Thursday 19 March 2020

EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC (1977)

EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC (1977)

In 1973 director William Friedkin shocked the world with THE EXORCIST. Four years later, John Boorman had the same effect but for all the wrong reasons.
EXORCIST II is even worse on a re-view than back in the 80s. The script is sparse and ultra-dumb, and is a total waste of the talents of Louise Fletcher, Ennio Morricone and Richard Burton, who to his credit gives his clunky-as-a-bag-of-spanners dialogue every ounce of the gravitas of which it's not worthy. Linda Blair also must have wondered if 'better the devil you know' was a viable teenage career move.
The editing is suspiciously abrupt at times, giving credibility to the story that Boorman tried at least three attempts to re-edit the ending after one of the worst premieres in movie history. (According to Friedkin, this showing was received with such legendary bad grace that an audience member got up at the end and shouted to the crowd: "The people who made this piece of shit are IN THIS ROOM!!"

Wednesday 4 March 2020

THE HISTORY OF HORROR CINEMA (podcast) - EPISODE 1: THE SHORT SHARP SHOCKS OF LAUREL & HARDY

THE HISTORY OF HORROR CINEMA podcast) - EPISODE 1:
THE SHORT SHARP SHOCKS OF LAUREL & HARDY

Here's my first episode of studio audio talks woven together from my horror writings. 
Beginning with the horror-tinged shorts of Laurel and Hardy (34 mins)


https://soundcloud.com/ichampion-1/ian-champion-history-of-horror-cinema-episode-1-the-short-sharp-shocks-of-laurel-hardy?fbclid=IwAR3NeTd6CnfpFEvunOjD-wYHc_m8_Oio1zRG4xyCejbyjownzCs9KbEaVsY

TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (1991) + TETSUO II: BODYHAMMER (1991)

TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (1991) + TETSUO II: BODYHAMMER (1991)
Shinya Tsukamoto's gloriously bananas vision of urban metal fetishism across two films is an acquired taste to be sure. TETSUO: THE IRON MAN is less a linear plotted movie, and more a 67 minute monochrome bio-mechanoid performance art piece influenced by Cronenbergian body horror. The imagery is fast, absurdist and coupled with a cool industrial techno soundtrack reminiscent of early New Order. Apparently filmed over 18 months in his house, the conditions were so tough Tsukamoto's entire crew left before the shoot ended!


The sequel makes somewhat more concessions to the mainstream with colour and plotting but is equally and compellingly insane. Each movie manages to end in a deranged yet strangely upbeat way by taking their premise into epic madness.