THE SEA OF PERDITION

THE SEA OF PERDITION (2006)
UK/IS
Directed by Richard Stanley

CAST:
Maggie Moor - Sly Delta Honey

PLOT:
     A Warren Comics style short portraying a stranded cosmonaut on Mars.

REVIEW:
     I originally intended this review to be put up a couple of days after the review for The Theatre Bizarre was up for a couple of days . The main reason why I decided to really focus on Stanley was to show that with the constraints he had while working on Mother Of Toads, it isn't a fair showing of his ability. If giving free reign to work everything out in a film he can accomplish a impact-full film even if the film is actually a short film. It's just too bad that Hollywood truly doesn't understand film making anymore and the people that bring something different to the screen are the ones left out in the cold.

     I can't really judge Maggie Moor's character Sly Delta Honey all that much due to the dialogue in the short is kept to a bare minimum. She has to act more with her body as she explores the barren planet's surface in search of a way to get in touch with anyone. But what I did see of it, Moor does a decent job as a astronaut lost and separated from the rest of the crew. Yet at the same time Moor also plays a alien doppelganger of the Sly Delta Honey as well who seduces the astronaut it's copying. Moor in this role has no lines yet has to let her body do the acting for her. Even though Moor is the star and carries the short, it's the appearance at the end of it of an alien that just makes you smile.

       This short I have to admit isn't really about story but more about feel of it. This is demonstrated within the first 30 seconds of the film where it open in space and a flying satellite passes by playing a Pink Floyd song. The colors in this shot weren't bright, but somewhat muted. As someone would expect a lot of blacks due to it being in space, instead the main color is an off color purple and light browns mixed. Once the short moves planetside, director Richard Stanley knows how to use barren landscapes to show just how alone the main character truly is. The main shot showing this is when Sly Delta Honey is scanning for radio frequencies on top of a what looks like a mountain while two planets are visible in the background. I love the look and feel of this short as I used to read old horror and sci-fi anthology comics that had to tell a story quickly while also being understandable by all readers. Even though not much story background is giving, Stanley's short film captures the feel of those old cult comics perfectly in its simplicity while also being very well shot that actually left me wanting to see more of this alien planet.   

BEST DEATH:
     Sly Delta Honey's massive information brain drain.

BEST LINE:
     -Traigan a mas astronauts!

FUN FACTS:
     Maggie Moor is the great-grandchild of internationally known, Vaudevillian song and dance team Charlie Brown and Mae Newman.

     Dario Argento is one of Richard Stanley's favorite directors.

     Richard Stanley turned down the directing gigs for both Spice World and Judge Dredd in the '90s.

A COUPLE OF NEWS BITS

This is something I might try to get into the habit of doing every every week or two, just putting down bits and information on films that are being made or coming out that I find interesting. Let me know what you think!

PROMETHEUS International release trailer pics:
     I'm going to let this one speak for itself with the pics below, but as you can tell I'm super hyped for this one while staying away form any spoilers.

A brand new alien

Is is just me or does the helmet look like it was melted by acid!

RICHARD STANLEY NEWS:

     I openly admit I'm a fan of Richard Stanley, even his less than excellent outings. Well Stanley, even though his work has been somewhat sparse over the last decade, is going to be having a slew of upcoming titles his name is attached to over the next couple years. The first is The Profane Exhibit which is in production right now. He is also working on the script for I Am Legion a horror war thriller directed by Nacho Cerda. He has also mentioned that he's working on a project based around one of  Lovecraft's stories.

CRAWLSPACE:

     This film popped up last year as it was starting production and now the poster for it has been released. The story is about the Australian military doing experiments and the facility comes under attack from unknown forces. The military sends in a elite force to find out what happened and somehow make it out alive once they find out more was going on there than should have been. Sounds like it can be fun.

RIDDICK:

     The third Riddick movie has finished shooting and is being prepped for a release early next year, and from Vin Diesel has mentioned about it the studio is setting it's sights on a possible franchise starting with this one. What you mean a third film in a series isn't a franchise?????

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES:
     The third and final trailer for Nolan's Batman trilogy is now out and with this one it seems like Nolan's going for the terrorist angle for it. Another film I can't wait to see.

OLDBOY:

     The remake of Oldboy is going on ahead and they have cast the lead for it finally. The honor of getting to fight in a crowded corridor and being completely bad-ass goes to Sharlto Copley.

STAR TREK 2:

     J.J. Abrams second Trek outing is still going strong in production with rumors finally becoming fact. Yes Khan Noonian Singh is in it as played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Klingons will make an actual appearance compared to just being talked about like in the first one. Also Leonard Nimoy will reprise his role as Old Spock.

END OF THE WORLD:

     Aziz Ansari, Seth Rogen, and Jay Baruchel's My Apocalypse, about what else but the end of the world, has a name change and more cast joining in, all playing themselves. Part of the reason why the film is being made is because the creator's of Freaks and Geeks wanted to try and get the original cast back together for a project. Emma Watson has joined the cast as well.

THE THEATRE BIZARRE

THE THEATRE BIZARRE (2011)
US/ FR/ CA

PLOT:
     Down a seedy city street in her neighborhood, young Enola Penny is obsessed with what appears to be a long abandoned theatre. One night, she sees that the front door is slightly ajar and impulsively decides to sneak inside. But there in the dark, decrepit auditorium, a show unlike any other unfolds before her eyes. Its host is an eerie human puppet named Peg Poett who will introduce Penny to six tales of the bizarre.

REVIEW:
      One of the weirder reviews to do is one for films with multiple segments that interconnect, yet at the same time don't. The reason why to me is because each segment has to stand on it's own while still carrying on the film without dropping the ball and making the movie slam to a halt. Basically segment films are short films within a film. And as such I review each segment separately to be fair to the whole product.

THE MOTHER OF TOADS
Directed by Richard Stanley
CAST:
     Catriona MacColl - Mere Antoinette
     Shane Woodward - Martin

     I must admit this segment of the movie was the main reason why I wanted to watch it. Richard Stanley is just a amazing director if he is allowed to just let loose and giving full control. At the same time this is also the failing of this segment as well. It's not because of actors or look, but because of the run time for The Mother Of Toads. Stanley's segment is perfectly set for a short film, subsequently though one that can run for more than 10 minutes. The reason why I say this is because there is a feeling of something missing in this segment due to that a lot is spoken of and hinted at albeit not explained which is why this segment fails in the end.

I LOVE YOU
Directed by Buddy Giovinazzo
CAST:
     Andre Hennicke - Axel
     Suzan Anbeh - Mo

      I Love You is the second best segment of the movie to me. Not because it's the bloodiest but because of the emotions involved in telling the story. The loneliness portrayed by Andre Hennicke as Axel is palatable yet at the same time misguided due to Axel being too needy and untrusting which causes his love to become less about love and more about control. What follows is Axel trying to piece together the missing pieces from his memory and his refusal of the real truth. Suzan Anbeh is great as Mo, who has to be as heartless as possible to prove a point and in return causes what she was hoping to prevent.

WET DREAMS
Directed by Tom Savini
CAST:
     Debbie Rochon - Carla
     Tom Savini - Dr. Maurey

     Tom Savini's return to directing couldn't have happened soon enough. Yet with Wet Dreams he has a difficult time with a jumpy story that is a dream within a dream only to find out that it's hiding within another dream by a man being tortured. The acting from Tom Savini and Debbie Rochon is more than acceptable for what their roles required. Savini as a doctor who misguides one character while helping  Rochon, who plays   a abused wife who inflicts bloody revenge against a cheating husband who is more interested in sex with others, even if it's through rape. The problem lies with James Gill's  character, or I should say Gill's acting as he isn't able to pull off the emotions required of him toward the end as he's unbelievable in his repulsion from his own dreams that haunt him every night and in his pain in real life.

THE ACCIDENT
Directed by Douglas Buck
CAST:
     Melodie Simard
     Lena Kleine - Mother

     The Accident is probably the most somber of the shorts in the film as it deals with a mother having to explain death to her daughter. The child played by Melodie Simard is completely believable as she asks innocent questions after witnessing a accident in which a animal and a motorcyclist is killed. Nothing is played for laughs as it deals with the understanding of the fragility of life.  One of the haunting images in this segment is the lingering view of the dead motorcyclist's eye seen through a broken helmet visor as if he's staring at the child and asking why this happened to him. If there is one segment that seems the most out of place in the movie it would be The Accident as it is more of a drama piece than horror.

VISION STAINS
Directed by Karim Hussain
CAST:
     Kaniehtiio Horn - The Writer
     Cynthia Wu-Maheux - Junkie Girl

     Vision Stains is to me the one segment that fits the name of the movie the most and as well my favorite. Kaniehtiio Horn is a writer who can only write after draining the eye fluid of dying people and shooting the residue into her own eye. She lives a life of squalor with her dead victim's memory in written form. We're shown that she has been doing this for a long time as her shack is filled with notebook towers of her victims,  until she crosses the line of life when she tries to see what a unborn child sees. This is when the true supernatural comes to bring retribution against her for trying to see what she shouldn't and isn't allowed to see until death. In return to stop the torture of her mind she has to give restitution of her own sight for what she has done. 

SWEETS
Directed by David Gregory
CAST:
     Lindsay Goranson - Estelle
     Guilford Adams - Greg

     Sweets is the weirdest of all the segments in the movie as it deals with control through emotions and food. Greg, played by Guilford Adams, is so in love with Estelle that he doesn't see her using that love to force feed him to fatten him up for a feast. Lindsay Goranson, who plays Estelle, is hard to place acting wise in the segment as she truly doesn't show any real emotions at the slow mental abuse she gives out to get what she wants. Nothing is truly explained in the segment as at the end it is filled with cannibals that all act like Estelle. Dead and stiff acting for those all around  this segment stop what could have been an interesting segment, yet it's because nothing is explained is why this piece fails completely and instead just turns it into a gross-out segment about gluttony.
    
THE THEATRE BIZARRE
Directed by Jeremy Kasten
CAST:
     Udo Kier - Peg Poett
     Virginia Newcomb - Enola Penny

     The Theatre Bizarre segment runs through the whole movie as it cuts back to this after each segment. The best part of this segment (segments) is Udo Kier as Peg Poett. Yet the major downfall of these is that you don't know what is going on during these except that Kier's character goes from a wooden looking puppet to a flesh and blood man after each segment while Virginia Newcomb's Enola Penny is the exact opposite, transforming from flesh and blood to wooden puppet. There's is no rhyme or reason giving for why this is happening and Kier's character only speaks lines that comments on human nature. The look of these segments is dark and washed out yet nothing is obscured from view. At the end though I was left with more questions than answers for what happened with these segments as well as felt somewhat cheated and let down by the whole movie in general.

BEST DEATH:
     Axel's ultimate gift of love.

BEST LINE:
     It's easier to be caught up in someone else's story than to live our own.

FUN FACTS:
     Richard Stanley's segment is an adaptation of the short story Mother of Toads by Clark Ashton Smith.

     Each director was given the same budget, schedule and narrative directive. Other than that, they were given free rein to create their 10-20 minute segments.

     This is the first time Tom Savini has directed for a a feature film since 1990's Night Of The Living Dead remake.

BLACK TULIPS

BLACK TULIPS (2008)
Directed by Richard Stanley

CAST:
Richard Stanley - Richard
Maggie Moor - Maggie/ Katie

PLOT:
     Nothing is ever quite what it seems at first glance.

     

REVIEW:
     This review is a first for me as I'm reviewing a short film that is unfinished. I try to stay away from unfinished products just to give the filmmakers a fair footing. Yet with this one being directed by Richard Stanley I'm giving it a review for two reasons. One is because this is a film Stanley shows off various film festivals for possible investors. And two, as a lead up to  The Theatre Bizarre.

     A little known fact about Richard Stanley is that he has acted in all of his films that he has lensed. In Black Tulips he plays a version of himself. His character's name is Richard and he is a director. Yet it's Richard's background in the short that is interesting how it plays into the story. Stanley's character is a shaman, and a butcher as well, who tries to help his flatmate and lover Maggie. Maggie, played by Maggie Moore is quite somber in the film as she seems like she lost something in her life yet the character Richard and the small child seem to know her for their whole life. There is a past there that is hinted at yet never explained. The only real hint that is giving is when a unexpected guest shows up and says that Maggie is Katie even though both Maggie and Katie say she's not.

     The look of the short is for the most part clean and straight forward. It's when the before mentioned unexpected guest shows up is when the look and style of the film changes. There was a hint of muted colors when the short starts, yet when the guest arrives the color palate changes and the film get visually darker. This change is a hint at what is to come as you find out that not all is how it should be. It's also at this point in the short that quick flashes of a calf is shown which is jarring due to it creates a atmosphere of unease and trepidation. Another hint is the change in Maggie's look that something isn't quite right, as well as Richard talking about being taught shamanistic rituals that is a hint at what is to come. I'm not going to go into what happens as it will ruin the surprise that happens with Maggie, but I will say that it's not the usual look as it is somewhat more animalistic which make it more beautiful at the same time. One of the drawbacks to the short is the sound design and sound effects as the balance of it off and the spoken lines are sometimes overpowered by the background noise that is going on. Another drawback is the overall look of the short as it is grainy and every so often out of focus. Except for the two drawbacks  Black Tulips is a interesting watch as it Stanley takes a different approach to a well known creature and by doing so adds a air of mysticism to it.

BEST DEATH:
     The lunch that is the unexpected guest.

BEST LINE:
What's with all the psycho shit man?

FUN FACTS:
     Richard Stanley's short film Incident In An Expanding Universe laid the groundwork for Stanley's film Hardware.

Stanley has directed music videos for Public Image Limited, Fields Of Nephilim, and Renegade Soundwave.