The Super (2010) User Reviews

In the 'good old days' a movie as sick as this wouldn't be allowed a general release.

[supadude2004 · 2/10 · 22 April 2011]

I gave it 2/10 only because I abhor what this movie stands for, and yet it is still, this reviewer must reluctantly admit, in some ways a masterpiece. If the subject matter is psychopathic depravity and that's really what interests you, then this is the movie they made for you; while you're awaiting dinner in whatever secure institution you find yourself in, as you read this.

The movie is, in exposing just how sick in the heads a few people can be, quite brilliant. Unfortunately, the purpose of movies, as far as I am concerned, is sometimes to challenge one's views, and mostly to engage and entertain. This movie is utterly, utterly repulsive and at the same time it is, again, dare I admit: borne of a certain twisted genius.

It will always have a low rating solely because (even slightly) normal people (of which I am still thankfully one) will find this movie to be unquestionably vile & disgusting. Trust me, I need give nothing away, but you will find this movie to be premised upon a most sickeningly depraved dystopian nightmare, which just happens mostly to be set in an urban apartment block, where George is the caretaker anti-hero (to put it mildly).

This is also the movie which proves why you shouldn't take lifts with strangers, because a few people in this world, whom you'd do well to avoid, have extremely disturbed minds.

Those who can stomach the most repulsively dark elements of depraved abnormality may well love this movie. However, most people (and that includes most clever people too) will be unable to watch much of it without wanting to turn it off, in disgust. It's a shame that the writer, actors, director and admittedly the whole team behind this movie will ultimately not be rewarded for what they've accomplished. But that's not to say I feel sorry for them: if commercial success was what they thought would come from this movie, then they should have realised that in this world, even a movie which is meant to appeal to an arty audience must at least not want to swamp its audience in the most repeatedly vile visions of depravity in the name of entertainment, otherwise it will be doomed to fail as a commercial venture, no matter how clever was the screenplay, acting etc. Needless to say, this movie will fail, not because it lacked a sense of depraved genius, but because in the real world, very few people would find what happens in this movie to be that which they'd look forward to seeing, after a hard day at the office.

Come to think of it, this is the kind of movie which in the 'good old days' never even saw general release. "I spit on your grave" is a picnic in the park with a few nettle stings, compared to this movie!

Anyway, it is much as I hate to say it, a 9/10 if you're either a very depraved person, or you are very interested in psychopathy. For everyone else, that is to say, if you are even slightly normal/sensitive in your disposition, it's a 2/10.

A little taste of old-school grindhouse goodness

[TerrorScribe · 7/10 · 27 April 2011]

If you're one of the innumerable masses that has ever lived in an apartment, you are familiar with that twinge of anxiety that comes with knowing some stranger has gotten into your place while you've been away. No, it's not a criminal of any type, it's one of the apartment's personnel. Maybe they're there to fix something or spray for bugs or do some other kind of routine maintenance, but the whisper of fear is still there. After all, some person who you don't know has just gotten into where you call home. Quite honestly, I didn't really experience this feeling until I moved into my most recent place. The first time I had an apartment was when I used to carry a gun for a living and I almost shot the only person I ever found in there.

But that's a story for another time.

The story right now is the winner of the Bloodie for Best Feature Film at this past weekend's Blood Bath 2 Film Festival, "the Super". The second offering from the writing and directing team of Evan Makrogiannis and Brian Weaver, "the Super" introduces us to George (Demetri Kallas) the owner of a run-down apartment building in New York City. George seems like a nice enough guy – he's genial to his tenants, a family man and a veteran. Still you get that feeling that George might not exactly be firing with a full magazine. It's not too long before the layers of his façade are pulled away and things get… interesting.

From the opening frame, "the Super" firmly plants its grindhouse roots. From its gritty opening title shot to its simulated reel changes, we are immersed in George's world and its population of colorful characters. With a lesser collection of actors, this could have easily turned into an extended exercise in eye-rolling. Happily, these actors are up to the task. Kallas is the proverbial storm in a teacup as the wildly fluctuating George as he shows us the frightening vistas of his emotional landscape. Genre veteran Manoush is equal parts menacing and matronly as a Russian dominatrix. Rapper Necro – or as billed here, Ron Braunstein – stars as a dirty cop with a mean streak. Lynn Lowrey (from Romero's original "the Crazies") also appears as George's long-suffering wife.

For the most part, the movie is as strong as the cast. I loved the cinematography – especially the parts where their emulation of grindhouse style was near flawless. The acting, as I've mentioned before, was great. The story was generally strong, though some parts didn't flow as well as I would have hoped. In some cases, it seemed like there was a distinct demarcation that I personally found distracting, and there were other parts (bits of exposition and a couple of "pet the dog" scenes) that I thought could probably have been removed to make things just a teensy bit tighter. Neither problem was bad enough to torpedo the film, but I did find myself looking at my watch a couple of times. Despite that, Makrogiannis and Weaver created a very tangible, very rough world that leaves its dirt under your fingernails and its damp stale air in your lungs.

"The Super", to my knowledge, doesn't have a distribution deal yet, so you're going to have to keep your eye peeled for it on the festival circuit. It's a nice bit of cooking for the homesick grindhouse fan. It's not exactly how Mom used to make it, but it's close enough to be appreciated.

If you came to realize your taste in horror through dingy dollar theaters, and big-box VHS, then this is a film you must see.

[Strawberry_Typhoon · 8/10 · 29 April 2011]

The Super follows George, a Vietnam vet who is the superintendent of an apartment building in the New York City Borough of Queens. George doesn't have much anymore. Occasional nights at the bar with the younger brother of one of his friends from the war, interaction with the colorful tenants of his apartment building, and surrealistic conversations with his wife and kid are what fills most of his days. A young couple have just moved into the building, and George appears to be going out of his way to accommodate them. So much so that it has begun to make them uncomfortable. A night of drinking that results in a brutal bar fight teaches us that George has some issues he's dealing with, feelings of rage and abandonment are beginning to spiral out of control, and causing violent outbreaks that generally result in someone getting hurt, or worse. When George learns that one of his tenants has murdered her neighbor's cat, he decides to respond to her act in kind. With the help of one of his trouble tenants, Olga, played pitch-perfect by Manoush, George does his best to cover his tracks, and go on about his day to day activities.

"The Super" grabbed my attention with the intro, and then secured it for the duration once the title card was shown. The market has been saturated with films that pay homage to exploitation, but most of them do it in such an obvious way that it's obscene, and in some cases, even insults the viewer's intelligence. After all, a shitty movie with digitally enhanced film blemishes is still a shitty movie. This is not that type of experience. If I didn't know better, and I just happened across this film on a shelf somewhere, I would be convinced that it was released in 1984 at the latest. Not to say that it's a primitive piece of cinema, but it just captures the essence of that era of film so competently, and without gimmick.

During the '70s, '80s, and perhaps even a very early portion of the '90s, movies that were filmed on location in New York City had a flavor of their own. Films like "Maniac", "C.H.U.D.", "Taxi Driver", "Mean Streets" etc. displayed the city as a living, breathing character of it's own. So gritty and dreary, yet so fascinating. "The Super" replicates that oldschool New York City horror flavor like no other film has done for decades. Though most of the film takes place in the apartment building, you can still very much sense the presence of the city it's self. Ominous shots of the late night skyline help to set an eerie atmospheric tone that is sure to spark nostalgic memories of films past in any seasoned genre fan.

The character of George is enthralling. Demetri Kallas portrays in a stark performance, a man well over the edge, and we follow him on his journey into madness. Though George is performing, and enjoying terrible acts, it's still easy to sympathize with his pain. The Vietnam war left a generation of men scarred, physically, and mentally. When George reminisces back to the high points of his life, he associates that to some of the terrible things that he had done during the war. It appears that when George is doing some of the terrible things he does to the tenants of his building, it's somewhat recapturing the memories that he holds so close to his heart. If everything you've ever known and loved has materialized while you were surrounded by violence, violence would be the only thing that brings you comfort. Unless you are a shining example of perfect mental health, you should find yourself at least a little bit, relating to what George is going through.

"The Super" is depraved in it's violent content. The special effects are great, but it's not the type of film that focuses on mounds of gory imagery in order to provoke a response. The film gets wet when it needs to, but doesn't relish in it to the point of becoming absurd. The kills are brutal, and diverse in style. George and Olga compliment each of their depravities, bringing different styles of murder to the table. When they are in their element, and working in unison, I wouldn't want to be the one strapped to the chair.

The casting director did an excellent job putting together the group of faces that help the story to unfold. The acting is phenomenal across the board, which is something you don't always get with an indie flick like this. Most notable though, is Demetri Kallas as George, Manoush as Olga, and Lynn Lowry as George's wife, Maureen. Lynn is no stranger to the genre, having starred in some cult classics such as George Romero's "The Crazies" as well as it's 2010 remake. Lynn also starred in the classic 1982 were-cat film "Cat People". Lynn's performance as Maureen is heartbreaking. You can see the pain in her eyes every time she's on screen.

"The Super" is a film made by fans of the genre, for fans of the genre. It makes no bones about from where it draws it's influence. This is the perfect example of how to create film that pays homage to an era of film, without self-awareness. Constantly reminding your viewer that your intentions were to exploit their fondest memories of the films of yesterday is counterproductive. While it may be enjoyable at first, to realize that a filmmaker may share your taste in cinema, it fails to create the experience that you were aiming for. "The Super" skips past the bullshit, and while it's a unique experience, especially by today's standards, it still gives you that warm, familiar feeling inside, like your favorite blanket, or the cool side of the pillow. If you came to realize your taste in horror through dingy dollar theaters, and big-box VHS, then this is a film you must see.

The Super - Indie horror at it's best (May contain spoilers)

[DMentDCinema · 10/10 · 27 April 2011]

By now, I'm sure that you're aware of the Support Independent Horror campaign that's been running rampant throughout the internet. There's a good reason why so many people are urging you to support the indies. That reason is because, for the most part, indie films are simply better than the big budget studio drivel, and the indie filmmakers are in the business of making films from the heart, because they love the genre, they love the subject matter of their films, and because they love what they do. The big studios make movies for the money. And nothing more.

When a filmmaker's work comes from the heart, the viewer can see this fact. You can see all of the love and hard work that went into the making of such a film. Can the same be said for most Hollywood movies? Not a chance. You can't see the heart, love and hard work put into them, but you can see all the money. But that's about it. Soulless money. No heart. No love.

Brian Weaver and Evan Makrogiannis have continued the carrying of the indie horror torch with their film The Super. Makrogiannis and Weaver co-wrote and co-directed the film about Queens, New York apartment building superintendent George Rossi (Demetri Kallas), a Vietnam vet whose descent into depravity and madness is exasperated by the sometimes crazy, always annoying tenants of the building of which he is in charge. George goes from a frustrated little man, who may be just a bit touched in the head, to an avenging madman, with the help of Russian immigrant Olga (Manoush), who may have as much of a penchant for homicidal behavior as she does for the sadomasochistic domination of men.

Kallas is as creepy as he is likable in the role of George Rossi. I found it hard not to feel some form of pity for the guy, regardless of some of the horrendous things he was saying, or the equally appaulling acts he was committing. This is only the second time Kallas has appeared in a film (his first was in Weaver and Makrogiannis' first film, The Turnpike Killer), yet he comes across as though he's a seasoned veteran. Simply, the man can act, and he is very believable in the role. I hope to see a lot more of him in the future.

Olga, the Russian immigrant who serves as a teacher of sorts for George, is played by the one-and-one Manoush (La petite mort, Philosophy of a Knife, Amélie )! Manoush has always been brillliant when it comes to playing roles in which she is a strong woman who is always in charge and usually quite vicious, and her work in The Super is no exception. From the moment she is first seen on screen, you know that this is not a woman that you'd want to mess with! Her Russian accent adds to how strong the character comes off, and it came with a bit of a cost for the actress. She recently shared a story with me about this fact, telling me the following:

"To be more menacing and frightening as Olga I spoke my dialogues as deep as my voice could do .. with the result that I ended every day of shooting with throat pains and my vocal chords really felt like sh*t."

It's hard to label this film with one title as it's so much more. Sure, there's plenty of gore, lots of violence, some gross out scenes, and there's even quite a bit of humor, but there are so many layers to the film that it's not easy to easily explain away as a horror comedy, dark comedy or even horror with comedic elements. Including elements such as revenge, betrayal, murder, love, comedy and tragedy, The Super has a rather Shakespearean feel to it.

In a film that is difficult to label, one label that does do this film justice is must-see! As I mentioned at the start of this review, in the world of horror movies, the indie film reigns supreme. And in this world, The Super continues the tradition of great horror with heart.

Grindhouse Comes Roaring Back...With A VENGEANCE!

[cchase · 9/10 · 17 November 2010]

When filmmakers love to make movies, and they really love the genre they're working in, it is apparent from the very first frame to the last. You don't have to question it, you don't have to analyze it very deeply. It's there. Period. It's like the old sayings about both pornography and art: "I don't know exactly what it is, but I'll know it when I see it."

THE SUPER is the grindhouse-infused labor of love from New York indie filmmakers Evan Makrogiannis and Brian Weaver, and there's no mistaking from the word "go" that this writing/directing team cut their B-cinema teeth on all the gritty, grimy classics of the Seventies - most definitely William Lustig's controversial masterpiece MANIAC, but also the work of everyone from Lucio Fulci, Frank Hennenlotter and Gary Sherman, to Alfred Sole and Abel Ferrara. Weaver and Makrogiannis followed the trail of bloody breadcrumbs left to them by their predecessors, and they've used it to take the audience by the hand and lead them to a cottage of carnage, the likes of which hasn't been seen since directors like David Schmoeller and Charles Band first picked up a camera.

Another first premiere at Dallas' Blood Bath 2 Film Festival, this was probably the initial introduction of these gents to many, and it won't soon be forgotten (the Festival's Best Feature Film prize is overwhelming proof of that.) The terrifying, tawdry and ultimately tragic tale unfolds as we are introduced to George (the amazing Demitri Kallas), the super of the title to the rundown tenement somewhere in the city that he owns and somehow keeps together. This immigrant jack-of-all-trades, who is also a Vietnam vet, appears congenial and friendly on the outside...the kind of character who certainly wouldn't be unwelcome even in the fantasy confines of a place like Sesame Street. But underneath that sweet, hard-working facade lies the jagged shards of a shattered soul, fractured by the scars of war, the loss of many of the only people who understood and helped him - his war buddies, and the pressures of an ever-changing world he is finding it harder and harder to understand, let alone fit into.

One of the few bright spots left in his life is his wife, Maureen, beautifully played by genre veteran Lynn Lowry, (THE CRAZIES and I DRINK YOUR BLOOD). As a beacon of light, she alone helps to chase away the dark shadows, at least for a time. Until that darkness encroaches in its most compelling and most overpowering of forms: a darkly seductive, menacing tenant named Olga (a star turn by indie staple Manoush), who is in turn attracted to the darkness she senses lurks within George, and helps to draw it out of him in twisted and terrifying ways that will effect and explode within the lives of everyone they come in touch with...meaning just about everyone in the building.

Dark, brooding and as industrial-strength vicious as the best of anything the Seventies had to offer, THE SUPER is not for the faint of heart. Even so-called jaded, hard-case grindhouse fans may find themselves temporarily taken aback. Which is even more proof that the hard work that Weaver and Makrogiannis poured into this movie is eclipsed only by the level of their talent. These guys know exactly what the hell they're doing and how to do it.

And it shows especially in the casting. Kallas and Manoush are rare indie finds, and the chemistry they spark on-screen together electrifies every scene they share. They are easily slasher horror's answer to Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett...if old Nellie were more into leather, whips and chains, rather than making human pot pies.

The "innocent antagonists" side isn't as well represented, but in classic form, you learn just enough about them to care before they wind up on the business end of George and Olga's "new friendship." The standouts, of course, are mostly the more unpleasant characters: Tony Bava, the racist, narcissistic bodybuilding meathead of a tenant (Bill McLaughlin); a detective named Sardusky (Ron Braunstein), so soul-deep despicable, he could make Vic Mackey look like Mother Teresa, and the comic relief which arrives in the form of the completely-off "Franny The Tranny" (the unforgettable Brandon Slagle). Rounding off the "victim's corner" are Edgar Moye and Ruby La Rocca as an attractive interracial yuppie couple you just know aren't bound for "happily ever after"; Kathryn Zarwiski as a tenant who's just unlucky enough to be around when George has a REALLY bad day, and in an all-too brief cameo, indie goddess Raine Brown, whose unfortunate fate practically introduces the picture.

If you fondly remember the old days of Times Square, when taking a stroll through could mean taking your life in your hands, and the theaters that showed the greatest of the genre movies of that period (when they weren't showing porno of every stripe imaginable), either your name is Quentin Tarantino, or you were actually there. In any case, you have the day to look forward to, when you can catch THE SUPER at a festival near you, or (fortune being kind) pop it into your DVD player when it becomes available. (Squishy theater seats and sticky floors not included.)

True grindhouse among grindhouse wannabes!

[tstaruch · 8/10 · 26 August 2011]

This film is a true throwback to the great old days of grindhouse cinema, a-la 42nd Street. Many people are trying to do grindhouse these days out of some misguided sense of nostalgia, and they are failing miserably. The crew at Noose Hill Entertainment got it right.

This film is extremely gritty and yes, it is very violent, but the violence actually makes sense in the context of the film. In other words, it's not there just for the sake of violence. The movie is about the deterioration of the mind of the main character, and the violent acts he commits make total sense in light of this deterioration.

The other unsavory characters that surround him only add to the overall mood of depravity. Manoush is fantastic as Olga, who does nothing to try and slow down the descent of the main character into madness, but in fact encourages it! The films does have it's flaws to be sure, and the acting performances of some of the secondary characters leave a little to be desired, but overall this in an excellent grindhouse film, that transports you back to New York City in the 70s, and does it with style.

Superior modern-day urban exploitation gem

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 3 November 2011]

Stressed-out and unhinged Vietnam veteran George Rossi (excellently played with manic intensity and vitality by Demetri Kallas) works as the superintendent of a crumbling apartment building in Queens, New York City. Mounting pressure both at work and at home cause George to go murderously off the deep end. Writer/directors Evan Makrogiannis and Brian Weaver do a masterful job of vividly evoking the fiercely harsh, gritty, and unapologetically in-your-face shocking and upsetting aesthetic of vintage 70's era grindhouse fare: Besides the expected handy helping of explicit female nudity, raunchy soft-core sex, and, of course, plentiful outbursts of unsparingly savage, ugly, and gruesome violence, we also get a nonstop cavalcade of hardcore twisted perversion that includes voyeurism, foot fetishism, masturbation, S&M torture, snuff movies, incest, rape, and even necrophilia. Moreover, this movie deserves extra praise for firmly grounding the bleak premise in a certain grimly plausible everyday blue collar reality; we see George making his thankless daily rounds and coping with the colorful array of oddball tenants. It's also well acted by a capable cast, with stand-out contributions by Lynn Lowry as George's long-suffering disabled wife Maureen, Manoush as lethal and abrasive Russian prostitute Olga, Ron Braunstein as evil corrupt cop Detective Sardusky, Edgar Moye as the easygoing Andre, Ruby Larocca as Edgar's sweet fiancé Karen, Raine Brown as an ill-fated hooker, and, in a truly hilarious turn, Brandon Slaggle as flamboyant cross-dressing homosexual Franny the Tranny. Better still, there's a wickedly funny sense of pitch-black humor -- George's freak-out scenes are genuinely funny in an admittedly sick sort of way -- as well as a valid point about how crazed folks like George and Olga are dangerously toxic products of horrible circumstances beyond their control and a strong use of the Big Apple urban setting. Stephen Kilcullen's purposefully rough'n'grainy cinematography gives the picture an appropriately grungy look. Kevin McSweeney's rattling score likewise does the moody trick. Essential viewing for devout fans of raw'n'nasty indie sleaze cinema.