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La casa del buon ritorno (1986)
You look good enough to... stab! Repeatedly!
LA CASA... is a genuinely eerie mood piece. It's cousins with House with the Laughing Windows and Perfume of a Lady in Black-- looser gialli that don't necessarily have black gloved killers or high body counts. I'm still lost as to why we refer to these as gialli; perhaps the mystery?
Anyone who has seen both of those above, or similar gialli, will not doubt figure out the trajectory of the film. However, it's all so masterly done, you end up watching it for the experience, the atmosphere, the images. Everything is ominous in the film, and even made more so by the directors excellent use of cross fades.
Oh. But unfortunately. Unfortunately our protagonist is awful. He is incredibly handsome, he's sexy, I wouldn't kick him out of bed. But he's an awful actor. This is the huge difference between this film, and Perfume of a Lady in Black. There is no emotional connection with the protagonist-- he is no Mimsy Farmer, nor Jorge Rivero from Evil Eye, another similar film.
Ultimately, LA CASA... is a beautiful film, that lacks much of a connection with the viewer, but is does what it does so well (to entice, mystify) that I recommend it.
Passion (2012)
Its half of an awful(ly) good film!
Yas! Honey, the Gods of camp were with de Palma when he set out to remake Love Crimes. Where as the original was very simple and precise, the remake is glossy and convoluted; I like it better. By all accounts, see the original, as it bases itself in reality as much as it can and is much easier to access. The remake sees de Palma throwing in all of his old tricks in, practically playing homage to himself. Unfortunately, its only the last half that de Palma picks up steam and over directs everything into camp thriller oblivion.
McAdams shines, and Rapace is fine as our mousy protag; however, Rapace is much better when given more material to work with I've noticed, but she fares better here than Prometheus where she was only serviceable. The erotic content is tame, and rather aggravating as both versions want to channel a subtle current of eroticism but just can't get it up (ha!).
The remake reminds me a lot of Side Effects, for which I did not enjoy. The new material de Palma adds has more to do with expanding the ending of the original, and that's when Side Effects comparisons start. Of course, this film was made before Soderbergh's mental illness shaming, psychiatrist blaming snooze fest. Both are terribly sexist-- nothing new from de Palma.
Livide (2011)
Not enough
I watched Livid with high hopes. I had heard this was poetic, a horrific love letter, etc... Basically, the opposite of Inside. While Inside had suspense and outrageous gore, I was never impressed beyond that material. There were very few visuals that struck me; I just did not FEEL the direction. I feel it could have been directed by anyone. That is not to say I have not seen it a few times, and would recommend it to gore hounds, and even watched it with friends just to see their reaction to the horror on screen. I thought the directors had "turnt" up their directorial flair for Livid... alas, I was wrong.
This film is easily divided into thirds: the first third, we are introduced to Lucie, our protagonist. The character just isn't compelling. Catherine Jacobs fares MUCH better, but after the first third, she's basically gone. Lucile's male companions are more engaging, despite being caricatures-- at least they have some charisma, injecting much needed energy. Beatrice Dalle is amazing (no surprise there), despite not enough screen time.
The second half begins the exploration of the mansion, and suffers the same fate as Lucile: it's just not compelling! Or scary. Or beautiful. Things needed to make this work, you are not there.
I enjoyed the last third, as the blood flows, and directors begin to be creative. Yet, it's all slightly ruined by the flat direction. The first "attack" should have been fantastic (fantastique) but it's just not enough. The ending, I have read, to some is overblown. It is. But this is the only time the fantastic enters the picture, along with the flashbacks. But it's just not enough!
What excited me most about Livid was it was compared to Lucio Fulci's The Beyond in it's sort of narrative structure, where the film is driven by fantastic images and suspense-- the story isn't unimportant, it just does not make sense. A does not lead to B, but rather 8. It's the supernatural, it doesn't need to make sense. But Livid TRIES to make sense, another of it's failings, because by the end it no longer attempts to ground itself. I would usually love that, but it's not enough.
Rezubian reipu: Amai mitsujû (1991)
Less hard, more boring
This is one of my least favorite Sato films-- it's actually more linear and coherent than his other early 90s films, but that makes the content more boring. Also, the casting is all off; Sato is usually wonderful at casting his films, but here everyone felt wrong for the part.
Sato is still able to give us a few great compositions, with the use of mentioned glass silencer and lizards in another user review, but there are too few. None of the sex is particularly interesting, not erotic nor morbidly fascinating. As I write about this film more, I realize I'm not even sure why I gave it 3 stars. Perhaps there are themes I liked in the film, such as our lesbian antagonist and effeminate rapist wanting to explore queer issues at the films core, but they aren't handled in any sort of hard panache Sato usually brings to the table. In fact, the film ends up seeming like a Sato imitation.
Mascara (1987)
Lay that mascara on thick GIRL!
Over the top, but fascinating thriller. Charlotte Rampling adds a bit of class to the proceedings (doesn't she always?) but also gets less screen time than our other two protagonists, Sarrazin and de Lint. Sarrazin fares better, only because he's chewing the scenery, and looking fabulous while doing it. de Lint is a combination of phoning it in and treating the material straight; this film is FAR from straight.
The film does revel in the perversity shown on screen-- we can be optimistic and say it's a celebration, but alas, it isn't. To be fair, everyone is perverse in this film, so it's not really just exploiting homosexuality, transgender, prostitution etc. Not exactly a condemnation, more of a LOOK AT THIS! And look we do, and we will be amused if one is used to this sort of thing.
Direction picks up flair in both the high class opera house, and the underground high class fetish club. The dresses are fantastic. There's a hysterical ending. There's Rampling's eyes; oh those eyes! Give it a watch if you want high budget camp.
La nuit de la mort! (1980)
Bring your dentures
A fair maiden takes a job at a crotchety nursing home. Retirement home? A home for old folks! A grouchy, game playing, cryptic group. Except for Betty Bakers; lady is a boss. LIKE. A. PRO. There are strange rules at this old folks' home, namely that our fair maiden cannot leave the premises for 2 months. 2 months! 2 months of changing Depends, giving sponge baths, and cooking only veggies! That's right. These old bats are vegetarians. Or are they? DUN DUN DUN!
Fairly entertaining French horror flick-- bits of juiciness mixed in with a whole lot of Zzzz. Everything is competent; acting, direction, music. Ending is vicious and darkly comical. In fact, there is a bit of black comedy throughout the proceedings, but not all of it works. The comedy is a bit like... "Oh. That was funny. Wasn't it? No, really, wasn't it? I think it was." AHA! Not a horror film, but a thinking film!
La ocasión (1978)
We've seen this before
So we have some hippies, we have an uptight couple. Hippies are nude, carefree, American. Couple is rich; he's got a stick up you know where; she wants anyone else's stick up the you know where. Miscommunication ensues resulting in tragedy.
This is not Larraz's best film, nor his worst-- it just kind of exists. Some nudity, sex is limited to a few scenes at the end. Actors are serviceable; Angel Alcazar, I believe is the main hippie guy, brings an intense sex appeal that reminded me of Joe Dallesandro with a little bit more range. Film also has none of the atmosphere of Larraz's earlier work, or even Los Ritos... For Larraz completists only.
L'ossessa (1974)
You can do better, Satan!
I will say this has a very interesting 1/3-- possession by wooden carving of a martyr that is actually a demon who has sex with our beautiful protagonist. The viewer is also treated to some mildly kinky sex between our protagonist's mother and her lover involving roses. But then we lose all things creative, everything comes to a standstill for endless scenes of screaming and masturbation. That sounds somewhat amusing, yes? It isn't. There IS a protracted scene of vomiting at the end. WOO HOO. It's actually pretty gross, but too little too late. After our protag is violated and possessed, film falls into line with ALL other possession tales. I am sure there are worse possession tales out there, but few have such creative starts that are so violently squandered.