill Ranch, where everyone feels welcome, even a blockhead like Charlie Brown. He is excited to introduce Sally to the camp’s activities, but it turns out this might be the last hurrah in Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, directed by Eric Wiese, which premiers this Friday on Apple TV+.

Of course, the Peanuts kids can sing. They had their own hit Off-Broadway musical, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Group singing also happens to be a very camp thing to do. Frankly, Charlie Brown enjoys everything about Cloverhill, which seems very un-Charlie Brown, but the recent Apple TV+ specials have cut Chuck a lot of breaks. It is sort of nice, because we all love the character, but it still feels sort of wrong, because it breaks with the tradition established by Charles Schulz.

Regardless, Cloverhill is his happy place, but Charlie Brown cannot help noticing there have been fewer and fewer campers every year. Yet, he initially focuses on convincing Sally to be less of a miserable Gen Z wet blanket, while Snoopy and Woodstock commence a treasure hunt using the map they accidentally unearthed. Unfortunately, just as he starts to make progress with Sally, the invisible adults announce this will be Cloverhill’s final season. How can the Peanuts gang save the camp? This is a musical, so that should be your first clue.

In fact, this happens to be a pretty solid musical. It isn’t quite Good Man, but it features two pleasingly melodic and memorable tuns penned by Ben Folds. “When We were Light” is a standout that measures up to anything you can currently hear on Broadway, while “Look Up, Charlie Brown” has a really nice musical theater dramatic arc. However, Foods’ best Peanuts tune remains the title song to Snoopy Presents: It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown, which should have won an Emmy (or even a Grammy).

RIFF ’25: Dream!

Santa Claus must prefer his St. Nick alter ego to an exclusionary extent, because he obviously overlooks children in countries that do not share the Christian tradition—or does he? A little Thai girl named Lek will learn the answer to that question, but it will take her nearly two and a half hours of screentime, as she journeys through eight provinces of Thailand in director-cinematographer Paul Spurrier’s Dream!, which screens today at the 2025 Rhode Island Film Festival.

After the tragic death of her first love, Lek’s mother found herself an unmarried mother, so she accepted Nin’s marriage proposal. In retrospect, that was a mistake, because the old abuse drunkard insists on drinking away any money she makes. When he raises his fist towards Lek, her mother dies protecting her. Wisely, escapes under the cover of night, carrying the only Christmas present she ever received: a one-legged hand-me-down doll, given to her by her school teacher.

For a vividly colorful movie-musical that takes clear audio and visual inspiration from Rogers-and-Hammerstein classics, Dream! veers into some surprisingly dark territory. As orphans go, Lek is especially piteous and vulnerable—and she isn’t even truly an orphan. Maybe she would be better off if she were. Nevertheless, as she treks through the strikingly scenic Thai countryside, her honesty teaches much needed lessons to many of the people she encounters.

For a while, the grotesquely entitled Namwaan “adopts” Lek as her first “friend,” but the younger girl shrewdly recognizes the spoiled princess really wants another servant. She later joins forces with a modern medicine man, until she discovers the truth of his snake oil scam.

In fact, Dream! is an incredible earnest musical fable deeply concerned with virtue and morality. However, the constant one-darned-thing-after-another rained down on poor little Lek starts to feel punishing, both for viewers and for her. Indeed, most audiences will emotionally invest in her, quickly and deeply. We and her just need more respite from the cruel travails of the world. The two-hour twenty-minute-plus running time will also challenge younger viewers.

Nevertheless, older patrons who share a nostalgia for the grand old movie-musical will appreciate the films bigness, starting with its throwback widescreen CinemaScope aspect-ratio. Mickey Wongsathapornpat’s score also sounds huge, in a show-stopper kind of way, but it could have used more intimate ballads for variety. However, the natural grandeur of the Thai landscape is often stunningly cinematic.

Ironically, genre film fans will recognize several cast-members, especially Vithaya Pansingarm, from A Prayer Before Dawn and Mechanic: Resurrection (among many others), who is both frighteningly nasty and sadly pathetic as abusive Nin. Many might also remember Sahajak Boonthanakit co-starring with Pansingarm in Mayhem! and Only God Forgives. This time around he plays a relatively good guy, Namwaan’s father, who appreciates Lek’s heartfelt decency, but maybe lacks the conviction to do something about it.

True War Stories, with Proceeds Going to Military Charities

Civilians often (rather insensitively) request war stories from veterans, but those who lived to tell them can be hesitant to do so, because they aren’t sure if they will truly be understood or appreciated. However, a fellow veteran comics writer like Khai Krumbhaar can relate to their experiences. She and Alex de Campi edited True War Stories, a graphic anthology of wartime experiences now available in tradepaper, the proceeds from which go to military charities, including the USO.

For the most part, the contributors wanted to tell stories that were meaningful to them, for personal and even idiosyncratic reasons, but they are not necessarily historical turning points. For instance, probably the two best tales are Krumbhaar’s “Rebels of Macadamia” and Matt Moores’ “Man Overboard,” because they illustrate the hyper-reality of war, but with a slyly dark sense of humor. Frankly, they remind me of the [maybe not-so] slightly off-color anecdotes I heard from my late Naval aviator father.

Fittingly, the Navy is represented in “Man Overboard,” which turns out to be the most ribald yarn of the lot—and dad would be so proud. Peter Krause’s art also nicely suits the characters’ hardnosed and rowdy attitudes.

Krumbhaar’s “Rebels of Macadamia” is the sort of story that shows how war warps the margins of reality, in comical and even macabre ways. It captures a hidden war within the war, waged by Krumbhaar and her army colleagues against the rats in one of Saddam former palaces. The winners would enjoy the white chocolate macadamia cookies they both coveted.

They stakes are considerably higher in Robert Kent’s “My Vietnam Story,” which is well-served by Dave Acosta’s gritty and powerful art. If you thought Krypto was heroic in Superman, wait to you see Maverick, a German shepherd service dog, who foils a potentially calamitous Viet Cong attack. “War stories” do not get much more “war” than this one.

Several contributions illustrate the dividends paid by rigorous and repetitive military training, such as Ian Eishen’s “Joint Team,” methodically chronicling the Navy SEALs tracking a kidnapped Filipino girl, running reconnaissance missions, and carefully planning the rescue operation to be conducted by the Filipino SEAL team, due to the diplomatic rules of engagement at that time. Likewise, Juan Vaca’s “OK” depicts the extraordinary discipline of Marine snipers, notably including the discipline sometimes required to hold fire.

There are three incredibly moving stories. Jerrod Alberich’s “Best Day, Worst Day” depicts the bonds of camaraderie and the fear of losing a brother after a surprise attack. It also gives some good PR to the WWE, who were at Camp Victory, Iraq to stage a performance (or whatever term they prefer) at the time of the mortar shelling.

Truthfully, active-duty Army officer Stephen Cady’s “Brothers” would (and should) make a terrific movie. After a harrowing deployment, seen in extensive flashbacks, Lt. Cady finds himself temporarily quartered on Bagram Air Force base as he awaits transit back to the States. In a twist of fate, the Marine half-brother he barely knows is also stationed there, so he somewhat reluctantly agrees to meet for their mother’s sake. That reunion stretches into seven of the most emotionally resonant pages of sequential graphic story-telling you will ever read in your life.

Site: Bad Karma Makes Dangerous Science

It's all about quantum physics. In this case, it’s quantum entanglement rather than time travel, until it maybe sort of becomes time travel, or maybe not. It is all very complicated, especially for an average working stiff building inspector. To make matters worse, he is a massive screw-up, but maybe that wasn’t his fault. Perhaps the blame should fall on karma or string theory, in director-screenwriter Jason Eric Perlman’s Site, which releases today in theaters and on VOD.

Neil Bardo (a name rife with Buddhist significance) was on the verge of patching things up with his estranged wife Elena and moving back in with her and their son Wiley. Then he went on a fateful inspection with his slimy boss, Garrison Vey. The local district wants to convert a weird abandoned lab into a school, but it needs a clean inspection report. Vey stands to make a lot of money in kickbacks if the sale goes through, so he needs Bardo to issue a rubber stamp.

However, the property is very strange. There is a bunch of bizarre equipment that they naturally fire up. It has a strange effect on Bardo, giving him disturbing visions of a Japanese military lab in wartime Manchuria and warps his sense of time. Bardo suspects Vey had similar experiences, but the corrupt dirtbag denies it. Unfortunately, Bardo continues having vivid hallucinations. As a result, he crashes his motorcycle, potentially blinding Wiley for life. Obviously, the “site” should not pass inspection, but Vey uses every point of leverage, including Wiley’s future.

It soon becomes clear Bardo’s visions originate in the notorious Unit 731, where the Imperial Japanese conducted truly horrific experiments on prisoners. Using such a notorious site of real-life horror in a science fiction film conceived for entertainment purposes is a risky proposition. There is an a priori question of taste, but there was clearly an effort to depict Unit 731 with due sensitivity. Like it or not, the notion that the Macguffin experiment might focus on the facility because there were no survivors, also makes a certain degree of grim logical sense.

Perlman’s underlying concept, essentially that quantum entanglement, generational trauma, and karma are all more or less the same thing, is rather intriguing—and he develops this idea well. However, there is an awful lot that gets glossed over during the climax and denouement. It also strains credibility that anyone would ever trust Vey, especially Bardo’s wife.

Nevertheless, Theo Rossi is spectacularly sleazy as Vey. Jake McLaughlin and Miki Ishikawa have nice chemistry as Neil Bardo and Naomi Uchida, a journalist helping him investigate the site, who also happens to be his college ex. Arielle Kebbel does what she can in the role of Elena Bardo, but Perlman saddles her character with conspicuously dubious judgement.

TURA! The Exploitation Icon

She once had the drop on Napoleon Solo in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but she became beloved for giving significantly harsher treatment to far rougher customers. Tura Satana was Varla, the deadly femme-fatale go-go dancer in Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill, Kill!, a title with a lot of punctuation. There was even more violence. Dismissed as exploitation at the time, it is now considered a subversive feminist cult classic. Even total squares might recognize that cat suit (see below). Regardless, she had an army of fans, whose size and passion even surprised her. Cody Jarrett chronicles her mysterious life and flamboyant films in TURA!, which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Faster Pussycat was a chaotic tale of sin and payback. Unbeknownst to fans, it resonated with Satana’s own personal history. While merely nine years of age, she suffered a vicious sexual gang assault. Her attackers did not expect her to survive, but she did. However, instead of convicting her assailants, the court sent her to reform school, labeling her a slanderer. It is was an appalling turn of events, but it was only the beginning of her story. While the attack is documented, Satana and her family made unverifiable claims that she later tracked down the guilty, extracting her very painful vengeance.

Initially, Satana gained fame as a burlesque dancer, before it involved full stripping. Dubbed “Miss Japan Beautiful” by Japanese diplomats, Satana had “relations” of one kind or another with many big stars, reportedly including Tony Curtis, Tony Bennett, and even Elvis Presley. Being on the scene naturally led to film and TV work, including both the Man and the Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Yet, cult movie fans will always know and love her for Russ Meyer’s Faster Pussycat and Ted V. Mikels’ The Astro-Zombies and The Doll Squad.

Jarrett, who directed Satana in Sugar Boxx, talks extensively with her daughters and burlesque colleagues, while also incorporating a good deal of footage of the late Meyer and Mikels. Yet, even her family was surprised by some revelations, like DNA tests that proved their late mother wasn’t even Japanese, but primarily Chinese and Filipino. Nevertheless, she embraced her supposed Japanese identity, even during the immediate post-war years.

Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy

France just rewarded the mass murderers guilty of the 10/7 atrocities by officially recognizing the territory governed by the responsible terrorist organization. That should be shocking, but antisemitism is baked into French history. Over a century later, French antisemites are still trying to frame Alfred Dreyfus for treason. Sadly, the case remains timely, but Roman Polanski might be a flawed candidate to bring his story to the big screen (since he is a literally a fugitive from justice). Nevertheless, he is the filmmaker who collaborated with author Robert Harris, to adapt his fact-based novel. The result happens to be Polanski’s best film in years, which deserves consideration regardless of your judgement of the director. “Long awaited” by some, An Officer and a Spy (a.k.a. J’accuse), finally opens (after six years) this Friday in New York at Film Forum.

The film starts with the infamous “degrading” of Captain Dreyfus after his treason conviction, including the breaking of his saber. Col. Marie-Georges Picquart played a small, behind-the-scenes part in his conviction, which troubles him not, since he assumes Dreyfus is guilty. Shortly thereafter, he is appointed to lead the contemporary equivalent of military intelligence. In this new position, he soon learns the irregularities in the Dreyfus case were deliberately and dubiously irregular.

While investigating another potential traitor, Maj. Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, Dreyfus uncovers evidence that suggests his new suspect was in fact guilty of the crimes for which Dreyfus was convicted. However, his superiors in the army and the War Department close ranks, preferring a traitor like Esterhazy to remain free rather than admit Dreyfus’s innocence. Picquart refuses to lie, but he always follows orders, so the generals assign him to a whirlwind of dangerous foreign postings. Nevertheless, during a rare homecoming, Picquart consulted with Dreyfus’s defenders, including Emile Zola, who pens the explosive “J’Accuse” indictment.

At this point, French society cleaves in half, while both Picquart and Zola face criminal charges. In some ways, An Officer and a Spy plays like a late 19^th Century variant on paranoid 1970s political corruption thrillers, which makes sense, because that was largely Harris’s concept for the source novel. Indeed, he had plenty of historical material to work with, including assassination attempts and duels. Yet, it also a masterful mood piece, wherein Polanski captures the stuffy social restraint and suffocating hypocrisy of fin de siècle France.

Dreyfus himself only appears intermittently, mostly at the beginning and the end. Nevertheless, Louis Garrel’s performance is quite extraordinary. Harris and Polanski mostly concern themselves with Picquart’s campaign to expose the unjust conspiracy instead of the man who was their target, sort of like Kevin Costner in JFK, except the events of this film really did happen.

Jean Dujardin also disappears into the role of cerebral Picquart. (At times, he looks more like Gilles Lellouche.) Regardless, it is an unusually anti-heroic performance, despite Picquart’s typically heroic activities, like chasing assassins and clearing the name of an innocent man. Dujardin’s portrayal of the Colonel is deliberately hard to embrace (especially given his early anti-Jewish prejudice), but he conveys his intelligence and integrity, while staying consistent with the prevailing attitudes of his time.

Star People: Chasing the Phoenix Lights

Arizonans used to be the most reasonable, down-to-Earth people in the country, regularly electing smart representatives, like Barry Goldwater, John McCain, and Kyrsten Synema. It seems like a lot of them have gotten a little flaky lately, on both sides of the aisle. Blame the Phoenix Lights. Maybe folks have been abducted and podded, but probably not. Regardless, a UFO-chasing photographer also needs the Phoenix Lights to make sense of her life in director-screenwriter Adam Finberg’s Star People, which opens Friday in Los Angeles.

Way back during their foster family years, Claire thought she saw “something” during a moment of extreme domestic drama. Since then, she has literally chased those lights. Meanwhile, her brother Taylor binged drugs and alcohol, while pretending to be a rock drummer. Unfortunately, Claire must take custody of her recently hospitalized and newly evicted sibling, just when she is scheduled to investigate the most promising sighting yet. It also happens to be the hottest week of the year, so she reluctantly takes him with her.

His surly presence less-than-thrills Justin, her live-streaming sort-of boyfriend. Still, her truck, her rules. Their source is a sketchy border-patrolling militia, who insist the Lights are really just cartel drones. They are a little intense, which is why Justin opposes sharing their cabin with Ricardo and his daughter Gabby, two Ecuadoreans who were dumped in the desert to die by their coyote traffickers. Frankly, he knew there was a good chance that could happen, but he came anyway—presumably because of Chavist-narco violence in his home country.

Star People is almost, but ever so slightly not quite, redeemed by the three featured performances of Kat Cunning, McCabe Slye, and Eddie Martinez, as Claire, Taylor, and Ricardo. The sibling dynamics between Claire and Taylor are brutally honest and acutely believable. By the same token, the dignity and restraint of Martinez’s performance should have been sufficient to make Finberg’s points. Instead, the dialogue and screenplay often could pass for an MSNBC special report of Trump’s illegal immigration enforcement.

Shaman: Missionary Horror

According to this film, Christian missionary work is tantamount to a deadly sin. Candice and her family came to Ecuador to provide food, teach English, and share the faith that has provided them inspiration and sustenance. Evidently, this is evil, in a “white savior” kind of way, so they will pay, horrifically, in Antonio Negret’s Shaman, which releases this Friday in theaters and on digital.

Frankly, Candice’s faith is fairly well earned at this point. From her perspective, it was thanks to God’s blessings that her husband Joel overcame his severe drug addiction. Their faith and gratitude led them to their current missionary postings at the foot of the Andes, but their son punky Elliot is less than thrilled with the arrangement. Nevertheless, their faith has been rewarded with yet another baptism as the film opens. Of course, that bores Elliot, so he wanders into a cave, where he awakens the ancient evil spirit, Supay.

After a long search, Candice retrieves the half-catatonic Elliot from the local Shaman’s dugout. His behavior changes drastically during the following days. At first, they suspect the Shaman dosed him with mind-altering substances, but eventually Father Meyer agrees to conduct an unsanctioned exorcism. The priest is a good man, but his faith has wavered, which is less than optimal for demon-dispelling, especially when the old, old-timers keep making ominous statements like: “your God has no power here.”

Honestly, the approach of director Antonio Negret and screenwriter Daniel Negret is so heavy-handed, it might leave fingerprints on your eyeballs. Obviously, they consider missionary outreach an original sin that demands retribution.

It is a shame, because the clash of cultures and beliefs could have provided an intriguing backdrop for a fusion of folk horror and demonic possession horror. (After all, Father Merrin managed to fight demons in Kenya throughout Dominion: The Prequel to the Exorcist.) In this case the Negrets also give their most compelling character, Father Meyer, decidedly shabby treatment.

Sketch, from Angel Studios

Experts say children should express their emotions, but not in the case of this little girl. It would be a lot safer for Amber Wyatt and everyone around her if she just kept her feelings bottled up, like the rest of us grown-ups over thirty. Unfortunately, her therapeutic notebook filled with fantastical monster drawings undergoes a massively disruptive magical transformation in director-screenwriter-editor Seth Worley’s Sketch, which opens tomorrow in theaters.

Wyatt still openly grieves her recently deceased mother, but her father Taylor and slightly older brother Jack believe they must put on a brave face, for her sake. It hardly helps that her realtor Aunt Liz has Taylor sterilizing the house of all family remnants, to facilitate its sale. Initially, the school counselor was somewhat alarmed by her sketchbook, especially considering the monsters usually torment her obnoxious classmate Bowman Lynch, but everyone understands he is a total brat, who probably has it coming.

Through an unfortunate chain of events, Wyatt’s notebook accidentally winds up in the enchanted pond behind their house. As a result, all her outlandish creatures come to life, in all their crayon, marker, and charcoal-rendered glory. Jack knows that pond even better than Amber, since it cured his hand and fixed his phone, which gives him a bad idea that he knows might be wrong, but he just cannot shake it. Regardless, he must focus on keeping his sister alive when her creations attack their school bus.

Worley invests Sketch with a DIY charm that faithfully reproduces the childlike colors and textures of Wyatt’s sketchbook, while still looking distinctly cinematic on-screen. Those monsters were a tricky ask, but the effects and design teams really pulled it off.

Indeed, the surefooted Worley nicely tweaked all the film’s balances. Despite the heavy emotional themes, the film never feels cloying or overly sentimental. Indeed, he much more adroitly fuses the fantastical elements with heavy themes of family grief and healing than maudlin A Monster Calls or I Kill Giants.

The cast also generally hit the right notes. Kue Lawrence is appealingly earnest and down to earth as Jack Wyatt, while Bianca Belle is keenly sensitive, sometimes to the point of neurotic distress, to a very believably human extent, as little Amber. Kalon Cox is appropriately annoying, in a non-shticky kind of way, as Lynch.

Clown in a Cornfield, on Shudder

This is slasher horror, but it obviously brings to mind some of Stephen King’s greatest hits. Think of it as Children of the Corn, with Pennywise’s makeup and wardrobe. Obnoxious, entitled teens had better beware in Eli Craig’s Clown in a Cornfield, based on Adam Cesare’s novel, which premieres this Friday on Shudder.

After her mother’s tragic death, Quinn Maybrook’s father, Dr. Glenn, relocated to quiet Kettle Springs, MO, despite her reservations. She quickly falls in with the cool kids, but ironically Cole Hill and his pals are pariahs amongst Kettle Springs adults. Awkwardly, they were trespassing in the local factory, filming one of their smartphone horror movies on the very night the town’s main source of employment burned to the ground. Technically, they were cleared by the investigation, but everyone rendered unemployed still blames them.

One of their favorite subjects is Frendo the Clown, who was like the Mr. Peanut of Baypen Corn Syrup, which wasformerly manufactured at the now destroyed factory. Periodically, slasher killers have hacked up Kettle Springs teenagers while dressed as Frendo, as viewers witnessed during the 1991 prologue. Clearly, someone has revived the tradition, specifically with the intent of targeting Hill’s cronies. Inconveniently, for the Maybrooks, that now includes Quinn.

Craig and co-screenwriter Carter Blanchard deftly split the difference between knowing irony and faithful reverence for the old school slasher genre. Craig and company spare us the constant stream of hipster commentary. Yet, a sly sense of humor peaks through, from time to time, as when the Gen Z kids panic when confronting the mysteries of rotary phones and stick shift cars.

Katie Douglas and Carson MacCormac bring a lot of energy to the film and develop decent rapport as Maybrook and Hill. However, Aaron Abrams really elevates the film as Dr. Maybrook, who is unusually resourceful and relatable for a horror movie parent.