The Greasy Strangler:
I won’t be the same person I was the moment before I
sat down to watch “the Greasy Strangler”- there are some incidents that
can irrevocably change the nature and soul of a man. I count this film
among those moments and incidents. And,
God help me; I cannot say that this is a “bad” film- because it neither
wasted my time nor did it lose my attention. So I cannot warn you to
stay away- in fact, I’m probably going to do the opposite. I’m probably
going to wind up encouraging you, dear faceless
reader, to bear witness and experience precisely what it is that has
left such an indelible mark upon my immortal soul. What I can do is give
you my reaction to the film- and to do that, we have to tell a little
story.
Two of my theatre friends decided that we should
all check out this bugnuts film at our local Art House Theater- It
looked something like an early John Waters meets Aqua Teen Hunger Force
type of film to me, and the trailer somehow caught
the attention of both my friends and so the plan was set. We would land
in the Osio and we would watch this thing- whatever this thing wound up
being- and we would share in the experience. And then we sat there
through the credits and we stared at the screen
until one of us eventually broke the silence; “What the fuck was that?”
my friend Koly asked, an odd smile on her face. Ralph and I fumbled in
our own heads and we sought meaning to everything we had just witnessed-
I am still sort of stumbling around in my
own head, trying to figure it all out.
We laughed throughout the film and we were caught
up in the experience. None of us could declare this was a bad movie.
None of us could really say it was great. None of us could really lay
claim to understanding it, either. And when a fourth
friend sent a text to ask how it was, Ralph could only reply with “I
don’t know”. And we talked about the film- we tried to figure this out.
We were three reasonably intelligent people- three artists who regularly
read and decipher scripts for translation
to the stage. We’re also not entirely certain we did miss the point of
the film. The truth is that we just don’t know for certain. Ralph’s best
guess was “The duality of man”- don’t ask me because I’m stuck on the
greasy melon. I haven’t seen either friend
since we parted ways and I worry for the wellness of their minds at
this moment but I must save myself. May divine spirits have mercy on our
souls.
This movie, however, offered no such mercy. The
creators of “The Greasy Strangler” give us a simple story about a father
and son competing for the affection of a woman. Throughout their town,
people are being killed by a mysterious serial
killer covered in Kitchen Grease. Hilarity ensues? I think? Eye-balls
pop, body parts are cut off, some parts are eaten, there’s naked
genitalia all over the screen, and there’s grease. There is a lot of
grease. And the film is an absurdist nightmare with
ugly, awful, and disgusting moments all caught on video and burned
indelibly into my cornea. There are sounds that echo in my ear that I
can’t stop remembering. And someone says “I am the Tarzan of a cum
jungle.” And that’s what we’re dealing with, here.
7 and a must see for fans of bizarre cinema.
Phantasm: Ravager
The ball is back!
This here is the fifth and absolutely final film in
the Phantasm franchise and brings back almost all the star players for a
curtain call. With the passing of Angus Scrimm (The Tall Man villain of
the film) earlier this year, the film is
almost over shadowed with a sense of loss and regret. And the films
thematic explorations reflect this tone as we find Reggie stumbling back
out of the desert where he’s been lost the past several years. He’s
been fighting the Tall Man, tracking his friend
Mike through dimensional portals, and then we flash to where Reggie has
spent the past several months or years while suffering through
dementia. Mike is at his side and visiting, reminiscing, and also quite
interested in hearing about this “Tall Man” story.
And then we flash through other stories, other worlds, where Reggie is
at once a hero, a victim, a savior, and a partner- and we continue to
explore the first film’s themes of loss and death. Or is it all just a
dream? Or it is all really happening?
A landmark franchise, Phantasm has never had the
popularity of a Slasher film or the traditional monster movies but it
has maintained a core audience through every film in the series. Don
Coscarelli allowed his original story to be changed
a little and continued through the eyes of a new director, David
Hartman. The two co-wrote the script and we get a lot of Coscarelli’s
visual style throughout with some new tricks along the way. And through
it all, Phantasm remains the mystery it was always
meant to be- a film that the audience makes rather than a film that
tells them what they should be thinking. Because this all could be a
dream. This all could really be happening. Reggie could be dying in a
hospital bed or he could be writing a song for some
pretty young lady. The film is open to interpretation and I’ve always
enjoyed that about the film.
The movie answered every lingering question I ever
had about the franchise to my satisfaction. It hit all the right
emotional notes and it gave us a couple of endings to the journey of
Reggie, Mike, and Jody. I highly recommend the film
for Phans of the original, but be warned that some deep things are
going to be explore here and it’s good idea to walk in with an open
mind.
7.5 out of 10.
CARPENTER WEEK OVERVIEW:
So, I started my 31 Days of Horror and decided to
watch a couple of John Carpenter films. This little piece will not be a
review of each Carpenter film I saw but rather a ranked listing of my
top ten John Carpenter films. So, if you enjoy
lists and want to see where YOUR favorite Carpenter film falls then
give it a look through.
10. Vampires: James Woods as a foul-mouthed
crusader hunting vampires in the desert. An underrated gem from the
Carpenter legacy and probably one of the last “fun” projects that
Carpenter had a chance to work on. It feels more Carpenter-esque
than his later full length films.
9. Christine – based on the novel by Stephen King, a car possesses a teen and they form a dangerous bond of obsession.
8. They Live: Aliens have infiltrated and taken over society, enslaving mankind.
7. In The Mouth of Madness: A detective is sent to track down a reclusive writer whose works may be a doorway to another dimension.
6. The Fog: Vengeful ghosts return to wreak vengeance on a small coastal town.
5. Prince of Darkness: An ancient evil wakes up and it's up to a team of scientists and a priest to unlock the mysteries of the anti-god before destruction is set loose upon the world.
4. Big Trouble in Little China: A truck driver dives into the dangerous world of Far East mysticism and helps an old friend find his kidnapped fiancee.
3. Escape from New York: A battered veteran criminal has to rescue the President from the prison island of New York City.
2. The Thing-An alien attempts to devour and replicate an Antarctic Research team.
1. Halloween-A masked killer goes on a murder spree, terrorizing a group of teen age babysitters.
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