Body Snatchers (1993).

Review #2095: Body Snatchers.

Cast: 

Gabrielle Anwar (Marti Malone), Terry Kinney (Steve Malone), Billy Wirth (Tim Young), Meg Tilly (Carol Malone), Reilly Murphy (Andy Malone), Christine Elise (Jenn Platt), R. Lee Ermey (General Platt), Forest Whitaker (Major Matthew Collins), and Kathleen Doyle (Diana Platt) Directed by Abel Ferrara (#1963 - The Driller Killer)

Review: 

"Body Snatchers was kind of laid on me. It wouldn't have been my choice. If I was going to make that movie from scratch, I would stick to the original from 1956 where the event happened in a town where he grew up in so he kind of knew everyone and realized who was changed and who wasn't. With the military, it's training."

Admittedly, this film has a hard ground to get over in being the third film adaptation of the novel The Body Snatchers (1956) by Jack Finney. You might already know the first version as directed by Don Siegel in 1956, or perhaps the 1978 version as directed by Philip Kaufman (as was the case with the 1978 film, Robert H. Solo served as producer for this film). But here we are with a third film that was directed by Abel Ferrera, fresh off the results of Bad Lieutenant (1992), an NC-17 rated film that is now thought of as a cult classic; this was the first sci-fi film Ferrera did, as I'm sure you can tell from a director considered a cult favorite for those who read into that. But this was a production that was distributed by Warner Bros and made for a budget of $13 million, what could go wrong? Well, Ferrera groused at the fact that he had to film with a setting that is distinct from the previous films, because it takes place on a military base. The screenplay was written by Stuart Gordon, Dennis Paoli, and Nicholas St. John while the story had been done by Raymond Cistheri and Larry Cohen. Anyway, Warner Bros. had planned to release the film in 1992...and then they decided that Innocent Blood would match well in that time when compared to the handful of horror films packed around that time such as Candyman and Bram Stoker's Dracula. So, instead, the film made a run on the festival circuit (such as Cannes, I am serious) and then was dumped. To put it lightly, Warner Bros. should have felt deep shame that they let this film get released to less than a thousand theaters, but, well, here we are. Incidentally, this film was released 15 years after the 1978 version, and the next rendition of the Finney work would come 14 years later with The Invasion (2007).

In a different era, conformity striking its tendrils upon the individual happens all the same just as much as it did in the 1950s or the 1970s. It can't really hold a candle to the previous adaptation when it comes to paranoia or all the gobbledygook that folks say made it better than the original (debatable at the very least), but I enjoyed this one as an embrace of sticking out in violent oddness more than anything. How many films have the stones to have a scene that depicts a kid getting bopped out of a helicopter? The threat present is one that lives among a structure that undoubtedly would have little trouble living undetected: the military structure of rules and order. And, this time around, it also looks upon the family structure (one bit of dialogue relates a feeling of "replaced" when it comes to describing a stepmother) and gives it a nice kick in the stomach with a film that might as well dwell in chaotic order, complete with looking upon the feeling that has to come when seeing a bunch of tendrils upon you and a slowly growing lookalike version lurks nearby. Admittedly, the cast with its lead has hard ground to cover, since one has moved from town doctors and health inspectors to a youth (okay, 20-year-olds playing minors, but still). But Anwar makes a worthy focus because of the vulnerability that comes through in reacting to the conformity that occurs around these strange military man and among the family around her that makes for compelling entertainment in the build of alienation. Kinney and Tilly are two ends of the "ordinary parent pod", which proves interesting for the inevitable confrontation of conformity crashing into chaos, as signified best by the sequence revealing the end of the normal version of the latter complete with decay that looks neat. I'm not too big on Wirth, but then I realize that anybody with a seeming pulse that looks like they care more than the usual guy lackey would seem interesting to Anwar, so that's fine. The most interesting person to probably react to the pod stuff in support is either Elise (edgy looking folks, cool) or Whitaker, although the latter is best spent in their last scene about the reaction to seeing offers of conformity. Ermey is probably underused, but he's a neat presence to see for a bit anyway. In general, I get a kick out of the movie because its 87-minute runtime makes for a generally involving good time of intense interest that rewards viewers that appreciate a good effects show but also a good show about the desolation of authority and family when it comes to pods that want for the thoughts to sound alike. Granted, the ambiguity of the ending is probably not as enduring as the aforementioned last one, but at the end of the day, well, "Where you gonna go?" is still a pretty good one to look upon, as one can't stay up forever nor seemingly trust anyone. It seems strange that Ferrera groused a bit at being wrapped with a military base setting rather than one that honed closer to the 1956 film, because in the end he made an interesting film that is entertaining in its own merit of being more than just a remake. For the folks interested in a degree of horror from a director with a distinct manner for weaving a film in his own way, this is a pretty good one to sift through.

 

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next up: The Mummy (1959).

The Driller Killer.

Review #1963: The Driller Killer.

Cast: 

Abel Ferrara (Reno Miller), Carolyn Marz (Carol), Baybi Day (Pamela Bergling), Harry Schultz II (Dalton Briggs), Alan Wynroth (Landlord), Maria Helhoski (Nun), James O'Hara (Man in church), Richard Howorth (Carol's husband), D.A. Metrov (Tony Coca-Cola), and Butch Morris (Sidewalk Beggar) Directed by Abel Ferrara.

Review: 

"You’ve got to be clear on what you’re doing, what you’re making, and why you’re making it. The first arbitrator of what you do has got to be yourself. Especially if you work from your imagination, you better be very careful with your priorities, man. Not to control your imagination, but to be clear about how you’re being a human being. "

Being provocative certainly could do wonders to having a long and winding career as a filmmaker if done correctly, and Abel Ferrara certainly deserves the appreciation of that label. Born in the Bronx, he made movies from a young age, tinkering with it in high school before making them more regularly when attending Rockland Community College (doing so to try and avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War). He then attended State University of New York at Purchase and the San Francisco Art Institute before he left film school in 1976. He directed his first feature film...with an adult pornographic film 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy (1976). But The Driller Killer (1979) would garner him actual attention, even if it really came from the fact that the United Kingdom called it a "video nastie" due to its cover (well, it also is a movie about a power drill killing spree, but Americans didn't have a problem). The movie was filmed on weekends with a script that basically had improvisations so scenes could lead to other scenes, since the actors were a mix of professionals and non-professionals. The film was written by Nicholas St. John (writer name for Nicodemo Oliverio), a childhood friend of Ferrera who would write for several more of his films; the lead character apparently was inspired by a guy Ferrera knew who had a problem with homeless folks. There are two versions of the film: the 96 minute version is the one released in theaters, while a 101-minute version was found decades later before a DVD release, as Ferrera cut five minutes prior to release that involve a bit of character development. Over the next four decades, Ferrera has directed a variety of features with varying levels of provocateur status in genres (while also directing a bit in television along with dabbling in acting), such as Ms. 45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992), and Mary (2005).

Evidently, Ferrara had described the film as a comedy rather than an exploitative horror film. Eh, the best way to view the movie is to look at as a weird punk movie, an expression of an artist's frustrations and stresses brought out in Freudian stabbing with a drill. It a strange curiosity, since it is more a composition of the danger in mixing fear and anger together rather than straight exploitation trash. It isn't content with sticking to any kind of expectation you might see from the portrait of a guy with just a bit too much stress, right down to how it closes its proceedings, and it means that one will either enjoy or throw their hands in the air. It is a movie about the fear of becoming a failure that leads one to drilling at their problems in ways that somehow make complete sense and yet seem completely ridiculous at the same time. It is a gritty and grimy movie, one where you can practically feel these people on screen. Ferrera (who cast himself to star, just like did with his previous film) makes a quality focus in terms of expressing what a starving artist looks like in all of its primal instincts in terms of stress and desperation, one that doesn't require your pity. He has stated that when watching the film decades later, he thought that it was composed of people who "look like they would never make another film", which meant that they basically put everything they had in it. In that sense, I find myself thinking the movie would be hard to recommend to those who desire something straight to the point in their horror movies. It is a messy movie made with gusto for being messy that I end up liking mostly for its brazen confidence to stumble wherever it likes. It is somehow punk enough to not care about the consequences of its actions in its psycho-drama that it ultimately ends up playing a punch line in the overall result. There is something to be said about a movie with drills and punks that ends up riling your senses in straight-shooting ways that invite further provocation from a director who clearly is interested in doing so. For a film publicly available to view, it won't be for everyone, but sometimes you have to drill out the doubt and see for yourself where punk exploitation can go. 

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.