Film Review--Role Models

Role Models
directed by David Wain
written by Paul Rudd, David Wain, Ken Marino, Timothy Dawling
starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Jane Lynch, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb’e J. Thompson, Elizabeth Banks, Ken Jeong, Ken Marino, Kerri Kenney, Nicole Randall Johnson



Ah, kids. They bring out the best and worst in us, don’t they? With their big, open eyes and claws they are ready to pounce at any given moment. In this film, two unlucky bastards are forced by law to take an interest in a child who has been deemed difficult enough to warrant some extra added attention.

Danny Donahue (Rudd) bitches about not being anywhere in life and how much he hates his job. He’s angry at everyone and takes it out in little ways like the poor woman at the café with whom he argued about the legitimacy of the term “venti”. He’s 35 and unmarried although he’s been seeing Beth (Banks) for seven years and thinks about settling down with her. He’s in a rut and everything seems to be spiraling downhill. Wheeler (Scott) on the other hand loves life. He loves his job, he loves having sex with available women, he doesn’t worry about anything.

Everything is going along the same as it every was. The pair are driving the Minotaur truck around to various schools to teach the kids about the joys of power beverages and staying off of drugs. Finally Danny snaps and warbles something into the microphone about how drugs are fun and energy drinks are poison. Then they go outside and their truck is being towed. In the spirit of taking back his life, Danny jumps into the truck and manages to break away only to run up the side of a horse statue in front of the school. They are charged with several counts and threatened with jail. Beth is a bigwig lawyer and she gets them another deal. 150 hours serving time at Sturdy Wings.

The idea of this film is rather ingenious. Force two guys with absolutely no parental instincts into situations where they will have to react to those charming little things kids do to so unnerve adults who mostly want to flee. Danny gets Augie Farks (Mintz-Plasse), a kid with a decided passion for a live action role playing game with great costumes, music and tournaments where they slay each other and blather on about goddesses and knighthoods. Augie is really good at it and is only at Sturdy Wings because his dad seems to think it’s a bit queer to prance about wearing a cape.
Wheeler’s charge is foul-mouthed Ronnie Shields ( Thompson), an eight year old motor mouth who has wearied nearly a dozen previous attempts to corral him. He’s hard on Wheeler and seems to be acting out because his dead-beat dad jumped ship leaving him in the care of his hard-working mother Karen (Johnson).

So, the experimental journey commences. The two men eventually bond with their “littles” and eventually everyone learns a valuable lesson about responsibility and trust. Indeed, the grand bang final sequences allow for a massive group hug that threatens to choke the life out of everyone involved.

The great Jane Lynch has a truly manic turn as the hard scrabbled Gayle Sweeny, who runs Sturdy Wings. Gayle is perfectly open with her less than illustrious past where she was a drug fiend who occasionally performed various unique and challenging services for money. Lynch gets all the best lines which seem to center around certain perversities that make up Gayle’s character. Gayle is no-nonsense, paranoid, and fiercely protective of both the children and the integrity of her organization. She is the hard wall that the two men must climb lest they tumble hard and end up on the receiving end of some not so nice intimations by various tops in the slammer.

One of the themes in this film is the necessity of finding a plan and sticking with it. Danny is a man who has floundered causing him to lose Beth and any sense of purpose he may have at one time possessed. He’s grinding in place, unsure of himself or his place in the world. He is clearly unable to decide on a direct course for himself and it has turned him bitter and unwilling to participate openly with the world. Wheeler is perfectly content with his dissolute lifestyle and seems at ease with what he has become. He takes life as it is and enjoys his pleasures as he finds them.

The film combines some gentle, bawdy humor with a fast pace that is easily digestible as pure entertainment. There are messages in this film but they don’t overpower the narrative which provides the characters with room to express themselves and actualize specific aspects of their personalities that many have been left unattended to previously. The characters are genuinely likable and what they do matters in the end. This is the work of the writers and the cast who have come together to create a work that is strangely wholesome despite the prevalence of swear words mostly ricocheting off the tongue of Ronnie.

The performances in this film are all quite effective in conveying the mood and tone of the picture. Paul Rudd is certainly one of the most affable actors working in Hollywood today. He generates a tremendous amount of sympathy for each of his characters and this role is no different. Danny is troubled initially and Rudd conveys this turmoil effortlessly. His performance assures that the audience will be rooting for Danny to solve something for himself and return some balance to his life. Seann William Scott projects an engaging charisma for the duration of this film. He conveys a character that is immensely likable because he seems to always get precisely what he wants and that’s always a desirable trait for any audience to consider. As mentioned Jane Lynch is pitch perfect playing a very strange woman who somehow managed to start a business hawking strange underlings to strangers. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is in danger of being typecast as the supernerd whose actually supercool in a most dramatic and appealing fashion. Augie is one of those characters that it is impossible not to like. His evolution is one of the film’s salient aspects and it’s a great joy to watch him finally realize himself in a somewhat profound way. Bobb’e J. Thompson is pure nirvana in this film. He’s slick, agitated, and genuinely funny with just about every step he takes. Ronnie is so smart and alert in this film and he represents so many similar children who truly need role models in their lives to teach them a thing or two about this living mess.

Overall, this film captures an essence of childhood that is often exploited but no so commonly treated with the concern and dare I say tenderness that is on display here. The premise of this film opens up a dialog about an exceedingly necessary aspect of contemporary culture. It is certainly awash with some temperamental foulness but for the most part this is a clean, well-produced work that manages to edify and entertain without becoming manipulative or cloying. The performances are all well-rounded and richly textured and the genuine feeling is upbeat and warm. Ultimately, this film engages the viewer from start to finish. There is not a dull moment in the entire thing and it truly does satisfy all the criteria one normally brings into such affairs as these.

Film Review--Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
written by Etan Cohen
starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada-Pinkett Smith, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, David Schwimmer, Andy Richter, Cedric the Entertainer, Sacha Baron-Cohen, Christopher Knights, Chris Miller, Sherri Shepherd

This sequel to the hit global sensation provides a bit more complexity, more color and even crisper animation as we learn more about the origins of Alex the Lion, the “King of New York”.

We learn immediately that Alex as a cub was stolen from his parents Zuma (Mac) and Florrie (Shepherd). He is crated but falls into the ocean and winds up in New York where he becomes the all-dancing, half-crazed sensation that wowed New Yorkers out on a stroll through the Central Park Zoo with their tots in tow. The story flash forwards to where the gang were left in the previous installment. Only they’ve somehow managed to commandeer an air plane and are about to transport themselves back home. Of course everything goes horribly awry and they crash land in the plains of Africa.

Now, Africa is a funky place for our fine friends. First there is its impossible vastness. It’s open in a terrifying way to those who are used primarily to being closed in and codified. Secondly, they discover large herds of animals just like themselves and this throws them off considerably. They have no memories of such behavior and it takes them a considerable amount of time to adjust to the possibilities. Marty the Zebra (Rock) is the first to forge ahead and soon finds himself running in a wild herd of his own kind. He absorbs the experience but soon is waylaid when he discovers that he might not be any different from the rest of them. This realization depresses Marty especially after Alex confuses another zebra for him.

This film is all about connecting with one’s roots and it seems to promote the idea that Africa is the cradle of civilization. Alex is reunited with his parents but is forced to take part in an initiation ceremony that goes askew when he mistakes it for a dancing competition. His father, the Alpha lion is forced to give up his position to the scheming Makunga (Baldwin) who takes over the mantle and quickly loses the allegiance of the other lions.

There are several tender scenes scattered throughout this film. Particularly moving is the scene when Florrie first recognizes Alex and he is brought back into the fold. There is something powerful about such images as they resonate throughout humanity across all boundaries of space and time. There is also a really strong sense of order and purpose in this film. The animals that are discovered in Africa follow their natural imperative and prey on the weak as a matter of course although there is naturally none of that shown here. One wouldn’t want to utterly terrify the toddlers teething merrily with Mom and Dad. Still, this idea exists and it poses a vibrant contrast between the captive animals and those who have remained in the wild.

Julien the King of the Lemurs (Baron-Cohen) proves that power can be transferred at will because there are always going to be subjects who demand to be led and conquered. He has no problems adjusting to the new scene and makes his way charmingly about as if nothing had changed. He seeks power and realizes it on the backs of anyone in search of a master. His natural leading capabilities work just as well on other creatures as they do on the lemurs who seem sycophantic and weak in comparison.

This story features humans where they were essentially missing at the first one showing up primarily at the zoo and Grand Central Station. In this one we confront a great number of tourists who are forced to fend for themselves and build a little society in the heart of the jungle. They are a rather sour lot, especially the old witch Nana who beat Alex down during the first film and gives him a double dose in this one. She is another born leader who doesn’t fret about her circumstances and blithely goes about the business of reestablishing order. She and Julien are kindred spirits because they both rise to the top during the toughest of times. Nana is a feisty old lady with a big whooping stick and she demonstrates the ability of human kind to adapt to the most unforgiving of terrains.

As with the first one, the voices all add a definitive quality to the production and the characters are rendered with great care and affection. The addition of Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin and Sherri Shepherd round out the color and variations created in the first film. Chris Rock is still flying high giving a dose of pure adrenaline to his character and his work here reverberates throughout the picture. As with the first one Sacha Baron Cohen is explosive and unpredictable providing the voice of one of the more infectious animated characters of recent vintage.

Overall, this film jacks up the tempo of the first one and provides for a more engaging and thoughtful journey of self discovery. The characters are all vivid and their individual stories are fascinating and riveting. There are all kinds of messages in this film ranging from the importance of sacrifice to the necessity of individual freedom in the face of the annihilating tyranny of group think. Ultimately, it’s a satisfying film with enough depth to challenge the imagination of film goers and enough fun and excitement to keep the children wildly entertained up to their ears.

Film Review--Madagascar

Madagascar
directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
written by Mark Burton, Billy Frolick, Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada-Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Andy Richter, Cedric the Entertainer, Sacha Baron-Cohen, Christopher Knights, Chris Miller



Ah, another animated quasi-heroic adventure aimed squarely between the eyes of the unwitting wee ones. This is a mildly entertaining, occasionally amusing tale that seems to be about the importance of keeping a fine balance between one’s instincts and social obligations.

Alex the Lion (Stiller) has had bestowed upon him the title “The King of New York” by the tenders to the Central Park Zoo where he performs for goo-gawed humans. His friends are Marty the Zebra (Rock), Melman the Giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Pinkett-Smith). Together they are a salty bunch until Marty hears the clarion call of adventure and gallops his striped ass out of there causing the others to hurl their oddly shaped bodies after him. What follows is a wacky adventure that eventually winds up in Madagascar where Julien the King of the Lemurs holds court.

Alex is the gruff, serious sort who just wants to be back in New York sucking down steaks. He hates the island and everything on it and is just counting the minutes until he is to be rescued. The rest are having a gay old time and turn the experience into a celebration. They are free and Alex is terrified of being a castaway in a foreign place that is unpredictable and possibly unsafe. So, our friends discover great things on their journey and the film is all about the clash between democracy and the deification of the ruler. Julien is the head of a mass of lemurs who worship him as if he were a god. They are incapable of ruling themselves. The larger animals represent an openness and a general acceptance of difference which the lemur cult does not possess.

We have a lion and a hippo who should by all rights be eating the zebra and the giraffe yet queerly they are all friends. Their natural instincts have been diluted so much by captivity that they do not even know how they are supposed to behave in the wild. The law of nature where the strong prey on the weak is lost to them. They are civilized beasts and thereby interested only in diplomacy. That is until Alex discovers his true nature due to hunger and nearly makes the zebra his lunch. It’s the only flash of truth in the whole film as we are supposed to accept that these four disparate animals could ever avoid taking each other out if the opportunity struck although the giraffe wouldn’t stand a chance in direct combat.

Alex is a showman. He’s a song and dance lion who wows the crowds with his wacky antics. He is completely divorced from his homeland and who his family was. Perhaps this is a commentary on Americans who have become so entrenched in the soil of this country that they are unaware of their true origins and hardly seem to care. The comforts of city life, the ease of commerce, and the sanctity of the cash machine are enough to keep people in line and apart from their instinctual selves. These animals represent peace and harmony between all types of humans, animals, space beings, and plants and insects with no war and no ugly mess of territorial pissing getting in the way of good fawking times.

There is an energy to this film and it is rather crisply filmed and the music keeps everything in high gear. It is essentially a good dose of fun for the kiddies and there are enough pop references to keep adults tuned in. The animation is delicately rendered and a tremendous amount of emotion is displayed on the faces of the many animals featured here. The texture of the film is not radically different from some earlier forays into this field but the overall effect lends itself to a magnificent vibrancy that is contagious and worthy of praise.

The performances in this film all add a quirky togetherness to the complexity of the film. Ben Stiller captures all the nuances of his character and provides him with a genuine tenacity that comes through in various inflections. Jada Pinkett-Smith brings us a saucy bitch with a calming nature on the proceedings. Gloria is the cooing, comforting mother who supports the others emotionally and practically. The real standout here is Sacha Baron-Cohen who creates a deliriously oddball megalomaniac with a real penchant for drama. Baron-Cohen’s strange, implacable accent comes from somewhere deep inside his teeming, unfettered brain and it’s a delight through and through. David Schwimmer immediately resonates as the deeply affected, yet strangely charismatic giraffe with a penchant for sticking his head in the sand. Chris Rock is truly dynamic here and one is reminded of everything great he has ever done to cement his position as one of the truly significant comedians of this or any age.

Overall, this is quirky, enchanting, and certainly worthy of the little ones brief attention spans. It’s cleverly conceived, the plot is easy to follow but not cloying, and there is enough color and excitement to keep them occupied for many subsequent viewings.

Film Review--Breakfast at Tiffany's

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
directed by Blake Edwards
written by George Axelrod
based on the novel by Truman Capote
starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Buddy Epson, Patricia Neal, Martin Balsam, José Luis de Villalonga, Alan Reed, Dorothy Whitney, Stanley Adams



Rarely does a screen romance comes across as so lovingly rendered as that between Holly Golightly (Hepburn) and Paul Varjak (Peppard) in this film. The story is pure agony. These two people clearly deserve each other but will they be able to settle things in time or is this one of those doomed affairs that break all hearts and leave audiences gasping?

It’s one of the most celebrated images in cinema. As the film opens Holly is stepping out of a cab right in front of Tiffany’s and Co. She has a little lunch whereupon she removes a pastry and a cup of coffee. She moves across the display windows munching and sipping away. This is her paradise and she claims it’s the only thing that cheers her up when she’s about to succumb to the “mean reds”–those moments when nothing seems right and you feel as if the world is about to collapse on your head. Holly Golightly is essentially a melancholy girl of the type who plaintively and mournfully sings “Moon River” with a ukelele on her window sill. She is a strange girl–moody, flighty, prone to fits. She is a flitting moth drawn to the flame against every fiber of her being. Yet she gives in and is swept away as if by magic. She is haunted by memories of the past, some of which have followed her to her chic New York socialite life. Yet she mainly chooses to forget because its easier and there is much less scarring that way.

Enter Mr. Varjak. Paul is a writer who hasn’t published anything in nearly a decade. He’s handsome, tall, and immaculate. He’s moved in upstairs to Holly and it’s as clear as anything that these two kids were made for each other. Of course the film makes us suffer the possibilities for its duration although it’s a colorful, exquisitely rendered wait. Holly is a social animal who insists on activity at all costs and propels herself forward oblivious to her impact on those around her. Yet she’s complex, seeming to be caught up in a dream that nevertheless threatens to shatter at every turn. She survives on her wiles and makes her living entertaining older wealthy gentleman who pay her handsomely for her time including $50 a shot to go to the powder room. Yet she’s mostly unsatisfied with these encounters and gleefully ditches her male friends leaving them confused and steaming. She also visits a Mob boss named Sally Tomato (Reed) at Sing Sing and unwittingly ferries secret drug information between Sally and a contact on the outside.

The score by Henry Mancini is evocative and exceedingly rich in tone and timbre. It adds a level of warmth to the film and underlines the romantic aspects of the film.

Holly is something of a gold digger and sets her sights on marrying a terribly rich man who can support her in her fancies and maintain her mainly superficial lifestyle. She wants luxury and glamour without having to do much of anything but pose in order to acquire it. She has reinvented herself to escape a past that finds her in the form of a man named Doc Golightly (Epsen) to whom she as a wild fourteen year old was once betrothed. He tracks her down and insists on bringing her back home with him but of course this is absolutely impossible. She sends him back to the farm determining that who she used to be is quite dead to her and the only alternative is to march forward with nary a glance backward.

But there is always Tiffany’s and dreams of exquisitely crafted diamonds and emeralds and that place she can get to where it all magically dissolves and she can merely be whatever she chooses to be at that given moment. Paul complicates everything and introduces her to real emotions that terrify her. She can’t bear to accept how she truly feels because she senses that it means she is being caged and controlled. Her happiness is predicated on the idea that she is free of all complications although what this really means is that she’s too scared to commit to anything. She rescued a stray cat and cannot even bring herself to give him a proper name and merely calls him “Cat”.

The film features rich interiors and a cast of brilliantly hued characters. There’s a manic party scene where we meet a number of eccentrics who bounce about Holly’s apartment, socializing in a mad circle of impossible energy that fuels her need for general excitement. We meet Rusty Trawler (Adams) who Holly claims is the ninth richest man in America. She plans on convincing him to marry her based entirely on his wealth and not because of any genuine attraction. There is Mag Wildwood (Whitney), a wickedly handsome diva who demands attention as she boisterously conveys this or that anecdote that seems to gall Holly ever-so-slightly. Cat jumps on a man’s shoulder, people bump into one another and Holly tries to ignore fiendishly wealthy José da Silva Pereira, a Brazilian who is pleased to finally have the opportunity to congregate with real American people. It’s quite the scene and Holly seems bewildered and exhausted when it finally comes to an end. As social as she is, it’s still somewhat burdensome to have to engage with people on any level whatsoever. She is simply a woman of great need who satisfies herself by standing politely and elegantly before the windows of a massive department store that houses unadulterated symbols of decadence and immense pleasure.

Then we have Holly’s landlord, Mr. Yunioshi (Rooney). Donning buck teeth and yellow face, this naked stereotype rings horrifically false and tarnishes the otherwise sweet and delicate storyline with its intrusions and general offensiveness. It’s no wonder that Asian-American advocacy groups find these scenes to be reprehensible. Even the producers wish they could go back and remove them from the film. They do nothing to propel the film forward and are essentially an embarrassment to finer sensibilities who find such antics to be beneath contempt.

This is a film of heightened longing where the audience begs for release from the sweet agony of watching these two star-crossed lovers careen and stumble into one another’s arms. In one charming sequence they decide to each do a series of things they had never done before. Paul had never stolen from a 5 and 10 so the pair decide to relinquish this inadequacy. They spend a good five minutes casually strolling about picking up loose items and attempting to thieve them using various ruses. Finally they hit on a pair of masks. Appropriately she chooses a cat and he a basset hound. They giddily leave the store and walk right past a police man who looks at them peculiarly. It’s the kind of scene that is consumed with rushing life and a tremendous energy; it is a celebration of daring, of joy, and it solidifies this pair’s bond as co-conspirators. For Paul is also a kept man who is paid to have sex with a woman known as 2-E (Neal).

2-E, also known by her proper name Emily Eustace Failenson, is a totemic figure who is also a bit terrifying. She is a married woman suffering an unsuccessful marriage and pays Paul huge sums for a bit of bitterly fought pleasure. She is quite a sad figure, strange and very dark around the eyes. There is something pent up inside her that threatens to be released at every turn. Yet she satisfies herself on Paul’s willing flesh and manages to convince herself that all is well.

Holly is highly sophisticated in how she presents herself to the world. She is impossibly elegant, stylish to a fault and succinctly aware of the nuances inherent in the games of social interaction. Perhaps she is too good at these games and longs to find more difficult and challenging games to play. More likely she yearns to settle back into herself and does not want to play any games at all. She’s confusing this way and difficult to pin down because of it. She’s not an intellectual and doesn’t pretend to be. She’s simply a girl with high class aspirations who can’t quite manage to still the young girl named Lula May Barnes who came to Doc from whom she escaped shortly after her marriage to him. Her great sadness is the plight of her brother Fred. She is totally devoted to him and worries after him now that he has joined the army. She insists on calling Paul Fred because she thinks that he reminds her of her brother.

The sexual politics of this film are vivid and exceedingly fascinating. It is not clear but it is suggested that Holly does a bit more than merely entertain rich men for money. Paul obviously beds 2-E for cash so both of them seem to have a highly mysterious not-so-secret life that hinges on their ability to play the kept bird for as long as it takes for the money to flow into their possession. Of course, Holly most likely doesn’t do any more than nod in agreement and smile when her suitors try to say something amusing. Still, it is not known precisely what she does on those occasions when she abandons the men and returns to her life.

There is a mournfulness about Holly. She’s a woman who is plagued by the inconsistencies of life. She remains elusive straight through to the end as we never really get a chance to know about the torments that she suffers when she casts her gaze outward and attempts to take in what she sees and hears. She wears everything on the surface and in doing so she cuts us off from getting any deeper of an understanding of what causes her to do the things that she does. This is the genius of Audrey Hepburn. She deliberately holds back from telling to much of the details as to what instigates certain feelings in the character. We get hints through facial gestures and posturing but are left to wonder about the precise causes of her basic dilemma. It proves none too important because this is a film about the intoxication about being with a woman like Holly Golightly. It is about being charmed out of your shoes and whirling about in a hypnotic trance that you never want to recover from. It’s about being positively beguiled by a delicacy that might be shattered if you don’t rush in to protect it from all harm.

The performances in this film all work considerably well to allow the story to unfurl at its natural pace. Of course there is Audrey. Rarely has grace and elegance been so exquisitely defined in cinema. She creates a memorable character who set a standard of style for so many women during this era. Rarely, has one performance inspired so much passion in those just dying to recapture the haughty glamour possessed so easily and readily by Ms. Hepburn. Patricia Neal is as mentioned portrays a grand, capable woman of tremendous intensity. She plays Paul’s “decorator” which is how he refers to her when he can’t bear to admit what she truly is. Neal has a genuine appeal that clearly translates on screen. George Peppard is exceedingly good at playing the casual Paul, a man of leisure with a legitimately languid demeanor that comes off in every frame.

Overall, this film is an enchanting tale of the vagaries of love and the risks involved whenever one dares to capture it. Holly Golightly is a mesmeric creature, an unwitting siren who has made a trade out of her elusiveness to men whom she is merely toying with for fun and profit. She’s spirited, consuming, and tantalizingly alluring. It’s difficult to say what it might mean if she were to settle down permanently with a man who truly adores her for some ineffable quality he reads into her every movement. Perhaps she will stray as she has proven herself to be rather impossible to catch. Ultimately, this film employs sharp dialog, clever plot lines and a brilliant cast to convey the message that individual pride is often waylaid in unexpected ways that take us by surprise.

Film Review--La Chiesa (The Church)

La Chiesa (The Church)
directed by Michele Soavi
written by Dario Argento, etc.
starring Asia Argento, Tomas Arana, Barbara Cupisti, Hugh Quarshie, Feodor Chaliapin Jr., Antonella Vitale, Roberto Corbiletto

The Knights Templar seem like a rowdy bunch of chaps. As this film opens we meet them as they aggressively make their way through a forest. They are being led to a young girl who has been proclaimed to be a daughter of Satan. She even has the cross carved in her heel to prove it. A young soldier (in God’s army no less) reaches out to caress her face and promptly squeezes out her eyeballs killing her instantly. Then after a brief period of reflection these great men decide that the entire village must pay and they proceed to slaughter every man, woman and child. These scenes are replete with life and energy and it’s rather intoxicating to watch the bodies pile up on top of one another in a massive pit. The priest or at least the old wise man with the spooky accent and the shuffling walk proclaims that the only way to protect the land from evil is to trap the souls beneath a massive church. Fast forward to present times. Indeed, a massive cathedral has been built and the parishioners all feel saved and safe within the confines of its walls. Only, there is something to yet be discovered that will alter everything and lead to a rather silly movie that has no genuine plot line worth following.

The two main protagonists in this film are named Evan (Arana) and Lisa (Cupisti). He is the new librarian and she paints grotesque frescos seeming because it’s a tremendous joy to watch sinners being eaten alive by demons when you are basking in the Lord’s eternal glow. Naturally they hook up and he finds a thread that leads him directly into Satan’s den. He is transformed into a could-be rapist who even has eyes for the lovely and quite young Lotte (Argento) who lives at the church with her Father Herman, the Sacristan (Corbiletto) and her mother (Alina De Simone). He’s just attempted to force himself on Lisa and he sees Lotte’s legs under the top of her desk. We are led to believe that he intends to take her but all he can do is to poke at her with a stick until she runs away. Still, he’s completely possessed by whatever it was escaped when he was snooping around in the basement pulling up a secret seal and unleashing untoward horrors on an unsuspecting world.

The church becomes quite active on a typical summery afternoon. There is a bridal party taking pictures, a group of children on a tour, and a couple of motorcycle enthusiasts who seem to be there for no particular reason whatsoever. There are also monks and Priests and an old tottering Bishop who does wonky research when he’s not scaring off Lotte when she hides out in the library. So, the course is set as soon as the mammoth doors to the church suddenly come closed and it becomes apparent that there are no other exists leading out of the church. Everyone is trapped including the bride (Vitale) whose train is literally trapped in the doors. Meanwhile things begin to get progressively weirder and there are a whole lot of collages with creepy demons and creaking noises that signify that something evil is afoot. The best scene is of a young woman who takes off all her clothes and begins fornicating with a demon. It’s actually not the only such scene as near the end Lisa is mounted by Evan who has taken the form of one of Satan’s hordes.

Much of the film is spent building up the suspense of what exactly is happening inside the sanctuary where so many gather to assure themselves that they are of the elect and that there will be a special place in heaven from which they can cast their gaze downward to the ill-begotten being unceremoniously torn to shreds. The score which features Philip Glass, Keith Emerson, and Goblin snakes through the narrative and adds to the creeping suspicion that there is something mightily untoward underfoot. Indeed, the entire structure seems to be writhing, grinding in a horrible copulation that threatens everyone trapped inside.

Lotte is the key player in all of this chaos. She is something of a wild child who sneaks out to dance, smoke and drink with her friends. She seems to know something instinctively about the truth behind the architectural design of the church. She is the one who cannot be cowed by the fear-mongering that informs so much of what the church’s teachings are bent on conveying. She is youth, marvelous and unencumbered by rules and regulations that would deign to demonize her pleasures. She doesn’t seem to be a firm believer in the sermons she encounters on those obligatory days when she is forced to attend mass. The bishop wants to inject even more terror into the hearts of the parishioners but its clear that Lotte is unaffected by all this hoopla. She merely wants to dress smart, smoke the occasional fag, and amuse herself as best she can for as long as she can.

It is an ingenious idea that such a sanctified place can be built upon the bones of so many innocents slaughtered in the name of the same God to whom the church pays its allegiance. It’s a scintillating conceit and one that works well to undermine the church’s long standing tyranny over matters of the soul. In this film it is not clear whether it is the souls of the damned that have come back to life in order to seek revenge or if it is just a matter of so much negative energy gathered in one place finally being released and wreaking havoc due simply to its potency. It’s more likely that the souls have been disturbed although they do manage to possess certain people and turn them into demons whose forms can only be seen at certain moments. There is also something about certain individuals suffering wounds to the face and turning into something foul and unclean.

Altogether there is some pretty heinous violence in this film especially at the beginning where the Knight’s Templar run amok and start whacking people at will. These scenes are set apart from the rest of the film due to the time differentiation as well as the core brutality of the violence. The act of slaughtering babes and dumping their bodies into a giant pit manages to resonate throughout the entire film. Lotte is also seen as an innocent who must use her intelligence and secret knowledge to escape before it is too late. Overall, this film manages to get under the skin for a short while but the effect is not particularly lasting. It’s a mildly amusing and entertaining form of fluff-horror that never seems to quite live up to the gaudy premise. It doesn’t fail necessarily but rather it sort of limps along relying on collages of images and sound to convey the horror of what is being done inside the church. Ultimately, it just doesn’t quite have enough energy to sustain itself throughout although the ending is quite satisfying on several levels. There is suffering here and nightmarish scenarios that spring to life in dull, washed out color. The beasts are cool and there is a certain sexiness here that comes through when the women are fornicating with demons. This alone makes the film worthwhile as does the style that it maintains throughout.

Film Review--The Beast with Five Fingers

The Beast with Five Fingers
directed by Robert Florey
story by William Fryer Harvey
written by Curt Siodmak
starring Peter Lorre, Robert Alda, Andrea King, Victor Francen, J. Carrol Naish, Charles Dingle, John Alvin, David Hoffman



In a creepy old Italian castle, a retiring, nearly crippled pianist named Frances Ingram (Francen) whiles away his sad time playing Bach chaccone’s with his left hand and grimacing about the future. He is cared for by his lovely American nurse Julie (King) and attended to by his loyal secretary Hilary Cummins (Lorre) who spends most of his time in the enormous library attempting to learn how to tell the precise moment a person is going to die. After Ingram gathers everyone, including the shady “authentic” artifacts dealer Bruce Conrad (Alda) and the shifty-eyed lawyer Duprex (Hoffman), he announces that he wants them all to testify to his sanity so he can have his will authorized. After leaving everything to Julia for whom he has developed intense erotic feelings, he promptly crashes his wheelchair down the stairs and breaks his neck.

Upon the murder of Duprex, who was going to work for Ingram’s heirs Mr. Arlington (Dingle) and his son Don (Alvin) to overturn the will, it is discovered that Ingram’s hand has been severed which leads to a strange assertion that his hand has been somehow involved with the killing. The rest of the film works with this premise as the hand continues to haunt those who remain behind.
We see the hand crawling about, playing the same chaccone, and trying to choke the life out of Don. It’s a veritable mystery and this is where the film goes slightly off track. At first it is all about atmospherics and setting the mood for the rest of the film. It’s dark and gloomy and the Bach piece is haunting, heavy and mood-splitting. The tone is set for a legitimate thriller but unfortunately all that is left is a meek whodunnit story where the culprit gives his hand away too early for it to be any good at all.

Truly the greatest thing about this film is the character of Hilary as played by the great Peter Lorre. He’s at times demonic, pathetic, psychotic, and terribly strange. He slouches about, damaged, broken by something or someone. He obsessively studies his astrology books hoping to gain a secret he can later employ in his masterwork. The film just doesn’t work so well without him as the other characters cease to matter whenever Lorre is on the screen. His movements, his deeds alone make any difference in the end and the other characters do nothing of particular import throughout the film. They just exist to orbit around him and the agony of his intensity dominates every frame he is in. It’s clear that these are not the kind of actors who should be attempting to create a work of horror fiction. They should be in lighthearted fare where the boy gets the girl and everything works out on the farm. Instead, they are miscast in roles that are as throwaway as a girl’s dead lipstick container.

We are led to believe throughout the film that the hand is committing murder as well as playing the piano. Of course, this is not the sort of film that would allow that sort of thing to continue so a more pedestrian explanation is sought that drives the film to a halt. There should be more madness here, not less. There should be blood-curdling screams, sweaty palms, and more terrified locals babbling incoherently to their gods about demons and devils and such. Of course, this film wants to be a quiet murder mystery that just happens to star Peter Lorre. It fails to create a film around his character so he doesn’t stand out so much as the only thing worth watching. A better film would have given the other characters more interesting things to do but these louts do and say nothing that truly matters. They cannot die fast enough although it soon is made clear that the killer, hand or no, is limited in his vocation as far as killings are concerned. So, we are left with a drab cast who are given nothing to do save Peter Lorre and a script that doesn’t know how to play off of the fears that such a potentiality would engender. Because of the nature of the story, the film makers are limited to the kinds of things they might have tried in this film. For starters there can be no great seduction scene where the hand undresses and caresses the firm body of the luscious Miss Julie. That probably wouldn’t have gone over very well in 1946 but they still could have intimated that untoward behavior was taking place between Julie and the Hand.

Overall, this film works for as long as Peter Lorre is on the screen. He brings a chilling exactness to his character and introduces an element of magic to the film that it otherwise lacks. The story begins promisingly enough and takes its time revealing the key players and the gloomy confines of the mansion. However, once it is apparent that there is a murder to be solved, it devolves into a run of the mill, generic detective story that loses the impressive air of confusion and gloom that hangs over the early sections of the film. With anyone other than Lorre in the role of Hilary there wouldn’t be any suspense at all and no reason to care one way or another what happens in the end to “solve” the great mystery. Lorre delivers a sad, endearing portrait of a man who simply wants to be left with himself so he can continue to apply direct knowledge to his aims and intentions. Lorre plays him as a deeply sympathetic character who shuffles about back and forth between the library and his quarters. He’s utterly heartbreaking to watch and discover as the film moves along toward it’s compromised conclusion. This film is watchable only because the viewer cannot take their eyes off of Lorre for even a second.

Film Review--Mad Love (1935)

Mad Love
directed by Karl Freund
written by John L. Balderston, Guy Endore
starring Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive, Ted Healy, Sara Haden




Enjoining Grand Guignol “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” and Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” , this film portrays a man’s impenetrable devotion to a singular ideal which leaves him but one choice in the end.

Creepy, lust-drenched Doctor Gogol (Lorre) is a talented surgeon with something of a mad scientist in him. He has a penchant for performing experimental surgeries that prove to successfully cure the difficulty at hand. He’s also utterly obsessed with Yvonne Orlac (Drake) , a performer with the Theatre des Horreurs who as the film opens is putting on her final show. Gogol is taken with the scenes where Yvonne’s character is put on a wheel and tortured because she won’t reveal the name of her lover.

The film uses expressionistic angles; chiorascu lighting; and hypnotic music to create a strange and beguiling world of confusion and death. Gogol has allowed himself to be totally sucked in by the personality and luxuriousness of Yvonne to the point of purchasing a wax statue of her that he dresses and coos lovingly to in his drawing room. He communicates with the statue with regularity and with conviction. She is everything he requires except unlike Pygmalion he cannot bring her to life.

The art direction by Cedric Gibbons demonstrates how clear lines and uncluttered spaces can create the feeling of isolation and coldness. Dr. Gogol’s rooms are large, open spaces minimally furnished and look like the sets for the Joy Division video that was never completed. With his bald dome and penchant for wearing fur coats, Gogol emerges like a rare bird or exotic plant; he keeps a Venus Fly Trap which his maid begrudgingly feeds. Every aspect of his character bespeaks of a man who has structured his existence in a strict manner that allows him to experience heightened sensations that send him into an intoxicating revery. He is a man subterfuged by beauty and all the horrors that are associated with it. His is a world of perpetual longing and excitation where he searches for the answers that remain entirely elusive, tantalizingly out of reach.

There is a tremendous sense of brutality in this film as many of the aspects come together to create a landscape of reprisals and discontent. Gogol is fond of attending every execution where the condemned man places his head on the chopping block as the cruel blade of the guillotine removes him from this world.

The story involves one of Dr. Gogol’s experiments that has unforseen consequences for the patient. It changes the complexity of the man’s life and nearly leads to his incarceration were it not for understanding officers who believe his outlandish story. The sense of terror is enhanced through close ups of Gogol whose eyes betray a terrible intention at every turn. He always seems on the verge of performing some foul deed which is belied by the absolute calmness, almost quaintness, of his demeanor. He moves languidly and elegantly through the film, projecting a sense of eery capability that comes through whether he is in the operating room or staring intently into the wax figure’s eyes hoping to finally be able to bring her to life.


Yvonne’s husband Stephan is a talented pianist and composer whose singular gift is stripped from him in a horrible train crash. He becomes the victim of one of Dr. Gogol’s experiments that has unforseen circumstances for the patient. Dr. Gogol is manic about the possibilities for this procedure and gleefully completes it without first considering what might come of it. Stephen is transformed in a most direct and unfortunate manner into a creature he hardly recognizes. He is susceptible to committing deeds that shock and horrify him into a near stupor. He longs to be released from the tyranny of the abomination but the alternative is too terrible to consider. He merely lives with it and is eventually apprehended and confesses to a crime he is certain he has committed.

This film is a window into a mysterious and dark world of the imagination. The sets are majestic, and the film employs grotesque special effects that add to the mercenary drama of the production. There is always the sense that something real and terrifying is about to unfold and this suspicion is happily realized in the final act. It follows a straightforward narrative structure as the tale is hypnotically woven and displayed in all it’s mesmeric glory. There is a strange sexual pulse to Dr. Gogol’s infatuation with the wax doll. He treats her like a woman and serenades her like her would a prospective partner. He longs for her and desperately wants to press her warm cheek up against his own but he cannot will it to happen and this greatly frustrates him.

Dr. Gogol is something of a Satanic figure who lives in strict accordance with his own desires. His only barrier is the limits of the human imagination and of science. He is a man transcendent who has risen to great heights because he has seen possibilities where other men have merely scoffed. Yet, his ultimate aim is thwarted by his inability to fully realize his desire to actualize the physical existence of his beloved. As hard as he wills he fails to complete this ultimate task but he retains the same robust spirit that drives him toward his final actions. He ultimately satisfies the edicts of his great and lasting desire and is brought into a necessary state that sends the film to a most scintillating conclusion.

Lust and death are explored in equal terms in this film as the carnal body is seen to be both severed and contained in a wax mold where it’s singular purpose is to elicit direct erotic feelings in the viewer. Dr. Gogol’s hard lust is actualized in projecting any fantasy onto the unforgiving, brutally unavailable texture of the doll’s form. She can be anything he longs for and he doesn’t have to suffer the pangs of rejection or the fear of failing to satisfy her sexually. She is like a dead thing where all his necromantic expectations can be fully realized in her cold embrace. He can also bring her to life by imagining that acts he is performing with her are done with or for the actual lust object who has so readily stirred his soul. He is free to act in whatever way he sees fit because the doll cannot respond and will not cause him to suffer the brunt of her criticism. She will remain merely still, forever silent and unable to reach out to him psychologically or emotionally.

This is a film that expresses a particular argument about the nature of sensory excitation. Dr. Gogol has refined his senses to the point where he is able to focus them directly upon a single form and slowly breathe life into it. He can use his sense of smell to imagine her perfume or the scent of her hair in the morning after a night of torrid lovemaking. He can slowly undress her to reveal the exquisite contours of her thighs or the crook of her neck depending how accurately the wax figure was created. He can taste her toes or the small of her back. He can hear her coo or moan as he performs various acts upon her person. There are no limits to the pleasure she might bring him through his senses and the manner in which he employs them.

Dr. Gogol possesses an intensity that is revealed in every frame. His mannerisms and gestures express the behavior of a man of means who is able to live a life of supreme decadence would he so choose to become dissolved in it. His sexuality has become frustrated and so he has found a substitute who is actually more attentive to his needs than any actual female might be. He bonds with his wax figurine in such a dramatic way because he is unencumbered in her presence. He is divorced from nervousness and is more able to affect his true self without suffering conflicts that compel him toward actions that his instincts do not accept as valid. He longs to be realized and his true lust object refuses his advances despite his earnestness and willingness to express the tenacity of his desire for her directly and without pretense. Her rejection does not daunt him and he is able to find pleasure where it was once denied him.

The performances in this film are all quite stirring. Peter Lorre possesses a vitality that comes through mostly in his eyes. His eyes are hypnotic and one is mercilessly drawn into their deep pools. His movements are slow and deliberate and his every gesture is graceful and elegant. He moves with certainty and a grave style that is enhanced by the architecture of the sets. Lorre is perfectly cast and it is impossible to imagine anyone else who could have fulfilled the promise of this role. Frances Drake maintains a natural intensity throughout the film. She more than ably stands up to Lorre and is not subsumed within his totemic presence. Her performance is nuanced and she conveys all of the confusions of her character without succumbing to sentimentality. Colin Clive maintains a haunted presence throughout the film. He routinely looks scared, a bit off, or outright terrified. There is a mania about his performance and he carries it forth in many scenes where the character seems to be on the verge of losing his mind. Ted Healy has a jangly comportment in this film that pushes him onward like a strained marionette. His character is always rushing about, searching for clues, hoping to find something vital to use in his investigation.

Overall, this is an exceedingly intoxicating foray into the cool confines of lust and death. Dr. Gogol is a man driven by lust and a passion that knows no boundaries. He casts his web on a specific target and slowly works to devour it. He is a man of cruel vision who works stringently to actualize his earthly aims without worrying about the triviality of consequences. The film employs various techniques that express a dark, turbulent world of shadows and deceit. It has a measured, deeply wounded atmosphere that is accentuated by its sets laid out with loving care by the art department. There are many scenes of abject horror that prove that simple techniques in editing and scene selection can prove to be effective methods of actualizing one’s intentions. Peter Lorre is damaging and systematically ruthless in this film. He radiates a demonic purity that is smartly presented with great clarity. He’s icy but approachable. One can identify with his longings and his desires to bring them to fruition.