Geoul sokeuro
AKA Into the Mirror
Director: Sung-ho Kim
Starring: Ji-tae Yu, Myeong-min Kim, Hye-na Kim, Ju-bong Gi, Myoeng-su Kim, Young-jin Lee, Eun-pyo Jeong

(out of 4)

You're Doing It Wrong

Geoul sokeuro, the South Korean horror mystery that we’ll refer to from here on as Into the Mirror, is a movie that isn’t sure what it wants to be. In a sense, it suffers from a split personality similar to the one it deals with - it wants to be half detective drama and half supernatural ghost story, and it almost succeeds, except that the drama part is so drawn out to the point of tedium that I welcomed any supernatural occurrence to help break up the monotony. The real point though, is that the elements and camera trickery used to depict the movie’s supernatural happenings - in this case mirrors - should have been used in a more psychological sense. Instead, we must take it as a given that a ghost can enter our world through the mirror image; a better idea would have been to leave it up to the audience to decide that.

She's so vain.

The movie begins in a department store that is about to re-open after a fire that occurred a year earlier. A woman employee, who also happens to be a klepto, is getting ready to leave when she is apparently killed by her own reflection in the mirror. Enter Woo Yeong-min (played by Ji-tae Yu), chief of security at the store, who used to be a detective but quit after being indirectly reponsible for the death of his partner. (He tried to shoot the bad guy holding his partner hostage but instead shot at a mirror out of confusion). After a few other employees end up dead (killed by their reflections) Woo and the police, led by Heo Hyeon-su (Myeong-min Kim), begin separate investigations, occasionally bumping heads. (Heo still blames Woo for the partner’s death). Thrown in the mix is a woman who supposedly died in the fire (Lee Jeong-hyeon) and her twin sister Lee Ji-hyeon , just out of the mental hospital. Of course, the twin claims that the image she sees in the mirror is not really her reflection but her dead sister. So we have a disgraced detective, filled with guilt, faced with an opportunity to get his honor back, much angst on the part of the major characters, greedy owners who just want to open up the store again, and some foul play behind the scenes suggesting that Jeong-hyeon didn’t really die by accident.

Director Sung-ho Kim makes very clever use of mirrors, although I never really wondered too much about how the visual effects were achieved. For example, if a person’s mirror image starts moving around I can usually guess that the person outside the mirror is a double. What impressed me, though, was the fact that Sung-ho Kim hid his cameras so well! The idea of the “other” in the mirror has been explored before - I specifically remember John Carpenter’s Prince Of Darkness (which, like this film, suggests another reality on the other side of the mirror) and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 (where Ash’s mirror image jumps out at him). A character in the film suggests that the mirror represents a second world with a second ego, as perceived by someone with a split personality. The person suffering the split thinks he is seeing two different (symmetrical) worlds. “The person is psychologically divided in two”. This explanation seems to fit in with the WTF ending (think of Silent Hill instead of The Sixth Sense), but then how come the movie bends over backwards to show us ghosts? And why have the ghost use mirrors anyway when the movie makes it clear that the ghost can manipulate objects and come into our reality at will?

Man, I don't know what to tell ya!

I still enjoyed Into the Mirror more than the usual Asian ghost story, which too often likes to use long haired creepy girls (the Ringu phenomenon) for the spook factor. The movie covers interesting ground but there’s just not enough of it, as if the creators didn’t truly believe in their mirror-world hokum and tried to keep distance from it as long as possible so they can bring us a melodramatic detective story. I can’t completely blame them, as the supernatural elements are scattershot and never really come together in the confusing ending. Sure, the ending is neat, but it’s nonsensical. I am hoping that the American remake (Mirrors) starring Kiefer Sutherland tones down the ghost and gets more psychological. But who am I kidding - the thing is directed by Alexandre Aja (Haute Tension, The Hills Have Eyes remake) a guy not exactly known for subtlety.

-Bill G

Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, the now-defunct Paragon Video Productions was in business from 1981 to 1985. They released many genre movies in the VHS video rental market, along with other distributors like Continental Video, Camp Video, Media Home Entertainment, etc. Their star trail logo was simple and amusing. Their movies usually had a string of trailers in front of them.

The following trailers appear at the beginning of the VHS edition of Alien Contamination (AKA Contamination, except this is the Rated R edition). The year is 1982.

The following movie trailers are seen:

Boardinghouse (1982) - Trailers are normally supposed to make you want to see a movie. Curiously, this one has the opposite effect!

For Your Love Only (1977) - This is actually an “episode” of the long running German TV series “Tatort”. This particular episode-turned-into-movie stars Nastassja Kinski and was directed by Wolfgang Petersen (”Das Boot”).

The Witching (1972) - AKA “Necromancy”, and yes, that’s Orson Welles. Another “gem” from Bert I. Gordon, and nobody cutting this trailer saw fit to give any credits to anybody.. wonder why…It should be noted that this 1983 re-edit of the film, apparently for the worse.

Molly & Lawless John (1972) - This one has Vera Miles (Psycho 1 and 2), Sam Elliott, and Clu Gulager.

Just Before Dawn (1981) - In-the-woods shocker starring George Kennedy.

One Armed Executioner (1983)- Revenge flick starring that one guy and that other guy too.

Funeral Home (1980) - Reminds us of the Don’t trailer from Grindhouse.

The Gates of Hell (1980) - Yes, this is the altered version of Fulci’s City of the Living Dead.

Hotwire (1980) - Apparently George Kennedy is in this one also. Looks like some kind of Southern-fried car thief flick.

Finishing out is the Paragon Video logo.

By the way, Critical Condition has a nice page dedicated to Paragon’s VHS Video Covers.

The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Director: Terence Fisher
Starring: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi, Leon Greene, Patrick Mower, Sarah Lawson, Paul Eddington, Rosalyn Landor

(out of 4)

Can you count, suckers?

The Devil Rides Out is a Hammer film about a group of friends fighting against devil worshippers led by a powerful priest named Mocata (Charles Gray). Taking a rare turn as the good guy, Christopher Lee plays Duc de Richleau, the worldly expert on the occult who must summon all his knowledge to defeat the forces of darkness. Thrown in the mix is Richleau’s niece Marie Eaton (Sarah Lawson), her husband Richard (Paul Eddington) and daughter Peggy(Rosalyn Landor), Richleau’s longtime friends Rex (Leon Greene) and Simon (Patrick Mower), and Rex’s love interest Tanith (Nike Arrighi).

The beginning of The Devil Rides Out wastes no time, as Duc and Rex rescue Simon and Tanith from a baptismal ceremony, only to be pursued by Mocata, who wants them back. Mocata, a gentlemanly figure with piercing blue eyes, is strong with the black arts - he has powers of possession, hypnotism, and can even summon Satan himself if he needs to (the devil appears once as the “goat of Mendez” - just go with it). Before the movie is through, we have seen animal sacrifices, giant spiders, a car chase involving 1930s-era automobiles, the angel of Death, and some mumbo-jumbo involving time reversals.

Rex, fetch me my golden gun and lightsaber.

The importance of Lee’s acting presence can’t be stressed enough. Taking a role that might have gone to Peter Cushing, Lee is the glue that holds the entire thing together. Exuding intelligence and confidence, Lee makes you believe in his character, so when he starts chanting strange spells you can accept it without eyerolls. It makes the dated special effects (like the giant spider sequence) acceptable. There are some effective moments, like the appearance of a demon appearing as an African savage, or Mocata’s ability to take over Marie’s will through calm speaking and an icy stare. I also noticed the amount of influence this film may have had over later movies like Poltergeist 2 (the illusion of girl Peggy being threatened; also, Mocata’s visit to the house seems like a direct influence of the “Caine” visit). It is also interesting to note that the character of Duc de Richleau, while in service of the Christian God and Jesus Christ, doesn’t hesitate to initiate bizarre pagan rituals, draw circles of protection against occult aggression, or hold your everyday seance. Whatever does the job, I guess!

These Bohemian Grove parties can be really freaky!

The only problem I had with the character of Duc de Richleau was his reluctance to inform his colleagues of nature of the danger they face and sufficiently arm them with that knowledge. They occasionally screw up, and he yells “You damned fool!” at them, but why didn’t he properly warn them in the first place? I was also puzzled over the affection Rex had for Tanith, which was murky in its backstory and seemed only to serve to move the plot forward. It’s also curious that Rex’s voice was dubbed in by Patrick Allen (what gives?). Minor quibbles, however. The Devil Rides Out is a good Saturday afternoon flick best experienced for its atmosphere, not logic or believability. It’s also proof that much more can be found in Hammer horror (and from director Terence Fisher) than Dracula or Frankenstein.

- Bill G

Hey, we’re ridin’ out later! It’s good to be me!

Superstition (1982)
Director: James W. Roberson
Starring: James Houghton, Albert Salmi, Lynn Carlin, Larry Pennell, Jacquelyn Hyde, Stacy Keach Sr.,

(out of 4)

Ah, the old Head-in-the-Microwave Gag!

WARNING: Some spoilers ahead.

Superstition is a Canadian flick (I think) from 1982, but I would swear it was directed by somebody like Umberto Lenzi or Lamberto Bava. It plays like an alternate universe version of Argento’s Suspiria, if it was directed by somebody like Lucio Fulci. In other words, it’s just plain bad, but gory enough and silly enough to keep one interested. There are no real characters in this movie, just meat for the grinder. Basically, Superstition is a succession of kills strung together to a funny prog soundtrack (by David Gibney, doing his best Goblin impersonation). It’s also partly produced by Kassar and Vajna - how the hell did they get involved in this?

Some of the kills are gory (spinning blade through the torso), some disturbing (spike through a girl’s forehead), some stupid (guy cut in half by a window pane - how the hell does that happen?), some funny (exploding head in microwave) and some downright boring (hanging, body thrown around room). But there certainly are a lot of them.

Works better than Advil

So who’s causing all this commotion? Well it turns out that many years ago, a witch was sentenced to drowning, and in order to keep her in the lake, a special cross was tossed in to make sure she keeps out of trouble. Folks, it didn’t work. The priest who sentenced her to a watery grave gives no good reason why she isn’t just burned. I guess his heart wasn’t in it? As soon as she hits the water the village burns down. Bad sign #1. Soon the poor priest finds himself crushed to death. Bad sign #2. That cross must obviously be defective.

It’s years later, and the witch is still at it - killing anybody who comes near the lake, and the old house in front of it. I think the creators of this movie wanted an Amityville vibe, but there isn’t much time to build up a mood in that regard, with all the slaughtering going on. What we do get is a clueless reverend named David Thompson, a cowardly dad, a few babes, a kid, a priest, a strange old lady and her retarded son, an incompetent detective (played by Albert Salmi, who in real life would later die with his wife in a murder/suicide), and a girl who may or may not be a ghost. The priest is killed early on by a spinning circular saw blade, which flies across the room at him. The fact that it is still spinning under some ghostly power as it burrows through his chest seems to be of no importance to those who witnessed it. Rev. David Thompson says he’s shaken up, but otherwise reacts as if he just witnessed a minor rear end collision. The rest of the running time is filled with people running back and forth in full panic mode, but for some reason failing to run in the one direction that might save them, namely out the front door.

This is not a dream. We are speaking to you from the year one, nine…

Spoiler: everybody dies in this film. Well, why shouldn’t they? They have created a monster (not shown, by the way, except for monster hands with claws) that has pretty much been established as invincible. You gotta wonder about movies like this where Satan can do whatever he wants. Crosses don’t work (well, one cross sort-of-works) ,priests are useless. Hey, God! We could use a little more help down here! After a while, one wonders if they should just drain the pond, bulldoze the place and put up condos or something. Maybe the witch will want to be superintendent.

-Bill G

Bad Day at Sunday School

Children of the Corn (1984)

Director: Fritz Kiersch

Starring: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, John Franklin, Courtney Gains, Robby Kiger, Anne Marie McEvoy

1/2   (out of 4)

Too much strawberry ice cream makes me sick.

Children of the Corn was originally a Stephen King short story. I haven’t read it. But if this movie is any indication of what the book is like, I’ll never be reading it. Before the opening credits even roll, we’re treated to voiceover narration by the movie’s main kid hero Jobe (Robby Kiger). “It was about 3 years ago. I was the only kid in church that day…”. Oh Jesus, here we go. Massive exposition voiced by a kid. The strong suit of horror movies (and I think, most Stephen King novels) is in the power of the image, but before we even see anything we have to listen to a boy dumb it down for us.

Not much of any interest happens after the beginning slaughter scene in a diner. We learn that a boy preacher named Isaac (John Franklin) has created a cult based around some demon in the corn fields of Gatlin, Nebraska. His right hand man is an older teen named Malachai (played by Courtney Gains, a good casting decision. Back in 1984 he looked like some Amish kid gone off the deep end). At Isaac’s command, all adults in town are brutally killed. Three years later, nobody outside of Gatlin seems to have given a shit, and the kids are still busy doing their cult thing when yuppie couple Burt (Peter Horton) and Vicky (Linda Hamilton) stumble into town.

Gatlin: City of Ethanol and High Fructose Corn Syrup!

Let’s get the religious symbolism out of the way: Malachi was originally the first of the Biblical minor prophets, meaning “God’s helper/God’s messenger”. It may be helpful to know that the Book of Malachi, the last book in the Hebrew Old Testament, was written in response to corruption of the Israelites, particularly the priests. Armed with this knowledge, we can successfully predict the outcome of the movie Malachi’s relationship with boy-priest Isaac. The Biblical Isaac, of course, is the son of Abraham. You might be tempted to believe that Children of the Corn is taking potshots at Judaism but this seems doubtful in light of Burt’s later comment that any religion not based on love and compassion is a false one. Then again, the Old Testament isn’t exactly a shining example of God’s love, as it involves a lot of blood, death, and sacrifice. It also doesn’t help matters that all the cult members are children. Is that how Stephen King sees religious folk?

Anyway, this is all academic. It’s more fun to talk about this movie than it is to watch it, because the thing is mediocre in just about every sense. There’s no particular imagery of any staying power to take away, except maybe flashes of the Nebraska cornfields, but even that is underutilized. There’s nothing particularly scary, threatening, or suspenseful either. The thing just sort of plods along, with our two heroes driving down lonely highways for what seems like an eternity. The movie occasionally will throw us a bone, like a murder of a gas station attendant, but even that sequence is rather dull and uninspired.

Just lie back and think of Kyle Reese

The characters of Burt and Vicky aren’t exactly the brightest bulbs either. They turn on the car radio and become annoyed at hearing some preacher’s voice, but don’t seem to know that if you turn that little knob thingy you might be able to listen to something else. Burt leaves Vicky alone with little girl psychic Sarah. Guess who ends up kidnapped and tied to a sacrificial cross? Watching Linda Hamilton tied up in the middle of a cornfield gave me a brief flashback to The Wicker Man, but it was only brief. Let’s not kid ourselves.

The ending deals with turning the cornfield into a “lake of fire” to kill the monster/demon thing, but it’s not executed with any particular flair (the word “uninspired” will creep into your head alot during this film). The movie’s budget is too limited to try to show the monster anyway - we just get to see something moving under the field and the occasional explosion or cheesy animation. Even the final “boo” ending is handled with no particular care - when the words “The End” pop up on the screen before our survivors even have the time to drive out of frame, it seems like the creators have been waiting the whole movie to do it. This is probably what happens when people get the bright idea to turn a short story into a 90 minute feature.

We want Menudo!

I have seen worse movies than Children of the Corn, but not many that just seem to be going through the motions. This one left me feeling apathetic. It’s more like a TV movie adaptation than a theatrical film. Quite frankly, how this flick generated 6, count em, 6 sequels is beyond me - I can only assume some cheesy cornfield deity was involved. Nebraska deserves better.

- Bill Gordon