POMO

Excision offers insight into the rather unique mind of a high-school girl in the throes of puberty who hates her school, is obsessed with blood and wants to be a surgeon. And she is a little bit messed up in her head. The director drops her into a pretty American neighborhood where she is an unattractive, asocial outsider with fantasies and dreams that are visually interesting, but the viewer can’t make any sense of them because of their bizarre and distant feel. The film does not help the viewer understand its protagonist, but instead just keeps showing more and more conflicts between the girl and her mom, teacher, reverend, classmates, etc. Cameos by Malcolm McDowell and John Waters are nice, but not enough to save the movie. And though the ending is surprising, it does not shock as much as it wants to.

In terms of its audio-visual aspects and with a great soundtrack by Carpenter, Halloween III is a decent flick whose storyline (covering up the factory-related secrets) is well-constructed up to its final third. However, everything is ruined by the developments in the last third, when all the cards are finally revealed and we see how the protagonist resolves the situation. It turns out to be pulpy B-movie nonsense. That Stacey Nelkin looked like Michael Jackson didn’t help matters.

The pleasantly seductive magic of beautiful women clad in transparent dresses, in a castle on a foggy lake – I would certainly like to wander there with that sensual music on. But when it comes to the “horror” of stabbing with a dagger and cutting with scythe, this movie is doomed by its naivety. Combining Rollin’s French poetics of eroticism and the devilish gore of Italian Euro-trashers would have made for a more gourmet viewing experience.

A family idyll with a teenage daughter and a little baby vs. Aussie redneck brutes. Killing Ground is a cruel drama that starts out with two timelines which escalate side by side into an intense tragedy and then an unpredictable struggle for survival. Sophisticated editing, with audiovisual minimalism. The cold, detached manner of storytelling makes it all the more chilling. We are spared exploitation scenes, but another scene will make us hold our collective breath as nothing else has done for a long time.

Pretty Woman for today’s generation, which did not become a blockbuster because there are no stars in its cast. However, I found the cast quite to my satisfaction. The pair of protagonists were likable (the girl was also insanely pretty), and Bruce Campbell’s bohemian dad was funny. Tastefully blending comedy, drama and subtle romance in the style of Judd Apatow, The Escort is a dialogue-heavy relationship flick with fresh and witty dialogue that doesn’t pull its punches, but manages to remain subtle. A pleasant surprise.

Too long and repetitive, this documentary tries to shock the viewer by showing just how degrading and amoral the internet porn business featuring young amateur girls can be through the confessions and opinions of these enterprising women, who joyfully enter it of their own free will and often consider it their first career success. And then they have strained talks about it with their parents, boyfriends, etc.

The opening scene is spectacular, though it appears too modern in the contest of the rest of the movie. Also, I would prefer for the ending to be more psychologically intimate and dark. Still, it turned out to be the best it could be. Because it absolutely pays tribute to the original and succeeded in the most important thing – using the same camera shots and music – it brought me back to the same streets, backyards, hallways and rooms, to the same place with the unique atmosphere that once defined my weakness for this amazing film subgenre. And that was a hell of a delight!

Lust for Frankenstein is a worthless piece of VHS trash with nonsensical and repetitive scenes so that the runtime derived from the haphazardly thrown together screenplay is stretched out into feature-length film, with cheap filters and ridiculously stilted speeches. Not to mention the inappropriate rock music playing incessant in the background, which was supposed to give it some drive. This has nothing to do with Jess Franco’s older, atmospheric and sexy cult films.

The Wind is a (melo)drama for women with a handful of decent old-school horror elements. But it would be a mistake to expect a horror experience, as the film involves more of a gradual uncovering of a tragic event and its psychological impact on the main character. It’s a pretty piece of filmmaking: widescreen shots of a barren prairie, the everlasting sound of wind, a decent acting performance by Caitlin Gerard. But I won’t give it four stars because I don’t really like these flashback jigsaw puzzles; I prefer moving forward. [Sitges FF]

Overlord is technically a perfect piece of crap chock-full of little details to satisfy geeky taste buds. How could such a farce have the most luxuriously intense final fight, milking its potential to the last drop, which will satisfy even the most hard-core fan of the genre? Overlord recalls everything from Sky Captain to Dead Snow to Planet Terror. It’s like a more expensive, more refined, almost top-tier grindhouse flick, but (unfortunately) unlike typical representatives of this sub-genre, it takes itself seriously, plays at big heroes and maintains political correctness. This creates a conflicting mix of impressions and could deserve a rating of anywhere from one to five stars, depending on what you expect from this movie and your current mood. [Sitges FF]