Pulpmovies Reviews

In 1990, as the Soviet Union is withdrawing from Poland, a new and unknown enemy emerges from the east. In 1991 NATO finally starts to respond by sending in reconnaissance squads of soldiers to investigate. Operation: Sunrise is the story of one of these squads.

The squad in question is made up of seriously undesirable soldiers and it quickly becomes apparent that the conflicts between them are already causing tensions within the unit. It is also clear that, as far as the military is concerned, this squad is expendable.

The film takes its time to introduce the characters to us and to show the sorts of conflicts between them that are already emerging, and it’s a testament to the time and thoughtfulness that has gone into the character development that the story remains so believable when things start to go wrong.

Once things go awry, the unit rapidly begins to fall apart and the film quickly coalesces around the lead characters, but up to this point it does feel very much like an ensemble piece. All of the characters have a role to play within their unit and you do get a feel for the divisions, alliances and flashpoints within the group. All of the actors deserve credit here for putting in very solid performances and really bringing their characters to life, so much so that you do buy into these characters and, at no point, is there any sense that any of them are there merely as cannon-fodder.

Where the film really stands out, however, is with the visualisation of its villains. This is not a zombie film, and nor is it a vampire film. Instead, writer/director Donovan Cerminara has pulled together traits from both traditions to come up with something original and consistent that enjoys a remarkably well-defined mythology. The result manages to be – by turns – both sympathetic and genuinely frightening.

Operation: Sunrise is not a film that relies on sudden scares or making the audience jump and, although the film is satisfyingly gory in places, it is not a showcase for explicit special effects. Instead, the film depends on presenting us with a set of well defined characters and believable conflicts which steadily ratchet up the tension as it builds towards its inevitable conclusion.

This is an intelligent and gripping entry to the horror genre and one that – being shot largely in and around a single location – manages to generate a real sense of claustrophobia. In short, Operation: Sunrise is a film that will appeal to anyone who likes their films to have some real bite.

A year after his pregnant wife was brutally murdered, Chris (Russ Diaper) returns to the hotel that they both owned and ran. Not only is the hotel his home and his business, it is also where his wife’s murder – at the hands of a psychotic guest – took place. It’s not surprising, therefore, that Chris is less than certain that he wants to stay and it quickly becomes apparent that the main thing keeping him here is the encouragement – bordering on pressure – from his brother, Mark (Rami Hilmi), who is keen to see Chris start to rebuild his life.

Not right in the hotel, however, and Chris’ initial discomfort at being back starts to give way to the feeling that someone – or something – else is also living in the building…

Spirits of the Fall takes a bit of time to get going, largely because of the very exposition heavy dialogue in the initial scenes. A fair chunk of time is spent early on explaining both the set-up and backstory and, given that the nature of the film is also heavily hinted at, much of this explanation feels both leaden and redundant.

That said, the acting is competent throughout and both of the leads do a good job of maintaining the believability of the two brothers at the centre of this film and the relationship between them. And it’s this relationship that provides both the initial impetus of the film and the veracity for the characters’ reactions.

Where the film really scores strongly, however, is with its atmosphere. The big old hotel (it certainly feels both big and old) in which the film is set is superbly oppressive and this is expertly enhanced both by the darkly ominous cinematography and the excellently chilling soundtrack. When all of this comes together – and it does for most of the running time – the film becomes a genuinely gripping experience that really does take on a life of its own.

Although the plot of Spirits of the Fall relies a little too heavily on convenient characters turning up to explain what is going on, this is a competently told ghost story. But to focus overly on the storyline would be to miss the point which is that this is a film that sets out to unnerve its audience and, when it lets rip with the sounds, the sights and the glimpses of things that shouldn’t be there, it succeeds spectacularly.

Writer/director, Russ Diaper has a very strong visual sense and an excellent grasp of how to build a genuinely chilling atmosphere. On the strength of this film, he really is a talent to watch out for.

It can always be a dangerous move for a filmmaker to include familiar characters in their movie. By doing so, you immediately set audience expectations as to how the characters will behave and, if they defy those expectations without sufficient explanation, events will ring less true than they should.

In the case of Blood Scarab, writer/director Donald F. Glut unites Countess Elizabeth Bathory – who was notorious for bathing in the blood of virgins to retain her youth – and Count Dracula. Also in the mix are Dracula’s assistant, Renfield and a 3000 year old Mummy with a habit of reanimating itself and wandering off.

Bathory (Monique Parent) has left Transylvania and arrived at the modern day Los Angeles castle of Count Dracula (Tony Clay), her vampire husband, with the intention of taking control of the property.

Dracula, meanwhile, is about to discover that his lechery will finally be his undoing. While watching a pair of potential victims – Tanya (Cindy Pucci) and Mina (Natasha Diakova) - he loses all track of time and fails to notice the lateness (earliness) of the hour until he realises that the sun is about to rise. Renfield (Del Howison) fails to get his master home in time and Dracula comes to the inevitable fiery end.

The Countess Bathory shares with her former husband an inability to tear herself away from the sight of nubile flesh and, fearing an end similar to that of Dracula, instructs Renfield to find a way for her to survive in the daylight. Although fearful of his life at the hands of a mistress that so obviously despises him, Renfield begins to research the problem. Conveniently enough, his investigations lead him to the local history museum and our wandering Mummy which he and the Countess need to locate in order to put Bathory’s wishes into effect…

I have to admit that I found Blood Scarab to be a bit of a mixed bag. There are certainly some good ideas in here and, if you enjoy seeing your gothic horror wrapped up in plenty of female flesh, there is plenty here to enjoy. The vampires are effectively realised – more so with the Countess than with Dracula – and the effects are never less than competent. Indeed, there were a couple of cases where I was very impressed with the effects achieved – especially when you take the size of the budget into account - and the Mummy itself was superbly brought to life.

It was a bit jarring, however, to hear both Dracula and Bathory talking – and often behaving – like modern day Californians. This probably wouldn’t have been too much of a problem, however, if I’d been able to fully buy into the character of Renfield.

Although Del Howison put in a pretty good performance, his character was undermined by a combination of the plot requirements imposed by the script and my own expectation of how any character called Renfield should behave. In short, I tend to assume that any character with this name is going to treat us to a display of bug-eating insanity and, although the film acknowledges this, the plot also needs him to remain lucid enough to drive the story forward. This left the film with a character that was a little too contradictory for me to really buy into. As a result, I was unable to suspend my disbelief as far as I really needed to.

On a slightly more minor point, you really do need to do more with a character called Mina when you make a film with Dracula in it.

However, to focus on these gripes is to miss the point of the film which is to reveal – both physically and figuratively – the lesbian depravity of the vampire Countess. To this end, Blood Scarab really is Monique Parent’s film and she clearly had a lot of fun bringing the Satanically sexy Elizabeth Bathory to the screen. She is both a stunning and a stunningly beautiful actress who delivers a great performance that brings both energy and eroticism to the events.

Ultimately, Blood Scarab is an homage to the sort of films that Hammer started making in the early 1970s and how you respond to it will depend on how you felt about these films the first time around. If you watched the likes of The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil and desperately wanted to see what was happening just outside of the frame, then this really is the film for you.

Imagine, if you will, Plan 9 From Outer Space written and directed by someone who not only shared Ed Wood’s enthusiasm for his chosen genre, but by someone who not only knew what they were doing but also had a sense of humour. And if you can imagine that, you are pretty close to Flying Saucer Rock N Roll.

The film is set in 1957, a happy time (to quote from the synopsis) of big fins, Rockabilly music and innocent teen love. The teens in question are Johnny (Joshua Duthie), the local square who has finally managed to land himself a date with Susie (Shannon Lark).

After a couple of false starts, things finally start to to go right for Johnny. But this can’t last and he and Susie are intruded on by Maynard (Elan Freydenson), a beatnik stoner who tells them that the Martian zombies are coming!

Johnny and Susie, of course, find this more than a little difficult to believe until they see the proof with their own eyes and then it’s up to Johnny to discover his inner cool, rescue his girl and save the world.

It is all very stereotyped, but these are fun stereotypes and they are very effectively brought to life by some very strong performances by the cast. So much so that you find yourself genuinely caring about what is going to happen to the characters, even while laughing at the jokes.

Obviously, being a monster movie, the make-up and special effects do matter and here the film performs admirably. Although the film was made for a very low budget, every penny clearly made it onto the screen and the effects are both effective and (in one case) quite painful to watch.

Music also makes up a large part of the film’s success with a rockabilly soundtrack – and performances – that manage to capture the spirit of both the film and the era it portrays.

Flying Saucer Rock N Roll is an affectionate, and very funny, tribute to the dodgy science fiction films and monster movies of the 1950s. Writer/director team Joe & Eric Callero clearly know and love these films and manage to pay tribute to them in a way that is a lot of fun without needing to descend into overt caricature.

It’s well written, solidly acted, and packed with lines that are laugh out loud funny. I’d recommend it to anyone.

Sam Harris has famously argued that by being accommodating towards moderate religious beliefs, we open the way for more extreme values to insist on the same acceptance. The target of Women’s Studies is a political rather than a religious ideology but fanaticism is fanaticism (and religious fundamentalism has much more to do with political power than with finding faith) and the film tries to explore the way in which the process of radicalisation works.

Mary (Cindy Marie Martin) is a feminist and graduate student in Women’s Studies with a bright political future ahead of her – until she realises that she’s pregnant. This leaves her torn between her political idealism, Catholic guilt and career aspirations and uncertain of what to do next when she, her boyfriend, Zack (James A. Radack) and two friends Beth (Melisa Breiner-Sanders) and Iris (Laura Bloechl) share a car back to college for the start of a new term.

Mary’s car is stolen while the four are en-route and a group of students offer to put them up in their nearby academy temporarily. And then things start to get strange.

The Ross-Prentiss Women’s Academy is a women only institution, and one that emphasises subjects such as women’s studies, business and politics – all of which are studied from an exclusively feminist perspective.

Mary finds herself drawn to the ideals of Judith (Tara Garwood), a senior student at the academy and the prime mover of much that happens here, who quickly ensures that the four friends are separated from each other. Iris, uncertain and more than a little naïve, finds herself under increasing pressure to not only buy into the student ethos, but also to become a student herself. With Zack isolated and, frankly, a bit useless it falls to Beth to see that something is wrong here. Unfortunately, the others aren’t listening…

Women’s Studies is an original take on the Isolated teenagers genre of slasher films and one that does make a serious stab at exploring the sort of exclusionary behaviour, peer pressure, groupthink and bonding rituals that typifies a cult and that can draw someone along the line from idealism to terrorism. It helps that the characters are consistently well rounded and given real depth by a consistently strong cast. These characters – both the protagonists and the academy students – manage to remain both consistent and believable and it is this that gives the film a lot of its strength and makes it such a shocking experience.

In fact, I would have liked to have seen more of the characters – and they were certainly strong enough to have supported some deeper development – and less of the ending, which was longer than it needed to be and tended to over-labour some of the points.

That said, the film does have an excellent coda.