Tag Archives: Horror

31 Days of Slashers: Eyes of a Stranger (1981)

Today’s entry in the 31 Days of Slashers series in 1981’s Eyes of a Stranger. Ken Weiderhorn’s film is a gory and disturbing take on Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Instead of the protagonists looking into the murder of their neighbor’s wife, newscaster Jane Harris (played by The Love Boat’s Lauren Tewes) begins to suspect that her neighbor might be the murderer/rapist that has been brutally murdering women in Miami. She has been covering the murders for her news program and discovers that the victims get phone calls right before they are killed. She lives with her blind and deaf-mute sister Tracy (Jennifer Jason Leigh in her first film role). As Jane gets closer to the truth, she discovers that she and her sister might just be the next targets of the killer.

The incredibly tense moments of suspense are what sets this film apart from other films of the period. There are sequences where Jane is investigating her neighbor that genuinely capture the same level of suspense when Grace Kelly’s Lisa sneaks into the murderous neighbor’s apartment in Rear Window. The film also features practical gore effects by Tom Savini, known for his work on Dawn of the Dead (Romero, 1978) and Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980). It is important to note that as the killer in this film is also a rapist, this film does deal with themes and brief images of sexual assault. Eyes of a Stranger also differs from similar slashers and thrillers by showing the audience who the killer is at the beginning of the film. It is Jane who is unsure of his identity and seeking to prove her theory throughout the film.

Most of the critical attention for the film focused on Jennifer Jason Leigh’s strong performance as Tracy, which is understandable as she does give a great turn as the blind and deaf-mute character. They completely overlook Lauren Tewes’ performance as Jane, however, which I believe is the strongest element of the film. Many just remember Tewes as the chipper cruise director Julie on The Love Boat, which I have always really enjoyed. But in Eyes of a Stranger she goes against type and delivers a really excellent performance. Jane is an incredibly active and assertive lead and is willing to put herself in danger to solve the mystery. The film also focuses on her struggles with misogyny and sexism at the TV station that she works at, as her male co-worker don’t feel that she is up to covering such challenging stories.

Unlike some of the campy and more light-hearted slasher films that I will be featuring this month, Eyes of a Stranger is a disturbing and harrowing thriller. With strong performances from its two female leads, excellent practical gore effects, and an incredible knack for creating edge-of-your-seat suspense, Eyes of a Stranger is a must-watch if you’re looking for a film to shake you up this October. While the film may be a tough watch at times, it is beyond rewarding to see Lauren Tewes kick ass as Jane.

Eyes of a Stranger can be rented from Vudu, iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon. You can purchase the Shout! Factory blu-ray, which features an excellent restoration and great special features HERE.

I’ll see you tomorrow with another entry in the 31 Days of Slashers series.

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31 Days of Slashers: Graduation Day (1981)

It’s finally October! While I have been watching horror films regularly throughout the year, a lot of folks like to wait until spooky season to start viewing their favorite scary flicks. To help celebrate, I thought it would be fun to highlight a different slasher film every day for the month of October. Like everyone, I have my go-to slasher franchises that I like to revisit every year: Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and so on. Even if you’re not a fan of the sub-genre, these films and their iconic killers are deeply imbedded in the cultural zeitgeist. Everyone has heard of Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees. As these films are discussed so frequently, particularly with their latest remakes and reboots coming out in theatres, I thought it would be fun to shed light on slasher films that are not so commonly consumed. So, I will be looking at slasher films outside of the main franchises.

The first slasher in the 31 Days of Slashers series is: Graduation Day (1981). Herb Freed’s film focuses on Anne Ramstead (Patch Mackenzie), a US Naval officer who returns home following the death of sister Laura. The film begins with Laura collapsing during a track meet resulting in her death from what seems like a heart attack. Anne arrives home two weeks later to help the school honor her late sister at the graduation ceremony. More track athletes begin to die in grisly ways and Anne finds herself in a dangerous situation. Who is killing off the track athletes one by one? Are they going to come after Anne too? You’ll just have to watch this fun slasher to find out.

Graduation Day makes great use of track and field equipment and settings to feature unique and fun death sequences. The genre is generally regarded as a showcase for practical blood and gore effects, and this film is no different. Freed was clearly having a good time staging these sequences. Anne is also a great addition to the genre’s history of Final Girl characters. She is a strong-willed military officer who obviously knows how to take care of herself and can engage in hand-to-hand combat when necessary, setting her apart from the younger Final Girl figures who are still discovering themselves. When she is introduced, Anne is already more than capable and determined to solve the mystery of how her sister died.

While the murder of the members of the track and field team may seem a bit formulaic and similar to many other teen slasher films set in high schools, Graduation Day sets itself apart through its technical merits. Martin Jay Sadoff provides the film with very engaging transitions and editing throughout the film, greatly heightening the tension in moments of violence and suspense. Many look past the film as nothing more than a continuation of the knock-offs of Halloween and Friday the 13th, but I think that is unfair. The look and editing of the film and the fun fencing costume of the film’s killer set this one apart from the generic fair that was frequently pumped out for a simple profit. Another fun thing that works in the film’s favor is the use of the killer’s stopwatch to build suspense and get the viewer to guess the identity of the murderer.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love an awkward dancing sequence in a slasher film, particularly when there is a live band playing. There’s just something so dated and charming about seeing these Disco scenes with their colorful lights and cheesy music. They really provide a fun timestamp to the films and ground them in the year that they were made.

Graduation Day can be rented on Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play. The excellent blu-ray/DVD set can be purchased from Vinegar Syndrome HERE. As always, the Vinegar Syndrome set features a wonderful restoration and fantastic special features. Graduation Day is an enjoyable slasher that provides fun death sequences that fit nicely into the track and field theme of the film, a solid and strong-willed protagonist in Anne, and innovative editing that sets the film apart from many of the generic slasher films of the time period. It is a great addition to your Halloween film list for the month!

Note: The trailer contains spoilers of the film’s death scenes. If you don’t want to spoil any surprises, just go ahead and watch the film first. That being said, this one has a really fun trailer.

I’ll see you tomorrow with another fun slasher film to check out in the 31 Days of Slashers series!

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Sundance Film Festival 2021: In The Earth

For the second Sundance screening of the week, we were presented with Ben Wheatley’s experimental plague horror film. I had absolutely no expectations for this film, as I’ve only seen Wheatley’s earlier film A Field in England (2013). Martin (Joel Fry) is able to get out of the city following the seemingly global pandemic, that is clearly modeled after COVID-19, and sets out to find a doctor who has been missing when he joins forces with Alma (Ellora Torchia). What follows is an incredibly experimental take on horror and science fiction, focusing on nature, psychology, and possibly magic. Honestly, this one didn’t do a whole lot for me, but it serves as a very interesting experiment of the COVID age.

Wheatley’s film features very interesting visuals and beautiful shots of nature, but very little character development for the two main protagonists in the film, leaving the viewer with little to connect with outside of being able to comprehend the isolation of quarantine and the trauma of plague. The base concept of the film is interesting, and I do like the idea of it being an experiment to create something relevant during COVID-19. It was fun seeing pumps of hand sanitizer, people wearing masks, and social distance being respected between the actors. But ultimately, it didn’t add up to more than a visual experiment that addresses the psychological impact of isolation and the pandemic.

In the Q&A following the film, Wheatley discusses how this was the first production to film following the initial lockdown in the UK in 2020. He stated that while writing the film in March of 2020, he was at home in lockdown watching films that were being released on streaming platforms that had been shot prior to the pandemic and how it was so weird seeing sequences with large crowds and no reference to the events of the world. That is something that I have often thought about when viewing films during the pandemic. It is odd seeing large crowds and social events in films and how it is just not something that is happening right now. Once again, Heidi Zwicker did a nice job moderating the Q&A. Wheatley and Torchia both gave detailed accounts of how different it was preparing for and shooting the film during a pandemic, touching upon the many Zoom meetings and how some folks hadn’t met until their first day of shooting.

If you’re a big fan of Wheatley’s work, you might find yourself interested in this and able to draw comparisons to themes touched upon in some of his other, more experimental, features. Personally, this was a one-and-done for me, but it was definitely interesting to see a film made during the pandemic that was shot outside of Zoom.

Here’s to four more Sundance screenings this week!

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Sundance Film Festival 2021: Censor

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This week I find myself lucky enough to be friends with someone who has passes for six films being shown virtually in the Sundance Film Festival. Honestly, it has always been a dream of mine to go to a legitimate film festival, so this is a really amazing and fun opportunity in the middle of a hellish pandemic. So, a huge thanks to my friend Lee for making this possible.

Starting off our screenings of the festival is Prano Bailey-Bond’s feature film debut Censor (2021). The film focuses on Enid (Niamh Algar), a troubled woman who censors “video nasties” during the height of the moral panic of Thatcher-era Britain in the 1980s. Enid watches with distaste all of the shocking and disturbing horror films of the time to censor out the bits that would warp the minds of children and “drive people to commit violence themselves”, as was so often the thought process behind the conservative British politicians of the time who sought to stamp out the violent horror films. Adding to her discomfort, Enid is suffering from the trauma of her sister disappearing when she was a young girl. Constantly attempting to find her and trying to recall new information that might lead to her sister’s rescue, Enid goes on a psychological journey that takes the viewer on an intense and disturbing ride through the glory days of horror films past. (Note: That’s all I’m going to say about the plot, so as to not spoil anything for anyone!) At a brisk 84 minutes, there is not a moment in the film that drags, and I found myself captivated and entranced for the entire feature.

Prano Bailey-Bond achieves great things in her first feature. This is an incredibly strong start to what I hope is a very successful career. She has also directed three shorts that I need to seek out online to watch immediately. She has a very keen eye for 80s-fused visuals that harken back to the VHS genre classics that her film both honors and critiques. It’s beyond refreshing to see such a unique and bold female perspective on horror from someone who so clearly loves the genre. I’m incredibly excited to see her future work in horror. I’ve included her introduction to the film below where she briefly discusses the influences of the film and her process.

Bailey-Bond introduces the film for Sundance.

Niamh Algar’s performance as Enid is the very backbone of the film. In Enid, Algar has captured such a conflicted and complex sense of the character. The way Algar is positioned throughout the film, often in powerful and commanding poses that really reminded me of Katherine Hepburn’s stance in her classical films of the 30s, counters the increasing paranoia of the character and we physically see her mental state change over the course of the narrative through her physicality. I loved her period clothing that really captured her sense of morality through costume, as well. This was the first film that I’ve seen Algar in, and again, I’m very excited to see more of her work, also.

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Zwicker, Bailey-Bond, and Algar in the Q&A following the film

The film was followed by a lively Q&A session with Bailey-Bond and Algar where they answered questions from fans and questions prepared by Sundance Senior Programmer, Heidi Zwicker. This was a fun opportunity to see Bailey-Bond really showcase her knowledge of the horror films of the time, as she was asked what films have greatly influenced her (The Evil Dead (1981), Suspiria (1977), the films of Lucio Fulci, and Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (1971) were the films she name-dropped). It’s just always such a treat to see a filmmaker get to gush about the films that made them who they are. Algar also had great comments about her immersion into the genre to prepare for the role. I wasn’t aware that the Q&A would be included with the pass, at first, so this was a really exciting treat as it made it a more personable experience overall. Bailey-Bond and Algar were both great in the Q&A and Zwicker did a really nice job moderating.

Overall, I just really loved this film. It checked off all of my horror genre boxes, showcased all female perspectives in the genre, featured stunning visuals and a riveting narrative, and was both thought-provoking and entertaining in equal measure. It’s definitely one that I’ll be thinking about for a long time, and it’s one that I can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who is a fan of the video nasty era and is yearning for female representation within the genre. It also has a sequence that played with aspect ratio in a way that I had never seen before, so the film tech geek in me was just giddy in all regards. So, in closing, this is a film that you should definitely rush out to rent or purchase when it is eventually released if you enjoy horror films that pay tribute to the genre’s greats and feature a strong female perspective.

Here’s to five more exciting Sundance Film Festival screenings this week!

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