Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 28: The Wailing (2016)

The Wailing has been in my watchlist for several years and I think the main thing holding me back is its imposing running time. At almost two-and-a-half hours, that's a lot of Korean horror to sit through.

And indeed it is a long and convoluted film, with a story that starts out like a zombie and contagion film, and then ends up closer to a demon and possession film. I think. Honestly, I was pretty confused by it all, and it took reading several write-ups after watching for it to finally click and make sense.

A cop in a small Korean village finds himself dealing with sickness, murders, and madness amongst the townsfolk. Many suspect a Japanese stranger living on the outskirts of town may be to blame for it all, and it becomes personal when the cop's young daughter falls ill.

Kwak Do-won is really good as the cop, who is the unlikeliest of heroes because he's pretty cowardly, and not that smart. Kim Hwan-hee, the young actress playing his daughter, is also impressive. It's probably one of the best kid-in-a-horror-movie performances I've ever seen.

I watched The Wailing on Netflix, but it is also available on multiple platforms, including Kanopy, Hoopla, and the Criterion channel.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 27: Seance (2000)

Last year I was turned on to the work of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and included his 1997 film Cure in the countdown. A little while later, I also watched his 2001 film Pulse, which was also pretty good (not as good as Cure, but good!). He has a lot of films in his filmography, but 2000's Seance was one that sounded really intriguing. It was made for TV, and was based on the book Seance on a Wet Afternoon, a book that was also adapted into a British movie in 1964, starring Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough. (It's currently streaming on Criterion and Max, for anyone interested.)

Problem was, Seance is not streaming or rentable online, and my local library did not have it on disc. There are some versions available on YouTube and DailyMotion, but they did not seem to be the full version of the film.

Then, in a weird bit of kismet, I saw that it would be showing for one night at my local Alamo Drafthouse, and despite that showing being at 9:15pm on a weeknight, I bought a ticket...and then they rescheduled the movie to start at 10:15pm, and I seriously began to doubt my ability to make the effort and stay awake that late on a work night. 

But I did! 

Was it worth it? Yes and no. The print was actually a video projection in TV aspect ratio, so not the best quality. But it was the full version of the film, so that was a plus. And the film itself is very good. It follows the basic premise of the 1964 version Seance on a Wet Afternoon. A woman with psychic abilities, but not a lot of clients, decides kidnapping a girl and then "finding" her will help boost her cred, and her husband is roped into the plan. Just how the kidnapping takes place, and the ultimate resolutions, are very different in each film, though neither of them are exactly fun resolutions. And the one big difference between the two? The 2000 Seance is loaded with actual ghosts. 

So that evening was probably the most effort I will ever put into this countdown, but ultimately it was fun. (Even though the waiter at the Alamo never brought me my damn milk for my coffee, which meant I didn't drink that coffee, and staying awake without it was definitely a challenge! Obviously I'm still bitter. Just like that coffee.)

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 26: Castle of the Living Dead (1964)

Castle of the Living Dead is notable for a few reasons. It stars Christopher Lee, for one. He plays a creepy castle dweller who has created an embalming fluid that basically creates instant taxidermied animals - and PEOPLE. It also features Donald Sutherland in his first big film role (actually, three roles, as a soldier, a witch, and an old man). There's also some controversy over who actually directed it, though that's really the result of the need for some Italian pseudonyms, which were created for tax purposes. The director was Warren Kiefer, and yes, he's Kiefer Sutherland's namesake.

But this is a case where the cast and production are more interesting than the movie itself. Castle of the Living Dead was a slog for me, and I could barely finish it. I think in general I tend to have problems with these 1960's period piece horror movies. For instance, while some of Corman's Poe movies are absolutely beautiful, I think most of them are just deadly dull. Castle, set after the Napoleonic wars, has some lovely black-and-white photography,  but it doesn't make up for the deadly pacing and bad dubbing. And despite a story rife with frozen corpses of various species, not enough horror. (Also, I think this movie may have been an influence for the character of Master Blaster in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome??)

Anyway, just not for me, but doesn't mean it won't work for you! 

I watched Castle of the Living Dead on a Blu-ray from my library, but it's also available to stream on Tubi.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 25: Trap (2024)

While Trap does center on the pursuit of a serial killer, it probably falls more accurately into the genre of thriller than horror movie, but I'm going to include it in this countdown anyway because it's directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who's no stranger to the horror genre, both good and bad.

Josh Hartnett plays a dad who is taking his tween daughter to a "Lady Raven" concert at an arena in Philadelphia. Lady Raven is played by Saleka Night Shyamalan, the director's daughter, who is indeed a pop singer, though not in the realm of selling out arenas, which makes this movie just an elaborate ploy by M. Night to give his daughter a concert movie. Nicely played, M. Night. Nicely played.

Within the context of the movie, the concert is also a ploy, in this case an elaborate trap to catch a serial killer called the Butcher. So rude! Ruining a nice afternoon between a serial killer and his daughter!

Trap is a lot of dumb fun. It is not lost on me that Haley Mills, of The Parent TRAP, also plays an FBI profiler. And I don't know enough about the "trap" genre of music to say if the concert qualifies as trap, but I do know a trap door makes an appearance near the film's end, which, be warned, does not contain a "twist," per se, but does include a few swerves.

Trap is currently available to rent online - and just premiered on Max.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 24: Dead Ringer (1964)

Dead Ringer, not to be confused with the David Cronenberg movie Dead Ringers, is one of Bette Davis's hagsploitation horrors, and it's a hoot.

She plays twins Margaret and Edith. When Margaret's rich husband Frank dies, Edith, after years of estrangement, shows up at the funeral. Frank was once Edith's man, but Margaret stole him away, to live a life of luxury, while Edith ended up living above a failing cocktail lounge. 

So she comes up with a plan to steal Margaret's life.

It's clear Davis enjoyed the roles, throwing her full Bette Davis persona into them. (At one point, she even cracks a "What a dump!" about her ramshackle apartment.) The movie was directed by actor Paul Henreid, and the scenes in the bar, especially one where a murder is timed to the drums of the bar band, are wonderfully energetic.

Co-stars include Karl Malden as a cop who is in love with Edith, Peter Lawford as Margaret's lover, and Jean Hagen as Margaret's best friend. (She's woefully underutilized.) In all, an enjoyable bit of psycho biddy horror.

I watched Dead Ringer on TCM, but it is also available to stream free on Tubi.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 23: MadS (2024)

MadS is a French outbreak/zombie movies whose biggest selling point is it was shot in one take and is presented in real time.

Now, having seen the movie, I find it really, really hard to believe that's true, but the director, David Moreau, insists it is absolutely true. He says it took five days to get it right, and the film that we see is what was shot on the fifth and final day. If that's the case, then it really is one of the most impressive feats of filmmaking I've ever seen, and I definitely want a behind the scenes making of documentary!

I would say, even if he's fibbing a little, it is constructed very well, so that there are no moments that could clearly be edit points, and it does really feel like a real time, single cut movie, with all the tension and anxiety that brings. (I'd also like to commend the camera contraption they used, because for something shot handheld, the camera work is steadier than many conventional movies these days.)

As for the plot, there's nothing particularly groundbreaking about that: a rich teenager buys some drugs before a party, and on the way home, a woman covered in bandages gets into his car. She infects him with some kind of contagion that turns people feral, and the film follows that contagion as it passes along. There are several locations in the town, and various means of transportation, so this isn't a single take movie all shot in one place, and thinking about the logistics of that just makes me head hurt. But probably not as much as the infected teens in the story.

MadS is currently streaming on Shudder.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 22: Perfect Blue (1997)

Not quite sure when I first heard about Perfect Blue, but I think it was probably in relation to the works of Darren Aronofsky, a director whose work I generally dislike, except for Black Swan, which owes a lot to this anime film. (Requiem for a Dream, the movie of his I probably dislike the most, also "borrows" from Perfect Blue; this article goes deeper into that.)

The story centers on a pop singer who decides to leave music to pursue an acting career, a stalker who is not happy about that choice, and a series of murders. Of course, there is more to it than that, with some interesting commentary on stardom, personas, and the blurring of fantasy and reality when it comes to fandom.

I'm trying to think of any other animated horror movies that are genuinely scary, and not just cute/scary, and I'm drawing a blank. Perfect Blue is very much a horror drama that just happens to be animated, and I think in that way, it's pretty unique. 

I've always had an issue with anime. It's a style of art and animation that I just don't love aesthetically, and that's entirely on me. But I have to say, after about the first 30 minutes of Perfect Blue, I almost forgot I was watching anime, or at least, I was feeling more engaged in the story and characters than I usually am with anime, and appreciated that there were things being done with the story that could only be done via animation. It hasn't changed my mind entirely about anime, but it did open it up a bit.

I watched Perfect Blue on a Blu-ray from my library, but it is also available to rent online.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 21: Lake Bodom (2016)

I'll admit I really only chose to watch Lake Bodom because it's Finnish--the land of my people!--and I'm always intrigued by Finnish horror movies. Other than that, the premise makes it sound like your average kids-in-the-woods slasher movie. Which it is! But it also goes in some unexpected directions...

Four teenagers venture to Lake Bodom, the scene of a grisly unsolved mystery back in 1960, to recreate and possibly solve the crime. Bad idea right? I mean, when is going into the woods ever a GOOD idea in a horror movie? 

Do the boys have ulterior motives? Do the girls? And is there someone else out there in those dark woods, watching them?

I think the movie benefits a lot from not knowing much more than that, so I will say, I liked the beginning OK, really liked the middle, and was a tad disappointed with the resolution.

I watched Lake Bodom on Shudder.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 20: The Manitou (1978)

The Manitou is the third San Francisco-set horror movie to make it to the countdown this year, and it's also the most bonkers. I mean, this movie has everything: Neck tumors that are actually babies; babies that are actually tiny Native American medicine men; levitating grannies; lasers; gratuitous nudity; Tony Curtis.

Curtis plays Harry Erskine, a sham fortune teller who may actually have the gift. Or is it just a coincidence that his ex-girlfriend, Karen (Susan Strasberg) has a tiny Native American manitou growing on the back of her neck? For a good 30 minutes of the movie, she doesn't seem that concerned about the thing. At least, it doesn't prevent her from taking more than one cable car ride around San Francisco, before hoping into bed with Harry in his Russian Hill apartment.

When doctors can't get near the tumor without getting tossed against walls, or burned by lasers, it's up to the likes of Burgess Meredith, as an anthropologist, and Michael Ansara as medicine man John Singing Rock (note: Ansara was not a Native American, he was actually Syrian) to figure out what to do.

I won't give away what that is, but the ending is truthfully one of the craziest things I've ever seen. This is a movie that just defies any kind of grading system. Is it one star? Is it all the stars? 

Yes. Yes it is.

I watched The Manitou on a Blu-ray from my library, but it's also available to rent online.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 19: Oddity (2024)

Oddity is a fun little horror flick from Ireland that melds a murder mystery with supernatural elements into a nicely compact 98 minutes. It's got a good sense of humor with some genuine jump scares and I liked it a lot!

A year after her twin sister Dani is murdered, blind psychic antiques dealer Darcy (both played by Carolyn Bracken) visits her brother-in-law Ted (Gwilym Lee) and his new girlfriend Yana (Caroline Menton) at the scene of the crime, the old house Ted and Dani had been renovating.

I'll leave it at that, plot wise, since the story's surprises are a large part of the fun, but will add that the film also features a creepy wooden man (see above), several scenes in a psychiatric hospital, a glass eye, possibly some ghosts, and the perfect zinger of an ending.

Oddity is streaming on Shudder, along with director Damian McCarthy's previous film, Caveat, which I didn't like quite as much, but is still totally worth watching.