Out with the old (part 2);
BABA YAGA – A second viewing – the first was an underwhelming encounter from nigh on fifteen years ago, but this time I picked up on a very definite atmosphere. Gothic interiors vs splurges of pop surrealism, weird trippy asides and noirish shadows… that bondage doll looks a bit daft these days, but a genuine eeriness seeps out from behind some of the kitsch and the clunk.
NEW YORK NINJA – Anyone who’s heard of it will already know, but last year Vinegar Syndrome put together a movie made up of unedited footage from an abandoned eighties ninja flick, added a dub track made up of various guesting exploitation-type ‘names’ and released it as ‘New York Ninja’. I’m really pleased they played it straight and avoided the temptation to take the piss. I really liked it; they’ve come up with a trashy treat that should tickle anyone into the ripe end of eighties ‘Cannon’.
ENDGAME – Joe D’Amato’s stab at post-apocalyptic sci-fi action. A ‘Running Man’ type set up (which predates the original – you could never say that about a Bruno Mattei flick) gives way to a weirdly solemn biker pilgrimage across a post-rad landscape populated by blind sects and mutant gangs. Found it a bit of a strain at first, but it grew on me.
BLOOD AND LACE – Breezy video shop sci-fi from the early nineties, in which the world of rape-revenge gets a sub-‘Robocop’ / ‘Terminator’ style makeover. Its workmanlike interior finds room for a dumb romantic subplot, even dumber science and some pretty stoopid splatter moments (not excessive but pleasant nonetheless). Enjoyable.
MALIGNANT – From bona fide horror director James Wan. What begins as derivative dvd fodder (shadowy stalker, knifings and blackouts) soon pulls the rug after an injection of crazy (very unlikely body horror with someone growing out of someone else’s back). Took me a while to warm to it, and too early I was twiddling my thumbs and waiting for a procession of jump-scares, but by end I was a convert and will happily rewatch with less of a hangover.
THE LAST MATINEE – Some people in a cinema are stalked by a slasher in the early nineties (it’s a period piece). Plenty of positives – giallo-inflected nods, stylishly made, nice atmosphere and some good splatter – the killer pulls eyeballs from a jar of formaldehyde and eats them like grapes. Having said all this, somehow it just didn’t click for me. Another one scheduled for a rewatch before it slips away.
THE GODSEND – Early eighties English dourness about a bad seed kid and her creepy designs. Cuckoo-meister Angela Pleasance has a face like a moonful of menace – v. sinister in other words. Other elements of unease and a bit of tragedy build a baleful atmosphere that compensates for an underlying starchiness and dearth of full-throttle. Worth watching, but god knows who thought it’d make an apt blu-ray double-up with ‘The Lamp’.
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