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Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival (2016)
All Aboard!! All Aboard!!
most sequels are a copy/paste of the original idea. obviously, if part 1 worked so well, it makes sense to use the same formulas for part 2 right?
BOH-RING!! *YAWN* *SNOOZE*
thank all carnies that the creators of the original devil's carnival aren't dull. alleluia shares the same dark, quirky tone as part 1 but definitely carries its own brand of absurdity.
a majority of the movie is set in a heaven swathed in 1930s glamour -- replete with impeccable dress, impeccable manners, and impeccable style. overshadowing all is god (i mean paul sorvino), a dictator who forces every denizen of heaven to operate as cogs within a highly regimented business. like the carnival of hell, there are rules, lots of rules, and one must abide by the rules at all times.
alleluia is a true musical -- story is established through song and, because it's the devil's carnival, the songbook runs the gamut between jazzy notes, Asian instruments, stage show tunes, and heavy minor chords. the crazy mix more than anchors the fantasy and brings to life each bizarre personality (yes, that IS David hasslehoff as the designer). the cast is fantastic. not all of them are singers but they nonetheless flavor each song with unique interpretations.
we see mainly through the eyes of june (emilie autumn) and her journey becomes the origin story of the painted doll. in essence, it's the familiar battle between the little guy against the big bully. and here's the thing...movies are first and foremost meant to be entertainment. but the best art transcends mere entertainment and leaves the audience with thoughts to chew on. alleluia does not miss the opportunity to pose questions that universally affect everyone...when do rules harm more than help? why do we punish curiosity? is obedience blind or is love blind?
maybe i'm projecting and imagining those extra levels of meaning. but that, i think, is what make alleluia more than just pretty visuals and music. it has successfully stuck its claws in my brain and making my gray matter work overtime. that is a most welcome intrusion.
The Barrens (2012)
i dig watching descents into madness.
BAIT: a scruffy-lookin' stephen moyers with crazy eyes going into some woody area called "the barrens". and itsa film by darren lynn bousman. OK, i'm sold.
REEL: first five minutes is your typical lost-in-the-woods couple getting the smackdown from The Monster. but then from the opening credits that start rolling immediately after to the blackout at the very end, The Barrens beats the typical horror movie structure to a pulp. most horror flicks about folklore send the hero on a research project to discover the origins of the monster for a clue on how to destroy the menace. well, stephen moyers doesn't need to discover any origins about the jersey devil cuz he enters into the plot already knowing how the beastie came to be. The Barrens isn't just trying to scare you with scenes of monster carnage -- it's really a carefully paced magic trick designed to distract the audience from the characters' Ultimate Doom. if you don't pay attention to details, the final minutes'll pull a fast one on ya. i wasn't paying much attention to details because the ride to the surprise ending was fast and furious. the entire cast is amazing, though i gotta give extra kudos to moyers' performance as the paranoid dad. his increasing crazy keeps you guessing: is it his imagination getting out of hand or is it really the jersey devil?
CATCH: The Barrens does a great job of piling up the bodies and tension in a creative way. and really, even though this film's got lots going for it (visuals, cast, plot, well played family drama), what i liked best is darren's ability to keep on piling on, all the way to the bloody end. cuz, after all, piles of bodies, and the promise of more to come, is what makes a horror film so bloody horrifying. it's all about the lasting impressions eh, long after you've left the dark theater.
Sushi Girl (2012)
story-driven gore is under-appreciated.
HOOK: members from a diamond heist gone wrong six years ago gather for a celebration dinner where sushi is served on the body of a naked woman.
LINE: presumably one would watch this based on the premise alone (what do you mean it's sushi served on a naked woman?!). ten seconds in and my mind's been taken over by the lush visuals and crazy performances. Fish (played by noah hathaway) has just been let out of a six-year prison sentence -- waiting for him in the prison parking lot is a guy twice his size, with an invitation he cannot refuse. Duke (tony todd) is the heist ringleader who's dinner invite to celebrate Fish's prison release is accepted by Crow (mark hamill), Francis (james duval), and Max (andy mackenzie). all four men are convinced Fish hid the diamonds from the botched heist and seize the opportunity to force a confession. a dinner with your four ex-con buddies in a remote restaurant on a dark, rainy night? guaranteed pee-in-your-pants freak-out, no matter how beautifully naked your dinner is served. two-thirds of the film is lavished on the dinner -- each delicious, nail biting, gum chewing moment of it. every second is punctuated by in-your-face dialogue -- mark hamill's Crow (the perfect unhinged jester) in particular gets quite a few memorable one- liners. when Crow is not making withering observations, Max is busy breaking apart the room and the people in it. Francis is the cowering conscience of the audience while Duke's even, measured menace casts the shadows overall. and you, the audience? you get to watch Fish suffer through literal torture. crazy, intense, holy-crap-they-did-not-just-do- that torture. and all the while, the sushi girl is laying on the table. not making a peep admist the cursing, the gushing blood. what in all hells is going on around here!?
SINKER: now here's the thing -- it'd be easy to dismiss sushi girl as a b-grade gore fest. which is the laziest of all lazy conclusions. the first ten minutes tell you otherwise, from the sushi girl's reaction to Duke to Fish's anguish over his son not recognizing his voice. while the film happily (gleefully) takes you to those moments where it wallows in torture pr0n, there is quite a revenge story lurking beneath all the flashy talk and flying bullets. a twist ending worthy of many repeated viewings. a movie can be pretty (which sushi girl most definitely is) but without a good story supported by convincing performances, it cannot be memorable. the cast of sushi girl gave all that and bag a chips to bring to life extreme characters that, at turns, make you laugh and then scare the bejesus of you. the film rides on these highs until it slams you with a climax that turns the roller coaster on its head -- where you're left savoring the bittersweet emotions that only the best revenge stories can evoke. i wax fancy verbage but i do not lie. sushi girl is the kind of film that everyone will reference in the future -- or at the very least try their damnedest to imitate and post to you-tube.