Ugly, The (1997)

All right, people.  Why doesn’t New Zealand writer/director Scott Reynolds have a bigger rep and a Hollywood contract already?  And why doesn’t this film get chatted up more?  I heard about it through Fangoria’s 101 Movies You’ve Never Seen, and was blown away by the sheer verve on display.  Doing a twist on Silence of the Lambs, we have an attractive superstar psychologist (Rebecca Hobbs) visiting homicidal killer Simon (Paolo Rotondo) in the asylum, where we learn – along with the good doc – his savage and sordid tale.  While there might be times when Reynolds is working just a little too hard to impress us with his flashy “is it a dream/hallucination or isn’t it” scenarios and his quirky characters, no one can blame the guy for being lazy.  (One would think that his breathless editing and knack for grimy production design would be a no-brainer for Tinseltown producers.)  The effort to put a personal stamp on every single moment, right down to the color of the victims’ blood, is to be applauded.  I liked it.

Unconventional (2005)

After landing a local gig I couldn’t turn down, I regretfully had to change my plans to attend this weekend’s Cinema Wasteland convention in Ohio.  Color me way bummed out.  However, by a glorious twist of fate, this documentary on the madness, mayhem, debauchery and dorkdom of New Jersey’s 2004 Chiller Theatre convention showed up on my doorstep the next day.  So, while I wasn’t able to partake in the CW madness myself, I still got to spend some quality time with Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Gunnar Hansen, Kane Hodder, as well as a bunch of geeked-out guys and the scantily clad women who love them.  But the real star of the show is the inimitable Tiffany Shepis, who greets everyone with the same warmth and sarcasm and sex appeal, even when having to fend off an extremely creepy David Carradine.  Having met Tiff in person last year, I can say that what you see here is absolutely who she is and it’s why her fans adore her so much.  First you fall head over heels for her, then your heart breaks a little when you see that it isn’t just you – she shows everyone the same personal attention.  Then, of course, you love her all the more for that.  Horror con veterans will verify, this is an honest (at times painfully so) salute to genre stars and fans alike, celebrating them in all their nerdish glory. 

Uninvited, The (1944)

While acknowledged as one of the first films to deal with ghosts and hauntings in a “serious” manner, those expecting to be truly frightened may be disappointed by this tale of a spirit haunting the coastal English residence newly inhabited by siblings Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey.  While the picture certainly has some fine moments of suspense and supernatural goings-on, viewers would do well to place it within its historical context to fully appreciate its reputation.  In addition, Victor Young’s whimsical score and Milland’s light-comic approach often undo any sense of real dread or horror.  That said, the acting is commendable, the characterizations are interesting and believable, and the mimosa-scented atmosphere turns appropriately darker as the story deepens.  Several haunted house precedents are set here:  Ghostly moanings, a terrific séance scene, and a family history that must be unraveled by the living in order to let the dead rest at peace.  Perhaps not a nail-biter for the Poltergeist generation, but a well-told tale that does the job with good old-fashioned storytelling and character work. 

Urban Legend  (1998)

While turning the scary little “true” stories that everyone has heard from “a friend of a friend” into horror films is nothing new (see When a Stranger Calls), this slick feature attempts to incorporate as many as possible into the context of a slasher movie with moderately successful results.  Director Jamie Blanks has assembled an extremely photogenic cast to play students enrolled in professor Robert Englund’s college class on urban legends.  Silvio Horta’s smirking script then proceeds to creatively eliminate the student body utilizing the syllabus’ grisly methodologies.  The suspects are so plentiful that only by turning up as victims can they remove themselves from suspicion.  Who could the parka-wearing killer be?  Jared Leto’s passionate newpaper editor?  Good girl Alicia Witt?  Tara Reid’s breezy DJ?  Brash bad girl Rebecca Gayheart?  Or maybe it’s kooky gas station attendant Brad Dourif, trotting out his One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest stutter.  Enthusiastically made by aficionados of the genre, the film manages to be entertaining despite straining its audience’s credulity in search of a higher body count.  The enjoyable (if artificial) effort succeeds right up until its final act, when it resorts to horror clichés involving villains that won’t stay dead and corpses improbably stuffed into every nook and cranny.  Followed by a sequel, of course.