Bloody Horror February

Where the Devil Roams

Loaded with originality, very good practical effects, excellent cinematography, queasy story, 3.5 stars, 1HR 33MIN, Wonder Wheel Productions, 2023

We’ve written about Toby Poser, John and Zelda Adams (The Adams Family), the Catskills-based independent horror filmmaking family, and their previous film, The Deeper You Dig (2019). For their latest film, they were inspired by the family’s connection to the Catskills and by extreme films like Tod Browning’s Freaks (1932) and Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Incorporating archival photographs and stock footage and drawing on themes of alienation and monstrosity from Shelley’s Frankenstein, The Adams Family made the viciously original horror movie Where the Devil Roams. I’ll provide the film’s setting and direction.

Reminiscent of old-time horror stage shows like Edward Van Sloan’s preamble to Whale’s Frankenstein (1931), we see a paraplegic man making his way from behind a curtain to a live audience. John Adams’ B&W photography is blurry, giving it a genuinely archival feel. The man recites a poem describing Satan’s gruesome fall from heaven and his rebirth in the guise of a woman’s literal heart. We know we’re in for the vile.

The color portion of the film opens with an unflinching murder. A young girl (Lulu Adams) is stabbing her entire family to death with an ice pick. That is, everyone except her younger sister, Maggie, who finishes the job with an axe. And we get the title, Where the Devil Roams, in white capitals on a black background.

Post-credits, we fast-forward decades to the Depression-era 1930s. A young woman, Eve (Zelda Adams), Maggie’s daughter, saunters along a New England road toward a red barn with a large, faded Hello Tobacco advertisement painted on it, the “o” in Hello conspicuously worn away. Here and throughout the film, Hellbender (The Adams Family rock band) songs play against transitional images. Eve pilfers pieces of fruit in a small country store while top-hatted Mr. Tipps (Sam Rodd) walks in. Eve, Mr. Tipps, Maggie (Toby Poser), murderous as ever, and Seven (John Adams), Eve’s father, are part of a traveling circus of the deviant. Ghastly makeup, chrome-studded facial piercings, full-body tattoos, and deformity are the norm here. Circus acts include Mr. Tipps, who, Grand Guignol style, magically seems to saw off his fingers.

Eve visits Mr. Tipps’ tent and discovers that his magic trick is actually snipping off the fingers of a dissected corpse’s hand. Does this mean a supply of dissected corpse hands must be maintained? Meanwhile, Seven undergoes trancelike episodes every time he sees blood. In explanation, flashbacks describe his horrifying World War I experience. In this setting, will we witness a macabre and very bloody version of the biblical story of Eve and the Devil? Amidst family interactions, prepare yourself for the traveling mayhem of vengeance.

Wow, does this family make interesting movies! They write, direct, act, and compose and perform the score … everything. The coherence and feel of these films can’t be defeated. Where the Devil Roams may not be everyone’s cup of grue (as Forrest J Ackerman might’ve said). It isn’t for the squeamish; the effects are shocking, but once you begin, you’re compelled to watch. As in previous Adams Family films, Where the Devil Roams is beautifully shot, with stylized deep-focus Catskills photography.

This one’s just ever so slightly aimless and untenable, and perhaps that’s the point, but the movie’s final act does drag a bit. As yet, we haven’t screened it at our biweekly Bloody Horror Friday Club. While it isn’t as mysterious as previous Adams Family films, I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars for all its qualities and originality.

Venus

Excellent Spanish horror (Spain), interesting murderous coven plot to reincarnate a cosmic queen, good gore and violence, 3.5 stars. 1HR 40 MIN Pokeepsie Films, 2022

In a Fantastic Fest Q&A interview, Spanish writer/director Jaume Balagueró said he was inspired by Lovecraft’s story Dreams in the Witch House to make his fusion of supernatural horror and crime, Venus. He added that only some elements of the story were used, and that “it would actually be difficult to detect Lovecraft’s tale in the movie.” He said he likes “the important characters in his works to be females and children.” Shot in Madrid with well-known Spanish actresses, Venus is a scare-fest of witchcraft hierarchy and violence.

Production credits go to a minor-key church choir. We have Prologue text foretelling the sacrificial deaths of three women and the appearance of a new planet that will plunge the Sun into darkness. All of this will prelude the rise and rule of the demon Lamaasthu. The cosmic bones have been cast!

We move to a Madrid nightclub. A driving metal beat plays as young adults bounce up and down, with a focus on a perched-high go-go dancer, Lucia (Ester Expósito). Later, Lucia enacts her plan to rob the nightspot but is forced to confront the bodyguard/henchman of the mob bosses. Bloodied but with the stash, she manages to escape.

In a parallel scene, Lucia’s sister, Rocio (Ángela Cremonte), is awakened by strange rumbling from the apartment above. Rocio’s young daughter, Alba, is also awake. It’s the wee hours, and black sludge oozes from the bathroom faucet. The two prepare to leave the ominous environment.

Lucia, badly wounded, makes her way to her sister’s building. Abandoning the plan to leave, the two sisters and the child retreat into Rocio’s apartment. This apartment building, named Venus, will be the setting for witch sabbath rituals, violent criminals seeking to retrieve their goods, gruesome murders … and a demon.

Balagueró’s intimate camera work closely follows characters, good, bad, and evil, throughout the film. Light, delicate piano chords accompany scenes of personal dialogue between the sisters. Brief nighttime scenes of suburban Madrid are well-lit and captivating. Interiors are shot with a good sense of the characters’ and action’s geography.

Balagueró’s female characters are the true planners and schemers in his story, while the male criminals bumble about, violently smashing collateral people and objects. Expósito is very attractive, and all the actors are appealing, even the flatly drawn criminals.

Lovecraftian tentacles and supernatural dimensions appear late in the film, but the bloodshed and gore stem from human murder. Music builds, and the body horror effects are startling but not shocking. Despite the violence, the movie maintains a fun, expectant tone. Prophecies of the incarnation of a royal demon are fulfilled in unexpected ways.

This is a worthwhile watch for horror fans. We gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars at our biweekly Bloody Horror Friday screenings.

The Trip

Entertaining Norwegian black humor, Hitchcockian vibe, involving script and direction, fantastic acting, 3.5 stars. 1HR 53MIN XYZ Films, 2021

Writer/director Tommy Wirkola was no stranger to Horror Comedy. His Dead Snow (2009), a zombified Nazis romp in the Norwegian Alps, was a fun surprise. Returning to the genre, Wirkola conceived a film in which, using the pitfalls inherent in a vacation getaway, a husband plans to murder his wife. Wirkola’s twist is that the wife, too, has murder in mind and intends to kill her husband, leading to a pitch battle of wills. The resulting movie, The Trip (2021), thrills viewers with riotous and twisty predicaments. I’ll provide a synopsis of the beginning and describe some of its qualities.

We open with a film within a film. Lars (Aksel Hennie) is directing an indelicate daytime soap opera scene about a cheating wife. “Cut” is called, and we get a taste of Wirkola’s expansive camera work, with wide-angle pans of the warehouse interior studio.

In conversations with several studio actors and staff, Lars says he and his wife, Lisa (Noomi Rapace), are heading to their mountain cabin this weekend. Lars makes sure to drop hints that Lisa has decided to go hiking. Could there be danger in icy mountain hiking? Of course! We see Lars on a phone call, apparently with an accomplice. Meanwhile, TV newscasters report on the dangers posed by three escaped criminals, whose whereabouts are unknown.

Lars shops at a hardware store, buying a hacksaw, duct tape, a hammer, and rope, all obviously nefarious. Arriving home to pick up Lisa, Lars is greeted by Lisa’s neighbor, who says, “Happy hunting.” Lisa shuffles out to the car with her large black travel bag. Along with extra clothes, could Lisa have packed a hunting gun?

On the drive to the cabin, they argue … and laugh. There doesn’t seem to be any undercurrent. Upon arriving at the cabin, they find the security system is broken, and there are crumbs on the floor. How did this happen? Wirkola’s camera notes the hunting rifles in a basement cabinet and the large-bladed knives in the kitchen. Lars and Lisa have a nice dinner, play Scrabble, and exchange normal banter, but their looks at each other betray disdain.

The next morning, Lars prepares to carry out his murder. He loads the boat with saws and rope. Back at the cabin, he sets the hammer on the kitchen table and pours himself a stiff gin for courage. Lisa calls to him from another room. The tracking shots are pure Hitchcock as Lars, hammer hidden behind his back, stalks closer and closer to Lisa. With Lisa’s back turned, he raises the hammer, but suddenly …

I won’t say much more, but I hope it isn’t overly revealing to say that Lisa has her intuitions. And those criminal-type escapees? They’re a factor. Lars’ aforementioned accomplice will show, and fate might be met. I’m confident the final bill will please you.

Noomi Rapace is a terrific actor, and it’s supremely refreshing to see her in a less serious role where she can let her hair down. Aksel Hennie matches her every step of the way. There’s great rapport here. Wirkola’s script is funny and amazing. It swims in complexity and clever resolution. Norwegian pop songs accompany the narrative here and there. The effects aren’t particularly bloody, but the film focuses on the situations and acting. As yet, we haven’t screened it at our biweekly Bloody Horror Friday Club. I give it a strong 3.5 out of 5 stars.