All Hallows’ Eve 2 (2015)

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All Hallows’ Eve 2 (2015)

I just finished posting my review of TALES OF HALLOWEEN, and no sooner did it post than I’m writing a review for yet another Halloween anthology film, ALL HALLOW’S EVE 2. This is an anthology made up of eight short films by eight different filmmakers, each about a particular aspect of Halloween. There is a superfluous wraparound story that has no payoff (we’ll get to that), but the individual stories here are pretty interesting.

That was one pissed off pumpkin!!

Ignoring the opening wraparound story for the time being, the anthology has a damn strong opening with the two short films, “Jack Attack” and “The Last Halloween.” “Jack Attack” (written and directed by Bryan Norton and Antonio Padovan) is the story of a pumpkin who doesn’t much like being turned into a Jack-o-Lantern, so it exacts some gory revenge on its attackers. “Jack Attack” is an effective short that I actually had the privilege of seeing a couple years ago. At a tight eight-minute runtime, there is no filler here. Elizabeth (Helen Rogers) is babysitting Jack (Tyler Rossell). It is Halloween and Liz curves a pumpkin and roasts the seeds for them to enjoy–except the pumpkin is pissed. What begins as a sentimental, sweet short ends in a gross display of gore and revenge. I love “Jack Attack.”

“Alexia” watched too much RINGU!!

“The Last Halloween” is a great follow up to the first story and really kept the ball rolling. In this story (directed by Marc Roussel, written by Roussel and Mark Thibodeau–which is based on Thibodeau’s comic book), we join a few “kids” as they go out trick or treating on Halloween night. Immediately the viewer realizes that something isn’t right as the landscape looks like a war zone. Soon it becomes apparent that the trick or treaters are more interested in doling out tricks than getting treats. This is another short and sweet story that moves quickly and has some great makeup effects. This is one neighborhood you want to stary away from!! This is also the one short in this anthology that I really wanted to see as a feature length film.

Just like in TALES OF HALLOWEEN, there were no stories that I out and out didn’t like. All the entry’s were fun and well made. I was a little disappointed with the short, “Descent” (written and directed by Jay Holben and Christopher Probst). The story was lifted right from an old Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV show. In it, Vanessa (Renee Intlekofer) witnesses a murder. When after a case of bad luck she is stranded in an elevator with the man who committed the murder, she decides to go on the offensive. But there’s just one problem. You’re going to have to see what happens (no spoilers here). But the “twist”–if you want to call it that–was lifted straight from an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But on the positive side, the acting and cinematography were fantastic. I was just disappointed by the originality.

The other two that I enjoyed the most are “Mr. Tricker’s Treat” (directed by Mike Kochansky and written by Kochansky and Mark Byers), where a girl (Carrie Seim) finds out the hard way what makes Mr. Tricker’s (Michael Serrato) Halloween decorations look so life-like, and “Alexia” (directed and written by Andreas Borghi), one of the stories not connected to the Halloween theme. In “Alexia,” a guy’s girlfriend who killed herself still haunts him through the computer and social media. “Alexia” is downright scary and is a very effective ghost story with elements of RINGU in it. “Alexia” was breathtaking to look at and we get some fantastic and unique camera angles and colors.

Think of ALL HALLOW’S EVE 2 as the poorer cousin of TALES OF HALLOWEEN. I still haven’t discussed the wraparound story because it really isn’t worth it. It felt tagged on, like they forgot they needed one and quickly threw something together. But the eight short films here will entertain you and will put a smile on your face this Halloween season. Check this one out.

My Summary:

Directors: Jesse Baget, Elias Benavidez, Andrés Borghi, Jay Holben, Mike Kochansky, James Kondelik, Jon Kondelik, Bryan Norton, Antonio Padovan, Ryan Patch, and Marc Roussel

Plot: 3.5 out of 5 stars for the entire anthology

Gore: 5 out of 10 skulls for the entire anthology

Zombie Mayhem: 0 out of 5 brains for the entire anthology

Reviewed by Scott Shoyer

Stay Bloody!!!

Filed under: Holiday Horrors, Horror Anthology, Horror Short Films, Independent Horror Scene, Movie Reviews, New Horror Releases, New Posting, Upcoming Releases

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New York! Tristan Risk Thriller SAVE YOURSELF Locks World Premiere

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New York! Tristan Risk Thriller SAVE YOURSELF Locks World Premiere

Canadian horror thriller SAVE YOURSELF to have World Premiere in New York.

Tireless Canadian indie genre filmmaker Ryan M. Andrews (SICK) has just informed us that his latest effort, the female-driven psycho thriller SAVE YOURSELF, will have its world premiere on Friday, November 13th at the New York City Horror Film Festival, running this year at the atmosphere-packed, post-industrial horror-themed venue/bar/haunted attraction/theatre Times Scare in Manhattan.

Fetish model, burlesque dancer and current indie horror “It” girl Tristan Risk (AMERICAN MARY, THE EDITOR) headlines the cast of SAVE YOURSELF which also stars Canadian actress and director Jessica Cameron (TRUTH OR DARE) plus Tianna Nori (CLEAN BREAK), Sydney Kondruss (THE DROWNSMAN), Elma Begovic (BITE), Ry Barrett (THE DEMOLISHER) and Bobbie Phillips (CARNIVAL OF SOULS). The flick tells the story of five women en route to Los Angeles to screen their latest horror film, who accidentally cross paths with a mysterious scientist hell- bent on using them for his bizarre research. And that’s just scratching the surface of this strange shocker…

For ticket sales and to check out the rest of the great titles unspooling at the NYCHFF go HERE.

And for all things SAVE YOURSELF visit the Official Site.

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Horrorstör Review: Read. This. Book.

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Horrorstör Review: Read. This. Book.

Some may recognize Grady Hendrix as the former film critic who ran Variety’s superb Asian movie blog, Kaiju Shakedown. I bemoaned when Variety finally shuttered his corner of their site, but if I’d had any idea that closing that door would eventually lead to Hendrix opening the door to the fiction side of his career, I’d have sent them a bottle of whiskey, because Horrorstör is a must-have in this world.

Here’s the basic, Amazon-level pitch: Three employees of an Ikea-esque store called Orsk are tasked with working late one night in order to figure out who has been moving objects and leaving behind disgusting messes and weird graffiti in the middle of the night. They suspect it’s a homeless man or a weird shopper; we, knowing this is a book called Horrorstör, suspect it’s a ghost.

That’s an accurate description of the setup, but here’s an even better way to pitch it: Imagine if in the middle of the night, when no employees were around, Ikea turned into Silent Hill. Now imagine you were just some average nobody who hated their job at Ikea, were forced into working an overnight shift by your socially inept manager, and ended up having to fight your way out of the increasingly twisted hellscape that emerges within. That’s Horrorstör.

And I do mean increasingly twisted. Hendrix opens his novel by letting us get to know our main gal Amy, who is a totally normal, relatable woman who probably could have done something exciting in life if she put her heart into it, but who ended up doing nothing in a boring day job because that’s a whole lot easier. We get to meet her dorky manager, Basil, and the three other employees who wind up in the store after hours, and it leans in to a cheeky setup about how a suburban heaven like Ikea is really a bit of a nightmare on the inside, with all that it represents being a little soul-rotting at its core. And that’s amusing, but it’s pretty surface level stuff.

Hendrix knows this, though. He knows that simply saying, “What if an Ikea was haunted? Wouldn’t that be kinda funny and kinda freaky?” can only carry you so far. And so about half-way through the book, he cranks the horror knob to 11 and never dials it down. From then on it becomes a gripping, imaginative, subversive story that doesn’t necessarily zag when you think it’s going to zig, but it makes damn sure that each zag and zig is coated with razor wire and consequences.

But what’s particularly striking about Horrorstör is how contemporary of a horror story it is. These days I find horror to be largely voiceless. Most, be it a movie a show or a book, don’t exist in the moment. They have nothing to say about the world around us, they simply put people through the grinder to revel in the sausage getting made. But Hendrix isn’t that cynical. There’s a bolt of optimism that runs through Horrorstör as it tests the temerity of a young woman who has been disenfranchised in life purely of her own accord.

Amy is a typical millennial. She was told the future was bright, so she put on sunglasses because she was too cool to look into it. And now she’s stuck holding the bag on her own life because of it. She’s got no one else to truly blame, and so it’s either deal with the overwhelming horde around her or get swept away by the river of time. And the craziest thing about it all, is that once the shit really hits the fan, part of you (and Amy) starts to wonder if it might indeed be better for her to just fade away than fight to matter in the world. There’s actually a logic to letting her become complacent and just another dead-eyed worker bee.

Having you root for a hero one second only to later think “You know, the Warden of Hell she’s facing raises some good points…” is deceptively complex and clever writing, and it shows that Hendrix has what it takes to tell a horror story that will stand the test of time. It’s not just gory. It doesn’t just cash-in on a popular trend. Horrorstör gets inside your head and takes you to a world where this nightmare makes total sense. And like a trip to a real Ikea, it’s a beautiful, punishing hellscape I’d gladly submit myself to again.

 

Buy Horrorstör here. I recommend the paperback, which is shaped like an Ikea catalog and even has appropriate furniture product pages at the start of each chapter. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that this book just flies by. I tore through it in two sittings, which is exceedingly rare for me these days. 

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Walerian Borrowczyk’s THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE: An Appreciation

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Walerian Borrowczyk’s THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE: An Appreciation

SHOCK takes a closer look at Eurohorror masterpiece THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE.

The Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk has long been spoken of in mythic terms mostly because his films have been so unavailable though the provocative images that have surfaced through the years have kept people intrigued enough to bandy his name about. After Arrow released the boxed set of his films, which sold out instantly, it’s apparent the intrigue is closer to obsession. That set was propelled to some stardom through the support of filmmaker Terry Gilliam, and now other films are finding their way to the surface.

Not included in the boxed set though one of Borowczyk’s more famed titles, THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE (aka DOCTEUR JEKYLL ET LES FEMMES or DR. JEKYLL AND HIS WOMEN or THE BLOODBATH OF DOCTOR JEKYLL) has now been released, finally, after many years of attempted extrication, by Arrow Films and guided to one of the top releases of the year through the work of film scholar Michael Brooke. A fantasmic film of undulating sensual apparatus, from Bernard Parmegiani’s rapturous score through the fine work of performers Patrick Macnee, Marina Pierro, and Udo Kier, we can now fully immerse ourselves in the world that Borowczyk meant to deliver when he crafted his initial vision.

Bernard Parmegiani’s score rumbles underneath the frames and inside the grain of Noël Véry’s delicate haze-driven photography. Parmegiani, an artist whose pedigree includes previous work on Borowczyk’s film JEUX DES ANGES (1964) and the graphic artist Jan Lenica for his 1964 film A, reworked sections from his 1972 piece “Pour en finir avec le pouvoir d’Orphée” for this psychosexual story. Entering the film with a thunderous crash against the keys, presaging BLADE RUNNER’s opening credits, the electronic composition guides the story, illuminating the dark streets as a young girl runs from an unseen villain, who makes finally make his appearance as an odd-browed man with a mean stick, an instrument of cruelty so mannered that the girl is beaten to death on the street, a crime so vicious it breaks during the assault. Guiding us into the home of Dr. Jekyll on soft waves of his score, we drift from this near dreamlike murderous scene to a presentation of the more civilized, a contrast that is the basis for the original story as well as Borowczyk’s notes on man’s nature.

Assisting the director with his more concupiscent telling of the famed tale are a remarkably restrained Udo Kier, who leaves the freakishness to his chemistry-saturated counterpart in the performance of Gérard Zalcberg in his feature debut. The actor’s makeups and facial structure give an otherworldly reality to the monster that haunts the upper echelon bourgeoisie permating Henry Jekyll’s home. A singular artist, Jekyll’s betrothed is brought to feral loving life through Marina Pierro’s enlightened performance, a requirement necessary to tie together Jekyll’s fanaticism for his beloved chemical investigations and the crossings where libido supercedes and destroys love. Further diminuating the oft excessive Udo Kier are the exaggerations of the grand Patrick Magee, delivering a rather spastic portrayal of a father mad with desires both sexual and punishing.

The American horror film chooses maniac destruction over sensual reward, mirroring the attitudes of the culture in which these films thrive. In Borowczyk’s European investigation in libidinal impulse, even the act of rape by a giant phallus is grafted into lacy underthings, the erotic charge of a father forced to watch his daughter penetrated, and enjoying it, and even in the aftermath of an earlier crime, cameraman Noël Véry’s gaze lovingly consumes the corpse, blood splashed around her crotch in a manner as careful as haphazard. Véry’s work on this film is one that sets us in a dream world of sheer eroticism as much as it forces the film’s boxed-in reality, nearly fully occurring inside the film’s namesake’s home, with a gauzy hazy semi-focus setting most objects glowing almost as if the characters are plunged into the very bath that transforms Jekyll into the monstrous Hyde.

By the time the film’s various threads of anarchic revolution against a staid yet blasphemous class form a river of congression with Fanny destroying her own humanity to forever exist in the pungent fumes of burning love. Although Jekyll as Hyde espouses the joys of such transmutation, he reaches out toward his beloved, yet hunted, Fanny as she allows herself to be consumed. The enmeshment of self with science, of being with nonbeing, of destruction as rebirth, is handled through a dynamic nearly nonvocal sequence with Parmegiani’s haunting undulating score infusing Borowczyk and Véry’s images with Kier and Pierro’s performances into an explosive fading of love and life, power and majesty, death and love.

Completed near the end of his filmmaking career, Borowczyk’s power governs this strange tale, and immersion into gorgeous decadence, and the subversion of order as the only escape from the trappings of society. Horror as a consequence of human existence. The finality of being.

The post Walerian Borrowczyk’s THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE: An Appreciation appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

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10 Films That Need to be Remade

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10 Films That Need to be Remade

Wanna know something? Horror remakes are here to stay. I know, I know; not exactly earth-shattering news. The horror remake has been a mainstay in Hollywood for a long time now with no end in sight. I find it funny that people still get angry when a new horror remake is announced. That’s like getting angry because there’s a Monday in every week.

I’m not completely against horror remakes. There’s been more than a few that have been better than the original. There are also some horror films that, for many different reasons, should be remade.

Below is my list of horror films that need to be remade. Remaking the following films won’t just introduce these films to a new audience, but remaking them will result in an overall stronger film.

THE HIDDEN (1987)

This film has a solid story: A cop and an FBI agent team up to hunt down a serial killer who isn’t exactly what he/she seems. The performances are great and the f/x are damn good for 1987, but The Hidden suffers from being hopelessly outdated. The Hidden reeks of the 1980s, and this actually hurts the overall film. The killer goes into a record store; all the cops are using typewriters; the police station’s cutting-edge computer lab consists of a few Commodore 64’s. All these elements really takes away from the experience of the film. Plus, I think there could be more horror elements in this flick. This would be an easy film to update. The skeleton of the film is solid, it just needs a cosmetic facelift to update the technology and overall feel of the film.

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986)

This classic film needs a remake for the same reasons as The Hidden. It has an outdated 1980’s feel to it that really pulls you out of the movie. And let’s face it, Night of the Creeps could also benefit from some better f/x.

C.H.U.D. (1984)

Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. With a title like this how could this film fail? Well, it does. The titular creatures barely get any screen time. This film is begging to be updated into a fantastic creature flick!!

PUMPKINHEAD (1988)

Stan Winston’s directorial debut is an overall fantastic movie. Winston gives us one of the scariest creatures in modern horror, but I feel like Pumpkinhead underachieves and we never really get to see him in all his demonic glory.

PHANTASM (1979)

This film has a lot going for it. It’s got a fantastic horror villain (The Tall Man), silver spheres that are flying Cuisinarts, and it has one of the creepiest atmospheres and tones around. But Phantasm suffers from a dated 1970s feel and from a wonky plot. Get someone in there who could make a more linear storyline (the mythology in this film is terrific) and you’ve got yourself a winner!!

THE STUFF (1985)

Another classic film that suffers from the era in which it is made. The Stuff is a yogurt-like substance that is actually a living thing that eats people from the inside out. The film pokes fun at dieting fads, consumerism, and advertising. With today’s controversy of GMOs, what better time is there for a remake of The Stuff?

WARNING SIGN (1985)

This is a largely forgotten about scifi-action-horror film from the mid-1980s about a top secret government facility being locked down after an experimental virus gets loose. The cure is of course inside the facility, and so are the scientists who are infected with a rage-like pathogen. Warning Sign needs a facelift to update the technology and the special f/x. Solid movie, though.

BLOOD BEACH (1980)

The argument could be made that Blood Beach was already remade and called Tremors, but I think a more faithful remake is in order. Blood Beach is about a creature that lives at the beach and sucks people under the sand and eats them. It’s got a killer poster and some great taglines including, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water—you can’t get to it,” and “…where the water is the safest place to be!” This fun film definitely needs a remake in the special f/x and story departments.

GALAXY OF TERROR (1981)

Arguably one of Roger Corman’s best cheesiest sci-fi/horror films. This one features a wacky cast and some of the most bizarre death scenes you’ll see. But Galaxy of Terror wallows around in its own cheesiness. With some script changes, this film could be downright terrifying.

FADE TO BLACK (1980)

A lonely outcast who is also an unhinged movie geek decides to exact cinematic-style revenge on those who have crossed him. Remake this film with more modern day horror films as the killers inspirations and you’ve got a winner. This is a creepy, effective film that just feels outdated now.

Which films do you think need to be remade? Anything on this list piss you off? I want to hear from you all!!

Stay Bloody!!!

Filed under: Blog Special, Horror Lists, New Posting

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TV Recap: SCREAM QUEENS Episode 106, “Seven Minutes in Hell”

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TV Recap: SCREAM QUEENS Episode 106, “Seven Minutes in Hell”

SHOCK’s Alyse Wax drags us down into the hell of SCREAM QUEENS sixth episode.

The votes are in: Zayday and Chanel are tied for president. That means the two will rule together. Chanel throws a tantrum and storms up to her closet. #3 and 5 follow her, but discover she isn’t crying; she is laughing. Chanel voted for Zayday and hoped that one of her minions would betray her and vote likewise. She doesn’t want to be the boss in an extreme crisis. It puts a target on her back. Basically this was her not-so-subtle way of getting Zayday killed. But this works out better, and it is on to phase two of Chanel Dies Last.

Returning downstairs, Chanel gives Zayday the key to the storage room, the most holy room in the house. Zayday is suspicious, especially after Chanel announces she is acting president. No matter; Grace and Zayday are excited. As her first presidential act, Zayday insists the sisters have a slumber party. Secrets are always revealed at slumber parties. Chanel is not thrilled about it, but #3 is – because she insists they play spin the bottle first. None of the other girls “get” it, but #3 secretly prays to kiss Sam. After a redo, she gets to. Later, the girls discuss it in the bathroom, and #3 admits to having a weird background with sex and dating. She thinks that, because of her Manson genetics, anyone she loves will be driven mad. As such, their vaginas must never touch.

It is soon discovered that all the doors and windows are locked tight. Grace thinks her dad locked them in; Chanel thinks the killer did. Either way, Chanel had the entire house turned into a panic room, so they are there for the foreseeable future. Chanel is the only one with a working phone – it is a satellite phone – so she calls Chad. Chad and the Dickies were on their way over for a panty raid. Chanel loves playing the female in distress and waits patiently by the window for the frat boys. The second story windows were not bomb-proofed, so Chad climbs up and breaks the window in. The Red Devil appears outside, and the rest of the brothers hurry up the ladder. Caulfield is the only one who doesn’t make it – the problem with having no arms – and the Red Devil cuts his head off.

The slumber party continues, now with the Dickie Dollars, and truth or dare. Chad believes fervently that you cannot lie during truth or dare, and the game begins. Chanel asks #5 if her vagina has teeth. She is flustered and uncomfortable but insists she doesn’t. Grace asks Sam what #3’s secret is. #3 wants to get ahead of what she thinks Sam is going to say, so she blurts out that she has weird sexy feelings for Sam, at the same time that Sam admits #3’s parentage. #3 is furious and turns the question back on Sam, who picks dare this time, and she is dared to go downstairs and take a nap in the bloodied bathtub. Sam admits she likes that #3 has feelings for her, but #3 is too furious with her for spilling her secret.

The rest of the students have a dance party while Same goes into the storage room. She finds the tub, still caked with blood, and the Red Devil appears, knocking her out. He puts her in the tub and she accepts death, but asks the Devil to reveal himself. He does (not to the audience) and she says, “I knew it was you.” The Red Devil suffocates Sam to death.

Hester is jealous that Chad is spending a lot of time with Chanel, which gives Chad the perfect opening to tell her he thinks she is crazy and doesn’t want to be around her anymore. Chanel comes in and interrupts to announce more games. This time, seven minutes in heaven. Chanel and Chad go first, and he pinky pledges to be monogamous to Chanel. Next up is #5 and Roger. While they are in the closet making out, a scream brings the rest of the group down to the store room. Hester was going to check on Sam and she found her dead. Chanel instantly accuses Hester.

Back upstairs, the Red Devil appears out of nowhere and nail guns Roger to death, right in front of #5. He doesn’t touch her though, and leaves before the rest of the party can return. When they do arrive, Chanel accuses #5 of being the Red Devil, then accuses her of being in on it with Hester. Chad finds a secret tunnel system, and Zayday is annoyed that Chanel never mentioned it. Zayday is going to investigate, and Chanel goes with her.

The tunnels are “the nicest secret tunnels ever,” thanks to a presidential design team. The Red Devil appears, with an axe for each girl, and chases them through the hall. Zayday trips, and Chanel keeps running. Before the Devil can behead Zayday, Chanel returns and knocks the Devil out with a vase. The two girls escape. Zayday is surprised that Chanel came back for her, and Chanel insists it was purely selfish – “if I’m going to survive, I need the numbers.”

Detectives and the dean come to the Kappa house the next morning, and the dean is excited that she can say that, if you aren’t a Kappa or sleeping with a Kappa, you are safe. Wes comes in and threatens to carry Grace out of there if she doesn’t come willingly. Grace refuses, and Zayday backs her up. Wes leaves, pissed. #3 and #5 commiserate over their lost loves and they make a pact: they will outlive Chanel. 

Chanel gathers her sisters around to give them gifts: hot pink nunchucks. “We will take the fight to the Red Devil.” Then, they finish with a dance party. As they dance, the Devil watches from outside….

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Review: Restored Canadian 3D Horror Classic THE MASK

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Review: Restored Canadian 3D Horror Classic THE MASK

TIFF restores the classic 3D film THE MASK to its full anaglyphic glory.

The last time I saw Julian Roffman’s 1961 Canadian horror movie THE MASK (aka THE EYES OF HELL). It was via an Elvira branded/hosted VHS release in the late 1980’s, spat out by good old Rhino Video and it was a bummer to say the least.

It wasn’t the film that was lacking. On the contrary, THE MASK (which is, in fact the first Canadian horror film ever) is an effective, imaginative psychodrama that plays out like an extended, extra-weird episode of dark fantasy anthology TV series’ like ONE STEP BEYOND or THE OUTER LIMITS. No, it was the 3D that brought me down. Rhino presented the film with its anaglyphic 3D segments intact and even threw in a couple of pairs of glasses to decode the imagery. But, alas, like most 3D home video releases of that period, the transfer just didn’t work. I spent many a night fiddling with the color and tint controls on my television to no avail as the red/blue doubled visions generally stayed frustratingly split and headache-inducing.

Which makes the Toronto theatrical re-release of THE MASK (opening Friday at the TIFF Bell Lightbox ahead of its DVD and Blu-ray release via Kino Lorber) something to get excited about. The braintrusts at TIFF have in fact gone back to the negative and painstakingly restored the picture; now, not only is the black and white framing footage extra crisp and high contrast, the 3D sequences are nothing short of astonishing.

As a 3D junkie, tried and true, I can assure you that you’ve never, ever seen the old red and blue 3D presented as good.

THE MASK tells the tale of a psychiatrist Allen Barnes (Paul Stevens) who, when he his inherits a bejeweled tribal mask from a suicidal patient, becomes fixated on it, developing a symbiotic, destructive relationship with it, almost an addiction. Every time Barnes touches the mask, a disembodied voice commands him to “put the mask on now!”, which he does. And when he does, we, the audience, are urged to don our own mask (a pair of designer, green cardboard-matted 3D specs) and experience the terrifying, baroque visions he is subjected to…all presented in glorious anaglyphic 3D.

Grab a pair of red/blue 3D glasses now and check out this screen grabs:

These sequences are nothing short of mini surrealist masterpieces; audio/visual nightmares come to life, designed by famed Serbian montage expert Slavko Vorkapich. Human skulls grow eyeballs, snakes pop out of sockets, women are sacrificed and burned alive on alters and masked ghouls reach for the screen. The restored 3D imagery is absolutely breathtaking and otherworldly. Forget what James Cameron has said of using 3D with restraint, for my money, 3D should be outrageous, over-the-top and sense-slapping. I want to jump and duck when things are thrown at me and I want to grab at the air when I momentarily forget that the film I’m watching is flat and that I’m suffering from a color-tinted-cellophane induced illusion.

Here in Canada this week, we had an election that caused a radical shift in government. And while that turnaround is cause for some vague public interest, the fact that Canadians can now watch their own homegrown horror epic THE MASK in all its intended comin-at-ya luster on a big screen is truly a reason to celebrate our National heritage.

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