The Art of the Movie Poster: The Last Exorcism

I rarely come across a modern film poster that strikes my interest, but I have to admit that this teaser for the upcoming Eli Roth produced The Last Exorcism stopped me dead in my tracks.

Video Watchdog Gives Eli Roth's Hostel Part 2 a Big Thumbs Up

I have been really curious since its release last year what the country's leading Genre publication, Video Watchdog, would think of of Eli Roth's controversial Hostel Part 2 so when I got the new issue yesterday and saw it mentioned on front I flipped eagerly to the review of it. I am thrilled to report that Shane M. Dallmann, one of my favorite writers from V.W., gives the film a high recommendation and his long review of it is among the best I have read.
Dallmann pretty much gives due to everything I love about the film, including how well acted it is and how it improves upon repeated viewings. I especially appreciate that Dallmann notes that the film's more gruelling horror sequences "are staged for maximum emotional effect" and later that "the horror derives equally from what's happening and from who it's happening to." two keys to the film few other critics picked up on.
Dallmann also wisely point out how much Hostel Part 2 is lovingly designed after the Italian Giallo of the seventies, with special mention going to both Sergio Martino's Torso and Aldo Lado's Night Train Murders.
All in all it is a fantastic look at a sorely undervalued film. Roth should be proud that his film has been given the seal of approval by one of Video Watchdog's best writers.
As for the rest of issue 137, I haven't had a chance to read through it all yet but it looks like another cracking one after last month's Grindhouse issue, which was one of their best ever. The cover star and moving center story belongs to The Curse Of The Cat People's Ann Carter and other reviews include looks at works ranging from Fulci's The Psychic to The Beatles in Help!

M.I.A. on Region 1 DVD Tribute Month (Film 14) Eli Roth's Thanksgiving (2007)

I’ve made no effort to hide my admiration for the films of Eli Roth here at Moon in the Gutter, specifically his vastly undervalued Hostel Part II, a work that I consider the most underrated genre film of the decade. As much as I admire his three feature films though, perhaps everything I love about Roth can be found in a certain two-minute plus trailer that is currently unavailable on Region 1 DVD.



Grindhouse continues to be one of the most discussed and disagreed upon films of the decade. It seems the only thing everyone is in agreement about are the amazing set of trailers produced to accompany the film. All the filmmakers involved from Edgar Wright to Rob Zombie delivered brilliantly effective tributes to the exploitation films of their youth, but none were more potent than Roth’s incredible Thanksgiving trailer, a perfectly realized and rendered short film that shows him as one of the most uncompromising and individualistic directors of his generation.



Eli Roth’s out of sight ode to the American Slasher films of the early eighties had its origins in his teenage years when he dreamed of a slasher fit for everyone’s favorite getting stuffed holiday. The director explained in the essential Grindhouse companion book that, “Growing up in the 80s, it seemed like every holiday had its own horror film” and that “it was only a matter of time until the Thanksgiving horror film would come”, but for whatever reason it never came to be and by the mid eighties the Slasher film was sadly on the wane.





Roth’s dream of seeing a Thanksgiving inspired Slasher film began to take shape in 2005 when Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez began planning out what would become Grindhouse. Roth recalled, “when they asked me if I wanted to direct a faux exploitation trailer, it was not just the chance of a lifetime, it was the perfect way to shoot some scenes from Thanksgiving.” That dream came to fruition in Prague of all places in November of 2006, when Roth and crew took two days after completing Hostel Part II to make the trailer for his still un-filmed dream project.



Joining Roth and his dedicated crew were his friends and frequent actors Jordan Ladd and Jay Hernandez, who both offered to stay on two extra days to help the director with his pet project. Charismatic Terminator star Michael Biehn asked to come on board as well, and lovely Czech model Vendula Kristek (Vendula Bednarova) joined in for what would become one of the trailer’s most outlandish and memorable moments. Armed with the legendary KNB effects team of Gregory Nicotero and Howard Berger and the extraordinary cinematographer Milan Chadima, Roth’s Thanksgiving came together in a whirlwind of activity that would produce an undeniably masterful two minute short film.



Scripted by Roth and Jeff Rendell, Thanksgiving tells the tale of a Massachusetts set 'turkey-day' gone seriously haywire. Featuring an audacious Parade sequence with a cast of local extras unprepared for the carnage Roth and KNB had in store for them, a funny fifties inspired make-out scene in perhaps Prague’s only vintage convertible, a crazed gym sequence featuring one of the most simultaneously funny and grizzly deaths in Slasher history, and a dinner scene that would make even the most die-hard gore hounds squirm, Thanksgiving is a perfect and loving tribute to an often maligned but much loved genre.



Several things impress about Thanksgiving, with one being the incredible way that Roth manages to make the film feel like an authentic trailer, as well as making it a satisfying short film in its own right. In just over two minutes, Roth manages to capture a mood, create a memorable backdrop, and tell an interesting story. It’s not an easy feat, and the fact that it was done in just a couple of days makes it even more noteworthy. Thanksgiving is a fun, sincere, and twisted little valentine from an artist who really loves the genre he is working in.



Perhaps the most astounding thing about Thanksgiving is just how authentic it feels. I have watched the film several dozen times probably, and it still feels like an actual trailer to a lost film from the early eighties. Chadina’s incredible washed out photography combined with Nathan Barr’s terrific score play right into Roth’s undeniable love and understanding of the genre, and for hardcore horror fans it is just a joy to watch. It’s so good that I almost don’t want Roth to ever make a full version of it, although I think if anyone could pull the full film off he could.



Reading Roth’s terrific chapter on the making of the film in Grindhouse, one gets the sense of passion everyone brought to the production, from the behind the scenes players, to the extras, to the cast. You also get a sense of the kind of fun that seems absent from most film productions today. Roth perhaps summed up the experience best when he wrote how infectious the act of filming, “the total absurdity of 60 year old men dressed as pilgrims kicking around a decapitated turkey head with five year old majorettes” was, and it’s that kind of loveably absurd quality that makes Thanksgiving such a winning short film.





I admire Grindhouse very much and doubt that I will have more fun in a theater again this decade. While I am grateful to have both the long versions of Planet Terror and Death Proof, the splitting of the films for Region 1 DVD and the loss of some of the key trailers was unfortunate to say the least. Eli Roth, like all great directors with a very distinct and personal vision, will continue to have his critics but he’s one of just a handful of American filmmakers who have come out this decade that I really celebrate, and Thanksgiving is one of his great works.

Eli Roth's Thanksgiving: A Full-Length Feature? (Oh, Hell Yes)

Some of you may recall how much I absolutely love Eli Roth’s Grindhouse trailer Thanksgiving. Well, it seems that my dream that he might someday make a feature-length film out of it might very well be coming true. Cinema Blend is reporting that Roth is indeed planning on getting a full-length script in order for the early-eighties style slasher and that is the best news I have heard in quite awhile. Above is a link to the article, with a quote by Eli (who currently can be seen in one of the most memorable death scenes of Piranha 3D, which I thought was an absolute blast) for those interested.

Sergio Martino's Torso on the way from Blue Underground

Blue Underground is getting ready to unleash Sergio Martino's Torso (I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale), one of my favorite films from the seventies, in a couple of weeks on brand-new DVD and Blu-ray versions and I wanted to make special mention of it here and supply links. Martinos ferocious 1973 Giallo starring the dream-team of Tina Aumont, Suzy Kendall and Luc Merenda is absolutely brilliant and hugely influential, more than any other film Torso laid the blueprint for the so called Torture-Porn (a term I despise) genre that came about this past decade, and it has lost none of its power. Eli Roth's equally brilliant Hostel Part 2 is particularly indebted to Martino's shocking classic, and it would make a perfect companion piece for a DIY double-feature. Written by the great Ernesto Gastaldi, Torso will be released on September 27th on a DVD featuring the uncut English language version of the film and Blu-ray, which comes armed with the uncut Italian version as well. Both also feature a new interview with Martino and information can be found at the above links.

Hard And R

I have really been enjoying all of the online discussion and disagreements on Eli Roth's upcoming HOSTEL 2 and the state of horror in general as of late. I have been amazed to see the wide ranging and strong opinions film fans seem to have on Roth and this so called 'Torture Porn' phrase that is being thrown around so much in the media these days.
I would be seeing HOSTEL 2 no matter what just because of the casting of the legendary Edwige Fenech. I would like to throw my two cents in on the subject though and say that I would be seeing, and looking forward to, the film even without the iconic Fenech's presence.
I was more than a bit cold on Roth's debut film CABIN FEVER. I just didn't understand the hype but I admired the first HOSTEL very much and felt that his THANKSGIVING trailer was among the best thing I have seen this year. Roth seems to be very consciously following the lead of a handful of directors, such as Fulci, Deodato, Craven, Martino and others, who believed the horror film has the capability to truly shock and disturb. It is this very primal, and at times almost oppressively dark, feeling that horror films lost in the nineties and that a handful of young directors have been trying to reclaim this decade.
I have always found it ironic that it was Wes Craven, who at his prime delivered some of the most truly unsettling and visceral horror films ever, would have been the guy who helmed the film that more than any other would turn the genre into a self referential, humorous and ultimately extremely sanitized form. I liked, and still like, SCREAM and SCREAM 2 but they created a winking and back patting breed that would give birth to a seemingly endless succession of safe and typically very bland films. I saw many of these films throughout the mid to late 90's...some were okay, most were very bad. I noticed that each one seemed to be a little safer and a little more meaningless than the last. These weren't films about anything other than pushing a lousy soundtrack of trendy songs and giving roles to forgettable teen tv actors. These seemed to be films designed for the PG13 rating, show us as little as possible and suggest something perhaps even less.
Obviously there have always films that combine humor and horror and I'm not suggesting that horror films always need to be graphic. What I am saying is that a key element to the horror film is to take us, and yes show us, places that are typically unseen and locked away. The so called horror films of the late 90s stopped doing that, they just began showing us television versions of things we had seen in countless other better films.

I really began to miss the extreme horror films of my childhood in this period. Films like DAWN OF THE DEAD and the original HILLS HAVE EYES became something more than just films that I loved from my youth. They became prime examples of everything that I loved in cinema that modern culture, and specifically the opening weekend gross watchers, had taken away. It's no coincidence that it was in the mid 90s that I started to obsessively hunt down and collect Italian horror films. Here were films that I hadn't known as a child that I could discover as new. The importance and greatness of a film as extreme as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST seemed overwhelming to me, and it felt like we would never be allowed to see anything quite so graphic and disturbing as that powerhouse again.

One of the most exciting experiences I have had in a theater this decade was seeing Alexandre Aja's 2003 French film HAUTE TENSION (HIGH TENSION). There had been rumblings of a change in the horror landscape in the early part of the decade but here was a film so unrelenting, so bleak and so truly disturbing, that it felt to me like it was at times literally shaking the screen. HIGH TENSION seemed to open a floodgate of angry, and at times nihilistic, films that have given us some of the most extreme violence cinema has seen since the late seventies.

Not many of the films have been great, but for all their failings I admire pictures like WOLF CREEK, HOSTEL, SAW and Aja's HILLS HAVE EYES remake more than most 'great' horror films of the last 15 years. These films and filmmakers are trying to make horror dangerous again...to take the darker aspects of society that are continually thrown at us in the media and turn them into something we can properly internalize and hopefully understand.

"Torture Porn" is the most ridiculous media created term since "Punk" became "New Wave". It feels like a term made up and jumped on by people who not only don't know anything of the history of horror films, but plain just don't like them. A film like Rob Zombie's THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, which I loved, has been grouped in with this so called genre but the themes and images from it are decades old. I doubt very seriously the critics who use phrases like "Torture Porn" even know who Lucio Fulci or Ruggero Deodato are...sometimes I wonder if they even know who Sam Peckinpah is.

So I will be at HOSTEL 2 opening weekend and I hope it is as twisted and graphic as possible. Horror films should cause a reaction...they should make us feel and see things that hopefully we don't have to in our everyday life. A lot of people do not like these extreme images these films are promising and that is perfectly fine. Don't buy a ticket...it is a as simple as that. I fear though that 2008 will bring a landslide against the return of the extreme horror film and that the studios will once again start playing it safe. As a rule I try not to get political on this blog at all but I find the idea that both presidential parties might again try to deflect attention from the real issues with a battle against artistic expression to be the most horrifying thought of all.

Eli Roth and Edwige Fenech Interviewed

Here is a great clip that has been posted at Eli's MySpace from Italian television. Roth is the only one really being interviewed but Edwige's presence is definitely felt and God she is still extraordinary looking.
There has been so much bad blood between people about Roth this year that I don't want to beat the issue into the ground. I'll just say the guy still comes across as incredibly intelligent to me and his reverence towards the names he mentions in the first two minutes of this interview (Argento, Fulci, Martino, Deodato etc) is quite inspiring to see as a long time Italian film fan. He even makes special mention that it was Antonioni and Fellini that originally got him into Italian cinema. Whether you like his films or not, this guy isn't the 'poseur' that some inept reviewer recently called him.
Here's the video for those that would like to see it. I will continue throwing my support Roth's way and am greatly anticipating seeing HOSTEL 2 again when it arrives on dvd later this year.

Trailers From Hell

One of my favorite websites that I have recently discovered is Trailers From Hell which features all kind of cool things with none cooler than the series of audio commentaries they have by a number of directors discussing their favorite trailers. Here you can hear the great Edgar Wright waxing on not one but two Suspiria trailers as well as two versions of Bava's Twitch Of The Death Nerve. Other highlights include tracks from everybody from Joe Dante to Alan Arkush to Eli Roth who waxes poetic on John Boorman's Exorcist 2: The Heretic among others. The whole site is a real blast and I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't checked it out.

Some Thoughts On Hostel Part Two

NOTE: This post was written after I first saw Roth's film in the theaters. Since then I have seen it several times and I wanted to point out that my initial problems with the film have faded. HOSTEL PART TWO is a tremendous film that improves with each viewing. I will eventually take a longer look at it, but I wanted to point out that the couple of problems I have listed below don't apply for me anymore. Actually I love HOSTEL PART TWO so much at this point that it made me revisit Roth's first two films, and I must say that my admiration for them as grown as well.


***SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW***

I am going to wait until I can watch HOSTEL 2 on disc before I post a full fledged review of it but I did want to post my initial thoughts and reactions to it. First I would like to ask why in the world was this film was released in the Summer movie season opening against OCEAN'S THIRTEEN and SURF'S UP? I went Sunday afternoon and the theater was empty. I don't mean a relatively small crowd for a weekend, I mean totally empty. I typically like being in a theater alone but for horror and comedy, the audiences reactions are always a highlight. Just before the lights went down for Disney's UNDERDOG trailer (No, I'm not joking) one guy came in and that was it. I totally believe had LionsGate opened Roth's film up back in the early part of the year or in the fall it would have made triple the money it did this past weekend. But it didn't and, after all the discussion and debate this film has caused, it ended up performing very poorly at the box office and will no doubt be gone in a few weeks. I suspect the DVD will perform big but still I am disappointed in its take not just for Roth but for hard R horror films in general.

My feelings towards HOSTEL 2 are for the most part very positive. Roth continues for me to be improving with each film. He has yet to make a great film but I came out of HOSTEL 2 with the feeling that he will someday soon.
My biggest problem with the first HOSTEL was it's opening section. While I appreciated all the abundant nudity, much of the frat boy humor really grated on my nerves and I found myself really disliking the lead characters. Roth has solved this problem for me in casting three very talented young actresses this time as his leads and making them not only likable but very human. One of the aspects of HOSTEL 2 that works incredibly well is that I do indeed come to really like these three young women and I don't want anything to happen to them. By doing this Roth has made the second half of his film much stronger, the horror feels more heartfelt and real.
I was surprised that overall HOSTEL 2 is a bit toned down from the first one. Outside of two magnificent gory set pieces the new film concentrates much more on the characters and dialogue than the first. I felt this worked mostly to its advantage, again I missed some of the originals over the top extremities but overall I preferred the new film to the first.
Much has been made of Edwige Fenech returning to the screen for this film and her involvement was the thing that really made me want to see it in the first place. I have to admit that seeing "and Edwige Fenech" at the end of the opening cast credits gave me chills. Unfortunately her scene is very short. She looks ravishing and it was incredible seeing her again but I wish Roth would have given her a bigger part. There were two roles specifically in the film that I thought she would have been suited for that were considerably larger.
Two more small but very welcome roles were the great Luc Merenda as an Italian detective and a chilling cameo by director Ruggero Deodato that tips its hat to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and turns out to be a highlight of the film.
Roth's love of the genre really comes through in this picture. Referencing everything from BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE to FRIDAY THE 13 PART TWO to Jean Rollin's FASCINATION, HOSTEL 2 works splendidly as a nod to the films Roth cut his teeth on as a youth.
The cast is exceptional, I was particularly taken with Lauren German. She is a splendid young actress and she invests the role of Beth with a lot of depth and emotion. Also good are Bijou Phillips, Heather Matarazzo and the statuesque Vera Jordanova. In the role of the two main auction winners, Roger Bart and Richard Burgi both are chilling at portraying the very worst aspects of male aggression, cynicism and hostility.
The two goriest scenes are startling and quite brilliant. Specifically the Mrs. Bathory moment is one of the wildest and most effective horror scenes I have seen in a long time. Shot beautifully and played out with wild abandon by both Monika Malacova and Matarazzo, this is a go for broke sequence that proved as haunting as wince inducing. A scene like this would have been unthinkable in an American horror film a few years ago. Less effective but still pretty jaw dropping is the castration sequence. If the Bathory sequence recalled BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE then this is Roth tipping his hat to both CANNIBAL FEROX as well as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. I was frankly amazed by what the MPAA let Roth get away with in this scene and the final payoff with the dog was brilliant.
Okay now the problems. HOSTEL 2 is nowhere near a perfect film and one feels that it could have been a lot more than what it is. Roth gets a little rushed sometimes. The spa sequence starts off as really hypnotic and dreamlike but it soon collapses into just another chase scene. The Prague children aren't used as well in this one as they were the first and I feel he should have thought there scenes out a bit more or just left them out all together.
The film's biggest problem is its very last scene. I don't have any problems with how the film ends but I just wish Roth would have given it a little more thought and life. In what could have been a chilling moment that would have recalled Brigitte Lahaie's scythe wielding peer walk in FASCINATION, the scene instead plays out too quickly. The scene isn't the disaster some fans have made it out to be but it is a let down. The major thing it has going for is German's intensity but man I would have liked to have seen her walking towards the camera in a long tracking shot like Lahaie in Rollin's film. I also again think the kids could have been left completely out although the last few moments in the film reminded me of the gleeful children in Bava's TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE which isn't a bad thought to end the film on.

So overall I am very happy with HOSTEL 2. Roth still hasn't made a film that is as good as his idols but give him time, this guy is very young. Does he occasionally stick his foot in his mouth, sure he does but don't we all? What it really comes down to is that at the end of this film he took the time to thank Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci, Edwige Fenech, Ruggero Deodato and many other names that I never thought I would see mentioned during the closing credits of a modern American horror film. Great film or not...Eli Roth is okay in my book.

Hostel Part Two: The DVD

I will be posting another look at Eli Roth's HOSTEL 2 to go along with this one soon. I did want to say though that the few problems I had with the film on my first viewing have pretty much disappeared. The film, as it plays in its striking uncut form on disc, gets better and better with each viewing, and it has quickly become one of my favorite horror films of the decade.
The DVD contains some solid special features that are entertaining as well as informative. Italian horror fans will absolutely want to check the disc out for a brief but beguiling interview with Edwige Fenech (and some shots of an awe struck Roth directing her), as well as an interesting short talk with Ruggero Deodato.
Even better is the producer's commentary with Roth and Tarantino that plays like a love letter to the Italian horror genre in general. After watching the film again and viewing the extras, I must say that it is indeed Sergio Martino's masterful TORSO that seems to be the film that HOSTEL TWO is most indebted to. Readers here will know that Martino's underrated Giallo is among my favorite films, and frankly seeing this much love thrown at it was refreshing to say the least.

Here are two shots of Eli and Edwige from his MySpace page. Be on the lookout for a long review for this woefully underrated and unjustly maligned film here soon.

Nastassja Kinski Rumored to Return for Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards

Just a couple of weeks after running into each other at a screening of James Toback's Exposed, it looks like Quentin Tarantino and Nastassja Kinski's paths might soon cross again. While Brad Pitt and Eli Roth are the only two major cast members to have officially signed on so far to Tarantino's long awaited war epic Inglorious Bastards, Kinski is in serious discussions with the writer and director to return to the screen to play Third Reich film star Bridget Von Hammersmark. This story is being reported at several spots on the Internet including here and here.
This role would mark Kinski's first appearance in front of the cameras since her cameo two years ago in David Lynch's Inland Empire and her first starring role in more that five years. Also in talks for what promises to be a mind-blowing production are Simon Pegg, Udo Kier and BJ Novak.
Thanks to Mr. Peel for this very hopeful and exciting news.