Saturday, January 16, 2021

2000's American Horror Part Eight

SESSION 9
(2001)
Dir - Brad Anderson
Overall: GOOD

For the majority of Brad Anderson's first break from romantic comedies in Session 9, things go off without a hitch.  The cast is strong and save for one or two very scripty monologues near the beginning and some textbook, horror movie phrases at the end, the dude-centric dialog is convincing.  The screenplay by Anderson and Stephen Gevedon, (who also appears as Mike in the film), is well-structured and uses the effortlessly creepy setting of the real life Danvers State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts, (as well as numerous scenes of characters listening to old tape recordings of split-personality inmates), rather engagingly.  That the movie does not manage to come off as generic as it probably should remains its most impressive quality, making the story itself more interesting than its spooky, well-executed if familiar set pieces.  The subversive presentation ultimately bypasses the somewhat lackluster finale and one or two hokey moments such as David Curoso's famous "Hey...fuck you!" meme per example.  With more missteps avoided than not, it is genuinely an admirable offering.
 
MURDER PARTY
(2007)
Dir - Jeremy Saulnier
Overall: GOOD
 
The first non-short, directorial effort from filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier and he and his friend's makeshift, somewhat unofficial production company Lab of Madness, Murder Party is about as dark as dark comedies get.  The premise is funny enough on paper which is always a good sign, but the way the film escalates its disturbingness in such a controlled manner that nevertheless manages to reach off-the-walls wackiness is quite impressive, especially for a full-length, indie debut.  As the title would suggest, there is a party (or two) and a whole lot of murder.  Pulling no punches whatsoever with the abundant amount of gore and throwing in little details like a cranked-out dog, a woman having an allergic reaction to non-organic raisins, and a werewolf mask catching on fire and getting fused to a guy's screaming face, there is a level of glee to be had by how much hilariously alarming set pieces keep popping up.  Much of the film is so ridiculous that no one could possibly mistake it for anything but a comedy, though Saulnier somehow never manages to make such absurdity come off as corny or cheap.  Instead, it is as enjoyable as a bulldozing experience can be for something so equally upsetting and hilarious.
 
ZOMBIE STRIPPERS
(2008)
Dir -  Jay Lee
Overall: MEH
 
D-rent and proudly so, writer/director/cinematographer/editor Jay Lee's Zombie Strippers is truth in advertising 101.  There are strippers, there are zombies, the end.  Paying any mind to the embarrassing social commentary or dumb-ass plot would be a waste of anyone's time.  Since the movie is positively idiotic and its only goal is to show boobs and gore while being idiotic, it achieves such a thing entertainingly for those who feel the one-note joke of the title can sustain itself for ninety-minutes in any context, let alone this one.  The combination of straight to late night cable soft-core-ness, Troma-adjacent splatter, and jokes that are meant to be funny because of how not funny they are, it certainly tests the threshold of exhaustability.  A small handful of moments are worth a chuckle, but the execution is so predominantly cheap and lame-brained that it is quite natural to yawn-out during the proceedings.  Thus is the case even when Jenna Jameson is battling a fellow naked zombie in a strip-off while shooting billiard balls out of her vagina.

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