31 Days of Halloween 2021 Days 21-24: Capsule Review Catch-Up Part 2

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

Once again doing some shorter capsule reviews to get caught up with my Halloween blog-a-thon. So let's get to it.

 

Day 21: FRIED BARRY. Addicted to drugs, a shitty husband and a shitty father, Barry is probably not the kind of guy you’d want to be a representative of humanity to an alien race. Nonetheless he gets abducted by extraterrestrials take control of his body and use him to walk among earthlings as one of them. As it turns out, most folks like this new alien controlled version of Barry better than the real deal, even if he does act even weirder than before.

 

Great visual style and out there ideas from writer/director Ryan Kruger. This is a nutty acid trip of a movie that barely hangs together as a coherent narrative, but that given the main character that feels about right. There’s some social commentary buried under the weirdness somewhere, but mostly this is just messed up fun. Reminded me of movies like THE HIDDEN and THE BORROWER a little bit, but ultimately this is its own weird thing. 3 out of 4.

 

31 Days Of Halloween 2018: Sometimes The Kids Can Drive 'Mom And Dad' A Little Crazy

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded (usually with the help of a few other writers). Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

A black comedy in which parents are inexplicably overcome with the intense urge to kill their children is a premise that will likely be a deal breaker for many right off the bat. Me, I’ve seen enough movies where the shoe was on the other foot and kids were trying to off the adults that I figure turnabout is fair play. It’s not the idea, it’s the execution.

Well, after sitting through MOM AND DAD, I’m here to tell you the execution isn’t anything to write home about.

Revenge is a dish best served weird in 'Mandy' (movie review)

[MANDY opens in Cleveland on Friday September 21^st exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre. It’s also available to rent or purchase on most major streaming services, or you can wait until October 30^th if you want to buy or rent the film on DVD or Blu Ray.]

I’ve noticed a lot of movie trailers using the phrase, “from visionary director so-and-so” lately (and I’m not the only one). The vast majority of the time this is hyperbole at best, and often flat out bullshit. In the case of Panos Cosmatos, the director and co-writer (along with Aaron Stewart-Ahn) of MANDY, that phrase may actually be an understatement.

This is a film of eyeball-searing beauty and horror, an acid trip of violence and revenge on one hand, and love and melancholy on the other. It evokes the aesthetic of the eighties while at the same time forging new visual territory for the future.

Some might see this, as well as Cosmatos’ previous film BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW, as a “triumph of style over substance”. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – if your movie has enough style that it succeeds despite a lack of narrative or thematic depth, that’s kind of impressive – but it’s also not true in this case. There is plenty of substance here, and just because Cosmatos chooses to convey his themes and ideas more through visuals than dialogue and plot doesn’t mean they’re absent.