Fragaria Townhouse

      This week a pair of films about women with big dreams and vastly different methodologies.

     In the town of Small Hope, New Hampshire Suzanne Stone, an ambitious and beautiful young woman, dreams of being a world-famous broadcast journalist. She starts a passionate affair with the son of a local restauranter who swears to support her career ambitions. With a foundation secured, Suzanne starts working as an assistant at a local cable station, with hopes of climbing the network ladder, and eventually, with unwavering persistence, forces her way into doing weather reports. With her foot finally in the door, she begins working on a docuseries about teenagers and quickly takes three losers under her wing, just as her husband begins to pressure her into giving up her dreams to work at the restaurant and start a family. How long until Suzanne begins to see her husband as a impediment? Just what plans does she have for her small town flunky trio? Gus Van Sant's darkly comic broadly targeted satirical drama about antisocial personalities and ambitions that are To Die For. 
     In the not too distant future, increased surveillance on the public at large has gotten to the point where even dreams are recorded and taxed. Dream Auditor James Preble travels to the rural home of reclusive artist, Arabella Isadore, who has never filed a single dream tax. There Preble finds decades of dreams recorded in an outdated format, in Arabella's dreams he finds a colorful world that is nothing like his own off brand digestive aid pink dreams of corporate ads delivered by a jovial bearded man.  Will Preble awaken to the reality of his world? Will he be consumed by the forced consumerism that invades global dreams? Does he have even a hint of Sam Lowery in him? The second feature from writing/directing team of surreal fantasist, Albert Birney, and Southern mubblecore dramatist, Kentucker Audley, Strawberry Mansion.
     All that and Dave forgets to remember something important maybe, Tyler enters his Cobra Commander era, and Kevin goes on a road trip to see someone of dubious reality. Join us, won't you?

   Episode 385- Fragaria Townhouse

Ordeal

     This week, John from And Now For Something a Little Bit Different joins us for a pair of movies about brutal random violence, monsters of societal creation, and retribution. 
     Magda, Camila, Julia, and Andrea go to a remote house owned by a relative for a weekend of decompression and drinking. Their revelry is soon disturbed by a local and his son who have spent their lives perpetuating the cycles of violence created in the Pinochet regime. Will the girls survive the night? Does the current government representatives offer any hope of rescue? Does this movie really have anything to say about anything or is it just using historical reference points as a justification for fairly generic misogynistic violence? The fourth feature from Chilean shock artist Lucio A Rojas, Trauma.
     The car Lance just bought from his half-brother almost immediately breaks down. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, he has no choice but to take a ride offered to him by a man in a truck. Not long into their ride the man asks Lance a question, if he had to kill his half-brother or his wife, which would he kill. Lance makes his choice, not yet realizing this question is only the start of a gore soaked ride of revenge. Can Lance remember what sin from his past has motivated this confrontation? Just how vicious was his past? Is the Stranger just targeting him out of boredom? The directorial debut of cult actor and screenwriter Trent Haaga, Chop.
     All that and Tyler enthuses, Kevin bemuses, Dave snoozes, and John is driven through a trial by fire. Join us, won't you?

    Episode 384- Ordeal
                 

The Wrong D

      This week we take a look at three movies about creatures of the night and their hijinks over three continents and centuries of the masquerade. 

     In 1932 Austria, Sigmund Freud hires a painter, Viktor, to illustrate his monstrous dreams and takes on a new patient, Count Geza Von Kösznöm, who's problem is he hates his wife, who is obsessed with being able to see herself, and still longs for his centuries dead ex-girlfriend. To help immediately with the first problem, Freud recommends the Count hire Viktor. Complications arise due to Viktor's girlfriend, Lucy, looking exactly like the long lost love. Will Viktor be able to paint a portrait to satisfy the Countess? Will Lucy have herself overwritten by the Count's ancient memories? Can Sigmund get a good night's sleep? An Austrian horror comedy from David Rüehm, Therapy for a Vampire.
     Charlotte, a shy, emotionally traumatized, and understandably repressed college freshman arrives to start her new life with a fencing scholarship. Tragically, she is also being targeted by a centuries old half vampire, who needs her blood to lifting his blood sucking curse and finds herself the target of the least likable and tedious girl on campus. Can Charlette find a place for her self on the team or will her bully push her out with the sheer power of her generic sarcasm? Will the vampire find their cure? Can we, as a planet, finally move beyond stupid concepts like virginity that are just excuses for men to fetishize and shame women? The 21st work from prolific Canadian director Carl Bessai and remake of a well loved 90s Skinemax classic, Embrace of the Vampire.
     For centuries vampires ruled the world but now they are dying out and hunted by the long repressed remains of humanity. When Baron Meier Link abducts Charlotte, the daughter of a wealthy family, her father hires a dhampir named D to find her and rescue her dead or alive. D isn't the only hunter on the trail as the family has also hired the Marcus Brothers team to track their lost lamb. Soon all three groups clash in bloody conflicts to hold on to the girl. The second adaption of Kikuchi Hideyuki's massive novel franchise (55 entries at this moment) with gorgeous animation and fluid action from equally prolific studio Madhouse, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.
     All that and Tyler makes a perfectly reasonable mistake, Kevin gets deep in his views, and Dave wonders if these memory problems should be concerning. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 383- The Wrong D

The Bloody Pulpit

     This week Anna, who has been away far too long for anyone's liking, returns for a pair of films about men who are not what they appear too be while hiding in plain sight.

     Christine Faber's husband is dead. He is dead and buried. So why is she hearing his voice call to her across the beach? Dashing out into the night the investigate, Christine runs into Alexis. Alexis claims to be a real psychic medium and able to help her put her ghosts to rest. Fearing she is being taken advantage of Christine's fiancé, Paul, and her sister, Janet, decide to uncover her new friend as a fraud. Will they be able to expose a charlatan preying on a still grieving widow? Can Alexis deliver on his promise of respite from the ghost haunting her? Will this web of deceit and psychological torture be untangled before Christine meets a ghastly ghoulish ending? A classic noir from a blacklisted director with one of the genre's favorite femme fatales, The Amazing Mr. X (aka The Spiritualist).
     After being left by her lover, Jenny makes the mistake of going to see her old friend turned Catholic priest Bernard at his church. Tragically, the ear hearing her confession of jilted romance and coerced abortion is not that of her old friend but elderly Father Meldrum. Meldrum, a fervent believer in the concept of divine justice, decides to nurture and guide Jenny in a way he has done many times before. How far can Meldrum push before anyone will help Jenny? Who do you turn to when no one will believe your desperate pleas for help? An overlooked shocker from one of England's most beloved cult filmmakers, Pete Walker, is a cold-blooded film about how those in power can use their position to harm with impunity- House of Mortal Sin.
All that and Dave unburdens himself to a terrifying degree (off mic), Kevin has flashbacks to his days harassing vicars in the Highlands, and Anna wonders why they agreed to be dragged back into this mess. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 382- The Bloody Pulpit

That's an Odd Kiss

     This week we kick off October and Horror Season with something old from a legendary studio and something new from a go-to service for fright fiends.

     Gerald and Marianne honeymooning through Bavaria in 1910 run out of gas and learn they are miles off course and days away from any fuel delivery. Taking refuge at the local inn, they catch the eye of Dr. Ravna and his children who invite them to a ball at their home. Separated during the festivities Gerald soon discovers that under all the frivolity lies a vampiric cult. Can Gerald save his bride? Will anyone lend him aid besides the drunk professor? Could Marianne really prefer the life of a bloodsucker? Don Sharp's first film for Hammer, Kiss of the Vampire.
     Alone one night, while renovating her new home, Dani is brutally murdered. A former patient of her psychiatrist husband, Ted, is quickly convicted of the crime and sent back into Ted's care. Justice being quickly served, Ted begins his life anew and takes up with Yana, a pharmaceutical rep. Just when Ted thinks he can move on with his life, his deceased wife's blind twin sister shows up at his door with an unusual gift. Was the right person convicted? Will Ted ever find peace to leave his tragedy in the past? Could the mysterious gift be the key to supernatural justice? The second feature from Damian McCarthy, shot in the same converted barn as his first, Oddity.
     All that and Dave probably missed something, Tyler spelunks the depth of exploitation nastiness, Kevin mourns the loss of another regiment in the squirrel army, and special guest Christianne (who can be found blogging as Vulnavia Morbius at krelllabs.blogspot.com) returns just in time to learn some very disturbing history. Join us, won't you?
    Episode 381- That's an Odd Kiss

A Dollop of Ortega

     This week- a clump of movies starring Jenna Ortega.

     After a school shooting, Vada Cavell has to navigate her trauma and depression. Isolating herself from her family and closest friend. As Vada struggles to find ways to cope with her trauma, she bonds with those who sheltered with her during the shooting. A powerful debut feature from writer-director Megan Park with incredible performances, The Fallout.
     In an effort to bolster his conservative base, Governor Harper Finn signs an executive order to immediately round up all illegal immigrants and their US-born children. The kids are given a choice, be deported or spend a few months working in a program assisting the elderly. A horror comedy from the Hallivis Brothers about issues facing Hispanic and Latino Americans, American Carnage.
     Charlie has just graduated from college and decides to take a summer job with his older half-brother, Tom, on a scallop fishing boat. Corporate negligence and a string of bad luck lose the brothers two boats, put them in trouble with Canadian authorities, and force them into a desperate situation. A crime thriller with an incredibly talented cast from veteran writer-director Brian Helgeland, Finestkind.
     Jonathon Miller is a failed writer teaching in a small Tennessee town. Cairo Sweet is an 18-year old senior living alone in a large mansion with generational wealth. Cairo is smart, highly literate, and flatters Miller's vanity by having read his terrible book. Miller unsuspectingly finds himself drawn into a plot to give Cairo something to write about for her Yale application essay. The debut from writer-director Jade Halley Bartlett, Miller's Girl.
     All that and we prep for Halloween. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 380- A Dollop of Ortega

Wassup Tony?

     This week- a group of plucky skater punks get into shenanigans in LA and a plucky mob widow tries to start again but neither the Feds or Family will let her.

     A septet of Latin American boys go against the hip hop trends and norms of their South Los Angeles neighborhood and embrace skateboards and punk rock in very tight pants. One day the boys decide to go skate at a school in the affluent Beverly Hills. Little do they suspect this would kick off an odyssey through a creepily camp satirical nightmare of affluence and classism. Only an auteur like Larry Clark would stop to ask this question burning at the forefront of global consciousness... Wassup Rockers.
     Angela is married to a Long Island mafia rising star but the luster of their life has long since been rubbed off for her. When the boss finds out her husband is also having an affair with the same girl, hubby is not long for this world. Angela takes the opportunity to move out of their home of ill gotten gains and start again. Unfortunately for her both the boss and the FBI are desperately trying to get her in their respective beds. Jonathon Demme's broadly wacky comedy loudly swirls around a complex heroine struggling for freedom and a future where she is no longer Married to the Mob.
     All that and Dave takes an uneventful hike, Tyler's backpack has jets, and Kevin begins his nefarious plot to rebuild the squirrel army and take over the local Little Waitrose. Join us, won't you?

    Episode 379- Wassup Tony?