CFF 2020 Review: Vinegar Syndrome's "Berzerker" Adds Norse Mythology to the Summer Camp Slasher.

Review by The Great Muji

The good folks at Vinegar Syndrome provided a few films for this years Chattanooga Film Festival and one of those was 1987’s Berserker, directed by Jefferson Richard. Released for the first time on Blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome in 2019, Berserker is the tale of 6 young friends who rent a cabin in the woods so that they can party only to find out there is something dangerous lurking nearby. If this premise seems familiar to you then you are right, it is.  What makes this film different than the other billions of cabin in the woods 80’s slashers? This one includes a fight between a giant bear and a man-bear-Viking, aka a berserker.

The film starts with a little backstory. We learn that berserkers were Viking warriors who dressed in animal pelts during battle. The berserkers were cursed and would live like actual wild animals, which including eating humans, and couldn’t actually die until they passed on the berserker curse to a descendant. So right of the bat its safe to say that someone in this film is secretly a berserker. As the film proceeds a giant bear also appears and we are left to try and figure out if it is the bear or berserker who is doing the killing.

I must admit that the middle of this film does become a little dull at times. The campers themselves do not have a ton of personality and the humor that is possessed by so many of my favorite 80’s slashers is missing here. So many other slashers that  would have been forgettable were saved by great practical effects and I think that’s a big reason that Berserker stayed only available on VHS for so long and was almost forgotten. The gore and effects in this film are very minimal. However, there are a couple of interesting side characters, particularly the camp owner Pappy. Played by the always entertaining George Buck Flower, Pappy warns the campers to be careful, that there are wild animals in these woods. He is not kidding.

When we finally get to the final 15 minutes the shit really starts to go down. That’s where it is finally revealed that the berserker is responsible for all of the killing and that the big ass bear has been trying to protect the campers the whole time. We get a long bear vs. berserker fight scene, one that by itself makes this film memorable.

Even with its flaws Berserker was a lot of fun. The opening and last 15 minutes of the film made it one worth watching and for us slasher completists, one worth owning too. I have all kinds of films in my collection but none with bear fighting a Viking dressed as a bear. That will be remedied soon.

CFF 2020 Review: FULCI FOR FAKE Humanizes A Horror Deity

FULCI FOR FAKE (2019) Directed by Simone Scafidi

Review by The Rev Dan Wilson

 I have been a fairly casual Fulci fan since I discovered Zombi 2 on VHS as a teen in the 90s but was never a fanatic. I was in awe of the visuals on display but the dubbed voice acting made it difficult for me to connect with it beyond the surface level. Italian gore movies were great to put on at a party full of metalheads, a few memorable scenes would be joked about (Zombie vs Shark, anyone?), but were largely forgotten afterward.

 It was in my mid to late 20s that I gained a greater appreciation for them as my buddy Robert Everett had been sharing a series of his favorite late 70s and early 80s horror films with me, and it hit me at just the right time. This is where I discovered films like Burnt Offerings, The Sentinel, The Car, etc and there was just something to me about the atmosphere, or the way those films were shot, I’m not even sure I can describe it but it awoke something in me and I went on a mad hunt for other films that made me feel the way those movies did. It was this period in my life that really most inspired me to want to make my own films at some point. That’s when I discovered The Gates Of Hell Trilogy (City Of The Living Dead, The Beyond, House By The Cemetary) and those films stuck with me in a significant way. I later saw New York Ripper and it’s eye peeling brutality and outrageousness didn’t evoke any warm fuzzy feelings, but the pure disgust and discomfort it made me feel let me know I was watching something truly special.

 Hey I don’t want cinema to just be moving pictures flashing around in the background, I need it to do something to me. Psychologically, emotionally, spiritually. I don’t care which, but that is generally the barometer upon which I gauge art. I found that Fulci movies at that point in my life did in fact make me feel lots of things, so that’s where I really became a fan but even so knew little about his personal life, or who Fulci was as a man. So now as a guy who hosts a podcast that examines the filmmaking process and has to research hours upon hours of material weekly about historic horror filmmakers I love and admire, I know I’m going to have to do a deep dive into learning about the life and times of Lucio Fulci at some point in the coming months or years.

 I’ve also been watching horror documentaries my entire life going back to “The Making Of Thriller” on laserdisc being one of my first memories. I can find a playlist on Youtube now of John Carpenter interviews and let the Master Of Horror lull me to sleep and subconsciously plant filmmaking knowledge into my brain for 8 hours straight but information about Fulci, particularly his private world or creative motivations isn’t exactly readily available, so I was excited to see that the long awaited bio-pic/documentary hybrid FULCI FOR FAKE was part of the Chattanooga Film Festival 2020 lineup.

Director Simone Scafidi’s 2019 film uses a fictional story about an actor who is playing Fulci in a biopic, who is going around interviewing people who were important to Fulci in his real life to get to know who he was a person in order to better prepare for the role. While I don’t know that the framing device was necessary given there isn’t really a current “definitive” Fulci documentary, I appreciate that the filmmaker had a vision and stuck with it and it does keep the pace of the film moving and keep us from just looking at interview segment after interview segment.

 I was personally fascinated to learn about the death of his wife and how that tragedy greatly impacted Fulci personally to the point most said he never recovered from it, not to mention his daughter Camilla’s horseback riding accident, which was basically salt in the wound at that point and would end up inspiring parts of New York Ripper and the various other triumphs and tragedies that made him who he was. The film paints the picture of Fulci as a layered, intelligent, sophisticated, sensitive, passionate man. His friends and family aren’t afraid to discuss him candidly including his flaws, and that’s really where the film succeeds.

I think to me and a lot of American horror fans Fulci was this great and wise horror deity from “long ago and a land far away” and this film makes him more human, more relatable, a shows a side of him beyond just the work that he left us, and a little more of the man that he truly was. Highly recommended!

CFF2020 Review: ‘The Beach House’ is a familiar premise told with a modern twist in Jeffrey A. Brown’s directorial debut.

"THE BEACH HOUSE" (2019)

 Written & Directed by Jeffrey A Brown

Review by The Great Muji

A fog/mist rolls in off the ocean but this time it’s not filled with lepers looking for stolen treasure or monsters from another dimension. It’s filled with, well, something else. Trying to figure out what is in the fog and how to survive it is the basic problem that our central characters must deal with in Jeffrey A. Browns The Beach House. 

The film starts with couple Emily (Liana Liberato) and Randall (Noah Le Gros)  taking a vacation to the beach. When they show up to Randall’s families beach house they are in for a big surprise when they find that a strange couple has already taken up residence there for the weekend. The couple claims to be friends of Randall’s father and have permission to be there. This is a great set up, as your mind immediately races with all the possibilities of who these people may be. Are the strangers who they say they are? Are they crazy murderers? Are they pod people? Granted, the number of scenarios you think of is probably dependent on how many horror/sci-fi movies you’ve seen. If you are reading this, I’m guessing its likely a lot.  This set-up really sets the mood for what is to come. 

The constant tension that starts in the opening scenes is built upon by a lot of great story choices throughout the film. There is clearly a strange fog approaching but the couples have all eaten edibles, so they are not able to accurately assess the dangerous situation. They all feel sick the day after the fog has come but this could just be the aftereffects of a bad trip. Jane (Maryanne Nagel), part of the strange couple already at the house, seems particularly sick, but its already been clearly established that she was sick to start with. All the strange things happening seem to have plausible explanations that help to distract our characters from realizing that there is something very wrong until it’s too late.

The filmmakers use the setting of the beach to its maximum potential. The scenes on the beach are bright and beautiful, which really is a great contrast to the horror that is unfolding before our eyes. If you aren’t a fan of films that are more atmospheric than action oriented, then fear not. There is also a great body horror scene and some good-looking monster effects later in the film. 

The Beach House is also really carried by a couple of really good performances, particularly by lead Liana Liberato. Her portrayal of Emily is really central to the film’s success. Emily is smart and capable. Her background as a chemistry major gives her more insight into what is happening with the fog as she is the first character to realize the danger she is in. The movie does a great job of building up the characters before the shit really hits the fan.

Despite being a familiar premise, The Beach House is different enough that I found it very enjoyable. This atmospheric eco-horror/sci-fi film is one that I would recommend to anyone who loves their horror abstract and loves to leave a movie with more questions than answers.

CFF2020 Review: Attack Of The Demons Is An Unlikely But Earnest Love Letter to 80s Horror.

Attack Of The Demons
Directed by Eric Power
Written By Andreas Petersen

                                                   
                                         

Review by The Rev Dan Wilson

One of the biggest "talent acquisitions" so to speak for the 2020 Chattanooga Film Fest was the addition of Cinepocalypse founder Josh Goldbloom as Artistic Director.  The Chicago based festival has become a can't miss event in recent years and his eye for unique filmmakers is a perfect fit for CFF and adds a lot to the over all vibe.

2019's Attack Of The Demons from Director Eric Power made its debut at Cinepocalypse 2019 to a rousing response and it continues it's momentum right on into CFF. The animation style is very primitive, and done with such a unique flavor it has to be intentional. Of course I couldn't help but make comparisons to the early South Park episodes as many have. Hell it is even about a small Colorado town. I also had some Home Movies flashbacks. There is something beautiful about the simplicity of it, and the creators take full of advantage that. I almost hate to call the animation crude (though I can't think of a better word currently) because it was clearly done in painstaking detail, but that's also part of what makes it ....kind of incredible?

It takes place in the mid 90's, during Halloween, and there's demons and blood and gore a plenty, not to mention great music. While we've been conditioned to accept this kind of animation primarily in outrageous comedies, you will be shocked at how well it works played completely straight. It is as if a wildly creative group of individuals got together and wrote a balls to the wall 80s Evil Dead style demon-tusslin' flick and decided the only thing they had at their disposal to make it was a dude who was amazing at cardboard style animation. The results will leave you grinning from ear to ear. I didn't really know what to expect going into this one and I was just blown away by the creativity on display here and eagerly await what the future holds for these filmmakers.