Frankenstein (2025) directed by Guillermo del Toro

Based on the 1818 groundbreaking classic novel by Mary Shelley, the film stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz. All of them giving good performances. This well-known highly influential tale has been told over and over and never, like most book adaptations, comes close enough to the source material as it should. 

At 2 1/2 hours, this is a long film. It mostly looks fine, but it is too evenly lit for me, considering the subject matter and has a video game cleanness about it that takes away from the gothic horror of it all. If anyone can make a monster sexy, it's Guillermo del Toro and this version of Frankenstein's creature is pretty sexy despite being made up of bits and pieces of dead criminals and soldiers. Alordi has very expressive and kind eyes that show the character's inner goodness that has gone  south because of his mistreatment and uncaring creator. Isaac is wasted in this role and he tries to bring something to not well written role. We feel nothing for him or really any of the other cast members. 

The start of the film and introduction to Frankenstein and his obession to create life is too long and we never see anything that leads to understanding his motivations except on a superficial level. The sets look good but also, in my opinion, lack the imagination del Toro has put into other projects. We see only a hint of the deep themes of the book and the rearranging of the characters and introduction of romance plot(s) add nothing to the endeavour. The monster's tale part of the film is where it picks up and has some real heart in it but even then it misses the mark more than it hits it. There are several scenes that we should be crying from the events affecting the characters but it never gives us enough reason to care about them to reach that emotional place. 

It's not a terrible movie its just sort of meh from a talented director we expect more from based on a story that has never been truly told faithfully. The Branagh version is closer to the book with a very notable exception at the end. This version changes the story in superficial ways that take away from the genius of Shelley. 

The Abominable Snowman (1957) directed by Val Guest

This early Hammer Horror is about an expedition said to be about finding rare plants in the Himalayas but really about a secretive plan to capture a yeti for science.... and profit. The Lama is somewhat clairvoyant and not a dummy and knows what is really going on, including that another group is coming to enlist Cushing in their yeti hunt. The main actors are Peter Cushing, giving one of the only not great performances of his career, and Forrest Tucker from Auntie Mame and F-Troop fame. Cushing has a wife who is also a scientist but don't be fooled, she might as well be credited as "typical woman" for most of the film. 

Spoilers: 

There is some light drama on whether Cushing should go, lots of blatant rasism and a slow predictable hike up a mountain. No surprise that everyone but Peter Cushing dies at the hands of the abominable snowmen. The porduction is very low budget but handles it well and the yet costumes are pretty good. We only see an arm and a hand until the very end when a couple of them come out of the shadows for a moment. 

The filmis a little slow but not terrible. There are some strong points. One is the Lama is pretty much in control of the situation and never admits the local cyptids are real and makes sure the one survivor will tell the world they found nothing. The wife is a wasted character as she shows signs of being truly independent and strong at times, particulairy at the end but spends most of her time making suopper for "the men". The Yeti are not monsters, they are an endangered race with intellignce (and pyschic powers apparently) and when we see thier faces finally they live up to how they were described earlier in the film as not quite human, not quite animal but a look of wisdom about them. 

Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive | Full Documentary | American Masters | PBS

This new documentary on American Masters is yet another reason PBS is needed. It covers his life, starting with the myths about his death started by the obituary about him, published by one of his biggest rivals. Much of it stuck and shows the current trend of getting misinformation out before the facts and repeating it has always worked on the gullible public. 

They don't shy away from his faults but they also point out he created a persona that didn't really reflect who he was in his personal life. The recitations of some of his works are very well done and not read as horror tales for Halloween but as human stories with real emotion behind them. 

2 hours well spent watching. 

Faust (1926) directed by F. W. Murnau

Murnau's Faust is a masterpiece, like most of his other films. It’s not perfect and has some issues that many films of this era have when seen by modern filmgoers. Visual mastery is NOT one of those issues. I have long wanted to do some art based on this film but as you can see by the images in this post... what could I do that could compare in any way? The upper image shows how the movie influenced Disney's "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence in "Fantasia". The lower image could easily be a painting by one of the great masters but it is a single image from the film. The quality and texture of the fim along with the lens choices and amazing compositions of Murnau look like paintings come to life. 

The story is well known and has been made a million times since. Mephistopheles makes a bet with the arch angel Michael that if he can turn a man as good as Faust then the earth will be his exclusive domain. He gives him the power to heal which does not go as well as planned, when Faust finds he cannot heal someone wearing a crucifix because these healing powers come esentially form the devil. He also gets his youth back and this is where the film starts to go a little wrong. Far too much time is spent on Faust basically whoring around and falling instantly in love, as Mephistopheles (played by the always fantastic Emil Jennings)  makes sure nothing end well. Jennings performance is scary at points and reminds me of Divne on other points as he infuses an over the top almost drag sensibility in the lighter sections. The director's film "The Man who Laughs" also suffers a bit from having a start that is impossible to top and movies inot a more traditional story that while still great isn't as engaging as the intro to the story. 

It's almost a 100 year old film but I won't spoil the end except to say I found it unsatisfying and a hollow victory. Won't stop me from watching this again and again though. 

 

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) directed by Jun Fukuda

Also called Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, this is an odd Godzilla movie in that the human part f the plot isn't so boring or beside the point. Godzilla only appears at the end and Mothra appears after Godzilla. Ebirah is a giant lobster who only shows u now and then, killing anyone who tries to leave the island run by an evil terrorist organization called the Red bamboo.  There is also a giant condor that comes out of nowhere and doesn't last long. The Mpthra worshipping native of a nearby island are slaves fo teh red Bamboo who have them making a yelloe substance that can stop Ebirah from attacking boats so the terroists cane come and go as they please. 

OK the human story is not exactly plausible but the characters are fun and interesting enough to keep you interested. The effects are not gratifying, some of the model work is super but the lack of realism has a certain charm. Some shots of the tiny singers who call Mothra are just dolls and on some of the boat senes, the ment rowing or dolls or even articulate puppets. It's super obvious and, like I said, charming. 

The bad guys are killed by Ebirah while making their escape but they have set an atomic bomb to destroy the island before they fled and our heros become concerned that it will killed Godzilla who saved them. Why? Godzilla is usally living off nuclear energy and jumping into the water wouldn't save him so close to the explosion if it was a danger to him. Don't watch a Godzilla movie, aside form the forst Godzilla minus 1 if you are looking to make sense of it! 

Ladies in Retirement (1941) directed by Charles Vidor

 

Ido Lupino plays a housekeeper trying to keep her two mentally problematic sisters from the madhouse. Since they are about to be kicked out of their current home she asks her boss if they can stay with them. At the amenities time her "nephew" rips off her boss, an old actress with a wild past and decides he can do the same to his aunt when she returns. 

Spoilers:

This was presented to me as a dark comedy in the vein of "Arsenic and Old Lace" but I don't think so. It does have light moments but it's more drama with some levity than anything else. Everyone in it is good in their roles, though except for the old actress, they are play terrible people. The actress tires of the two sisters who are quite a handful and wants them and Ida gone... so Ida kills her. The nephew shows ups, eventually finds out and tries to blackmail his auntie the killer. He is wanted by the police already. 

Since this is not a well know film, I won't spoil too many more details but I am not sure what the moral, if any there is. It's pretty good overall, though. The sets and matt paintings give it a great old horror film vibe and it looks amazing. The opening titles are fantastic! 

Masque of the Red Death (2025) Directed by Vincent-louis Apruzzese

This project was suggested to me at a showing of one of my earlier animations. I did not think I could pull it off, the story has over 1000 people and a setting involving 7 rooms of various colours among other technically challenging aspects. After reading the story a few times more I decided it could be pulled back with less people and less room and still keep the tone and message of the story intact. 

Even so, it would mean animating more characters in several shots than I ever had before and involve some animal simulations I wasn’t sure how to pull off. Poe’s wordiness and descriptions were also pulled back partly to reflect the simpler setting but mostly to reflect how bad a narrator I am. I did enhance my voice a little to make it sound better. 

I used Make Human and Human Gen to create the characters. This made it feasible to make so many and also Human Gen can add clothes you make or buy in an easy way which I really needed for this project. One thing that Blender has in abundance is reasonably priced fantastic addons so my one man show looks better, I hope, than it would have totally on my own. 

It was rendered in EEVEE and compositing and colour work was done in Apple Motion while editing was done in Final Cut Pro. 

I did have issues with Human Gen here and there. A few characters suddenly had finger rigging  issues and I wish that plugin had more secondary facial controls like Make Human. It has much better skin and hair so it’s a question of which I could get the most out of. The robed figure was simply rigged withAuto Rig pro. Something I plan to use more in future. 

Not what is next except to get familiar with compositing in Blender. I would like to use depth maps and maybe motion  maps in Apple Motion like I used to and separate elements for better colour corrections. I will try and redo some older animations I think will be greatly improved over the Cinema 4D versions and decide on a new project as I go go through all of that. 

Birder (2024) Directed by: Nate Dushku

 

While there are some wonderful gay centric films out there produced by the community I am the first to admit they are few and far between between and instead there is a much larger number of amateurish low budget productions. Some of these use the low budget and lack of professional actors or crew to their advantage and come across as charming and some are first steps towards better films. Birder is low budget but is done very professionally with good acting and cinematography and it isn't vapid. There is a good amount of full frontal nudity and sex in but they don't come across as soft core porn and are used to show the openness of the situation and the characters. Sure the fact all of the performers are all young and attractive gets your attention but I liked how there was no judgement on sex or sexuality and it was all very matter of fact.

SPOILERS:

It would be impossible to talk much about this film without giving it all away so I won't try to avoid spoilers. The main character is visiting a clothing optional camping area with mostly but not all gay men. I had no idea what the plot of this was but it's clear from the first minute this guy is a serial killer. It doesn't come across as him punishing people for having sex, like many slasher films, but is portrayed more as a fetish he has. I am not sure that is any better a take. This guy single handedly strangles almost all of the other characters and he basically gets away with it. 

This is where I tell you I didn't like the movie despite some of its strong points. The writing I thought was weak. I couldn't believe this was all happening and despite the people at the campground being nice and enough, none of their deaths was particularly upsetting since they were not developed enough to feel much for them. Killing someone by strangling with your bare hands isn't as easy and quick as it looks in this film. The lead is supposed to be literally charming the pants off and the life out of the other campers but if I met him at a camp ground, I'd leave and warn everyone else he was a serial killer. I don't think it's the fault of the actors, I think its possibly the style of editing which lacks giving any sense of suspense. 

In the end the killer leaves after being found out by the ranger who he kills and heads off to another location. On the way he is cruised by a guy in a gas station bathroom, goes back to the guy's van and he himself is immediately made into a victim and the new killer tells him "no hard hard feelings...". I think we are supposed to be surprised but it was always what was going to happen I thought and it didn't feel like he was getting what he deserved for his murderous lifestyle. 

I expected a movie with so much explicit sex and murder to be more engaging. 

Le Vourdalak (2023) directed by Adrien Beau

 

It's hard to talk about this film without spoilers, it's has some interesting elements better experienced as a surprise. Spoiler free, this is a film about a nobleman finding shelter after being robbed on the road and getting caught up in a family's tragic story of death and horror. It is based on Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy's 1839 novella The Family of the Vourdalak. I had already read it before seeing this so I had an idea what was going to happen. It's mostly well acted, nicely filmed, slow and hypnotic with some scares and a villain that works when it really shouldn't. 

Spoilers

A vourdalak is basically a vampire and this movie is based on one of the oldest printed vampire stories. it follows much of the lore of the time it was written so its has some nice touches, like vampires eating their shrouds that add a creepier than normal feel to it. The grandfather leaves to fight in the war but warns the family that if he isn't back in 6 days, he has died and if he is seen again to reject him as he will have become a vourdalak. He returns just after the deadline and his son takes his emaciated body into the house despite the protestations of the family. 

The grandfather is a vampire like you haven't really seen in film. Sure he is a living corpse but he is also played by a life sized puppet. This should be comical but it isn't.. at all. It is done well but doesn't really hide that it's a puppet. It has charisma and does manage to scare the crap out of you a couple times. it does what traditional vampires did and begins to transform the rest of the family into undead creatures. 

The nobleman is seen as a dandy, at first. Over time he grows and we see more than a prissy rich guy but someone willing to combat the undead for the family that took him in. He is in love with the daughter but that takes a back seat when the grandfather goes after the young grandson. The film ends with a couple of surprises and strays from the original story but overall it is a good adaption. 

The father is played really well and the rest of the cast does too. The weakest link is the daughter/love interest. She is a too odd to get a sympathetic handle on. Vassili Schneider as the brother is another departure from the novella. He is sexually ambiguous in some ways, dressing like a woman at times but also strong when he needs to be. His family is accepting of him as he is and this normally admirable trait is definitely misplaced when the father accepts the grandfather back into the family. Being a vampire is a little beyond acceptance, in my opinion of course. 

The pace is slow but that helps the viewer accept what is happening and while there is some gore it's restrained. The filming is mostly subtle and natural. There is a night/day issue that crops up quite a bit and it's hard to get an idea if hours or days have passed. it's not a deal breaker as the story and actors really draw you in. 

The Picnic - 5 decades of the Million Year Picnic (2021,2023) directed by Vincent-louis Apruzzese

 

This was a decade+ long project. Getting interviews and information was much harder than I thought. It was edited and re-edited quietly a few times: sometimes making it longer, sometimes shorter. Getting it shown anywhere was also difficult. I foolishly thought the place was such comic store legend I could get conventions and small festivals to show it. A couple a small festivals did end up showing but the place I really wanted it to play was the Brattle Theatre which is almost across the street from the store. That happened in July 2024 and those who went were good to tell me they liked it. Never got paid, sadly but at least it got it's day in that historic cinema. 

I would really love more people to see the film, the Picnic is and has been a fantastic, special place run by special people and is one of the last independent stores in Harvard Square. The original owner, Jerry Weist, was a ground breaker when he started the store and continued to lead the way when he left the store and started selling the original comic book art at Sotheby's elevating it as the original form of American art it was and is. I was the manager there in the mid-80s and still count my colleagues from those days as friends. 

Just another part of Boston(ish) history I don't want to be forgotten and I hope this makes people want to visit Harvard Square and see how wonderful this odd duck of place is and get captured by it's friendliness and charm.