Son of Celluloid Picks the Top 13 Flicks of 2014

A couple of notes before we get started here.  First of all, this year I opened up the countdown to non-horror movies.  A lot of the best flicks this year danced around the edges of the genre; not really horror but somehow horrific.  Those classification defying films deserved a spot, so no more genre limitations.  Second of all, a couple of these movies were out before this year but were not widely available until 2014.  If I saw it this year, it’s fair game.  Let’s see, anything else…oh yeah.  If I had seen Found this year, it would have been an easy #1.  Ok Cellmates, I present to you my top thirteen films of 2014…

Honorable Mention: Purge:Anarchy, Proxy, Godzilla, American Muscle, Tusk, Collar, Deadly Virtues, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, The Hornet’s Sting and The Hell It’s Caused

13. Cross Bearer 
I’m keeping Cross Bearer at the bottom only because of questions over which year it should count as.  While the majority of horror flicks this year was concerned with exploring the edges of the genre and being so called “high concept,” Cross Bearer wallowed in sleazy slasher excess and was a blast to watch because of it.  Bloody, booby, and brutal goodness.  Adam Ahlbrandt has a definite handle on the basics.

 
















 12. Tie - Captain America: Winter Soldier / Guardians of the Galaxy 
Even the Son of Celluloid needs a non-horror palate cleanser now and then.  Superhero movies are just what the doctor ordered, and this year Marvel released their two best films to date.  CA:WS introduced something new to the Marvel flicks; a real, honest to goodness plot.  It was a political thriller with the usual comic book movie  “bang pow boom” as an accoutrement.  Guardians of the Galaxy was just a fun as hell sci-fi romp.  While I can’t in good conscience give Marvel two spots on the countdown, these were my favorite theatrical releases of the year.

11. Time To Kill 
Don’t get me wrong, some movies are supposed to hurt, but the majority of the time the number one thing a movie should be is fun to watch.  I give Time To Kill the title of “Funnest Flick Of 2014.”  Plentiful tits and blood, a killer soundtrack, and a breakout turn from rising star Ellie Church make Brian Williams’ debut feature a neo-exploitation gem not to be missed.  Just don’t make an “all shots no beer” drinking game out of it.  Bad things happen.  I learned that the hard way.

10. Babadook 
Forget for a minute that this flick was ridiculously overhyped.  Is it the best horror flick in years?  No.  Is it a really good one?  Yep.  If I were giving out a Best Actress award, Essie Davis would have it hands down.  Child actor Noah Wiseman killed it too.  Add in great production design (am I the only one who thinks the monster looks like a caricature of Coffin Joe?) and a well-built pace and you have an effective little thriller. 

9. Morris County 
Matt Garrett’s Morris County is either the most depressing flick of the year or a pitch black comedy (or both) depending on how twisted you are.  It’s well acted, well written, contains some really good practical makeups, and has a deliciously grim atmosphere that I’ve heard compared to Happiness.  The third segment can completely bum me out or have me in stitches depending on the mood it catches me in.  That kind of tonal complexity is a rare achievement.

8. Cold In July 
You had me at Lansdale.  Cold in July is a little bit of everything.  It’s a revenge story.  It’s a hard boiled noir.  It’s Don Johnson being a cowboy badass.   It’s a character study.   It’s a gripping look at how violence affects our lives.  And in the last half hour, it’s a balls to the wall violent slaughterfest.  In other words, this one’s got something for everyone.  Between this, We Are What We Are, Stakeland, and the flick at #6, I will now officially watch anything with Nick Damici in it.

7. I Am No One 
With his first feature, Jason Hoover has recreated the serial killer movie.  Mix the style of Man Bites Dog with the spirit of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, and you have I Am No One.  Foregoing Grand Guignol excess in favor of chilling, quiet moments with violent punctuation, Hoover uses the faux-documentary style to its full potential.  Mike Nall is brilliant as the killer, always seeming a little too calm not to be coiled to strike.  Through interviews and observation, the human face that hides the mind of a maniac (doomed to be a killer since he came out the nutsack?) slowly cracks and falls away until a climax that is one of the best single scenes the underground has produced in a long time.  The true horror comes after the movie when you realize just how many people like Charles Lake you might have known.  This is grown up horror, and it’s a direction I hope the serial killer sub-genre continues following.

6. Late Phases 
The first great werewolf movie since Dog Soldiers.  Late phases takes the flavor of an old school creature feature and, as many of the best horror flicks from the past few years have, added a double shot of genuine pathos.  Nick Damici is wholly believable as a gruff, blind Vietnam vet dealing with his new life in a retirement community, a deteriorating relationship with his son, and the werewolves that make monthly attacks on his neighborhood.  A supporting turn by Tom Noonan as a priest and practical creature effects by none other than Robert Kurtzman are both worth noting.  The CGI blood is worth ignoring.

5. Come Back To Me 
I figured that a movie based on Wrath James White's book The Resurrectionist had zero chance of not disappointing. The source material is extremely graphic, and with the current lack of balls in the horror movie game, I knew the flick wouldn't match the book's intensity. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, though. Come Back To Me did omit the over the top violence, but still found a way to capture enough of the story's original tone to make it palatable to both fans of the book and mainstream horror without it feeling neutered.  It’s genuinely eerie, builds the tension well, and the finale is a straight up kick in the balls.  If you haven’t read the book, the twist will get ya.

4. Blue Ruin 
This is what would happen if some everyday schlub like you or me tried to pull off some one man army, Death Wish vigilante type of shit.  In a year with multiple well done revenge flicks, this is the best.  It’s got some satisfyingly bloody set pieces, but writer/director Jeremy Saulnier makes sure they are felt and actually have an impact.  Moments of comedy weave in and out of the tragedy of a man obligated to do a job he’s nowhere near ready to carry out.  That man’s journey is made all the more gripping by a tour de force performance by Macon Blair.  It’s the second best (behind only the masterpiece that is Found) movie everyone could have gotten at Wal-mart for ten bucks this year that no one bought.  

3. Nightcrawler 
The best way I can describe Nightcrawler is “exactly what 4amin a big city feels like captured on screen.”  It shows a deftness and confidence behind the camera that is surprising from a first time director like Dan Gilroy.  The entire cast is on point.  Jake Gyllenhaal (who looks terminally ill in this flick) is immensely creepy and practically oozes sleaze all over the audience.  If he and Rene Russo don’t get Oscar nominations, the terrorists win. Bill Paxton is awesome as a total dick.  The flick looks absolutely gorgeous, exhibiting the best cinematography of the year.  While the story works literally, everyone I’ve talked to sees something different in it metaphorically.  That kind of multi-level filmmaking is refreshing.  Since it’s 2014 exposure was limited, I expect the February DVD drop date to ensure this one makes it on a multitude of “Best of 2015” lists.

2. Starry Eyes 
Worst casting couch ever!  Part biting show business satire and part body horror, Starry Eyes is the story of an aspiring actress who just may have gone too far in the pursuit of a role in the film The Silver Scream.  I’ve heard it compared to the work of both David Lynch and Roman Polanski, and I can see the best of both influences in it.  I see a lot of Cronenberg too, especially the superb use of (well done) makeup as character development ala The Fly.  Alex Essoe puts in a great performance, showing the chops necessary to be a possible future genre mainstay.  The gore is practical and suitably gooey.  Starry Eyes seems to exist between eras; with a 70’s Euro-horror feel, an 80’s score, and a bleak as hell millennial nihilism.  I would give anything for the people behind this to go the Found/Headless route and actually make The Silver Scream. 

1.Pieces of Talent 
I just noticed that my top two movies both involve struggling actresses and the world of filmmaking.  Interesting.  Anyway, If you pay attention to the underground horror scene at all, there’s no way Pieces of Talent flew under your radar.  Joe Stauffer’s flick got a lot of buzz, and every bit of it was deserved.  Charlotte toils away at a seedy strip club where she meets David, a filmmaker who adopts Charlotte as his leading lady and muse.  But just how far will David go to realize his artistic vision?  The first thing I loved about this flick was David Long as, um… David Long.  It’s so hard to get a read on his character.  He definitely plays him weird as hell, but it’s not quite an endearing weird and not quite a menacing weird.  It’s that kind of “there’s something wrong with that dude, but I’m not sure what” weird.  I’ve never seen a performance like it before.  Kristi Ray brings a likable vulnerability to Charlotte as well.  Another thing that blew me away is how the film played with tone and form, veering between different styles of horror to weave an intricate stylistic patchwork and keep the audience on their toes.  It’s alternately subtle, creepy, funny, bizarre and dreamlike, and brutal and bloody (with practical effects I might add) when it needs to be.  First person “found footage” style footage is used in conjunction with standard third person style in a way that is far more effective than any full on FFF.   The final, lingering thing that stuck with me was the feeling that, if I were just a little crazier, David could be me.  Any creative type, from a filmmaker to a painter to a writer, can understand David’s motivation to some extent.  It’s a look at the state of independent horror filmmaking through a prism of madness, and it leaves that sickly feeling that you might not be as different from the villain as you would like to believe.  The fact that it’s miles ahead of the majority of similarly budgeted films on every technical level (sound, editing, cinematography, etc.) is just icing on the cake. Pieces of Talent is an impressive and truly unique film.  Stauffer and Long are currently raising funds for a sequel.  I hope to god that it happens.

 Starry Eyes, Blue Ruin, Come Back To Me, Late Phases, Cold In July, Babadook, Captain America: Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy are available on Amazon either on DVD/BR or streaming.

CROSS BEARER is available HERE 

TIME TO KILL is available HERE

MORRIS COUNTY is available HERE

I AM NO ONE is available HERE 

PIECES OF TALENT is available HERE

Review: The Collective Vol. 6

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you know all about The Collective by now.  For you late comers, allow me to introduce you to horror cinema’s best kept secret and the most innovative concept in independent fright fare today.  The Collective is the brainchild of Jason Hoover of Jabb Pictures.  Take 10 indie horror filmmakers and give them a theme.  They each make a 10 minute short based on that theme.  Put them all together and voila; you get the indie horror sampler platter.  We’re five installments in, and all five have delivered.  In addition to being entertained by the collections themselves, they’ve served as an introduction to filmmakers whose other work I’ve enjoyed.  You can’t go wrong with these.  If you call yourself an independent horror fan and you haven’t been keeping up with The Collective, you’re doing it wrong.

Which brings us to the recently released Volume 6.  This time, it’s personal.  Yeah, I couldn’t help throwing that line in.  Whereas previous themes have involved things like each short being based on an emotion or having to use a cardboard box as the centerpiece, this time the horror comes from within.  Each filmmaker based their segment on what scares them the most.  What scares the people that scare us?  It’s a hell of a question, and it has the potential to produce some intense cinematic experiences.  It actually turned out to be one of the strongest, and definitely the darkest, of the Collective series.  Let’s break these down one by one…

1.Consequence Pictures – Speeches

We kick this collection off with the story of a man wrestling with guilt over the death of his girlfriend while being forced into his own personal hell of making speeches about drunk driving.  This one has some really cool eerie imagery and interesting editing.  One character’s creatively foul-mouthed verbiage adds a little levity to the proceedings; my favorite line being “You better put your big boy ballsack on this time.”  Great line.  I’m gonna start using that one.  I’ve said very often that it’s the little details that can ruin a good film or push it over the edge from good to great.  In this case, I was mightily impressed by one small detail; their blood.  I mean, that was great blood!  Good color, it flowed beautifully, the whole nine yards.  Good quality blood is, sadly, not something you see often in these DIY flicks.  I don’t know if they made it or bought it, but it was a thing of beauty.  The only thing I question is  watching the whole thing again in fast-forward again at the end.  I get what they were going for, but I don’t think it worked as well as they'd hoped.  Overall, a strong way to start.

2.Jarrett Furst – Edible Love

A woman’s horrific past leads her to drastic places in the quest to feel loved.  This one is pretty intense.  ***SPOILER ALERT*** It’s psychosexual take on cannibalism is actually believable, and it treats the theme seriously and thoughtfully.  I’m a sucker for a good thinking man’s cannibal flick.  ***END SPOILER ALERT*** The rape scene is perfect.  Yeah, I know, that sounds sick, but hear me out.  It’s one of the grittiest rape scenes I’ve ever seen, and it has the appropriate impact on the audience.  It feels dirty and degrading.  If you want your audience to actually be affected, that’s the way you do it.  The only problem is the audio.  The main actress spends a lot of time talking to the camera.  She’s giving a good performance and saying some pretty interesting stuff… I think.  She’s impossible to understand most of the time.  Her voice is way too low and garbled.  It’s a damn shame too, because what I could hear seemed well written.  It does get a little better as the film progresses, but this short is WAY too good to sound this damn bad.  Unfortunately, the audio problems kick Edible Love down from “That was amazing,” to “That was good, but…”

3.Mostly Harmless Pictures – Play Me

A woman receives a mysterious DVD shortly before being attacked.  This one straight up rocked.  Most of it is an extended kill scene, and you need a great victim to make that work.  Ellie Church is a great victim.  She pulls off “terrified eyes” well.  “Ironic pretty song over scenes of violence” is getting a little played out, but it works here.  There’s some inventive camera work. One little touch at the end (which I’m not gonna give away) literally had me applauding right there on the couch.  I’m not sure how to review this any further without spoiling everything, so I think I’m just gonna do my best Joe Bob Briggs impression and give you those drive-in totals…"One dead body. Two almost visible breasts. One tattoo I wanted a better look at.  Gun gagging.  Subliminal creepy dude.  Genital mutilation.  Pistol whipping.  Bondage fu.  Cheese grater fu.  Eyeballs roll.  Director Brian Williams gets the “Rob Zombie Award” for achievement in long, loving close-ups of his lead actress’ ass.  A 90 on the vomit meter. Four stars. Check it out."

4.Jerami Cruise – Insomniac

An insomniac roams the city at night, giving in to the urges that plague her sleep-deprived mind.  I could tell right away that this had to be made by someone who was intimately familiar with the subject matter, because this is as authentic as it gets.  As an insomniac who used to roam the streets of Atlanta in the wee hours, this short felt like a flashback.  Everything from the way the camera moves to the filters he used mimics the way you view the world on the 4^th or 5^th day without sleep.  Leah and I had different ideas about what the filmmaker’s driving fear was, and I like how that ambiguity allows for different levels of interpretation based on the viewer’s experience with the subject.  This one went deep in a lot of ways.  Toetag’s resident goremeister has crafted something special here.

5.Jabb Pictures – I Am No One

A filmmaker documents the life of a serial killer, but is he getting too close?  If you mixed the mechanics of Man Bites Dog with the atmosphere of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, the result would be I Am No One. I don’t know who the actor that plays Charles is (we’re never told since it’s documentary style), but damn he’s good in this. His monologues are well written, and his delivery is natural and sometimes rather chilling.  There’s a well-played tension to the final moments.  One of, if not the, high point of this volume.  Jason Hoover, the director, informed me that a feature length version of I Am No One is coming soon.  I, for one, can’t wait to see it.

6.Quattro Venti Scott – Security Violation

A man is killed by a masked duo.  This one is another extended death sequence.  The masks that the killers wear are phenomenal.  I want to know where I can get those.  Cameron Scott, the director, plays the victim and does a damn fine job.  Playing dead is one of those arts that most people don’t notice when it’s done well.  That’s how you know it’s being done well, and Cameron kills it.  His dead eyed look is dead on.  Ok, I’ll stop.  Anyway, the plastic over his face doesn’t even flutter.  Directing from onscreen is difficult, but when you have to do it as a corpse, it can be murder.  Kudos.  There are some satisfying gory touches.  I like a lot of the angles used, but a few of them showed a little too much air between the blows and the victim.  That wouldn’t have been a problem, however, had the male killer been more aggressive.  Those half swings just weren’t convincing me. Beat him like you mean it, dude!

7.Spiral Filmworks – Devotion

A sermon… and a sacrifice.  Two actors, a static camera, and the most screwed-up rendition of Amazing Grace I’ve ever heard.  I like how the scene is allowed to play out organically while the audience plays the role of both congregation and voyeur.  The way one character menaces the other, as well as the real time single set/no cuts/no camera movement format, made this one remind me a lot of some haunted house scenes I’ve performed over the years. I hear you Jason, religious zealotry kinda freaks me out too.

8.Well Hung Pictures – Trepidation

I like that it was made to look like a SOV flick.  I have a soft spot for those. There are a couple of good lines too. Unfortunately, however, this short is Vol. 6’s weak link.  Look, I dig a slow burn, but a slow burn only works on the premise that there will be a payoff.  Aside from a one second shot in the middle that gives this a somewhat implied ending, nothing scary happened.  Nothing creepy happened.  Nothing unsettling happened.  Nothing happened at all.  I’m sure there is a statement here about the banality of little fears or “nothing to fear but fear itself,” or maybe something is supposed to be read into that one shot that I’m not getting, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

9.Liberty or Death Productions – Mercy

A filmmaker is abducted and held underground for ransom.  I really dug the creative use of split-screen in the opening moments.  I don’t think I’ve seen it done exactly that way before.  Justin Forbes does a great job as the thug.  I’m not claustrophobic at all, but that hole freaked me out a little.  It’s completely plausible as something a small time criminal might plan and build.  That’s just plain old good production design. This is LOD’s best short since Fertility 2.0 in Volume 2. I refer to this one by an alternate title; “Buried Alive By Fred Durst.”  You’ll get it when you see it.

10.Graphik 13 – Skeleton

An avenging skeleton is a girl’s best friend.  I kinda took Graphik 13 to task for what I thought was a weak entry in the last Collective, and they came back with a vengeance.  This is by far the best stuff we’ve seen from them, and that’s coming from someone who loved Snapcase.  The moody black and white photography emphasizes the creepiness.  I like the way the victim/villain dichotomy plays out.  Two minutes in you know where the story is going.  That could either be a good or bad thing.  Familiar can be fun, but predictable sucks.  There’s a very subtle difference between the two, and G13 deftly manages to keep the viewer invested.  The design of the skeleton itself, a classic Grim Reaper style hooded skull look, works perfectly with the dark fairy tale elements of the story.  Interestingly, it’s also the only one that took a supernatural approach to the theme.  I would have liked to see less digital filters and transitions, but that’s just a personal taste thing.  Good stuff.

I find it very interesting that almost every single one of these revolves around interpersonal violence, neglect, or abuse in some way.  It seems that when you ask people who spend their lives scaring you what scares them, the answer is almost always the same; mankind.  Whether the fear is of yourself or other people, the darkness inherent in humanity is what freaks them out.  There’s some kind of profound statement to be made there, but I’ll save the philosophical discussions for another time. 

What I will say is that Volume Six is Jabb and the Collective crew at their finest.  Volume 4 is still my favorite, but this is a very close second.  If I had to pick a favorite from this crop, it would be a tough call between I Am No One, Insomniac, and Play Me.  Besides Trepidation, which I’m sure some of you would dig (especially the VHSphiles), everything here is firing on all cylinders.  It goes without saying that pretty much every horror fan with a brain is sick of the gutless, soulless, brainless, heartless, nutless drivel  Hollywood is trying to pass off to us these days.  There is a remedy, folks.  There is good stuff out there. If you wanna see it, and peek into what I sincerely hope is the  future of the genre, you’re gonna have to dig a little deeper.  Look to the indies.  Look to the underground.  Look to The Collective.  9 hammer smashed heads out of 10.  Nathan says check it out.

All volumes of The Collective are available HERE.

The Best Horror Flicks Of 2012 Part 1: 10-6

Before I get to the first half of my top 10 list, I’m gonna rant for just a sec.  It’s a rant you’ve heard from me before, but I’m gonna bang this drum as long as my banger still works.  Whenever I tell someone that I write about horror movies, they often say, “They just don’t make any good horror movies any more.”  When someone says that, I ask them how many independent horror movies they’ve seen lately.  Nine times out of ten, their response is “Huh?”  There’s the problem right there. 

One criticism I know I’m gonna hear about my top 10 is “But Nathan, I’ve only seen two or three of these.”  That’s because only two of my top 10 got a major theatrical release.  If you’re relying on your local multiplex for good horror, you’re shortchanging yourself folks.  I implore you, look deeper.  The good stuff isn’t coming out of Hollywood.  If you really want to see the best of what the genre currently has to offer, you’re gonna have to dig.  Not far, mind you.  Of the 8 indie flicks on my top 10, 7 are available at Redbox, on VOD, from Amazon, or are a simple google search away.  I’ve seen way too many top 10 lists this year that include mediocre major studio fare just because they only take big releases into account.  For the sake of the genre and for the sake of your entertainment, SUPPORT INDEPENDENT HORROR!

Look, I'm really not trying to sound like a film snob here, I just want more people to get a chance to see these kick ass movies.  Ok, now that I’m done proselytizing, lets get on with the countdown…

10.  Nazis at the Center of the Earth

I’ve spoken before about my love of The Asylum, the preeminent purveyors of mockbusters and SyFy channel guilty pleasures, but they outdid themselves here.  This gem is, in my opinion, the best movie ever to come out of The Asylum’s hallowed halls.  It has everything.  There’s gore, Nazi flying saucers, human experiments, gratuitous nudity, gunplay, lost worlds, and a perfectly played Dr. Mengele.  Yes, it has the over the top insanity that they are known for, but it’s got a darker, grittier, and nastier undercurrent than their usual output.  It makes for a potent b-movie cocktail.  The essence of this flick can actually be distilled into one scene.   Yes, this is a spoiler, but it’s the kind of spoiler that will only make you want to see it more.  Trust me.  There is a scene where Jake Busey performs a forced abortion on his own baby momma, then throws the stem cells into a machine that immediately gives birth to Robo-Hitler!  If you can read a sentence like that and not immediately add this to your necessary viewing list, there’s something horribly wrong with you.  I saw a lot of movies this year that may have been technically better, but I honestly can’t say that I had more fun watching any movie this year than I did with this one.

9. TIE: The Revenant and A Little Bit Zombie

Yeah, I know, a tie is technically cheating.  It’s my countdown and I’ll cheat if I want to.  In a year that provided us with a whole lot of godawful horror comedies, there was a pair of zomedies that got it right.  They both featured excellent comedic timing, good acting, crisp dialog, and quotable one-liners.  So many horror comedies are purely splatstick or “dumb comedy.”  While there is definitely a place for both of those styles, and both of these films embrace those elements, thankfully they also have brains…and not just the ones being devoured.  Both flicks also feature relatable, well-rounded characters.  The Revenant, in particular, had sequences that left me thinking “that’s EXACTLY what me and my friends would do in that situation."  I think I need new friends.  Anyway, I laughed hysterically at both of these, and I’m picky as hell about my comedy.  It’s the perfect ZomCom double feature.

8. Sinister

Take a bunch of tried and true horror tropes, throw in a couple of original ideas and interesting visual flares, and you’ve got the makings of a nice little creepfest.  I just saw this one last night, and it was a great way to close out my viewing year.  Yes, it’s painfully obvious where it’s going, but getting there is an entertaining ride.  There is some excellent spooky imagery.  Ethan Hawke does a good job in the lead.  There is even come awesome comic relief embedded in the dialog.  The “bedroom argument” scene had me rolling.  Plus, Mr. Boogie is just plain cool looking.  I’ve seen this film compared to Insidious in some reviews, but Sinister is the superior of the two in every way.  What really cemented this flick’s place on the list however, is that – I can’t believe I’m gonna admit this – this was the only movie I saw in a theater this year that actually got me with a jump scare.  In fact, it got me twice.  One of them I even saw coming a mile away and it still worked.  Well played gentlemen, well played.

7. Cell Count

Body horror came back in a big way this year, with Cell Count being one of the films leading the charge.  We can all relate to the fear of our own bodies turning against us and the unease of not really understanding what our doctor is doing to us.  Cell Count plays on these very real fears with a clinical ferocity.  This kind of claustrophobic ensemble piece requires good performances all around to work, and this cast definitely comes through.  I’m a sucker for mad scientists, and Dr. Victor Brandt is the best one since Dr. Heiter.  Director Todd E Freeman mainly sticks with practical effects, and when he does, they’re imaginative and messy.  By never revealing too much at one time, the film creates some real tension while still providing sick jollies for the gorehounds, which is a balance many can’t manage.   This refreshingly “old school” combination of the prison/isolation and disease/infection subgenres really gets under your skin.

6. The Collective Volume 4

Some of the best, most innovative filmmaking going on today can be found in short films.  Unfortunately, they’re criminally underseen because, outside of festivals, they don’t really have a showcase.  JABB Pictures is changing that with their Collective series.  The Concept: ten filmmakers each make a ten-minute film based around a central theme.  It’s basically an indie horror sampler platter.  JABB released volumes 3-5 of the series this year; and Volume 4, with each film tackling a different emotion, proved to be the epitome of what the series is all about.  From the gritty, nihilistic realism of Luke 1:71 to the gross out excesses of Epidemic to the faux grindhouse madness of Bloody Hooker Bang Bang: A Love Story, this one truly has something to scratch everyone’s particular macabre itch.  The Collective series gets my vote as the best horror value for your buck on the indie market right now, and Volume 4 is the best of the bunch…so far.

Come back tomorrow for 5-1.

UPDATE: 
- Nazis at the Center of the Earth, A Little Bit Zombie, and The Revenant are all available on Netflix or on DVD/Blu Ray.
- Cell Count is available on itunes, Amazon instant, VUDU, Playstation Network, XBox Live, and just about every other VOD service you can think of.
- All 5 Volumes of The Collective are available at  http://www.jabbpictures.com.  They're just 10 bucks each, or get all 5 (that's over 8 hours) for $40.
- Sinister, well, you shouldn't have a hard time finding that one. 

See, your old pal SOC made it easy on 'ya. 

Review: The Collective Vol. 5

I still love zombies.  I always have, and I always will.  There are a lot of people, however, who would have you believe that everything that can be done in the zombie genre has been done.  The Collective begs to differ.  According to JABB Pictures, there’s life left in the old, shambling, desiccated corpse yet; and they’re out to prove it with The Collective Volume 5.  You Cellmates already know of my love for JABB and these collections.  You also know what the deal is with these by now, but for those new to this Dead Man’s Party (admit it, it’s stuck in your head now, isn’t it?), here’s how this goes.  10 different filmmakers (actually, 8 this time around) are given a central theme. For Vol. 5, it’s zombies. They each produce a 10-minute short film giving their take on the concept. So, did Jason and crew breathe new life into a tired genre, or are they just beating a dead horse?  Let’s see…

Marauders – Jason Hoover

In the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, a group of psychos terrorize the survivors.  Jason Hoover’s are usually among my favorite entries in these Collective collections, but this one was all style over substance.  Visually, it’s got a cool idea, with everything in black and white except certain colorized characters or items.  As usual, Jason shows he knows how to move the camera and compose a shot well.  The problem is that nothing much happens.  There are some really nice touches that make the Marauders creepy and interesting, but we spend way too much of this watching them driving around hoopin’ and hollerin’.  When the mayhem finally does start, it’s of the “out of frame” variety.  I like the look, but a story, or at least a clear concept, would have been nice.  It’s also the least “zombierific” of the bunch, as we never see a zombie., and it actually could have taken place in any post-apocalyptic setting.  There is one line in particular that is REALLY funny though.

  

Voice Over – Arsonist Pictures

A man is bitten by a zombie, and as the change takes hold, that inner voice just won’t leave him alone.  That’s gonna make his date tonight a little awkward.  I loved this one.  I’m a big fan of animated opening credit sequences, a-la Night of the Demons or Blacula, so I knew when I saw one that this was gonna be good.  While I could do without the occasional  “same shot/jump cut” thing, everything else was perfect.  The verbal interplay between out protagonist and his inner zombie voice was hilarious and played very well by Noah East.  The comic timing is on point.  In fact, the people I watched it with and I imitated that voice for days.  Very well done horror comedy, and definitely the best use of the Zombie theme.  One of the two major highlights of this volume.  I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel to this.

They Said They Were Here To Help – Over Analyzed Productions 

When a strange plague begins, a freelance journalist finds himself in the middle of a government cover up.  This is a case study in how to pick a great location and squeeze every last bit production value out of it.  It ends up looking way better than it probably should for the budget.  While his climactic monolog seems somewhat forced, Collective veteran Brad Scaggs does a good job in the lead role.  The atmosphere reminded me a little bit of the original 1973 The Crazies.  By the way, if your goal with the name of your production company was an inside joke on us reviewers, then well played Over Analyzed.  Well played.

Consumption of the Heart – Copp Films 

A couple’s romantic flame has fizzled…until they discover that a mysterious plague is also a potent aphrodisiac.  This is the other big highlight.  I dig this kind of psychosexual stuff a lot, but too often it’s done completely from the crotch and less from the brain or heart.  While it’s certainly the most erotically charged entry in the series to date, it is also an intelligently told “love” story.  It works on a “blood and tits” level, but it also works on an “exploration of how mankind, stripped of their limits, will follow desire to the point of self destruction” level.  Visually, I was impressed by the use of color.  Some scenes have a bit of a middle-period Argento look to them.  Could Italian horror have been an influence?  The Cat in the Brain poster on the bedroom wall says maybe.   The strength of The Collective is that different filmmakers get to show off their unique styles, and this one certainly has a lot of style.    Great stuff.

A(Gore) aphobic - Quattro Venti Scott Productions

During the zombie outbreak, a woman trapped all alone in her apartment does her best not to lose her mind.  With the exception of a couple of scenes of the zombies outside (which are probably the best looking zoms in this collection), we spend the entire time in the apartment watching our heroine slowly lose it.  With a movie of this sort, you have to have a great performance out of your main actress.  Now don’t get me wrong, Athena Prychodko is good, and she would have been fine in a normal role, but one written this introspectively required a little heavier dramatic lifting than she could pull off here.  If she had been given a little more to do, it might have worked a lot better.  Also, those pesky sound level issues rear their ugly heads here. 

Zombie Soup – Liberty or Death Productions

A bunch of people, including some of the Collective filmmakers, answer questions about the zombie phenomenon.  This is where this volume really heads off the rails and careens downhill for me.  In all of the previous editions, there were entries that I loved and entries I hated, but they were all artistic endeavors and felt like the filmmaker actually had something to say.  For the first time, I feel like the Collective has filler.  This ten-minute talking head segment offers up a couple of laughs (certainly NOT the lame political jokes); but – if anything - this should have been a bonus feature on the disc rather than one of the shorts.  It feels like they were short a segment and had to whip one up right quick.  Honestly, as I watched it, I was shocked that this made it in. 

(se)XX _ Z(ombie) – Silence in the Dead of Light 

What’s a group of gals to do for sexual satisfaction in the age of zombies?  Well, they could take care of each other…or they could use the ghoulish dudes locked in the basement as undead sex toys.  This is a pretty cool concept; an old school silent movie with old school silent movie music and old school silent movie title cards.  The whole “zombie sex slave” idea is pretty cool too.  Unfortunately, the possibilities presented by that central conceit are barely explored.  True, the proceedings are livened up by some zombie sex and a hilariously awkward “lesbian scene” (if you can call it that) between two ladies that seem like they’d rather be doing anything else besides said scene, but way too much time goes to watching zombies in their tighty whiteys milling about.  I wish the actual relationship and conflict between all of the girls had taken center stage more.  It does show progression as a filmmaker on the part of Athena Prychodko since her contribution to Vol. 3, so I’m interested to see where she goes from here.

Spooky Stuff: The Zombie File – Liberty or Death Productions

A couple of ghost hunters go to haunted locations looking for zombies.  Um, what?  At first I thought this was just a parody of internet ghost hunting shows.  Later, I found out that these guys do a real internet paranormal investigation show.  I wish I had known this was a joke episode of an actual “reality” series.  I would have understood what was going on better, and I would have seen that godawful ending coming.    Robin is actually a great personality on the web series, but she doesn’t get a chance to shine here.  The last location they visit, the 100 Steps Cemetery in Brazil, Indiana, has a really cool legend that could actually be a great basis for a short, but the “ghost hunt” format and overall jokey tone completely kill it.

The Dead Things Outside Your Door Parts 1 and 2 – Graphik 13

A grumpy electrician must save his ex from a drug dealer and zombies.  As with last volume, the last two segments are actually a two-part flick.  I was hoping for another fun as hell “Bloody Hooker Bang Bang” style romp to salvage the second half of the collection.  I didn’t get it.    What I got instead was garden-variety splatstick.  The opening title cards and stock footage would have worked much better as a voice over.  I’m sure the style of the humor will be some folk’s cup of guts, but for me it felt flat and was not quite as good as I’ve seen from these guys before.  I did enjoy all of the homages (Romero Realty, O’Bannon Construction), and the callback to Snapcase (Graphik 13’s excellent entry from The Collective Vol. 2) was awesome.  There are a couple of choice bits of zombie mayhem, but the devil was in the details.  You do not bang a foam hammer against a door if you’re not going to insert the appropriate sounds.  Speaking of sound effects, many of them seem to have been chosen for comic effect, which didn’t work.  I love the old “blood splatters onto the camera lens” gag, but it only works with practical blood.  With CGI, it just looks cheap.  Maybe I’m just being picky about my comedy, as I tend to do, but this one really didn’t do it for me.

Man, I hate to say it, but overall this one was a bit of a letdown, especially considering just how great volumes 1-4 were.  The bad news is that Collective veterans Over Analyzed, Jason Hoover, Quatro Venti Scott, and Graphik 13, while not all turning in bad entries per se (They Said They Were Here To Help in particular), each turn in their weakest work of the series.  What makes it worse is that I know from the other Collectives that all of these guys are capable of making some killer shorts.  How did all of you have an off day at once?  Liberty or Death, um, I’m not sure what the hell happened there.  Did you guys just stop trying, or was it a “down to the wire, have to turn in something” situation?  Either way, their two entries were hands down the worst of this bunch, and drug the overall average down with them.  Silence in the Dead of Light is the only production group who shows up better than they did before, as (se)XX _ Z(ombie) is a vast improvement over Jog from vol. 3.  This volume was extremely lopsided, with the four films I really dug being the first four.  After that, it kinda crashed and burned.

The good news is that both newcomers to the series, Arsonist Pictures (Joshua Hull) and Copp Films (Andrew Copp) knock it out of the park.  Voice Over and Consumption of the Heart both actually offer up something rare in the horror market right now, as well as the idea The Collective Volume 5 was based on…a unique twist on the zombie genre.  Voice Over goes for laughs, and it delivers.  Consumption of the Heart is more artsy and transgressive, and it succeeds admirably.  This was my first exposure to both of these filmmakers’ work, and I’m excited to see what else they have to offer.  Hopefully they will take part in future Collectives, because these two shorts are fantastic.

I know I’m being awfully hard on this one.  I remember when I was a kid and my folks used to give me that “If you were a C student, we’d be happy with these grades, but we know you’re capable of A’s, so you’re grounded” bullshit.  That’s kinda how I feel about The Collective Volume 5.   I think the problem here, and I know for a fact that at least one person heavily involved in the production feels the same way, is that it’s a case of burnout.  3 of these have been released in 9 months.  That’s just too much.  Slow down.  Release one every 6 months maybe.  I don’t want to give you the wrong impression though.  It’s still definitely worth checking out.  They just set the bar so high, especially with Vol. 4, that it’s gonna be tough to consistently hit that level of badassery.  Trust me, Voice Over and Consumption of the Heart alone would make this a worthy purchase, especially considering that it’s only 10 bucks.  That’s still one of the best horror entertainment values going.  I guess The Collective is kinda like sex.  When it’s good, it’s great!  When it’s sub par…hell, it’s still pretty  good.  One severed thumb up.   Nathan says check it out.