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Chi sei? (1974)
Beyond the Exorcist Knock-off (*spoilers*)
This movie came out in 1974, a year after The Exorcist exploded in theatres. The resounding effects of The Exorcist's success are very apparent in this movie. I was shocked to see the blatant similarities! I thought ripping off movies was a 90s disease, but no...
The plot is very simple - Jessica Barrett (Juliet Mills) is a San Francisco housewife to a record dealer husband Robert (Gabriele Lavia). They have two foul-mouthed children who call their parents by their first names. The daughter is especially interesting to watch, especially if you get a bad-dubbed copy like I did, and you hear her throw out curse words like a sailor.
Beautiful Jessica finds out she has a bun in the oven, despite not missing a day of her birth control pills. The happy couple's excitement for the new baby are short-lived, as Jessica begins vomiting blood and her health quickly declines *(much like Mrs. Woodhouses in Rosemary's Baby). Jessica begins to turn into someone else, hardly recognizable by her loved ones. She starts murdering fish for pleasure, slaps her potty-mouthed daughter, and gives a long and awkward kiss to her young son (I believe this was meant to be a foreshadowing for the 'surprise' ending, but instead the kiss came off as really creepy and icky). Soon, she is in full possessed-Reagan make-up, and her head starts turning around.
One of Jessica's past lover Dimitiri (played by a coolly evil-looking Richard Johnson, no relation to the blues guitar player who sold his soul) shows up out of nowhere. We first hear of him in the very beginning of the movie, where it is made clear that he has died in a car accident, and is bargaining with the devil for a couple of more years of life. The devil says that he might give him a couple of years, but will only consider it if he does one thing - "rip the baby out of that woman." So later on, Dimitri shows up and proclaims to be the only one that can help Jessica from her dilemma. He insists that 'she must have that baby!' even in the beginning of the movie, the devil tells him to rip it out of her (which I guess means 'to deliver it'). Dimitri finds out that the devil was just using him with no intention of letting him live, so he starts pounding away at Jessica's stomach in an effort kill the unborn demon. And when Jessica finally does have the baby, it turns out to have no mouth. Low and behold, her young son is now possessed. What was the point of the devil impregnating Jessica if it was just going to die? Besides the fact that this movie is a definite Exorcist clone (with some Rosemary's Baby overtones), and besides the fact that Juliet Mills looks like an aged Kirsten Dunst at times, I dug this movie.
Mad Cowgirl (2006)
You Are What You Eat, (dated 6 January 2007)
Spoilers: Gregory Hatanka's film Mad Cowgirl is an iconoclastic, absurd, hilarious and touching story of a woman's mental deterioration.
'The woman in trouble,' is the beautiful and quirky Therese (played brilliantly by Sarah Lassez) - in one of my favorite themes in movies, especially in horror genres. For my money, it just doesn't get any better than when you have a woman who has a gorgeous exterior, but is obsessed, mentally unstable or just a bit psycho in the interior - because a woman who has let go of conventional worries and day-to-day requirements is completely free in her actions. Watching a crazy, carpe diem woman is uplifting, in a way.
Therese's plight involves a brain tumor that is quickly altering her perceptions in the world. As a meatpacking inspector, she is aware of the 'mad cow disease' that is emerging in Britain. This news, which is oft in the background of the movie, is not the reason for her despondent behavior, but is continually offered up as a red herring as the cause for her problems. Dying of a brain disorder is not 'funny.' But a meat inspector who is given tainted meat from her incestuous brother and is then convinced that she has the brain-wasting disease IS funny. This belief sets her off on a wild journey of pastor-banging, eating steak, brother-banging, eating more steak, girl-on-girl action, late nite kung-fu TV show obsession, eating raw steak, and, oh, a murder spree.
The overt campiness of some the shots were reminiscent of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. The character portrayal, however, was strongly set on Therese with minor distractions, so her anguish and loneliness came through despite the wild and crazy situations she would find herself in, namely boning Commandar Chekov of Star Trek (the pastor), which is a heartache in itself. Her inappropriate relationship with her brother is also overwhelmingly sad, because the viewer knows he's the only one that could save her from herself.
The beginning of the film (after the some minute cow interlude) there is a news brief from Japan that is explaining the dangers of eating cow, for fear of contracting the 'mad cow disease' that forms holes in your brain tissue. The brief offers an alternative lifestyle that will keep you healthy - a vegan lifestyle. Seeing as how the rest of the movie is absolutely littered with shots of (troubled) people devouring steaks like beasts, I'm convinced the director is making a statement on the carnivore diet. I could be wrong, and it's probably my vegetarianism coming through, but wouldn't it be delicious if this movie was one giant propaganda tool to get people to lay off the beef? It's as if the director is saying 'Therese brought her problems upon herself.' You are what you eat: ingesting a mad-cow steak will make you into a Mad CowGirl... with a thunderbolt kick!
Evil Judgment (1984)
and on Dec. 17th I'll have a Half-off sale!
This was actually an OK film! The character development was a little sloppy, but the plot was actually complex and kept my interest. Janet, a blonde waitress, is trying to make it as a dancer in the big city, but the money just isn't flowing fast enough. Her prozzy friend April suggests she try hooking because she can make an entire week's salary in one night. What?! I had to put my knitting down when I heard that. An entire week!? And to think I've just been giving it away. Janet's first night as a proz turns into a nightmare when her friend and current john are murdered, apparently by a mad man with Mother Mary complex who must punish the impure. A subplot involving the mafia and a corrupt police is also presented, yadda yadda, but back to my new found entrepreneurial idea.... A whole week's salary!? As shown in this fine film, the only possible drawback would be being murdered whilst on the job. But if I were to show my Red Umbrella/SWOP membership card, I'm sure I could avoid any trouble.
Sleepy Hollow High (2000)
Sleepy Hollow High: the ghetto Degrassi
Here, we debunk the ideology that high school life is easy compared to the reality of adulthood. It was heartbreaking to see all-American boy Spinner (played by Shane Kippel) deal with the consequences of inadvertently inciting a bullied young man to bring a gun to school and shoot his best friend Jimmy ('sup Drake), putting him in a wheel chair for the rest of his life. And we have Liberty (Sarah Barrable-Tishauer) who is at the top of her class, only to have her dreams and ambitions thwarted when she finds out she's pregnant. Not to mention young Emma who dabbles with anorexia, because she... oh wait... *beep* me!...Ha, I totally was reviewing DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION just then. But.. Um... Sleepy Hollow High... yeah.