The First Season Box set

Some television shows are cool, some are interesting, some are gruesome, some are scary and some are funny but then there are those that are all of the above and just plain awesome. Dexter is one of them!

Dexter isn’t your average fellow, he’s a serial killer...who kills serial killers. Emotionally detached and obsessed with collecting blood samples of his victims he works as forensic scientist in the department of blood analysis, this allows him the unique position of finding fresh subjects, people he can off without too much fear of discovery. That is until another serial killer comes into the scene who seems to have a thing for Dexter and his dark ways, the new guys M.O. of draining his victims’ bodies of all blood and using an ice truck to both contain and transport them peaks Dexters interest and it’s not long before a twisted game of cat and mouse is afoot between two very smart, very devious serial killers is on.

Nowadays it’s difficult to find anything that’s original or worth watching but Dexter is both in spades, the acting is nothing short of kickass, Michael C. Hall plays the intriguing (and rather handsome) Dexter with all the emotionless charisma (a paradox if ever there was one) that was required for the role, a serial killer that we can be invested in, dare I say he’s up there with Hannibal Lector? Quite possibly! Now that’s an honor.

For a movie about a serial killer the gore is rather held back a welcome surprise because there are so many moments when they could throw buckets of blood and guts into our laps, though it’s not totally unused, I simply mean the red stuff is saved to be used at the most opportune moment and believe me when I say the walls are literally painted with blood by the end.

Onto the DVD side of things, the box set contains all twelve episodes in widescreen but other than that there is very little to talk about, I was hoping for a jam packed DVD release but sadly we get only a single audio commentary for the finale by the director and various other crew members and Michael C. Hall isn’t even one of them, which is a shame because this show deserves so much more.

Still, the sets worth buying for the show alone but don’t be surprised when a bigger, better box set is released with more supplementary material then drops of blood in Dexters collection.

THE SHOW 4.5 out of 5
THE DVDs 0.5 out of 5

Posted by dannyp at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eye of the Beast

From the "How Did My Career End Up This Way?" Series,

or the Sci-Fi Channel Maneater Series

So I'm James Van Der Beek. I'm sitting in my trailer during the filming of the Sci-Fi Channel movie Eye of the Beast. Or more accurately, I'm crouching with my head buried in my hands, muttering to myself, "I'm Dawson. I'm Dawson. I'm not in a Maneater movie. I'm back on the WB with Katie Holmes sneaking through my bedroom window. I'M DAWSON, DAMMIT!"

So I'm Phil Fasso and I just sat through Eye of the Beast. And I'm wondering if the, ahem, "creative" forces at Sci-Fi know their output isn't up to the standards of a 2nd grade school play, or if they're so far deluded they tell themselves, "Yeah, this is gooooood." What other reaction could I have, considering that in the opening scene, the lake monster feels up teenage girl while she's making out with her boyfriend? Yes, you read that right. I can't make this stuff up. And it only gets worse from there.

After that moonlight opener, we meet the sheriff/fishery department/undefined role cutie who portrays the equivalent of the town cop. She jogs to her office, where the murdered girl's brother meets her to discuss his missing sister. Enter Van Der Beek as a scientist sent from NORA to research why the fishing's taken a bad turn. The captain and his crew that are hired to take him out instantly dislike him and treat him with palpable disdain. When they discover pieces of a boat and the dying boyfriend from the opening scene, the debate about whether a giant squid exists begins.

None of this is entertaining. In fact, it suffers from the same problems of every other Sci-Fi movie I've seen. The acting ranges from wooden to amateurish to absolutely terrible,. With the exception of Van Der Beek's Dan Leland and the female lead, Kat, these characters are so thoroughly dislikeable that I wanted to see them end up swallowed by a lake monster. The script has so many holes, I'm convinced it's a first draft. A few of them: Dan's there to help the fishermen, yet they hate him on sight; Dan has committed some sort of wrong in his early career, but it's never mentioned what; the town is reluctant to believe a monster squid is the cause of its problems, but once the boat's captain brings a huge tentacle to the town bar, they're all giddy to buy into it; townsfolk who have hated each other for generations suddenly work together happily at the drop of a dime. The score is an insult to the great John Williams, as it rips off some of the minor themes of Jaws shamelessly. The monster certainly doesn't help. A mixture of CGI and practical effects, neither of which look believable or anything in the neighborhood of scary, its on screen time is thankfully brief. The only thing that distinguishes this dreck from any other poorly made Sci-Fi movie is a blatant stream of racism. The dialogue between the white seafarers and their equally prejudiced Indian counterparts is poorly handled and appallingly unacceptable.

The only redeeming thing in the entire movie is Van Der Beek. He acquits himself nicely as the attractive young man who's trying to save a town's people even if they don't really want him there, or if his bosses refuse to believe him. Though no Robert De Niro, he's not a terrible actor, as he brings just the right hints of emotion to the role. Though I'm sure those, ahem, "creative" forces hired him more for his looks than for his acting, After all, he is Dawson.

Eye of the Beast has absolutely no extras, except a trailer for the Man Eater series that starts automatically with the disc. But it does sport some interesting cover art. which portrays an octopus almost fully out of the water, crushing a bloodied fisherman in a tentacle. The art belies the actual movie, as there's very little blood, the monster only appears above water once, and it's not an octopus. It's a squid. The cover did, however, draw my 3-year old nephew, Little Al, to the disc as it sat on my floor. He grew quickly bored with the movie. Even more damning, he wasn't scared at all.

Having suffered through Eye of the Beast, I'm not expecting much more from the rest of the "How Did My Career End Up This Way?" series. I'm sure the other movies give home to poor acting, plots full of holes and monster that can't terrify a toddler. As for this movie specifically, I can only offer this: Remember, Van Der Beek. Deep breaths, and just keep repeating, "I'm Dawson. I'm Dawson. I'm Dawson."

--Phil Fasso

Eye It On Amazon.com!

Posted by fasso at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

American Zombie

About 12 years ago, I took a film studies course at Stony Brook University that focused on documentaries. I only took it because it filled a requirement for my English major. Going in, I figured it would be a boring course, in which I'd watch a number of thoroughly dull movies. It turned out it was actually a very interesting class, that taught me to be more analytical when I watched movies. So when I sat down to watch the mockumentary American Zombie, I thought of that class and watched the movie as if it were an actual doc.

And for the first 2/3 of the film, it functioned exactly like the docs I'd seen a dozen years back in that film studies class. The best of those docs had two things going for them: they followed interesting people, and through doing so put forth a powerful message. Even if the subject being documented was boring, per se, selling encyclopedias, interviews with a bunch of salesman at varying levels of success could make that world seem compelling and sad. Unfortunately, this "doc" focuses on four really boring high functioning "revenants" (which is a misnomer, as the word actually means "ghosts"). There's Ivan, the overweight Goth slacker who works at a convenience store and writes a zombie fanzine; Judy, who searches unsuccessfully for love as she assembles photo albums to document everything in her life; Joel, who leads ZAG, a pro-active zombies' rights group; and Lisa, an unhinged artist who makes string art as she tries to discover her human origins. All of these characters are outsiders; where is the football player, the model, the corporate executive? I applaud director Grace Lee for promoting the idea that those who return are outsiders; and in their new condition, they're farther outside than ever. But my God, could these four be any more dull? I would think if zombies existed, as this "doc" tells us they do, Lee could find four that were a little more edgy and exciting. Instead her subjects are the very definition of mundane. This cripples the film, as it did with a few of the docs I watched in that college course.

And what of the message? At first, that seems a little tangled. Lee appears in the doc as herself, and she's intent to show the world that zombies are victims, who deserve a fair shake at life. But filmmaker John Solomon, her co-director, seems more concerned with showing people that zombies are a threat; he's always looking for body parts in their refrigerators. These fears seem unfounded. True, the subjects are all more than a little weird, but they seem harmless to the point of meek. There's also a compelling theme of black holes, a perfect metaphor for the zombies' souls. Lee and Solomon should have followed through on that as their message, as it would have provided them with an intriguing focus.

And then, at the 2/3 mark, the message changes, and the whole documentary swerves off course, in both style and technique. Seeking entrance to Live Dead, a zombies-only festival, Lee and Solomon secure themselves limited access. The first two days commence in dreary fashion, with zombie hippies sharing in sing-alongs as if this were Woodstock. During the second night, things start to get all Blair Witchy, with shaky hand held camera work in night vision as some unknown force attacks the tent. The third day presents more mysteries, and that night the filmmakers capture something they consider shocking. From here, they try to wrap up the doc so they can present it to the public. Along the way, a few jolting turns occur, leading to a conclusion the film's first hour would never have suggested.

Herein lie a multitude of problems. First, the "shocking" footage the filmmakers capture doesn't really show anything shocking at all. How they come to the conclusion that something dangerous has happened is beyond me. Worse, the last 15 minutes clearly show that zombies are a threat to our safety and lives. As the whole first hour portrayed them as mundane and harmless, this sudden turn is preposterous; certainly Lee the character would not have edited her final product as such if the incidents in the last quarter hour had occurred. But the film's biggest sin is what its ultimate message becomes: The Outsider in Society Is Dangerous. The message is socially irresponsible, and odd coming from Lee, a minority female documentary filmmaker.

The DVD for American Zombie comes with a number of extras. What's labeled as a making of "documentary" is actually more correctly labeled a featurette. It's a poorly organized 7 minutes of behind the scenes interviews that offer an incoherent look at the movie's origins and production. Then there are two commentaries. On the first, Lee discusses the film with co-writer Rebecca Sonnenshine. Lee starts off talking about the film's genesis, involving Sonnenshine's dreams about being a zombie. The rest of the commentary functions as a nuts and bolts discussion of how and why the plot became what it was. The second contains comments from Lee and the four actors who played the doc's lead zombies. They hold a decent conversation about character motivation and provide some good anecdotes from the production, but it's a bit heavy with compliments for Lee and the genius of the film. These commentaries probably would have impressed me more had I enjoyed the movie itself. The film's trailer sells the first 2/3 of the film without giving any real indication of where it will eventually lead. There's also a PC Rom extra, but I can't figure out what exactly it does. The disc also offers trailers for a number of Cinema Libre Studio releases, none of which seem too enticing. Beware: over the menus play two mind numbingly annoying punk tunes from the film.

As a movie, American Zombie is dull, plodding and confused in its message. As a faux documentary, the film also fails. Though it holds to the conventions of true documentary filmmaking for the first 2/3, it falls apart at the end, and provides a very dangerous final message. As a zombie enthusiast, I say pass on this one. As a guy who fondly remembers just how a college course taught him to analyze film better, unfortunately I say the same.

--Phil Fasso

BUY IT AT AMAZON.COM!

Posted by fasso at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How to Make a Monster/Blood of Dracula

Any fan of older horror movies knows there are certain names in the industry that are synonymous with schlock. Roger Corman falls into this category. So does William Castle. And two more who certainly fit the bill are Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson, heads of American International Pictures. AIP put out scores of horror cheapies that contained a certain aesthetic value which made them perfect for teenagers who wanted to make out during a double feature. Though never intended to be high art, these pictures were generally fun, in a dumbed down sort of way. The other night I sat down to watch two of these, a double bill of How to Make a Monster and Blood of Dracula. Though my teenage years are long gone and my best girl wasn't around, I had a good time with each.

How to Make a Monster starts rather creatively. A hand writes the movie's title on an actor's mirror surrounded by lights. As the credits appear in the same style, the hand then draws the iconic image of a teenage werewolf. The movie then takes its audience to the back lot of American International Studios, where veteran makeup artist Pete Dumond and his dimwitted assistant Rivero are putting the final touches on the Werewolf. After Dumond crosses a studio full of pirates and deep sea divers, he returns to meet two studio heads from the new regime. The two have arrived to tell him that monster flicks are no long in vogue, and that he will be let go after this last film finishes production. Dumond decides to take some extreme measures to keep his job at the studio.

At first I had sympathy for Dumond. To the studio heads, firing him is strictly business, in a town where the bottom line is more important than the people who bust their backs to fulfill it. But to Dumond,, this is the equivalent of death. After 25 years creating make up effects for the studio, his entire way of life is suddenly gone, through no fault of his own, and he's devastated. The longer the movie goes, though, the less sympathetic he becomes. At first a pathetic victim, Dumond becomes an unhinged sociopath, and decides to turn the tables in murderous fashion. With the help of a hypnotizing reagent he manipulates his young actors to do his evil biddings, and gets blood on his own hands as well. Long involved in creating monsters, Pete Dumond has become one.

As the film nears its end, it becomes obvious that this is not just about his job. There's an eerie scene at his house when he invites the two actors and Rivero for a celebration. As he lights a series of candles, they illuminate all the masks he's created over his quarter century career. When one of the actors asks him, "What are these?" he answers, "My family. My children." Dumond lives in a fantasy world, where he must protect his children from the people who would harm them, where a human life has less worth than a rubber creature mask. Here is a man so far into the illusion of Hollywood, that he has lost any sense of reality.

Despite its dubious origins as a cheapie programmer, How to Make a Monster is actually a really well made horror flick. Sure, it asks the audience to take a ridiculous leap of faith regarding the hypnotizing reagent. But it's a leap worth taking. There's a change from black and white to color for the final two reels at Dumond's house that's not only a nice technical achievement, but makes for a sort of reverse Wizard of Oz effect, as there's no place quite as creepy as Dumond's home. I also enjoyed the dark irony that the killings bring bad press to the studio, which is soon to shut down; all that murderous effort, and Dumond is still going to lose his job. What most interested me about the film was how it employed the actual back lot of AIP studios, and their monsters from the I Was a Teenage monster series. This overlapping of reality and fiction reminded me of The New Nightmare and the Scream movies.. I wonder if Wes Craven had this movie in mind when he made those films 40 years later. Regardless, it's pretty "high concept" for an AIP movie.

Blood of Dracula is not quite as ambitious a movie, but offers up decent entertainment and an intriguing moral quandary. It starts off in a car, as Nancy's father and stepmother are taking her to a prep school. When she tries to crash the car as her father drives, it's obvious this is a troubled family. Mom has died, and Dad has married a new woman just six weeks later. When the parents dump her off, they're thrilled to be rid of her and the problems she represents; Nancy, however, is full of rage at the world. When the cool clique of girls challenges her, she passes the test. They initiate her into their secret club, but even the acceptance of new friends doesn't quell her anger. The movie takes a turn when Nancy goes to Miss Branding's science class. The teacher has been conducting work on rage and anger, but she says no one will take it seriously because she's a woman. To prove her hypothesis, she must find a girl who's full of anger, and use some ancient amulet to draw out the beast within. Now who would make a great candidate...

Blood of Dracula is a much better example of a typical, cheaply made programmer than How to Make a Monster. The acting is about what you'd expect, the plot meanders for a while before anything really horrific happens, and hypnotizing someone with an amulet is more supernatural, than scientific. But the film does tackle one important issue: a teacher's abuse of power. Nancy all too clearly seeks a mother figure, and Branding is all too willing to provide her with one, for her own nefarious ends. Branding uses Nancy as a lab rat, putting her in harm's way and forcing her to murder. She claims it's in the name of science, but it's unethical both on scientific and educational grounds. Her abuse of the student-teacher relationship is appalling, and a disgrace to the profession, no matter what she claims it will do for the betterment of man. This theme of abuse of power links the film to How to Make a Monster, as Dumond does the same thing with his trusting young actors.

Another link is the dreadful musical number in each film. Apparently, AIP figured having an attractive young male sing a song such as "You Gotta Have Ee-Ooo" was worth stopping the entire movie for. God bless Arkoff and Nicholson for trying to get the Elvis crowd to see their horror films, even if the songs have no place in them.

It's nice to see that Lionsgate has taken these two flicks and presented them just as they would have been seen in theatres 50 years ago: as a double bill. Both films are on one side of a disc, with a simple menu that allows one to choose between the two. I'm torn, however, on the issue of extras., as there are none. Lion's Gate offers nothing other than scene selection for each film. It'd be great to have some extras on here, like a few featurettes or a commentary on each. But I also perversely enjoy that there are no frills. Because if AIP were still around and putting its catalogue on DVD's, I have no doubt they would have saved a buck and put this disc out exactly like this.

I did find an extra for How to Make a Monster on Joe Dante's Trailers from Hell website, though. Dante has rallied together a bunch of his Hollywood friends at www.trailersfromhell.com to provide commentary for their favorite movie trailers. On the site, Rick Baker talks about the movie. As Baker's a makeup artist himself, it's great to hear his insight on a movie about a fellow special makeup guy gone mad. Baker also relates the compelling true story of Jack Pierce, Universal's ace who was one of the people responsible for putting the studio's classic monsters on the map. I highly recommend checking out the site; it's got a ton of old trailers, presented by a group of people who really love movies.

Sam Arkoff and James Nicholson are part of a tradition of schlock, where low budget cheapies made on the sly would hit the theatres just in time for a guy to take his best girl for a make out session. How to Create a Monster and parts of Blood of Dracula prove that sometimes these films could transcend their dubious origins and offer something to think about. Give How to Create a Monster the shot it's worth, and if you dig, stay for the second bill. Worse comes to worst, there's always a make out session waiting to happen.

--Phil Fasso

BUY IT AT AMAZON.COM!

Posted by fasso at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)