BACK CATALOGUE: Synapse Films Strikes Again!!

LEMORA: A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL

This held me in near thrall for most of its running length. Clearly a labor of intense love this is the sort of thing that made me into a horror fan as well as a dedicated late night channel surfer. Imaginative and atmospheric I like this as much as any film Synapse has ever sent me and can’t recommend it highly enough. Fairytales hardly come darker and yet a feeling of innocence pervades Lemora even as the integrity of authority figures are called into question the film presents a devastating portrait of the power of evil to seduce and strangle us using the gifts which were intended for our good. Shot in a theatrical style on what must have been one of the lowest budgets in film history Lemora plays almost like a BBC TV movie using broad acting strokes, dynamic camera movement and grotesque makeups that have all added up to an effect that has aged surprisingly well.

Lila is an orphan who has been taken in under the protective arm of a young small town minister. When she is given the opportunity to visit and perhaps reconcile with her dying gangster father she ventures alone to a dark place only to discover that she is prisoner to a mysterious woman surrounded by supernatural creatures. The commentary included features director Richard Blackburn who appears as the pastor in the film and Lesley Gilb who plays Lila as well as producer Robert Fern. It is largely anecdotal which is a shame considering the deeper psycho sexual social context of the story.

NAIL GUN MASSACRE SPECIAL EDITION

To call Nail Gun Massacre a movie is a little generous. It’s more of a concept that happens to utilize genre conventions the same way the Friday the 13th movies do at their nadir. If anything saves the film it’s a sense that we are invited in on the gory joke but I’m far from convinced if this is enough to recommend it to anyone. For those out there who, sadly, only want to be a little titillated, maybe have something to masturbate to while they lap up the requisite amount of gore consider yourself well served. For anyone who sincerely cares about horror as a vehicle for storytelling you would be well advised to not bother with this Special Edition or any other edition of NGM. Quite simply this movie was made to make money/gain an industry foothold for its creator, who then shot an additional nude scene when that didn’t satisfy distributors.

In other words any attempt to take NGM seriously is an attempt at the wrong thing. This would be a plot in search of set pieces even if the script, the acting and the special effects weren’t so inept. And it’s those set pieces, plus a little nostalgia, that drive any continued interest in this dime a dozen shocker in my opinion. Bad one liners, lots of nail gun gore and more than the requisite T&A make this movie little different than most other equally bad slasher movies.

The interview with writer director does nothing but buttress my opinion. He seems like a nice enough guy who’s honest enough about his own motives but unfortunately his primary motive seems to have been capitalizing on the genre rather than adding anything to it.  Even the liner notes here do nothing except make fun of the film. I like bad movies as much as the next person but for me this isn’t one of Synapses best “so bad its good moments”. If you do decide to check this out then make sure this edition is the one as enough supplemental material is provided for you to know everything you’d want to know about this cult favorite.

LONG WEEKEND SPECIAL EDITION

If any neglected movie cries for you to seek it out this minor gem is one. The Long Weekend may be the finest nature strikes back film I’ve ever seen and certainly transcends almost all other films that follow that type of storyline. Despite the cheesy tagline this is a movie that invokes a genuine sense of menace as well as a solid critique of self absorbed living. Peter and Marcia are a couple struggling to save their troubled marriage. But a camping trip to the Australian Coastline turns deadly challenging their relationship to each other, themselves and, in a startling turn, to the earth itself.

Long Weekend is directed by Colin Eggleston who is most well known for being the writer of the well regarded Road Games. He displays an uncanny knack for storytelling here that on review of his cinematic resume he probably never quite tapped into as powerfully again. But then again I’m betting his starting material was never as strong again. Unlike Frogs, Food of the Gods, Prophecy or a host of other nature strikes back efforts Long Weekend is a film which draws direct links to the importance of understanding how our choices regarding how we treat each other also link us to the natural world. Refusal to acknowledge our responsibility in the one affects the other and vice versa. Respect for life must be holistic. When it isn’t the effects are genuinely chilling and that’s what this film does extraordinarily well. It conveys a sense of real judgment, of authority. These characters suffer not for the sake of fulfilling genre expectations but because a moral and ordered universe demands it.

There is an audio commentary here but sadly Eggleston passed away in 1992 and thus couldn’t chime in. Instead we get Producer Richard Brennan and Cinematographer Vincent Monton. Actor John Hargreaves commentary leads us through an extensive still gallery, and a nice set of liner notes round out the Special Features. It should be noted that the transfer of this film is stunning  

INVASION USA

Cold war cinema uses paranoia the way melodrama uses a histrionic clinch between a man and a woman. Whether you laugh or get completely drawn in is up to you. But anyone who doesn’t get some solid entertainment value out of it deserves to live under a communist regime! Using an enormous amount of stock footage the filmmakers of this early 1950’s shoestring opus manage to generate lots of unintentional laughter even as it becomes a scary mirror of our own ability to demonize the “other” and rationalize

A group of bar patrons find themselves talking cold war politics with a mysterious stranger only to discover via the bar TV that World War III has broken out. As communists parachute into America by the boatload and atomic bombs reduce much of civilization to rubble the patrons find love, and hope for the future.

The film is lacking a commentary but there are interviews with all the principal surviving actors not least of which are genre stalwarts Dan O’Herlihy (Robocop, Halloween III and Twin Peaks) and Phyllis Coates (Superman’s Lois Lane). Other extras include a window boxed 1:33 transfer which looks great, two separate civil defense propaganda audio recordings, and the brilliant short film Red Scare starring none other than Dragnet’s own Jack Webb. There are other special features but these are the main ones and offer more than enough reason to pick this up. I would call Invasion USA essential 1950’s cinema for anyone interested in science fiction, fifties film in general or apocalyptic cinema. 

BLUE SUNSHINE SPECIAL 2 DISC COLLECTORS EDITION

Blue Sunshine is more problematic. Director Jeff Lieberman is perhaps better known for his immensely entertaining schlock fest Squirm which is available from MGM complete with director commentary. But this cult favorite rises about schlock by managing to invoke a genuine sense of unease. Whether you find it freaky or creaky will probably depend on your mood at the time but there’s no doubt Blue Sunshine is entertaining.

What do hair loss random murders and balding psychopaths have in common? It could be a drug they all ingested years ago. On the trail is a man falsely accused of murder and the detectives after him. Will they find the answer before it’s too late or will a mysterious substance named Blue Sunshine shine its deadly light beyond anyones control? Look for Tobin “Saw” Bell in a very noticeable if small role in the party scene near the films beginning.

This is a spectacular two disc set. Besides the amazing looking transfer it includes commentary by Lieberman, a 30 minute interview with Lieberman, original trailer, still gallery and liner notes. The second disc is the previously unreleased exquisite soundtrack. I really liked this movie and found it comparable to the cinema of Larry Cohen in the way it takes a believable central horror situation and molds it into a genre bending experience. For the next go around Synapse has even gotten me a couple of out of print things. Next up will be Brain Damaged and Stacy as well as two new films Snake Woman’s Curse and Horrors of Malformed Men.

Related Links

• http://www.synapsefilms.com