What I Watched In February

BIRDS OF PREY (2020) is DC’s latest R-rated superhero film and I loved every off-kilter minute of it. The story combines various female Bat-Family characters from both sides of the law into a ramshackle bunch of violence prone loons trying to save themselves and take down a murderous crime boss played in balls-to-the-wall style by Ewan MacGregor. Of course, the film has an ace in the hole named Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Rarely has an actress more perfectly embodied a character from the comic book page then Miss Robbie. She has a firm handle on the character and centers this movie in a way that hopefully will lead to many more performances as Harley Quinn in the future. She's surrounded by an able, talented cast capable of smartly supporting her in this rather nasty but completely fun R-rated mess of a superhero crime film. It is certainly not to everyone's taste but for those who enjoy fare such as Deadpool this is a great variation on that dark theme. Bring on more Harley Quinn movies!

Usually when a film is described as a ‘slow burn’ the idea is that you have to sit through an hour of laborious somewhat tedious storytelling or protracted character development before you get to the moments that are compelling. This is not the case with the GRETEL AND HANSEL (2020) at all. Although the movie does rest squarely on the shoulders of two fantastic performances this small-scale retelling of the fairy tale is mesmerizing and its ability to impart loads of information through its imagery is phenomenal. Certainly, it IS a slow burn as the first hour or so of the film slowly, carefully gives us, through mood and atmosphere, a sense of incessant dread as the two title characters are pushed out into an unforgiving world because their parents have no future. They eventual stumbling upon what looks to be a safe harbor in a cottage in the woods inhabited by an old lady who seems to have a miraculous larder filled with every type of baked good imaginable. At first what seems like a heaven-sent release from eventual starvation and death slowly turns until the inevitable truth of their situation makes itself painfully and bloodily evident. This is an exceptional film that will reward repeat viewings. For me, it became a thoughtful rumination on fear, loneliness and the desire to live regardless of the cost. Not enough can be said to praise the excellent lead performances from Alice Krige as the witch and Sophia (IT) Lillis as Gretel. They are fantastic and this carefully crafted deliberately paced horror tale would not work half as well without their fine work.

THE LIST

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (2017) – 5 (predictable kid’s movie) 

HOUSEBOUND (2014) – 9 (rewatch)

THE WOMAN IN THE MOON (1929) – 8 (Lang’s epic science fiction tale) 

DJANGO THE BASTARD (1969) – 7 (well done and creepy spaghetti western) 

REQUIEM FOR A GRINGO (1968) – 7 (an alternate title spoils the climax but a good SW) 

THE HOUSE ON THE OUTSKIRTS (1980) – 7 (well-made Spanish thriller by Eugenio Martin) 

REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE (1967) – 8 (brilliant drama) 

THE LIVING SKELETON (1968) – 8  (Japanese ghost revenge tale – insane!)

GENOCIDE (1968) – 7 (dark Japanese sci-fi tale) 

PEEPER (1975) – 6 (merely OK noir styled mystery/comedy) 

THE SILVER BULLET (1942) – 5 (typical Johnny Mack Brown B-western) 

BIRDS OF PREY (2020) – 8 

NIGHTWISH (1989) – 5 (low budget horror effort- its reach exceeds its grasp) 

THE CALLER (1987) – 6  (oddball thriller with an unexpected ending) 

RIDE’EM COWBOYS! (1942) – 6  (Abbot & Costello silliness) 

GRETEL & HANSEL (2020) – 7 (fascinating fairy tale) 

FURY OF THE WOLFMAN (1970) – 4 (rewatch) 

STIGMA (1980) – 7 (Jose Larraz murder tale) 

THE WOLF MAN (1941) – 8 (rewatch) 

THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN (1972) – 6 (interesting low-budget attempt to adapt Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John tales) 

BATTLE OF THE WORLDS (1961) – 6 (rewatch) (Margheriti’s sci-fi tale with the great Claude Raines) 

THE PRODIGY (2019) – 7 (great ‘evil child’ horror story) 

José Larraz's SYMPTOMS (1974)

Director José Larraz is best known for his incredible erotic lesbian vampire film VAMPYRES (1974) but anyone coming to SYMPTOMS (1974) expecting a similar blood-soaked nudity parade from the great man's most prolific period is going to end up disappointed. While this film does have a comparable atmosphere to the sexy vampire tale it is much more of a slow burn character study. The horror elements are present and accounted for but the deliberate journey to the third act revelations is a big part of the joy.

This is a film that takes it's time doling out details but is never boring for several reasons. First is that the two main actors are very talented ladies who are able to communicate paragraphs of emotion with their faces. Lorna Heilbron plays Anne who has come to stay for a few days with her friend Helen in her English country house getaway. Helen is played by Angela Pleasance and in many ways this is her film. The mystery that unfolds carefully over the movie's 91 minutes centers on her past romantic relationship that appears to have gone bad. Anne is trying to get her mind in order after breaking up with the man in her life while Helen seems drawn to her friend in an increasingly needy if not obsessive way. Patterned on Polanski's REPULSION (1965) this is a carefully told tale of pain and madness that spirals out of control. It rests on excellent performances from the leads with smart help from the legendary Peter Vaughn as the house's groundskeeper who knows just enough to get himself into harm's way.

But the second reason the film is so captivating is now only possible to evaluate because of the recent Blu-Ray release from Mondo Macabro. The way most Euro-Cult fans have seen SYMPTOMS for decades has been through a dupey bootleg VHS print that was barely watchable. This HD release allows us, for the first time, to see the glorious cinematography on display! Director of Photography Trevor Wrenn shoots the large house, the woods surrounding it and the nearby lake with the eye of a painter. Almost ever scene holds multiple moments of stunning beauty captured perfectly. This is a gorgeous movie and the careful framing and lighting adds immeasurably to the mesmerizing nature of the whole experience. There are shots that could be printed and hug on gallery walls for the admiration of the general public and they are all in service of this fascinating little horror-drama. I find it hard to believe that a man as clearly talented as Mr Wrenn only shot one other film for Larraz before ending his cinematography career. 

Needless to say I highly recommend seeing the MM Blu of this film if possible. Go in with the understanding of the slow build quality of the narrative and the revelations and shocks that come later will be all the more powerful.