So many movies ... so much to celebrate!!!

On this day in 1960 (in Italy), the deadly shenanigans of a small town artist and some missing women were on full display with the theatrical release of Mill Of The Stone Women.  Written (in part) and directed by Giorgio Ferroni, the Fantasy/Horror starred Pierre Brice, Scilla Gabel, Wolfgang Preiss, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"In 19th century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor's ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who posthumously become macabre art."

ExtraExtra Alert:
In 2021, I had the good fortune of receiving a complimentary Blu-ray of an all-new restoration for Mill Of The Stone Women.  Interested in knowing what I thought?  My review of the film can be found right here.

-- EZ
​
From Google.com:
Mill of the Stone Women is a 1960 Italian Gothic horror film by director Giorgio Ferroni, notable for being Italy's first color horror film, which predates other famous Spaghetti horror. The film follows an art student who becomes entangled in the dark secret of a recluse sculptor and his mysterious daughter at an old mill, where the artist's grotesque "stone women" are actually petrified human corpses sustained by blood transfusions, according to YouTube and Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.

Plot Summary

• An art student, Hans, travels to Holland to write about the sculptures of women at a peculiar windmill. 
• He meets the beautiful and reclusive daughter of the sculptor, Elfi, and becomes captivated by her and the mill's eerie collection of statues. 
• Hans discovers the horrifying truth: the "stone women" are petrified corpses of young women, kept in a state of preserved life through blood transfusions by the professor and his doctor. 

Key Aspects

• Color:
  The film was the first Italian horror movie shot in color, giving it a distinctive visual style, says YouTube and Arrow Player. 
• Gothic Atmosphere:
  The film features a decaying mill filled with macabre statues, shadowy family secrets, and a secluded, ill relative. 
• Influence:
  Its theme of a mad scientist preserving a loved one at the expense of others is seen in other horror films and has been linked to the work of Mario Bava and Dario Argento. 
• Themes:
  The film explores themes of misogyny, the nature of art, and the line between life and death. 
• Exoticism:
  The film's supposed foreign origins and the made-up author were part of a marketing tactic to attract audiences to a mysterious and taboo story, according to Tapatalk.

​

So many movies ... so much to celebrate!

​On this day in 2019 (in Italy), Ad Astra enjoyed its first theatrical exhibition ever when it played for audiences in attendance of the Venice Film Festival.  Written (in part) and directed by James Gray, the SciFi/Drama starred Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe."

For the record:
To be perfectly fair, Ad Astra enjoyed a wealth of praise from organizations and festivals largely for the film's technical prowess.  It was nominated for an Academy Award in 2020 in the category of 'Best Achievement In Sound Editing.'  Also, the Academy Of Science Fiction, Fantasy, And Horror Films recognized the film with three nominations (but no wins): 'Best Costume,' 'Best Special Effects,' and 'Best Science Fiction Film.'

ExtraExtra Alert:
I wasn't all that impressed with Ad Astra, most of my disappointment owed to what I felt was just an unengaging storyline.  In any event, interested readers can find out what I thought of it right here.

-- EZ
​

So many movies ... so little time ...

On this day in 1957 (in the U.S.), the good people of Milwaukee, Wisconsin were treated to the glorious theatrical premiere of the original 'big guy' when The Amazing Colossal Man enjoyed its first screening ever.  Written (in part) and directed by Bert I. Gordon, the film starred Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William Hudson, and others. 

According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"A military officer survives a nuclear blast, only to begin to uncontrollably grow into an increasingly unstable giant."

-- EZ

(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“In 1976 a group of people in the desert for a photo shoot stumble upon an abandoned town called Savage. But they are not alone. A family of masked psychopaths have claimed Savage as their own and are hell bent on living up to its name.”
 
As a genre, Horror works best when it sticks to its core principle: build up a measure of sustained suspense in a manner that showcases potential victims striving against dark forces to sustain their own mortality.
 
Even though that basic formula sounds simple, storytellers have been known over the years to ‘gum up the works.’  Long gone are the days when the lean and mean thrill machines ran on pure juice as Hollywood dug its heels deeper and deeper into franchises with their intention to establish and develop an identity within these once routine chillers.  Audiences were treated to more franchise entries than they could shake sticks at – Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, the Jigsaw Killer, etc. – and the truth is all these watchers really wanted was to show up and be scared out of their wits.  Nothing accomplished this more expertly than did 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; and, yeah, methinks those days are missed.
 
Now, of course, I’m aware that even Leatherface and family and friends developed into their own bloody franchise; and I’ll always argue that was part of what pushed folks away from the world of basic hack-and-slash entertainment.  For my money, nothing that came after the first film ever truly came close to matching its sheer potential; and that’s why I haven’t spent a great deal of time and effort dissecting and/or promoting each and every sequel for SciFiHistory.Net.  When you wander too far off the beaten path, then it’s hard to find the way back; and Leatherface – as a commodity – is the kind of thing that works best sparingly.  You can always vary the theme just a bit, and that’s mostly what I think the movers and shakers behind Brute 1976 (2025) were trying to do.
​

By going back to the zeitgeist of the mid-1970’s and ‘reinterpreting’ it for the modern era, director Marcel Walz and screenwriter Joe Knetter have churned out a serviceable retread.  You want good-looking young men and women travelling the backroads of America?  Check!  You want some curious yet frightening roadside destinations?  Check!  You want some backwoods inbred family hungry to sink their knives and teeth into some young and lovely flesh?  Well, you just hit the trifecta, my friends, as Brute 1976 struts rather proudly on the same trek charted out by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel all those years ago.  It looks very much like what came before and – in small ways – tries to tweak the recipe for a new generation, though I think it could’ve used a bit more seasoning to make the grade.
 
June (played by Bianca Jade Montalvo) and Raquel (Gigi Gustin) are good-looking lesbians free-wheeling their way through what looks to be the Arizona desert with their sights set on some distant location.  Fate being the bitch that she is, their car breaks down; and the two ladies must complete the journey on foot.  Before they can reach the Promised Land, they find themselves at the mouth of an old mine where curiosity gets the best of them and they opt to explore.  Lo and behold, there are those who still live in the mine – did our ladies not see that it was fully lit on the way in? – and they’re inadvertently introduced into the world of bloodshed.
 
At this point, the film cuts over to another group of travelers who just so happen to be on their way to join the aforementioned lesbians.  Roxy – a budding young African-American model – has been selected to do a photoshoot with Raquel in a spread meant to celebrate the ‘coming together’ of the races circa the American Bicentennial festival.  When Raquel fails to show, the equally fetching Sunshine (Sarah French) agrees to step in, wave the stars-and-stripes in a bikini, and look good; so, the trip isn’t a total loss.  After a time, the group heads on down the road where the find the remnants of a small village named Savage … which incidentally happened to be the name on the aforementioned mine.
 
It doesn’t take all that long before bodies begin to pile up as Mama Birdy (Dazelle Yvette) – the matriarch of what remains of the town – puts her mask-wearing family to the business of slaying these wayward travelers; and that’s really the whole premise behind Brute 1976 in the proverbial nutshell.  Eventually, everything leads to death – entirely senseless deaths, at that – which was exactly what served as the foundation behind The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.  There wasn’t any formalized strategy behind the bloodshed: it just had to be because that’s the way of these folks.  Anyone showing up looking for greater meaning can check their shoes (and brains) at the door.
​

Now, there is a bit of a plot twist to these modestly gruesome shenanigans, and I won’t spoil it for you.  Let’s just agree that someone isn’t exactly who someone says someone is, and those of you watching closely might notice the surprise coming (or else detect a glaring inconsistency that slipped into the shooting script).  But that’s honestly all that really separates this film from its inspiration spiritually though something could be said for ‘Leather-face’ getting a makeover into – ahem – ‘Leather-tits.’  (Don’t worry: it’ll make sense when you see it.)  If paying their respects to what came before was the goal, then Walz and Knetter deserve a pat on the back … not a knife in it!  (snicker snicker)
 
Ultimately, however, Brute 1976 lacks the true visceral thrill power of the original.
 
Some of this could be owed to the fact that the years since 1974 has turned Horror’s focus more strongly in the direction of showcasing victims we can identify with; and that doesn’t quite happen in any meaningful way here.  The players hit their respective marks (French has always been a personal favorite, and yet she’s somewhat toothless in the last reel), but the script never really asks us to much care about them or their plights anywhere along the way.  To the contrary, I found myself wondering why each one felt a bit more bland than the others, like they were competing for flatness all the way.
 
Furthermore, the picture felt curiously obsessed with trying to almost constantly sound-off on sexuality.  The script dabbles with lesbians, homosexuals, transsexuals, inbreeding, and interracial relationships at seemingly every imaginable turn, so much so that I grew tired with the posturing without any narrative or moral substance much less reasoning.  Look: love who you wanna love, folks, but if you weave every conceivable sexual relationship into your 90-minute opus then gives the viewers a reason for it to be in there.  Otherwise, it feels like your shouting from your soapbox just to hear yourself shouting, and I prefer greater nuance.
 
Essentially, what survives as a completed picture never quite takes us anywhere we haven’t already been before, nor did we justly need to see again.  Some of the staging early on feels like gratuitousness for glamor’s sake – Raquel is bound to a chair and forced to watch these cartoonish cannibals carve up her dead friend, and it’s handled more vaudeville style than it is frightening – making me wonder if I was supposed to be shocked or laughing over their merriment.  As a director, Walz clearly prefers sequences that ‘breathe,’ and yet some of the protracted sequences manage to suck more oxygen out of the flick than they ratchet up the fright.  There’s even one vignette that’s shot almost entirely in darkness; and – try as it might – it’s hard to salvage any sense of tension when you can’t see what the hell is supposed to be so dangerous to begin with.

Lastly, it’s always a risky idea to reuse music cues in Horror.  (Yes, I know one franchise that built most of its best scares on this idea.)  When done properly, it does create the atmosphere suggestive of dread; but when done poorly it telegraphs exactly what’s coming to the audience, killing what might otherwise be an interesting death scene.  A bit of variety might’ve helped the mood here, or perhaps it would’ve been better to shuck the score almost entirely.  Let the images be the real crescendo, and leave those synthesized horns to New Line’s B-Movies.
 
Brute 1976 (2025) was produced by Neon Noir.  The film shows presently available for streaming (rental/purchase) on Amazon’s Prime Video (and that looks exclusive for the time being).  I’ve been asked to also pass along news that producers have secured a limited theatrical release (Laemmle Glendale - Los Angeles, CA - 8/29 & 8/30; Alamo Drafthouse - Indianapolis, IN - opens 8/29) with other potential markets to follow TBA.  As for the technical specifications?  While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure audiences that the provided sights and sounds are quite good; and there’s some pretty spiffy photography that elevates the mood though could’ve used some modest trimming here and there.  Lastly, if you’re looking for special features?  As I viewed this one via streaming, there were no extras under consideration.
 
Mildly Recommended.
 
About the best that could be said for Brute 1976 (2025) is that the film – on the whole – functions chiefly as an homage to its inspirational predecessor, 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, though one watching closely might spot some affectionate nods toward like-minded fare of that bygone era.  While it brings nothing fresh and new to the field, the flick lacks a bit of editorial efficiency as some of its cinematography is a bit undercooked and/or lingers a bit too long over some unnecessary scenery.  Purists might find themselves wondering why even bother with a self-styled knock-off four to five decades later when the original holds up just fine, and such a conclusion is okay: from my perspective, if Brute leads newbies to check out the older films from which the cast and crew clearly drew inspiration, I’ll take that as a win/win either way.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Cinephobia Releasing provided me with complimentary streaming access to Brute 1976 by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review.  Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

-- EZ
​

(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Six friends' end-of-summer cabin party turns deadly when they discover they're not alone in the woods. Their weekend of drinking and fun becomes a fight for survival with an unwanted visitor.”
 
Folks, believe it or not, I personally go to great pains to avoid picking on independent features.
 
I’ve been told by several industry types that such a practice perturbs them, and even one or two have called me out for being “too easy” on these smaller efforts.  In a world where I can see a glass as either half-full or half-empty, they would require that I choose the latter each and every time, otherwise I’m committing some kind of affront to the world of cinematic criticism.  However, I often counter with there’s nothing wrong with applying the Golden Rule when thinking and writing about film; and I’ve found my enjoyment of a great many smaller pictures increased by finding something good to say it.  Ultimately, I can only be me; and if that offends then readers are always free to request a refund.  (snicker snicker)
 
Still, there are releases that come my way that don’t manage to meet that bar.  As much as I ruminate over them, I struggle to find a worthwhile observation to pony up that extends beyond a superficial matter big or small.  That’s the case today with Fear Cabin: The Last Weekend Of Summer, a 2024 effort from writer, director, producer, stunt coordinator, and actor Brian Krainson.  This spooky business feels only loosely scripted – the kind wherein an F-bomb or two or three gets thrown in so often it could be a drinking game – and never quite adds up to anything in the last reel.  Though I can appreciate the blood, sweat, and tears committed, maybe that would’ve been better applied elsewhere?
 
The film opens with a flashback that could’ve used a bit of explanation: something dark and grim is happening to a young woman and a young man who appear to be from a bygone age (or are Amish?).  Without any significant context, we see them succumb to a dark fate – bones are cracked, bodies are suspended in mid-air – only then we’re catapulted into the modern times where a bunch of twentysomethings are living life to the fullest in a backyard swimming pool.
​
Now, stylistically, this was rather prescient on screenwriter and director Krainson’s part.  The juxtaposition of youth fighting for their lives alongside today’s carefree hipsters sends the message that times have indeed changed – for the better, it would seem – but there are always dark elements afoot that can invert existence seemingly at the flip of a coin.  Many, many great Horror films have used such a framework with which to position the narrative for what’s to come, so hats off to – minimally – getting things going on the right foot.
 
From there?
​

Well, the script rather quickly chucks aside the established relevance in favor of the usual antics.  Our band of potential victims gather in a big SUV and head out of town for what promises to be a gala occasion of drinking and general hell-raising.  En route, they encounter a police roadblock being dismantled; and they learn from a rather stoic LEO that something bad has just taken place ‘round here.  In stereotypical fashion, the cop eyes these young’uns with just enough suspicion to be doing his job, and then he encourages them to all be safe at the final destination.
 
Unless I missed it, this opening set-up provides no authentic payoff whatsoever.  In other words, whatever accident befall whoever wandered into this off-the-beaten-path territory never comes up again, leaving it an absolutely unnecessary plot point thrown in for no good reason.  If it does tie in to the shadowy events which follow (and, sure, it still could), then I’m at an abject loss to clarify what such a linkage is.  Why, it’s almost like it didn’t need to be there, except to introduce a friendly face (the cop) who does show up very late in the proceedings.
 
Once our band of merrymakers arrive at the ‘Fear Cabin’ of the title, Cassie (as played by Jennifer Barlow) is scared silly by a rather grim looking fellow, apparently the caretaker to the place.  In the usual Horror film trope, he sets down the ‘rules’ these characters must follow, which basically amounts to “don’t bother the graves” without actually telling Cassie where said graves might be anywhere on the property.  As one can guess, this is precisely what transpires: our good lady has to pee that evening, and she inadvertently squats and lets her stream rain right onto the flat concrete marker bearing the name of a witch hung ages before in this very spot.
 
In customary style, the dead are offended; and now ‘The Witch’ begins piling up bodies.
 
Alas, the more I think about Fear Cabin, the less its slim story makes sense.
 
First, Krainson expects audiences to believe that authentic specters of the netherworld somehow would go to the trouble to both maintain a wooded BNB – as well as the required internet presence along with a corresponding Paypal, Venmo, or ApplePay account – in order to corral would-be weekenders to the spooky place in order to reduce them to victims.  This is the height of silliness – the biggest offence made by the entire script – and it could’ve been averted in so many ways its downright laughable … but, apparently, everyone involved thought it was good, so here we are.
 
Second, the script is structured so that a great deal of exposition is handled via dream sequences.  In them, our young victims-in-waiting learn of the previous events that took place on this otherwise idyllic property – the witch’s hanging, the resulting bouts of demonic possession, etc. – but there’s no rational explanation for why the dead would be trying to educate folks in the real world.  Are these visions the cries from beyond the grave of the Witch’s casualties trying to alert others to the dangers if they stay?  Well, if so, then why not be a bit more specific?  The sequences are interesting enough, in all honesty, but without the context for why these rebel rousers needed to know them they wind up feeling like vignettes thrown in to give the picture a longer running time.

Third, the entire story – along with its throwback chapters – lacks a foundation as to when some of these events took place.  Early one, viewers are presented with the discovery of a diary which seems to be linked to the Witch.  (I say this because one of the lugs reads from it, and it sounds like a recanting of a specific spell.)  Ignoring the fact that said diary is wrapped in what resembles a modern leather binding (???), I’m once more at a loss to understand if its from the past or is something that has been found by the weird caretaker and preserved in the cabin.  If so, then why?  Why preserve that which curses the property?  And why did our cast of characters simply chuck it in the fire without giving it a serious second thought?  Have none of them ever seen a Horror film in their short lives?
 
Yet, because Krainson never quite establishes how long ago the diary and the dream events could have taken place, Cabin feels forever like a ship being tossed on the ocean at the mercy of whatever wave might strike it next.  I assume they were in the past, but I’m never really told, so they could be the future for all I truly know.  Lacking that framework, the story simply unspools, heading wherever it will because that’s just where it was going next.  Everything is lazy, predictable, and similarly baseless: when a little context goes a long way, this Cabin drifts from scene to scene – from fright to fright – never caring enough about plot progression or its limp characters.  They just players in search of an exit … and exit they do.
 
Fear Cabin: The Last Weekend Of Summer (2024) was produced by Atl Stunts and Brian Krainson Film Studios.  DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Cleopatra Entertainment.  As for the technical specifications?  While I’m no trained video expert, I can still attest that – for the most part – Fear Cabin works both visually and audibly: occasionally, Krainson even peppers his project with some interesting cinematography.  Sadly, none of it really goes anywhere, but such is the risk in storytelling.  Lastly, if you’re looking for special features?  To their credit, Cleopatra has added a slideshow, the theatrical trailer, a behind-the-scenes short, and a director’s interview (very, very, very short) on the disc; and, yes, it’s always nice to have something extra to consider.
 
Alas … this one remains Hard To Recommend.
 
At best, Fear Cabin (2024) might be the kind of thing that Horror purists might check out on disc or streaming.  Its run-time is 80 minutes, but that number includes a great deal of end credits along with some outtakes that, sadly, feel out-of-touch with the work’s overall banal tone.  Chiefly, my biggest reservations are its kinda/sorta ludicrous story and half-assed performances: none of it is particularly scary – although a few jump scares are better than average – and continuity issues plague a few of the sequences for those of us who watch closely.  (Erm … where did that hatchet come from?  Erm … who brought a shotgun?  Erm … are we ever going to see this alleged lake that keeps getting referenced?  Erm … you folks running to the car?  Did you forget that it wouldn’t start?)  While not a perfect mess, it’s still a mess, indeed.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Cleopatra Entertainment provided me with a complimentary DVD of Fear Cabin: The Last Weekend Of Summer (2024) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review.  Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

-- EZ
​