Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Cross Bearer (Adam Ahlbrandt, 2012)





Most of what you have heard about Cross Bearer is probably false. If you go into it expecting a wall-to-wall smorgasbord of splatter and grue, you will be disappointed. If you go in expecting a campy gore flick, you will not be pleased. If you go into Cross Bearer expecting a smartly written and well acted horror flick that paints the world in a dark, sleazy, grimy, and violent tone, then you will be pleasantly surprised.

The plot is a simple one, but that does not mean the film is. Heather (played by Natalie Jean), a dancer at a strip club, and a group of her friends and co-workers are sent off to the empty warehouse where a cocaine dealer lives in order to make a deal for their sleazy, smarmy boss. Unbeknownst to anyone involved, a religious fanatic armed with a claw hammer has started bringing violent holy retribution to all in the building. Once our heroines and lone hero get there, all hell breaks loose. (Lame pun intended.)

Cross Bearer gives us a world populated with "bad" people. Drug dealers and users, strippers, amateur porn filmmakers; proud sinners. These are people making their way in the world, but their moral tone is gauged by how they treat people, not how they choose their free time. In the dark grimness of the real world, sometimes getting by involves delving into the sleaze; adaptability is the game. In this world, our real world, sometimes the most sick, violent, and repellent are the most "holy." Those who claim to be the moral arbiters are the most twisted.

This is Cross Bearer's main strength: It's smart. Ahlbrandt clearly knew what he was doing with the script. It deals with some fairly heavy themes in the context of a slasher flick without being heavy-handed, and he was wise in casting, as he found many capable actors who embodied their roles.. Natalie Jean is a strong lead and heroine, one the audience instantly roots for and sides with. The supporting cast is all great, too, which is honestly a rarity in the indie world. My favorite scene in the film is actually completely dialogue-driven and turns into a funny, poignant, and almost meta appraisal of filmmaking in general. A pleasant surprise to me right in the middle of the movie.

Which leads me back to one of my initial points, Cross Bearer just isn't a gore film. It is violent, yes, and there is definitely some quite graphic gore in some of the death scenes, but that is not the movies focus nor it's main draw. This is just a flat-out good horror movie, one of the more original and interesting slashers in a long time. Sadly, in the underground, only the most extreme and splattery get noticed. This is in no way meant to demean those films, many of the most extreme are also some of the most worthwhile and best going these days, but that doesn't mean they're the only good ones. 

There is still a place for more restrained filmmaking, especially when it's bolstered by such strong writing and acting like Cross Bearer is. I can see others being disappointed, which seems to be a hallmark in the age of internet hype, especially if they were expecting something else. Go into Cross Bearer expecting an original twist on the slasher drama with a dynamite script, fantastic performances, and a great visual and editing style. You WILL be entertained.

This film was my first exposure to Adam Ahlbrandt's work and you will be sure I will be checking out more in the future. Natalie Jean has also earned herself a fan for life, as she's a talented, engaging, and quite beautiful leading lady. Expect great things from both in the future.

         If you're a fan of slasher movies or solid, gruesome horror flicks, in general, I definitely recommend you give Cross Bearer a shot. There are multiple ways to do this. Toetag have just released a DVD edition limited to 1,666 copies signed by Adam Ahlbrandt and Natalie Jean, and this was the edition I reviewed. Massacre Video have a limited VHS release out soon, and there is also a German Blu-Ray available at Diabolik. The initial run of this flick sold out and was fetching high prices so the fact there are some affordable, available editions is something to be happy about. There is also a super deluxe limited edition coming soon from Toetag that fans should be aware of, and Cross Bearer merch is available from The Sleaze Palace

 If this even sounds remotely up your alley, check it out!


Monday, July 21, 2014

Dead Nude Girls (Ryan Nicholson, 2014)



        Modern Roughie. That was the term Mr. Parka used in his video review of Ryan Nicholson's new sleaze flick Dead Nude Girls that initially piqued my interest in it. Roughie. That is a term notorious in the annals of exploitation film fandom, a realm that few fans venture into. Since the 1960's the least reputable subset of exploitation has always had it's fans and been popular, from the Olga films, to the films of the Findlays, Cresse, Campa and onward.

In the 1970's through the early-1980's the roughie ended up being a subgenre of the porn world as well as the trash film world, and this era gave us some of the most notorious examples. Films like Forced Entry and The Taming of Rebecca pushed the envelope and about every button imaginable, and they sure as hell weren't the only ones.

In the late 80's through today, the Japanese have carried the roughie torch. The Guinea Pig series, Merzbow's Seppuku series, and notorious smutty splatterfests like Mu Zan E and Niku Daruma are definitely heirs to the roughie throne in numerous ways.

Now, what does this admittedly rudimentary incomplete history of roughie films have to do with Ryan Nicholson's new flick? Yeah, there's a history and some examples, but what IS a roughie, anyway?

A roughie is a type of exploitation flick that was born in the pre-porn days of the 1960's. Graphic sex, even graphic implied sex, was a big no-no in this time period while nudity was still permissible on the grindhouse and drive-in circuit. Nudity was the selling point back then, but there had to be a narrative to package it in. Some went the nudist camp route, ho-hum. Some went the nudie cutie route and punctuated their nude sequences with comedy, but after a bit few ended up being funny. The bravest and/or sickest of the exploiteers went the roughie route; they capped their softcore scenes with violence. Sometimes graphic violence, and sometimes graphic sexual violence. This was the classic, archetypal 1960's template of a roughie but it morphed over time, taking on a flavor reflective of their era but at their core they were all films where sexuality was as woven into every frame as violence was.

Ryan Nicholson's Dead Nude Girls is in every way a continuation of this tradition, with more than a passing resemblance to it's 1960's counterparts. DNG is essentially three short films featuring a rapist/murderer played by director Ryan Nicholson. In each of the sequences women are kidnapped or duped into returning to the killer's home where they are sexually humiliated and then murdered. Sound simple? It is. Simple does not mean bad, not at all.

The simple, trashy premise is imminently watchable due to the quality cinematography for what was obviously a quickly-made affair, as well as competent acting from all involved. All of the women seem like actual, real people giving believable and at times harrowing performances, particularly in the last sequence. Nicholson is eerily restrained in his role as the killer, staying more calm and deliberate than frenzied. The effects aren't wall-to-wall, but when they do show up they are quite effective.

While watching the flick I found myself surprised at how often I was laughing. This was not due to any incompetence, cheesiness, or "so-bad-it's-good" type bullshit, this was due to the streak of jet-black, deadpan morbid humor that runs throughout the movie. The sequence where a potential caretaker is being interviewed is truly funny due to some great performances and a suitably awkward and bizarre situation. This is where Nicholson truly shines and I'd love to see him tackle a movie that is comedic yet played totally straight, as I think he would nail it.

At various times, DNG has moments that remind me of almost all of the classic roughies I named above, as well as a grimy tone similar to films like Henry, and I also noticed a definite nod to Fulci's Touch of Death which I appreciated highly. Needless to say, fans of exploitation and horror from throughout the years will find much to smile about in their viewing of this short and mean lil flick.

I truly had a lot of fun with this one, and recommend it highly to fans of all eras of sleazy horror. It is evident Nicholson is a fan of this stuff, and it comes through naturally in all of his work. This, in my opinion, results in his films being more honest tributes to the horror and exploitation films of the past than any number of studio-backed, "homages," we are force-fed endlessly.  If this movie sounds REMOTELY up your alley, check it out at your nearest possible convenience.

I have copy 95/100 signed by Director Ryan Nicholson, so if you want one of the signed ones I'd get over to Plotdigger Films and order a copy A.S.A.P.! Also be sure to pre-order your copy of More Dead Nude Girls, the upcoming collection of more exploits of our sleazy killer!