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Reviews
The Mortician (2011)
A beautifully crafted example of emotionally powerful cinema.
The Mortician, written and directed by Gareth Maxwell Roberts is a beautifully crafted example of emotionally powerful cinema. The film stars Method Man as a reclusive mortician. Who's life becomes turned upside down after a chain of events starting with receiving a new porter in the form of an ex-convict named Noah played by E.J. Bonilla. Soon after the body of a young woman with a tattoo of Venus arrives at the morgue and a young boy played by Cruz Santiago starts to repeatedly try to gain access to the building. Meanwhile a local gang leader played by Dash Mihok begins hassling the mortician each day asking if he has seen the young boy around setting the pieces into place to send the soft spoken mortician on a life changing journey that will ultimately force him to face a inner demon that has haunted him since childhood, forcing him out of his defensive shell created out of pain and loneliness.
The first twenty minutes of this film are spent almost solely on character development of the mortician; we are given small glimpses into his day-to-day routines and personality. Quickly you forget its even Method Man on screen and only see the character himself due to his immensely believable performance. A lot of this development is done without dialog due to the reclusive nature of Method Man's character and instead portrayed through very visually descriptive scenes, often supported by excellent use of music that is relevant to the story, as well as ambient sounds to perfectly create the mood of each scene.
After getting to know the mortician, the movie creeps into the main plot as each of the previously mentioned events start to connect in a very fluent fashion. Watching the mortician grow as the movie progresses from an almost emotionless robot into a big hearted kind human being is nothing shy of breath taking. This film really shines when it comes to invoking a response in the viewer, I found myself continuously becoming genuinely moved by the story that was unfolding in front of me.
The writing is unbelievable in terms of high quality, the relationships between each of the main characters come together so perfectly, and authentic feeling that it is nearly impossible to not feel for their situation. This is especially true when it comes to the relationship between the mortician and Noah, at first, he can only see Noah as a criminal, and in return, Noah only sees the mortician as another person who does not care or understand who he really is or about his situation. The age-old message of never judge a book by its cover is one of many messages one could walk away with after viewing the movie. Each of the plot twists is pulled off flawlessly and the use of subtle hints through out the films build up form the perfect set up for the ending causing me to walk away completely rocked by the power of the films message.
I briefly mentioned the use of music relevant to the story earlier, this is a aspect that continues through out the film and ends up creating one of the best movie soundtracks I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. This is one of those rare movies where the music does not feel like its just there for the sake of being there but instead honestly ads to the overall telling of the story.
While the movie does feature a fair amount of imagery that some may find disturbing it falls more into the category of a gritty drama over any of the other genres it splashes over into. I think many horror fans will also be able to appreciate the macabre and somber tone the film takes on, a very interesting way to tell a story of redemption that is both unique and engaging. - The Liberal Dead
Porkchop (2010)
Well-done satire homage to classic low budget 80s slasher cinema
Porkchop from Independent Entertainment and Alternative Cinema is a well-done satire homage to classic low budget 80s slasher cinema. Directed and produced by Eamon Hardiman, a native of Charleston, West Virginia, a location not to far from The Liberal Dead's main headquarters in eastern Kentucky. The film revolves around a group of six young campers and a robot that retreat into the backwoods of West Virginia for a weekend of booze, drugs, and wild sex inside the abandoned Camp Wood. Soon, a weekend of debauchery turns into a fight for survival when the campers are hunted by a chainsaw-wielding psychopath in a pig mask looking to spill the blood of all those who roam into his territory. The film stars Ruby LaRocca, who readers may remember from Evan Makrogiannis' The Super, Erin Russ (Devil Sister), Ford Austin (Dahmer Vs. Gacy) and Brian Gunnoe. Porkchop will be hitting DVD on December 6th and digital markets.
A lot of filmmakers these days try to recreate the look and feel of classic grind house and 80s era film, but often fall short of really capturing the true look and feel. That is not the case with Porkchop; this film pays very close attention to every minute detail when it comes to creating an authentic low budget 80s horror experience. From a opening featuring an 80s thrash metal theme song that shares the title of the film, to the clever use of 80s products and pop culture references, it is hard to believe this is not some lost film that has been discovered from the era. There is two scenes in particular that really made me take notice of this, both featuring a duo of backwoods store clerks, one of whom is reading an issue of the Alf comic at one point and later in the film an actual classic issue of Fangoria Magazine from the proper era.
I found myself constantly laughing during my viewing and remembering all the hours I spent watching films of this nature as a kid. The film does a great job at creating a high level of nostalgia for old-school horror fans that grew up with horrible acting and micro budget special effects. This is most definitely the perfect type of movie to watch with a group of friends while munching out and cracking wise. One of my favorite aspects of the film is the fact it does not take it self to serious, this is where many attempts to recreate the feeling of a classic 80s slasher start to fail, people seem to forget that a lot of 80s horror was very campy in nature and notorious for poking fun at itself. With that said keep in mind that Porkchop features one of the best robot kill scenes known to man.
My only complaint with this flick is it really needed more gore; this is the only factor that held it back from being the perfect recreation of the genre and era. While there are some fairly gory kills, it really could have been amped up and in my opinion should have been. The gorier kills do all look good considering the filmmaker's dedication in keeping things legitimately 80s feeling. There is one scene, towards the very end of the film involving a foot stomp that I must admit put a smile across my sick twisted face. However, other than this minor complaint, I really had a blast watching Porkchop in the wee hours of the morning as if I was a mere boy sneaking up to watch horror films on HBO once again.
If you want to take a trip back to the days of when Wizard Video, Paragon, and Super Video filled your local mom and pop video store shelves with over sized VHS boxes, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Porkchop then sitting down with some friends for a night of campy fun. - The Liberal Dead