Friday, February 7, 2025

90's Foreign Horror Part Eleven

THE BURNING MOON
(1992)
Dir - Olaf Ittenbach
Overall: MEH

If hardened gore hounds are not already desensitized enough when going into Olaf Ittenbach's second feature The Burning Moon, then they certainly will be by the film's merciless end.  Another mindless excess of juvenile brutality for the mere sake of it, this one is strung together by flimsy means as Ittenbach himself plays a schlubby punk who disrespects adults, throws fists at other punks as well as his parents, and is still somehow allowed to babysit his kid sister who he tells horrendous bed time stories to before stabbing her and then mutilating himself because who cares.  An anthology movie of sorts, the bloodshed is rampant and hilariously primitive, yet here lies the film's charm.  It is another SOV crapfest, (as was his also cartoonishly gory debut Black Past), so we are talking DIY exploitation of the most bare-bones variety here.  In this respect, Ittenbach can be applauded for his reach and the means in which he goes about achieving it, by hook or by crook.  Sadly, the eighty-six minute running time feels just as excessive as the blood-splatter, and things drag along for long portions, which makes the whole thing snore-inducing since the story is moronic and the gore is so ridiculously stupid that it is merely worth a courtesy chuckle or two.
 
THE DARK
(1993)
Dir - Craig Pryce
Overall: GOOD

The second and last full-length from director Craig Pryce before he would work almost exclusively in television until the present day, The Dark is a Canadian giant rat monster movie that is not to be confused with the small handful of other horror films that are also called The Dark.  As far as low-budget creature features go, this one is unremarkable, yet it is also not horrible.  It has a convincing enough puppet monster that is wisely kept in the shadows and shown in closeups when it does appear, several on purpose and accidental comedic beats that hit their mark, plus a solid cast that includes stoic Canadian tough guy Stephen McHattie, everyone's favorite American tough guy Brion James, and a young Neve Campbell who is tough enough as a police officer that gets caught up in the big rodent-hunting mayhem.  The plot cruises along while sacrificing logical plot points, (which there are precious few of), plus various characters get on the same page with little convincing, making this is actually a pleasant exception as opposed to everyone being annoying and arguing with each other for ninety-minutes.  Dumb but enjoyable, it stays in its schlocky lane.

THE UGLY
(1997)
Dir - Scott Reynolds
Overall: MEH

New Zealand writer/director Scott Reynolds' full-length debut The Ugly has an ambitious presentation, delving into the troubled mind of a serial killer with a traumatic backstory that is right out of the cliche book.  The formulaic tropes extend beyond Paolo Rotondo's origins of having an abusive mother, an absent father who is villainized, school bullies who endlessly torment him, and being dyslexic, since the narrative unfolds with a famed psychiatrist interviewing him in an under-equipped insane asylum where the orderlies look and act like bigger scumbags than he is.  There are stylistic flourishes though, such as Rebecca Hobbs's psychiatrist physically interjecting herself into the flashbacks, Rotondo's facial features bouncing between normal and severely deformed, the blood being tar-like and black, and quick cuts of his pale and ghostly "visitors".  As sad puppy as Rotondo presents himself, his actions are too deplorable to sympathize with and the whole thing eventually deteriorates into loud, aggressive, and implausible schlock.  This is a shame since Reynolds shows enough restraint in other areas, but the B-movie trappings eventually win out in the end.

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