WITHIN THE WOODS (1978) Review

Directed by: Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Mary Valenti, Scott Spiegel

A lot of people seem to refer to WITHIN THE WOODS as a prequel to THE EVIL DEAD or simply just THE EVIL DEAD 0, which isn't strictly accurate but it is easy to see where they're coming from. Sam Raimi's WITHIN THE WOODS was created as a prototype; a way of proving  - not only to the filmmakers themselves but also potential investors - that they had what it took to make a successful full length feature film.

The scenario portrayed in this short is basically a stripped down version of THE EVIL DEAD and fans will recognize a lot of elements which were carried over into the latter film. The swinging chair banging against the  wall, Raimi's distinctive camera work and a lot of the action sequences have all made this transition. Even the basic plot in which a small group of friends are terrorized in an isolated cabin after unleashing an evil entity was later reused, albeit with a lot of expansion.

Unfortunately WITHIN THE WOODS has never received an official release and it most likely never will, especially with Sam Raimi being against a release, citing his film is amateurish. Also, if you've read Bruce Campbell's autobiography you may remember his mentioning that this film was hauled all over the place and screened many a time for audiences and potential investors so it's safe to assume that even the original print is probably in a pretty sad state. There are plenty of bootleg dvds available online if you look in the right places and the entire film is available to watch on Youtube, but they all seem to be sourced from a beyond-terrible VHS rip. The quality of these unofficial releases seems to range from terrible to absolute crap. The video is grainy and scratched and some scenes are almost unrecognizable and the audio is not much better. It's easy to get a general feel for the overall film but a lot of details are distorted or lost in this lower-than-low quality.

What is easy to see however is the potential shown in this film. From Raimi's instantly recognizable roaming camera work to the buckets of blood and gore used - both of which would be a staple of THE EVIL DEAD movies.

Quality issues aside I'll bet that in it's original state WITHIN THE WOODS was probably quite a site to behold and it's undoubtedly an important piece of horror history. The half hour film is surprisingly well done considering the limited shooting schedule (3 days) the limited cast and low budget. It's an energetic horror film with plenty of gore and is essential viewing for any Deadites out there.

This short may not have the best acting, a deep story or the best dialogue but it was the basic blueprint for THE EVIL DEAD which is now one of the greatest horror films ever made.  It's simple, solid and has some pioneering camera work, a good fast pace and plenty of gore. If you're an EVIL DEAD fan then you need to seek this out, and I also recommend reading Bruce Campbell's autobiography which gives some pretty cool insight into the making of this film.

I don't feel I can give this a proper rating due to the fact that the shit copy I watched had such terrible quality.
So much so that a lot of the details are lost and unrecognizable. If Sam Raimi ever decides to green-light an official release maybe then I will give it a star rating.

Horror Feast: Sex & Cannibalism

Went out last night and drank a little too much so I really couldn't be fucked doing anything today.

Couch + cigarettes + coffee + horror movies. That was basically my entire day. 

On today's menu: Sex & Cannibalism.

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980)

I thought I'd start out with a cult classic which I've seen numerous times but I never get tired of it. The tagline "the mother of all cannibal movies" is pretty much spot on. It's not the first cannibal movie, but it is definitely one of the most influential and definitive. A professor goes on a 'rescue' mission to the Amazon jungle and brings back tapes from a documentary a crew were filming before they disappeared. The tapes show how the crew got on the native cannibals' bad side and were eventually killed and eaten.

The gore is plentiful and still holds up pretty well to this day, and the underlying social commentary is powerful. It's a shame that the animal deaths were real and in retrospect director Ruggero Deodato has commented that he regrets ever making the film. But there's no doubt that it is a very powerful and impactful movie and the horror landscape today would be very different if it had never been made. Definitely not for the squeamish but it really is a great film. And the soundtrack is fantastic.

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (2007)

A quartet of naive young men and women decide to travel to Papua New Guinea to search for Michael Rockefeller who disappeared forty years earlier. The concept is ridiculous and the four main characters are all idiots. The movie sucks too. The first hour is slow and drawn out and the two couples spend most of it arguing. When things finally pick up it does get a little interesting and there is a bit of tension but ultimately it is a very disappointing film. And also I did not see one scene of actual cannibalism. There are plenty of bodyparts and blood towards the end but no people eating other people so that too was disappointing. I should also mention that this is a found footage type movie which I usually like but this time I didn't. All four characters are annoying and stupid and that really ruined any chance of me actually enjoying the film at all. I wouldn't recommend this one.

PAPAYA: LOVE GODDESS OF THE CANNIBALS (1978)

Well I have to say that is one of the most misleading movie titles ever. The only part that's accurate is the 'love' part because this is basically a softcore porn film. If I'd bothered to check director Joe D'Amato's filmography and seen entries such as "Hercules: A Sex Adventure" or "Porno Holocaust" then I may have worked that out but I'm not familiar with his work at all. I'd say that at least a third of this movie involves nudity or sex scenes. There is some vague plot about natives being angry at the prospect of a nuclear reactor being built on their island. They despatch Papaya to seduce and kill the men involved. And there are at the very most two scenes in the entire film that you could possibly say involve cannibalism. One is when Papaya bites off a man's dick and the other is one of the natives taking a bite out of a human heart. If you're looking for a softcore porno then go for this, but if you want a cannibal film then forget it.

CANNIBAL FEROX 2: MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY (1985)

This really has nothing to do with the first Cannibal Ferox. A group of people take a flight to a forbidden place called Dinosaur Valley. The group is comprised of a professor and his daughter, a palaeontologist, a photographer and his two models, a Vietnam veteran and his alcoholic ex-wife. I understand the palaeontologist and the professor, but what the fuck are the others doing going to this valley? Anyway their plane crashes, a couple of them die and the survivors have to find a way out of the jungle without being killed by the native cannibals. They survive the cannibals and stumble across some kind of illegal mining camp where they are taken prisoner. There is a single scene once again involving someone eating a human heart but that's about it for cannibalism. The movie actually focuses more on the mining camp scenario and plays out more like an action film than horror. 

WRONG TURN (2003)

It's easy to compare this to other twisted hillbilly films like Deliverance but I think this is a great film that stands perfectly well on it's own. It's a shame about the sequels though.

After an accident a group of friends decide to go find help. They find a house in the middle of nowhere inhabited by a trio of cannibalistic mountain men. The men chase them while they try to survive and escape.

The movie is fast paced and actually has some decent acting in it. The make-up and effects are solid and those mountain men look fucking scary. And I have to admit Eliza Dushku does a pretty good job in the female survivor role. The film isn't fantastic but compared to a lot of other crap that's come out in the last decade it is definitely above average and worth checking out if you haven't seen it yet. I would advise skipping the sequels though.

EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS (1977)

Oh god , it's another Joe D'Amato film. So yes there are plenty of pornographic moments and in fact even more than there was in PAPAYA. Almost every character in the movie is either having sex or masturbating at some point. Emanuelle is a reporter who comes across a mental patient with a strange tattoo. The tattoo leads her to an ancient cannibal tribe and so she sets up an expedition to go check it out. After a whole lot of fucking and fingering for the first hour things actually get pretty interesting towards the end and there is some real gore and horror. Nipples get cut off, a man gets sliced in half and there are actually some real scenes of cannibalism. Hooray!

If the first part of the movie was as good as the second part this might actually have been decent. But all of those tits, asses, dicks and pussies kind of got in the way.

PATRICK (1978) Review

Directed by: Richard Franklin

Starring: Susan Penhaligon, Robert Helpmann, Robert Thompson

This Australian Psychokinetic film starts off with a boy named Patrick (Robert Thompson) killing his mother and her lover by throwing an electric heater into the bathtub. It probably would have been better if there was a more detailed background, but that's all you get. Anyway, then it cuts to a scene years later where Kathy Jaquard (Susan Penhaligon) is applying for a nursing job at some type of institution. After a brief chat with the bitchy matron, she is shown to her first patient who just so happens to be Patrick. It seems that for some unknown reason his brain has been damaged and he has been in a vegetative state for three years.

Dr Roget (Robert Helpmann) describes Patrick as "160 pounds of limp meat hanging from a comatose brain" but as the days go by it seems that he is in fact much more aware than anybody suspects. Strange things start to happen. Objects moving by their own volition, windows opening, doorknobs rattling. And for some odd reason the matron refuses to step into Patrick's room...

Eventually Kathy realises that Patrick has some sort of sixth sense in the form of psychokinetic powers. And bad things start happening to anybody who gets between them. She eventually works out a way to communicate with Patrick, but of course nobody believes her.

When I first read about the film it described Patrick as having terrifying powers, even the power to kill. So I was a little disappointed when I found that apart from the first scene where his mother is killed, there is only one other person killed in the remainder of the movie. And you don't even get the see it, only the body afterwards.

In the late 70's there were a string of psychokinetic films which tried to cash in on the success of 1976's Carrie, the classic Stephen King adaptation. And even if Patrick isn't the best, it is probably the most unique.

The acting is good, as is the writing and the use of camera angles helped to give it a creepy feel. But I personally found the movie to be a bit slow, especially with a running time of almost two hours. And the ending was very anticlimactic. It is a movie worth watching, especially if you are interested in Australian horror, but I personally thought that one viewing was plenty.

LONG WEEKEND (1978) Review

Directed by: Colin Eggleston

Starring: John Hargreaves, Briony Behets

The last three reviews I've done have all been recent films, so I thought I'd write about a few older ones for a change. I'm starting off with this wilderness horror film from 1978. Long Weekend follows the theme of killer animals but in a much different way than movies like Rogue or Black Water. As the tagline reads "Their crime was against nature. Nature found them guilty"

Peter (Hargreaves) and Marcia (Behets) are a couple with a problematic relationship. They decide to have a relaxing weekend vacation at a remote beach. But of course, they have no idea what is in store for them. The tension between the pair only gets worse as they finally reach their destination and when they finally do arrive, they realize that something isn't quite right. The sounds of angry animals from within the trees, spear guns firing by their own volition etc.

I found the creepiest part of the film to be the dugong that just won't die. Peter shoots it with his rifle, thinking it to be a shark, but realises his mistake when its corpse washes up on the shore and he covers it with sand.

But even though full of bullet holes, it keeps showing up in different locales...

Before they know it, the couple seem to be under attack by animals both from the ground and the air. 

Even though they are the victims, Peter and Marcia's disregard for their environment (whether it be spraying ants with insecticide or chopping down trees) is what incurs the wrath of the wildlife, and is ultimately their downfall. It's pretty hard to feel any kind of sympathy for them, especially with their arrogant attitudes.

The dialogue is very minimal, fitting the role of the quarrelling couple and helping to add a sense of isolation. The spooky cries of animals in the distance adds to the feeling of uneasiness felt throughout the film. The acting is spot on and even the animal attack scenes are impressive for something made in the 70's. 

Filled with tension and with a few shocking moments, this original and frightening Australian horror/thriller will definitely stay with you for a while after viewing. And the ironic finale is the perfect ending to a fantastic film