Jack Nicholson: First Of The Day ("Easy Rider", 1969) (video)

 

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

 

Jack Nicholson: First Of The Day ("Easy Rider", 1969) (video)

THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/13/16

 

I don't know how often your local stations showed it, but when I was a little Monster Kid back in the 60s I only got to see THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS (1959) once.  So viewing the new DVD from Olive Films was literally only my second time to watch this modest but effective monster thriller from the tail end of the 50s creature-feature era.

Still, I always remembered it fondly, and I have a feeling a lot of lifelong Monster Kids also hold this seldom-seen gem in warm regard.  Partly because it's such an enjoyably low-key and earnest effort, but mainly due to its titular monster, a scaly, bloodthirsty, and extremely foul-tempered beast with a penchant for decapitating his victims.

Indeed, the most enduring images from the film, which many of us first saw in the pages of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine, are those of the monster carrying around a bloody, realistic-looking severed head (as he does right there on the DVD cover itself).  This really piqued our morbid imaginations in those days since such graphic gore was still a novelty, especially on television. 

For the most part, however, THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS is pretty standard stuff for a low-budget independent horror feature, though nicely done on all counts.  The simple story takes place in a small seaside town and centers around the lighthouse which is maintained by crabby old Mr. Sturges (John Harmon, FUNNY GIRL, MONSIEUR VERDOUX), who seems to know more than he lets on about the rash of mysterious, violent deaths occurring around town. 

While his attractive daughter Lucille (Jeanne Carmen) spends her school break with him and romances local boy Fred (the great Don Sullivan of THE GIANT GILA MONSTER and TEENAGE ZOMBIES) on the sly, Sheriff Matson (Forrest Lewis, THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR) and Dr. Jorgenson (Les Tremayne, WAR OF THE WORLDS) try to solve the mystery of the headless corpses popping up all over town.

Lewis, Tremayne, and Harmon, each of whom appeared in films both big and small, use their considerable collective acting experience to lend gravitas to the production.  As for the younger players--Sullivan is an old favorite of mine, even when he has his ukulele with him (his awful solo number in GIANT GILA MONSTER is the stuff of legend), and Carmen, a close friend of Marilyn Monroe who led quite a colorful life in showbiz, gives a likably restrained, earthy performance as Lucille. 

 

I like the smalltown ambience the film establishes--everyone knows everyone else and the phone numbers are only three digits long--as well as the unhurried pace that scripter H. Haile Chace and director Irvin Berwick (MALIBU HIGH, HITCH HIKE TO HELL) maintain until the monster's first shocking appearance jolts us out of our seats. 

After that, we get to see more and more of the reptilian beast until the film's exciting and suspenseful climax, which takes place atop the lighthouse itself.  The monster suit itself resembles a poor man's "Creature From the Black Lagoon" with much more grotesque features (similar to the fearsome alien in IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE), and is definitely a cut above the usual zipper-up-the-back job. 

The DVD from Olive Films is in 1.78:1 widescreen with mono sound.  Subtitles are in English.  No extras.  Picture quality is quite good.

If you don't have a warm spot in your heart for low-budget horror fare from the 50s, chances are THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS will either leave you cold or put you to sleep, or both.  But if the very title puts a smile on your face while sending a pleasant little chill up and down your spine, then this soulful nostalgia fix should give you a potent buzz. 

THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS -- DVD Review by Porfle

My Joy Harmon Music Video ("VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS", 1965) (video)

This is our musical tribute to the great Joy Harmon...

...who played Merrie in the cult classic VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS (1965).

She's also famous for her television appearances with Groucho Marx...

...and as the girl who washes her car in the 1967 Paul Newman classic COOL HAND LUKE.


Music: "More Than This" by Roxy Music 

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

My Joy Harmon Music Video ("VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS", 1965) (video)

INVASION OF THE SCREAM QUEENS -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/27/14

 

This is one of those documentaries in which you're either very interested in the subject, and thus won't mind so much sitting through eighty some-odd minutes of talking heads with the occasional film clip...OR, you have no interest whatsoever in scream queens or the movies they appear in or a documentary about them, in which case it's unlikely you'll ever find yourself watching director Donald Farmer's INVASION OF THE SCREAM QUEENS (Wild Eye Releasing, 1992) anyway.

Of course, if you're in the first group, then these are some pretty nice talking heads and chances are what most of them have to say will have you perking up your ears. This is because (a) these ladies are just plain fun to look at, and (b) anyone with a passion for B-movies, and especially low-budget horror flicks, will find inside info and anecdotes here that are quite engaging.

I wish I could say this is true of the entire film. Unfortunately, it alternates between the good and the not so good, since some of these actresses tend to be on the yakky side and it's not all riveting stuff. Plus, I was surprised to find so few film clips on display to spice up some of these monologues--indeed, although we hear about the making of several movies, we rarely actually get to see scenes from them. And a number of them aren't even what I would consider "scream queen" material anyway.

One disadvantage I had in watching this is that I never really sampled a wide variety of films of this nature, choosing instead to pick a few favorite actresses and concentrate exclusively on renting their videos (or watching heavily edited versions of them on "USA Up All Night"). So the best passages, for me, are the ones in which they're onscreen talking about movies and filmmakers that I'm familiar with. This includes Michelle Bauer (my all-time favorite scream queen), Martine Beswick, Brinke Stevens, and the venerable Mary Woronov. (Linnea Quigley is conspicuous in her absence here.)

Michelle Bauer tells us how she got started in the B-movie biz after meeting Fred Olen Ray during a "Playboy" video shoot. She's strikes me as the most talented and professional of the bunch (with the exception of Mary Woronov), although this may be entirely due to the fact that I've had the hots for her ever since the day I first rented HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS.

Always lovely Martine Beswick talks about the catfight scene with Raquel Welch from ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. and also her co-starring role in another well-remembered Hammer production, DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (from which we actually get to see a lengthy film clip). Later, another familiar face, Elizabeth Kaitan, speaks at length from the balcony of her apartment.

Perky Janus Blythe is almost unrecognizable as the actress who played Ruby in THE HILLS HAVE EYES for Wes Craven and has some stories about working with snakes and meeting Jonathan Demme on the set. Soft-spoken Melissa Moore turns out to be both cute and captivating as she relates her experiences working with Roger Corman and getting to appear with BLOOD FEAST's Fuad Ramses himself, Mal Arnold.

Several other women are featured as well, including Ruth Collins (LITTLE DEVILS), Goth-y sisters Marya Gant (A POLISH VAMPIRE IN BURBANK) and Katina Garner (HALLOWEEN NIGHTS), Deborah Stern of Mark Pirro's NUDIST COLONY OF THE DEAD, and writer-star Vivian Schilling (TERROR EYES, SOULTAKER).

The stories these women tell are interesting because they're real behind-the-scenes accounts of their experiences making B-movies, rather than pre-written Bruce Vilanch-style quips for them to recite. Most of the participants speak in a warm, relaxed manner in which they let their natural charm come through rather than having to do shtick for the camera.

Video and sound quality are on par with an old VHS tape you might stick in the machine after finding it lying under a couch cushion for several years. (Some parts may have you reflexively reaching to adjust your tracking.) The videotape-level visuals don't bother me at all--in fact, they're rather appropriate even though some of the clips look like third generation dubs--but the sound made me wince a few times. (This may have been due to my watching a screener, however.) There are rough transitions and, overall, the casual, unpolished air of home video.

There's a lot to like for fans of these actresses and their movies in INVASION OF THE SCREAM QUEENS. For me, however, there just wasn't enough of it, and too much tiresome footage that threatened to yakkity-yak me to sleep. So as much as I gained from watching it, I must admit that I was a little relieved when it finally ended.

(NOTE: I reviewed a screener without the extras. The official disc should include a new 2013 interview with Donald Farmer, deleted/extended interviews from the original production, and an excerpt featuring Linnea Quigley from the out of print book that started it all, "Invasion of the Scream Queens.")

INVASION OF THE SCREAM QUEENS -- DVD Review by Porfle

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

 Originally posted on 9/25/21

 

Currently watching: LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955), a staggeringly epic film by Howard Hawks. 

While not Biblically inspired, this breathtaking cinematic fever dream of ancient Egypt rivals the greatest works of Cecil B. DeMille in sheer spectacle, with huge sets and the proverbial cast of thousands.

It's the sort of thing that's mostly left to CGI effects whizzes these days, and the fact that it's all real--even the magic of matte paintings and other photographic effects of the time is sparse--makes the grandeur on display throughout the film even more impressive.

The story is simple yet compelling. Jack Hawkins plays the Pharaoh as one who believes himself a living god, and the thought of his tomb being raided of his precious store of treasures after his death prompts him to hire the greatest architect available to design for him a theft-proof tomb, nestled inside the largest pyramid ever built, which will take many years and hordes of slaves to complete.

The architect is himself a slave, but he persuades Pharaoh to release his people if the theft-proof tomb is a success. Meanwhile, Joan Collins (at her most gorgeous) plays a would-be queen whose avarice rivals Pharaoh's, and she conspires to have him entombed as soon as possible so that she may claim both the throne and the treasure. 

 

 
How director Howard Hawks manages to make all this so compelling is a wonder to behold. The film is not only visually intoxicating but exceedingly literate (with William Faulkner among the screenwriters) and well acted.

Hawks stages it all to perfection, and seems to thrive on this sort of spectacle even without his trademark rapid-fire overlapping dialogue and touches of lighthearted humor.

While stately and exquisitely dry, the script also leaves Hawks plenty of room for the sort of gaudy visual and thematic indulgence which is the very stuff of the most satisfyingly over-the-top cult classics. This helps him keep things effortlessly involving for the film's entire running time, all the way up to the not-so-surprising yet still rewarding twist ending.

 
I'd heard about this film's cult popularity over the years--people who saw it as kids seem to have retained their fondness for it--but never suspected that I myself would find it so richly entertaining and rewatchable.

Still, it does lack a key element of DeMille's spectacles in that there's no core of religious faith, no ultimate catharsis of the spirit to send us off at the end with that soulful glow. LAND OF THE PHARAOHS does have a satisfying ending, but it's a rather hollow one.

 

(Thanks to William De Lay for the DVD)

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS -- Movie Review by Porfle

STELLA DALLAS (1937) -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 12/8/15

 

Barbara Stanwyck demonstrates why many film fans tend to think so highly of her talents in 1937's weepy classic STELLA DALLAS.  She's a great deal of fun to watch in the role of a blowsy blue-collar girl who tries to better herself by marrying a rich man but ultimately finds only heartbreak.  The "crying in your popcorn" kind, that is.

John Boles, burdened with the useless role of Henry Frankenstein's friend Victor in 1931's FRANKENSTEIN, gets to play somewhat less of a stiff here even though his "Stephen Dallas" is a proper upper-class twit.  (Boles was good at playing such a character, though, and manages to make Stephen about as sympathetic as anyone could.) 

Having lost the love of his young life, Stephen has left his former pampered existence to make it on his own as an executive in a large factory where Stella's brother works.  This is where she gets the idea of pursuing him with as much wild charm as she can muster until he's ready to turn sappy and stumble into the marriage trap. 

But when Stella retains her lowbrow ways and fails to evolve into the proper society girl Stephen envisioned, they drift apart romantically and are kept together only by mutual love for their sweet little daughter, Laurel.  Stephen moves to New York for business reasons and runs into his former love, Helen (Barbara O'Neil, GONE WITH THE WIND), now a widow with three sons and suddenly available again. 

As their love is rekindled, Stella devotes her life to raising Laurel with her only other friend being a boisterously obnoxious drunkard named Mr. Munn (Alan Hale, Sr.), whom Laurel can't stand. Laurel (Anne Shirley) loves visiting her father and Helen at her mansion, wishing that she could have the kind of life they offer, but refuses to leave her needy mother alone and unloved despite their threadbare lifestyle.  This becomes increasingly embarrassing for Laurel when her friends and other townspeople begin to shun and ridicule Stella for her tacky clothing, oddly eccentric behavior, and apparently improper relationship with Mr. Munn. 

Stanwyck's impeccable acting skills really shine through here.  She has a field day in the role, seeming to revel in how unglamorous she can be as her character becomes more and more pathetic. Her Stella is blowsy, frowsy, crude, and sometimes downright loony--I began to suspect the onset of mental illness and perhaps even schizophrenia at times--yet she never overdoes it or comes off as maudlin or unconvincing.

I like the way Stella undergoes an almost clownish transformation when dressing to impress Laurel's new society friends and the havoc she wreaks at their summer resort simply by flouncing her way through it.  Laurel's reaction when she discovers that her mother is the laughingstock of all her friends and their parents is heartrending, setting up the film's final headfirst plunge into pure, industrial-strength bathos.

Several scenes in the film's latter half stand out as the kind of aggressive, borderline-maudlin tearjerker stuff that many viewers will devour like a sumptuous dessert.  Nowhere is this more so than in the final scenes, which (although they failed to move me quite as much as intended) are calculated for maximum cry-inducing potential.  Stanwyck plays these to the hilt, and her final smile right at the fadeout is the perfect topper to such a manipulatively heart-tugging yarn.

The film's snappy pace whisks the viewer through the story with barely a moment to catch our breath.  King Vidor's direction is straightforward and lean, just what this streamlined, uncluttered yarn needs. 



STELLA DALLAS has but one purpose, and that is to move us to tears over a mother's desperate love for her child and the selfless sacrifice she'll eventually be forced to make to ensure her happiness.  Thanks mainly to Barbara Stanwyck's richly watchable performance, it's more than effective at doing just that.

STELLA DALLAS (1937) -- Movie Review by Porfle

LIQUID SKY -- Blu-ray/DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/15/18

 

 

I first saw Russian director Slava Tsukerman's 1982 avant-garde cult sci-fi classic LIQUID SKY back in the early 80s when it came out on VHS looking a heck of a lot cheaper and dingier than it does on Vinegar Syndrome's richly vivid new Blu-ray/DVD combo set (scanned and fully restored in 4k from the 35mm original negative and packed with special features).

Now, the film still looks low-budget but the talent and imagination that went into transcending that budget are allowed to shine through.  The visuals are a feast of 80s proto tech and economical cinematic imagination, all day-glo and neon and glam-punk and New Wave and ugly fashion and jaded cynicism set to robotic industrial music performed on a Fairlight. 

The setting is an urban milieu where sneering androgynous scarecrows get made up as though for Halloween so that they can express derision to either clicking cameras or their fellow drugged-out dance club denizens.

Our heroine, tall blonde beauty Margaret (co-scripter Anne Carlisle, CROCODILE DUNDEE, DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN), is one such model so disaffected by her lifestyle that any hint of normality now seems abrasively foreign.

Margaret is a victim not only of the lecherous men she invites back to her apartment simply because they have drugs--making her a victim also of her own flagrant self-destructiveness--but of the equally-violent, overbearing, profane, drug-pushing dyke Adrian (the great Paula Sheppard of ALICE, SWEET, ALICE) with whom she shares both a penthouse apartment and a sick, abusive relationship.

The main attraction of LIQUID SKY for me has always been Carlisle's exquisite dual-role performance as both Margaret and her nemesis, a preening male model named Jimmy with whom Margaret shares a mutual loathing.  Carlisle pulls off the feat of creating two intensely interesting and perversely compelling characters whose split-screen interactions are always utterly convincing and scintillating. 

But the weirdness really starts when tiny aliens land their spaceship on a nearby rooftop and start feeding off both the heroin-enhanced brainwaves of Margaret's visitors and also the chemical reactions caused by their orgasms, which proves lethal to them.  Thus, anyone who has sex with Margaret dies.

In this world the most appealing characters, for me anyway, are the more normal ones such as Margaret's older friend Owen, whose genuine concern for her makes him the first alien orgasm casualty, and Jimmy's indulgent single mother (to whom he is utterly dismissive except when begging for money) who lives nearby and is visited by an eccentric German scientist on the trail of the alien ship. 

It turns out her apartment window offers a fine telescope view of the tiny spaceship, giving her a chance to vainly try and seduce the man while he keeps an eye both on the ship and the lethal sexual activity going on in Margaret's apartment.  There's a mundane charm to their scenes that's a stark contrast to the infinitely stranger things going on elsewhere.

Meanwhile, our wacky nihilistic misfits continue courting death, a condition hastened by constant drug use--they live to snort and shoot up--and sexually-transmitted disease, upon which dwells much of the film's symbolism. 

Their casual cruelty to each other comes to the fore when they get together in the penthouse for one of their tacky, drug-fueled modeling shoots, during which Margaret's deadly new sexual side-effect will shock even these jaded louts of their curdled complacency in a big way.

LIQUID SKY is a low-key slice of wildlife that doesn't explode like THE FIFTH ELEMENT or mesmerize like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.  It's simply the story of an aimless New Wave waif named Margaret numbly wandering through a harsh world of hurtful people and some weird little aliens who help her by hurting them.  And watching it is like a dark but colorful carnival ride through a combination art gallery and spook house. 

TECH SPECS:Vinegar Syndrome/OCN Digital Distribution 
Genre: Cult/Science Fiction
Blu-ray/DVD Combo (2 Discs)
Original Release: 1982 Color
Rated: R
1:85:1
DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Running Time: 112 Minutes (Plus 160 Minutes Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $32.98
Pre-Order: April 3, 2018
Street Date:  April 24, 2018

BONUS FEATURES:

Director’s introduction and commentary track
Interviews with Tsukerman and Carlisle
Alamo Drafthouse screening Q&A with Tsukerman, Carlisle and Clive Smith (co-composer)
“Liquid Sky Revisited” (2017), a 50-minute, making-of feature
Behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage
Never-before-seen outtakes
Isolated soundtrack
Alternate opening sequence
Photo gallery
Reversible cover artwork by Derek Gabryszak
Multiple trailers
English SDH subtitles

LIQUID SKY -- Blu-ray/DVD Review by Porfle

The Infamous Jump Cut in "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) (video)

In George Romero's classic 1968 zombie thriller, "Night of the Living Dead", there's a glaring jump cut...

...where several minutes of dialogue have been removed.

It comes right in the middle of a shot.

Here is one suggestion for eliminating the jump cut.


Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

The Infamous Jump Cut in "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) (video)

What "Flicker Show" Did John Coffey REALLY Watch In "The Green Mile"? (video)

 

 "I ain't never seen me a flicker show..."

That's what condemned prisoner John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) tells his two sympathetic prison guards in "The Green Mile." 

But what "flicker show" did they really show him? 

 

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

What "Flicker Show" Did John Coffey REALLY Watch In "The Green Mile"? (video)

TROLL 2: THE 20th ANNIVERSARY NILBOG EDITION -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 10/15/10

 

It's been so long since I saw the original TROLL, all I remember about it is that it stars Shelley Hack and Sonny Bono, takes place in an apartment building with a troll in it (not Sonny Bono), features John Carl Buechler as both director and makeup effects creator, and, as I was reminded recently, has a kid in it named Harry Potter, Jr.  Oh yeah, and there's a pretty cool performance by a little girl named Jenny Beck who at one point gets to be possessed by the title creature.


The in-name-only sequel, TROLL 2, has none of these things.  It does, however, share one quality with the original--one of the best performances comes from the kid in the lead role, in this case Michael Stephenson as Joshua Waits, a boy who is visited by the ghost of his deceased grandfather, Seth (Robert Ormsby).  Grandpa Seth reads Josh scary bedtime stories about trolls--or, as he calls them, goblins--who assume human form and trick people into eating a gooey substance that turns them into half-human, half-plant hybrids, which is the goblins' favorite food.


Nobody, including Josh's mom (Margo Prey) and step-dad (George Hardy) and his big sister Molly (Connie McFarland), believe him about Grandpa Seth's ghost or his warning that the goblins are real.  So when the family travels to the tiny town of Nilbog (catchy name) on a house-swapping vacation and all the local citizens turn out to be goblins looking for their next meal, it's up to Josh and his ghostly gramps to hold the ravenous little buggers at bay until the rest of the clueless family wises up and takes action.




TROLL 2 may have been made in 1990, but in spirit it's still a product of the 80s.  From the cheesy score, to sister Molly's awful aerobic workout dance, to her horny boyfriend Elliott (Jason Wright) and his chums who are like braindead refugees from a dull edition of "USA's Up All Night", the film is steeped in that golden decade's kitschy goodness.  Not surprisingly, the film known by some as "the best worst movie ever" also glows with the same cheapo charm of a million other junk films of the era that I rented on VHS or watched on late-night cable between used car commercials.


Horror-wise, there's not much on the scary side going on here, with the trolls--sorry, goblins--resembling a bunch of fat little kids in oversized Halloween masks.  These are designed to resemble the ones in the first film but clearly lack John Carl Buechler's artistry.  There's no gore to speak of, since anyone who ingests the tainted goblin-goo instantly starts bleeding green tree sap and literally vegging out. 


The creatures themselves are actually scarier in their mock-human forms, coming off as a cross between the hostile yokels from DELIVERANCE and the pagan farm punks of CHILDREN OF THE CORN.  When they surround the Waits family in their vacation house and start slowly closing in, it's a little like something out of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

 


Technically, TROLL 2 is pretty amateurish, with camerawork, direction, and editing that are definitely not so hot.  Yet it remains well-paced and watchable throughout, the story moving at a pretty snappy clip with few draggy spots and little or no padding.  The smalltown locations in Utah are certainly atmospheric--just being in this crummy little flyspeck burg would seem nightmarish enough even without the trolls (sorry, goblins).


As for the acting, most of the leads seem to have been recruited from grade-school plays, yet they invest their roles with conviction.  I love the awkward, stilted dialogue scenes between Molly and her boyfriend Elliott, who infuriates her by insisting on dragging his buds along on the trip.  While these guys aren't so hot in the acting department either, they do make good plant food.  One of them even ends up as a potted plant in the lair of Miss Creedence Leonore Gielgud, who turns out to be the evil queen of the trolls (sorry, goblins). 


Deborah Reed, whose acting dial is clearly stuck on "eleven", mugs her way through this role with the eye-rolling gusto of a horror-movie hostess.  When she's surrounded by her warty minions in the bowels of her inner sanctum, sporting a Technicolor makeup job and playing to the back row like Margaret Hamilton on PCP, the film resembles a particularly demented Sid and Marty Krofft production.




Also of note is Michael Stephenson as Josh, who makes up for his lack of acting polish with an intense performance that oftens has him emoting his little buns off.  There's a nice nightmare sequence early on in which his family turn into goblins as he begins to bleed chlorophyll and sprout branches through his fingers and chest.  Best of all, though, is when a famished Mom, Dad, and Molly sit down to eat a poisoned dinner and Josh has to act fast in order to stop them.  His solution, which was pretty much the last thing I expected, had me howling.



The Blu-Ray/DVD combo labeled "The 20th Anniversary Nilbog Edition" is from MGM and 20th-Century Fox.  The Blu-Ray is in English 5.1 DTS-HD master audio and English mono.  Features as listed on the box are feature film in high definition, 1080p, lossless audio, smart menu technology, and original theatrical trailer.  I reviewed the DVD only, which contains the feature film in standard definition with English mono sound, plus the trailer.  Both discs are in 1.85:1 widescreen and offer English, Spanish, and French subtitles. 


Like a Halloween spook-house slapped together by a bunch of enthusiastic but drunk neighborhood slobs, TROLL 2 is dumb as a doorknob but engagingly lively and fun right up to its startling conclusion.  (And it's one of the few films I've seen in which bologna plays an integral part in the finale.)  Although the whole thing threatens to fall apart any second, it never does.  In fact, for all its faults, the chewing gum and baling wire ingenuity that holds this creaky creature feature together somehow makes it more entertaining than your usual big-budget bomb.    

TROLL 2: THE 20th ANNIVERSARY NILBOG EDITION -- DVD Review by Porfle

IN SEARCH OF...THE COMPLETE SERIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 12/14/12

 

For those of us who caught it during its first run, almost every episode of "In Search Of..." was a guaranteed dose of pure "sense of wonder."  Each week, host Leonard Nimoy explored the world's most tantalizing mysteries with an open mind, allowing us to bask in their intoxicating strangeness in an atmosphere free of rigid, buzzkill skepticism.

Now, Visual Entertainment Inc. (VEI) has collected all 152 episodes of this classic show, which ran from 1976-1982, in their 21-disc DVD collection IN SEARCH OF...THE COMPLETE SERIES.  I reviewed a screener with two half-hour Nimoy episodes, "In Search Of...Mayan Mysteries" and "In Search Of...UFO Coverups", both pretty representative of the show as a whole. 

Low-budget photography makes this independently-produced syndicated show look older than it is, but it was that way even when it was new.  No matter, since the fascinating subject matter and wealth of both exclusive film footage and well-chosen stock shots easily make up for this.  Nimoy, one of the finest narrators of all time, lends the show much-needed gravitas even during its most outlandish forays into the unknown. 

The Mayan episode poses a series of teasing questions about this mysterious ancient people such as: why, if they incorporated the wheel into their children's toys, didn't they employ it for practical purposes?  How did they conceive such complicated systems of mathematics and astronomy, among other things?  And why did they suddenly disappear from recorded history?

Even more up my alley is the look at UFO cover-ups, which opens with some familiar footage of a possible flying saucer but focuses mainly on the famous Roswell, New Mexico incident.  Actual interview clips of Air Force officer Jess Marcel, a major participant in the purported saucer crash investigation, and footage of Hangar 18 itself, where the wrecked saucer and alien bodies are said to have been housed, make this of special interest to UFO enthusiasts. 

There's also a first-hand account from a scientist who claims to have been taken to the crash site by U.S. Air Force officials and is only now breaking his silence.  As usual, the show is aggressive and non-apologetic in its insistence that anything is possible regardless of how farfetched it may seem to the skeptically minded.

In addition to the 152 regular series episodes, the VEI collection also includes two Rod Serling-hosted "In Search Of..." specials which aired in 1972, plus the entire eight-episode run of the 2002 reboot with "The X-Files" star Mitch Pileggi.  The screener I watched contained one from 1972 and one from 2002.

"Twilight Zone" creator and host Serling takes us on an exploration of ancient astronauts that covers all the familiar territory in highly compelling fashion, including the baffling stone heads of Easter Island and the enigmatic Nazca lines in Peru.  While the Serling episode is quite similar to the later Nimoy series, the flashy Pileggi-hosted show from 2002 is the sort of lurid exploitation fare you might see on SyFy, with gruesome stories about stigmata, Haitian zombies, and murder scenes haunted by restless ghosts.

While I can't speak for the entire collection as a whole, the picture and sound quality of the 4-episode screener I watched was good for a low budget syndicated series from the 70s.  You may be bugged by the VEI logo in the lower right hand corner but I forgot it was there after awhile.  

Being a loyal viewer of the show back in its heyday, I can personally attest that, content-wise, the rest of "In Search Of..." is chock full of fun and often spooky stuff about the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, conspiracy theories, unsolved murders and disappearances, bizarre phenomena both natural and supernatural, and just about anything else that this weird world has to offer.  While learned astronomer Carl Sagan may consider the subject at hand to be unsupported by "a smidgen of compelling evidence", you'll probably find an avalanche of it in IN SEARCH OF...THE COMPLETE SERIES.

IN SEARCH OF...THE COMPLETE SERIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

ZOMBIE 4: AFTER DEATH -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 5/19/18

 

Hot on the heels of ZOMBIE 3, which he co-directed with Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei, comes Italian schlockmeister Claudio Fragasso's ZOMBIE 4: AFTER DEATH (Severin Films, 1989), another hot 'n' horrid terror tale of the living versus the undead on a humid tropical island.

This time we're back to basics again, with the zombies being created not by science gone wrong or some natural phenomenon, but by that old bugaboo--voodoo.  Here, a voodoo high priest raises an undead army against the interlopers (scientists again) whom he blames for the death of his wife.

In the first scene, he resurrects her as a real lulu of a zombie--really, this freaked-out hag sets the bar so high that no other creature in the movie can touch it.

They're still a motley bunch, though. In fact, these ambulatory corpses--who mostly wear hoods to save on makeup--are so sleazy-looking you'd think they'd started out as lepers before turning into zombies. 

As in ZOMBIE 3, they like to gang up on their victims and make very messy work of them as the fake blood gushes from every prosthetic gash.  The makeup and gore effects run hot and cold quality-wise, but it's all in good, dumb fun anyway.

It seems as though we've joined the story in progress when the scientists confront the voodoo priest, but just then all the potential protagonists we just got to know a minute ago start getting horrifically offed one at a time. 

In comes a whole new cast twenty years later, and they go tromping around in the jungle for about half an hour before someone finds the usual "book of the dead", stupidly reads the forbidden spell within, and starts the whole thing going all over again.

Two groups--three research scientists and some vacationing mercenaries and their lady friends--are barely around long enough for us to get to know them before it's "Ten Little Indians" time. 

The survivors of the inital carnage barricade themselves in an abandoned science lab against the advancing horde (this is one of the few Romero-esque touches) with the mercenaries--who have fortuitously stumbled onto a box of M-16s--offering some war-movie action along with the horror as everything heads toward a mindblowing finale.

The real fun comes when members of their own combined group get bitten and start to turn.  With all the flesh-eating, supernatural hoo-doo, and blazing gunfire going on, you may enjoy spotting all the references to THE EVIL DEAD, ALIENS, PREDATOR, and various other movies.  The opening scene at times even reminded me of one of the freakier Japanese ghost story movies.

Production values are pretty sparse, but as usual with these Italian jungle potboilers, whether they feature zombies, cannibals, or whatever, that's just part of the charm.  Claudio Fragasso (TROLL 2) has but two goals here, to entertain us and to gross us out, and with ZOMBIE 4: AFTER DEATH he has done both in splattery style.



Release date: May 29, 2018

Special Features:
Bonus Disc: CD Soundtrack (pictured below)
Run Zombie Run! – Interview With Director Claudio Fragasso and Screenwriter Rossella Drudi
Jeff Stryker in Manila – Interview With Actor Chuck Peyton
Blonde vs Zombies – Interview With Actress Candice Daly
Behind-The-Scenes Footage
Trailer

ZOMBIE 4: AFTER DEATH -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THINGS -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 7/8/11

 

While one review hails THINGS (1989) as "a movie that defines what 'cult' really is", you'd be quite accurate in saying that this low-budget, straight-to-VHS Canadian gorefest also defines what "100% brain-rotting crap" really is. 

There's no denying that this is one of the worst excuses for a movie ever made.  It's one of those films whose status as either "so bad it's good" or "totally unwatchable dreck" depends entirely upon the charity of the viewer.  That said, though, if you catch it in the right mood--as the film's many fans apparently did--you can have an awful lot of fun watching it.

Shot on Super-8mm by high-school pals Andrew Jordan (co-writer, director) and Barry J. Gillis (co-producer, co-writer, star), THINGS is the story of a man named Doug Drake (Doug Bunston) who seeks medical help when he and his wife Susan are unable to conceive a child.  Unfortunately, Dr. Lucas (Jan W. Pachul) turns out to be a giggling, sadistic psycho who takes time out from torturing people in his dungeon of horror (the torture scenes are amateurish-looking but extreme) to impregnate Susan with a monster fetus.



Later, Doug's brother Don (Gillis) and his friend Fred (Bruce Roach) drop by Doug's secluded cabin in the backwoods of Toronto for an exciting evening of drinking beer and watching TV.  Suddenly, Susan gives birth to a creature that looks like a cross between a chest-burster from ALIEN and a giant cootie.  The thing begins to multiply at an alarming rate until the house is crawling with them, plunging Don, Fred, and Doug into a nightmare of insect insanity and gratuitous gore. 

While all of this sounds exciting, it isn't, and the most interesting thing about the film is the bizarre and illogical behavior of its main characters.  After Susan's horrific death (during which actress Patricia Sadler is unable to suppress a smile whenever she's on camera), Doug's initial grief quickly gives way to lighthearted prankishness and an overall "who cares" attitude, in addition to a concern that his nice shirt has been ruined by Susan's gushing blood.  Don interrupts the somber mood with a gruesome campfire story at the kitchen table, while Fred wonders what kind of cool TV shows are on. 

Characters appear and disappear seemingly at random--we don't even know Doug is in the house with Don and Fred until there's a sudden closeup of his butt, after which he disappears again.  The total lack of basic storytelling skills forces us to decipher what's going on in almost every scene, even down to figuring out whether we're supposed to find certain drawn-out sequences funny, suspenseful, or scary.
 


There seem to be several deliberate attempts at comedy throughout the story, but the serious and funny elements are so equally stupid that it's hard to tell.  I laughed out loud when the dog got killed, and I don't even know why.  Other scenes are equally amusing for unknown reasons, such as the part where Doug and Don are searching the bathroom for bug-monsters and find one perched on the toilet, and then each of them insists on using the bathroom anyway. 

Much of the running time is padded with shots of them wandering around the house with their flashlights, trading goofy dialogue and doing things that don't make sense.  When they finally go down into the basement to change out some fuses, a sudden bug attack results in Don bludgeoning Doug with a club.  More excitement ensues when Fred finds an electric chainsaw and goes commando against the critters while Don wields a power drill as though he were building the world's most insane birdhouse.  The film's most hilarious moment ("I'm still alive!") is followed by a surprise visit from none other than the gleefully insane Dr. Lucas, after which things just go totally whacko until the film abruptly ends. 

THINGS supposedly cost around $40,000 to make, but I can't imagine it costing any more than forty dollars.  A sizable chunk of the budget ($2,500) went to 80s porn goddess Amber Lynn, who consented to appear as a TV news reporter making intermittent appearances throughout the film.  Reading her lines cold from a cue card held way off to the side, Amber doesn't come off too good here.  This is irrelevant, though, since her presence is mainly an excuse to use sexy pictures of her in the advertising.  The film's only nudity comes in the first scene, in which a woman (a real-life hooker who appeared under the condition that her face not be shown) strips naked while wearing a devil mask that makes her resemble a deranged Ed Wood.



The DVD from InterVision is in full-screen with 2.0 sound.  Extras include two commentaries, trailers, Barry J. Gillis TV appearances promoting the film, a cast and crew 20th anniversary reunion, a ten-minute behind-the-scenes look at Amber Lynn filming her scenes, and testimonials for the film including comments by Tobe Hooper (TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE) and Jason Eisener (HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN).  After the closing credits crawl there's more candid footage of Amber Lynn and some outtakes.

The first commentary, an audio viewing party with the Cinefamily, is fun, but the cast and crew commentary is a wonderfully raucous affair during which Gillis' daughter, Victoria Elizabeth Turnbull (who also appears in the anniversary segment), mercilessly mocks the film while a growing air of inebriation seems to prevail.

With camerawork and editing that seem to have been performed by blind people and dubbing that might've been done from across the street--not to mention some of the most delightfully atrocious acting of all time--you might think that THINGS was made by people who have never seen a movie before.  As things grow more bizarre and nonsensical, however, the film begins to look more like something made by aliens who have never seen human beings before.

THINGS -- DVD Review by Porfle

WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 7/31/11

 

WRISTCUTTERS (2006) is quirky as hell but doesn't make a big deal about it, and it's this deadpan, matter-of-fact attitude that makes it so irresistible.  Wonderful characters, situations, and bits of business just keep emerging from this low-key comedy as it unwinds. 

As the story begins, Zia (Patrick Fugit, ALMOST FAMOUS, DEAD BIRDS) is slitting his wrists over a girl named Desiree (Leslie Bibb).  The next time we see him he's working in a crappy pizza place called Kamikazee's and sharing a dingy apartment with a foul-tempered Austrian guy.  It turns out that people who commit suicide end up in a world just like this one, except it's even worse.  Everything's falling apart, most of the people are listless and depressed (no surprise there), and it's physically impossible for anyone to smile.  Furthermore, everyone still retains the bodily damage resulting from their chosen methods of suicide. 

When Zia discovers that Desiree also "offed" (the local term for killing oneself) shortly after he did, he sets out to find her along with his new friend Eugene (Shea Whigham, FIRST SNOW, LORDS OF DOGTOWN). Eugene's a Russian guy who lives with his family, who all committed suicide at different times.  Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker named Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon, A KNIGHT'S TALE), who is searching for the people in charge because she believes she's there by mistake due to an unintentional drug overdose.

For awhile, WRISTCUTTERS is a fun road picture with the three of them traveling through the hot, desolate landscape in Eugene's crummy little car.  When they break down, there's a nice scene in a roadside garage where Mark Boone, Jr. (MEMENTO, SE7EN) plays a psychic auto mechanic who diagnoses their trouble by laying hands upon the car.  At one point Zia drops something under the passenger seat and finds that there's a black hole under it, which sucks in all the cassette tapes, sunglasses, and other items that he's continuously fumbling to Eugene's irritation.



Later Mikal almost gets arrested for vandalism--she has a tendency to deface signs that she disagrees with, such as scrawling "unless you want to" under a "No Smoking" sign--until Zia talks the cop out of it.  In this world, the cops all look like bums, restaurants are rundown shacks with the word "FOOD" crudely painted over the door, and there's junk scattered everywhere.  It's an interesting, well-realized environment, and it makes us wonder what the next level of existence must look like to anyone driven to off themselves on this one.

Eventually they encounter a strange man named Kneller (Tom Waits), who presides over a shantytown by the tracks.  Kneller takes in all the aimless wanderers who pass by and offers them a chance to live together in relative happiness (Etger Keret's short story upon which the screenplay is based is entitled "Kneller's Happy Campers").  But just as Zia and Mikal begin to settle in and develop romantic feelings for each other, they discover the presence of a nearby cult led by a would-be messiah (Will Arnett) who promises his fervent followers deliverance from their purgatory.  And his devoted consort is none other than Zia's ex-girlfriend, Desiree.

In a bold move, director Goran Dukic actually keeps his camera still and allows things to happen in front of it without instructing his cinematographer to hop around like his pants were on fire.  Hopefully this revolutionary technique will catch on.  The washed-out hues convey the dreary atmosphere of the present while flashbacks of the real world, where we get to see how various characters happened to snuff themselves, are shot in vivid color. 

The very likable leads compliment the dry tone of the script by giving restrained, semi-realistic performances and not trying to funny things up too much.  Tom Waits is just right as Kneller, proving once again that he's an outstanding character actor.  John Hawkes, the liquor store clerk in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, pops up as one of Kneller's "happy campers", and early on there's a cameo by Jake Busey, an old friend of Zia's who still wants the 200 bucks he owes him even if they're both dead.

It's rare that you see a movie with a premise this odd that doesn't screw it up before it's over.  But WRISTCUTTERS stays the course without once getting too cute or trying too hard to bowl us over with how clever it is.  It feels almost like Tim Burton's BIG FISH with the fairytale cream filling sucked out of it.  And when two of the characters smile at each other right before the fadeout--which, in the context of this story, is a pretty big deal--they had me doing it, too.

WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY -- Movie Review by Porfle

Don Sullivan's 3 Classic Songs In "GIANT GILA MONSTER" (1959) (video)

Everyone knows about Don Sullivan's classic "Mushroom Song."

But he also sings a snappy acapella love ballad...

...and a mystery single that rocks a teen dance hop.

Still, it's the undying classic "Mushroom Song" for which Don will always be remembered.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Don Sullivan's 3 Classic Songs In "GIANT GILA MONSTER" (1959) (video)

DONNIE DARKO -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

(Originally posted 3/27/17. Information about public showings no longer applies.)

 

DONNIE DARKO (2001) is kind of like an ultra "Twilight Zone" episode by way of "The X-Files" as filtered through the mind of David Lynch and decorated by Tim Burton.  With some Robert A. Heinlein, Clive Barker, and John Irving thrown into the mix as well.  (The director has called it “The Catcher in the Rye as told by Philip K. Dick.")

And yet it's also its own unique, one-of-a-kind sort of funhouse mirror with all the giddy fear and dark exhilaration of a malfunctioning spook house ride.

Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, ZODIAC) gains our sympathy right away because he's a nice teenaged kid with a nice family, and he'd like to be a normal guy, but he isn't--I mean, really, really isn't--and he can't help it.

His befuddled psychiatrist (Katherine Ross) tells his parents he's schizophrenic.  Sometimes he skips his meds.  He knows he's "crazy", and that his attempts not to be are probably doomed. 

So, occasionally, he just goes with the flow and sets the fires and vandalizes the things that the tall guy in the scary-looking bunny costume and mask tells him to do. 

Why?  Because the scary bunny, who goes by the name of Frank, is a time traveler, helping Donnie to fulfill his destiny and maintain the space-time continuum by influencing the lives of everyone around him in very fundamental ways before the world ends, which will occur at the end of the month on Halloween night.

The incredible event that sets all of this into motion occurs early in the film, after we've met Donnie and the other Darkos and things have settled down for the night, and suddenly, there's a tremendous crash that shakes the house like an earthquake. 

That's the detached jet airplane engine demolishing Donnie's bedroom from above, mere minutes after he's been awakened and summoned safely out of the house by Frank.

For me, this weird and wonderful event is the sort of thing that just makes me fall in love with a movie right off the bat and stay with it every step of the way if it continues to be that wonderful, which DONNIE DARKO does the way a mindbending page-turner of a novel or comic book does.
 

Mary McDonnell (DANCES WITH WOLVES, INDEPENDENCE DAY, SCREAM 4, "Battlestar Galactica") and Holmes Osborne (THAT THING THAT YOU DO!, BRING IT ON, AFFLICTION) are ideal as Donnie's long-suffering but loving parents Rose and Eddie, and Gyllenhaal's real-life sister Maggie (THE DARK KNIGHT) is his sister Elizabeth.  Their younger sister Samantha is played cutely by Daveigh Chase (AMERICAN ROMANCE, SPIRITED AWAY).

Executive producer Drew Barrymore makes a strong impression as Donnie's progressive, perceptive English teacher, Miss Pomeroy, whose methods will be called into question by stiff-assed fellow teacher Miss Farmer (Beth Grant, OPERATION: ENDGAME, SPEED), an emotionally backward harpy whose classes seem to consist solely of videotapes by New Age self-help guru Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze, ROADHOUSE, DIRTY DANCING, GHOST).

Other supporting players in this very interesting cast include Noah Wyle, Seth Rogan, James Duval (AMERICAN ROMANCE, THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHO'S POND, INDEPENDENCE DAY), and Patience Cleveland (PSYCHO III) as Roberta Sparrow, aka "Grandma Death", a crazy old recluse who, it turns out, may know a thing or two about time travel herself.

High school life is a daily parade of the usual nerdy friends and scary bullies, as well as a pretty but troubled new student (Jena Malone as "Gretchen") who catches the eye of lonely but attractively enigmatic Donnie. 

I tried the lonely but attractively enigmatic thing in high school but it never worked for me.  It does, however, work for Donnie as he and Gretchen form a sympatico relationship that will become crucial in the scheme of things as time counts irrevocably down to Frank's mysterious end-of-world deadline.

As Donnie, Jake Gyllenhaal maintains just the right attitude throughout--bemused, puzzled, sad, resentful, fearful, and yet deeply intrigued by what's happening to him, because who knows?  It just might be real.

Visually, DONNIE DARKO is an eye-pleasing, idealized evocation of everyday life, sort of an updated Kodachrome version of Capra's small town in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE or the deceptive veneer of normalcy in Lynch's BLUE VELVET, all shot through with a warm nostalgia for the 80s. (Donnie takes Gretchen to see THE EVIL DEAD at the neighborhood bijou, while familiar 80s songs enhance the soundtrack.)

 

Richard Kelly directs the whole thing with the skill of a craftsman and the sensibility of an artist who likes to turn everyday things inside out and explore the beauty and mystery within, occasionally uncovering the ugly side of things as well. 

He also imbues the film with a sense of dark, magical fun that makes the serious aspects and underlying humanity of the story resonate even more.

This is exemplified by the loving but impishly humorous interactions between Donnie's parents, who sometimes act like a couple of kids, and between Donnie and his sisters.  It's nice to see a functioning family unit in a movie these days, even though this family does have one huge dysfunction, which is Donnie.

It's been a while since I was this totally caught up in a film and entranced by it until the very last frame.  DONNIE DARKO is like a big, juicy Tootsie Pop made of mystery and imagination, and you savor the act of seeing how many licks it takes to get to the chewy cult movie center.


Donnie Darko: English / USA / 113 min (theatrical) /
134 min (Director's Cut)


Here's our original coverage of the upcoming re-release:

Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko Returns to Theaters
Arrow Films Debuts 4K Restoration of Theatrical & Director's Cuts
 
Weeklong Runs in Los Angeles, New York and More

"Excitingly original indie vision" - Entertainment Weekly
"A mini-masterpiece" - Empire
   
Los Angeles, CA - Arrow Films has announced the March 31st domestic theatrical debut of the 4K restoration of Richard Kelly's cult hit Donnie Darko. Following a wildly successful re-release in the UK for its fifteenth anniversary, the film will return to theaters in cities across the United States. Fifteen years before "Stranger Things" combined science-fiction, Spielberg-ian touches and 80s nostalgia to much acclaim, Kelly set the template and the benchmark with his debut feature, Donnie Darko. Initially beset with distribution problems, it would slowly find its audience and emerge as arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium. The 4K restoration of Donnie Darko will premiere at the Vista in Los Angeles on March 30th, and officially open in Los Angeles at the Cinefamily and in New York at Metrograph on March 31st.

Described by director Richard Kelly as "The Catcher in the Rye as told by Philip K. Dick", Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast: pre-stardom Jake (Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain, Nocturnal Animals) and Maggie Gyllenhaal ("The Honourable Woman", The Dark Knight), Jena Malone (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Neon Demon), the late heartthrob Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing, Ghost), Drew Barrymore (E.T., "Grey Gardens", "Santa Clarita Diet") Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell (Dances With Wolves, Passion Fish, "Battlestar Galactica") and Katharine Ross (The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Stepford Wives), and television favorite Noah Wyle ("ER", "Falling Skies") and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears and Duran Duran.

The brand-new 4K restoration was produced by Arrow Films from the original camera negatives and supervised and approved by Kelly and cinematographer Steven Poster. The 4K restoration premiered to a packed audience at the National Film Theatre in London on December 17th, 2016, with an introduction by Richard Kelly. A screening of the Director's Cut followed the next day. The re-release opened nationwide in the UK on December 23rd, eventually grossing £70,000.

Both the theatrical cut and the director's cut are being made available to venues via a partnership with Cartilage Films, and locations will vary. 

Donnie Darko will also return for weeklong runs in Denver, Columbus, Cleveland, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Tempe, Tulsa and San Francisco on March 31st, and in El Paso, Portland and Detroit on April 7.

Special screenings include Jacksonville, Austin, Dallas, Honolulu, Lubbock, Baton Rouge, Sioux Falls, Oklahoma City, Tucson, Durham and Stamford throughout March and April.  A full list of screenings is available at Cartilage Films.
http://www.cartilagefilms.com/donnie-darko.html?utm_source=Copy+of+Donnie+Darko+Theaters&utm_campaign=Outfest&utm_medium=email

March 31st Theatrical Release:
The Cinefamily
611 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Metrograph
7 Ludlow St
New York, NY 10002

Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank's maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.

DONNIE DARKO -- Movie Review by Porfle