Dir - Ian Coughlan
Overall: MEH
The last and only theatrically released film from writer/director Ian Coughlan, Alison's Birthday has some unique charm here or there, yet it does not entirely deliver on its potential. Mostly elderly people involved in mysterious cult practices is an age old horror movie motif and this certainly has a Rosemary's Baby angle to it to name its most famous influence. The curious elements are Coughlan's strange directorial touches which are occasionally genre-defying, creepy, and silly all at once. Various moments play out with no musical score which provide them with a successfully unnerving tone while shots of a one-hundred and three year old woman and people changing gibberish in black robes are at least unintentionally chuckle-worthy. Coughlan could use a little oomph in the pacing department as things eventually drag a bit, getting interrupted by goofy plot points like Alison's boyfriend laughably bamboozling his pursuers and ultimately hurting his ankle while running which of course seals his doom. Yet for borderline unconventional occult horror of the Australian variety, it is worth seeing at least.
(1983)
Dir - Don McBrearty
Overall: MEH
Ironically a Canadian production, American Nightmare is not a particularly memorable slasher outing. Shot in Toronto on a modest budget, genre regulars Michael Ironside and Lenore Zann are present along with a mostly unrecognizable cast and the story is a typical, giallo-inspired mystery where the killer's identity is kept secret until the movie's final moments. He still murders female sex workers, (plus one cross-dresser), yet substitutes the black gloves with clear latex ones. Director Don McBrearty makes no attempt at any outrageous visual flare though and presents things in a more seedy, restrained manner. This is fine in that the more serious atmosphere is kept in check, interjected with some strip club routines that are exploitative without being overtly tasteless. Still, the plot contains nothing that has not already been seen dozens of times already and it is almost impossible to stay captivated with. Not ugly enough to disgust and not campy enough to revel in its sleaze, it instead just casts a lukewarm, thoroughly forgettable spell.
(1989)
Dir - René Manzor
Overall: MEH
The French export 3615 code Père Noël, (Deadly Games, Dial Code Santa Claus, Hide and Freak, Game Over), is mostly known as a precursor to Home Alone where a ten year-old kid outsmarts a malicious invader on Christmas Eve. Writer/director René Manzor went as far as to threaten legal action, but the basic premise also has as much to do with the Tales from the Crypt story "...And All Through the House" as well as countless others where a guy dressed up as Santa Claus is up to no good. As far as this particular take on the concept goes, it is a curious one that presents its kid Rambo scenario in a partly serious yet unmistakably absurd manner that creates an impenetrable tone. Alain Lalanne is somewhat likeable as the scared yet laughably resourceful little Thomas de Frémont, yet his nauseating mullet, ridiculous supply of gadgetry, insultingly nimble IQ, and the gargantuan castle that he turns into a contraption-laced fortress are way too far-fetched and silly to work with the more sinister elements. As a genre mash-up, it is admirably ambitious, but a dog-murdering Santa, countless dutch angles, horrible Christmas music, cutesy adorableness, and heart-racing suspense sequences hardly jive well together.
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