What better way to break out of a viewing slump that to watch a Fulci film, but rather than take the mainstream path and re-watch Zombie, The Beyond, or City of the Living Dead (recently released on Blu Ray, woo hoo!), I chose a lesser known title, Red Monks. While Fulci didn’t direct this, he’s credited as a producer, and with his name plastered all over the artwork, for sake of argument, we’ll call it a Fulci film, until proven otherwise. This has yet to be released as a Region 1, so I popped my PAL version (which I had yet to watch) in my trusty-dusty multi-region Daewoo, but it didn’t play. I’m like, Dammit, I need Fucli, and NOW!, so luckily I had a back-up, a Philips, and it fulfilled my need.
Make no mistake, the opening sequences scream “Italian film” with the fabulous scenery and atmosphere, but is it Fulci’s? A guy recently inherited some land and a castle from his parents, which he plans on turning into a hotel. As he roams the property, he sees and follows a naked chick, only to have his head lopped off with a sword while he gawks at her naked behind.
50 years earlier, a husband brings home his new wife to the castle, but rather than immediately bedding her, he runs downstairs to tell The Red Monks the news, and finds out that they want his beau as a virgin sacrifice. He kind of shrugs it off, and rather than laying the pipe and exempting her from her fate, he decides to screw the maid. Nearly alone in a big house, what’s a wife to do but explore, and that she does, stumbling upon the Monks, and fainting in fear. Was it a dream or reality? Only time will tell, but it’s apparent that something isn’t right, as she’s ravaged by some guy while painting in the field, she finds a severed head in the picnic basket, her husband is a distant relative of someone who killed the Red Monks leader, and she gets possessed by “the curse,” and then beheads her husband, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
So, is it a Fulci film, you ask? I have a hard time believing it is with the fake tarantulas, lack of gore, off-screen kills, and somewhat incoherent story, then again, we’d be talking about late 80’s Fulci, which is a far cry from Lucio in his prime. I don’t doubt that he had some hand in it, either overseeing or contributing, but it looks like whatever involvement he did have, he walked away washing his hands of it, because if he truly was invested, he would have taken over the set and it would be a much darker and gorier film. Sure, most of his movies in his later years sucked, but I still have a fondness for House of Clocks and Demonia.
And, when you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, you have to titillate with nudity, so 4 sets of boobs and a couple of butts are thrown in for good measure. I kept hoping this would play out like an Eyes Wide Shut sort of film, even though this was done 11 years earlier, but aside from hoods and hoo-hoos, it was nothing like it. Still, the marketing team did a great job of sucking me in with the trailer, cover, and Fulci references, but the likelihood of giving it another watch is unlikely, as it took me nearly 3 years to get to it anyway. This is one time I’ll have to say stick to what you know, and pop in a Fulci classic instead. If you must venture out, just expect to be less than dazzled, but pick up a copy of Paura-Lucio Fucli Remembered Vol. 1 and get first-hand accounts of the maestro at his best.
Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! has been on my radar for over a year, and although I was unable to acquire a screener back then, maybe because we weren’t a big enough blog yet (Sideshow Review who?), I recently got one from a friend, and was happy to see that Vicious Circle Films, who also brought us Hanger and Run Bitch Run, picked it up for release. Now, if EBKK has even half the WTF moments that the other two do, then it’ll be time well spent.
As you know, many holidays have had horror musings, and Easter’s not exempt from that, with such films as Kottentail and Peter Rottentail. But, this movie centers around a mentally challenged black kid named Nicholas (kid said very loosely since the guy was 19 during filming), who loves Easter and is given a bunny (believed to be the Easter Bunny) by a hobo passing by on the street. His mom is dating a guy named Remington, who recently robbed a convenience store wearing a bunny mask, and decides to put it back on to surprise Nick when he shows up at the house. But, Remy's only half the man he plays out to be, and immediately establishes his dominance by firing the maintenance man (Jorge), verbally abusing Nick when mom's not around, and allowing his pedophile friend to stay over while he enjoys a night on the town.
But, someone in a bunny mask starts killing everyone. Has the Easter Bunny taken human form and gone mad? Is Nicholas merely acting on his pent-up anger? No, it’s mommy dearest who does all the bloodletting, and will do anything to protect her little boy. The creepy friend meets death by drill, Jorge’s friend takes a hammer and flashlight to the dome, Jorge is ripped apart by a skill saw, Stripper #1 is gagged with a broom stick, Stripper #2 is suffocated, and Remy gets gashed in the throat, only to hear how much of a disappointment he is during his last breaths. The final twist, although not too surprising, is that the hobo is Nick’s father (thought to be dead), who has come back to rekindle and reclaim his family, no matter how f-ed up they are.
Starting with the title alone, I really wanted to love this movie and laugh at it’s jokes, but couldn’t, and I’m not really sure why. I like crude humor, but my viewing has gotten rather finicky over the last few years, and maybe even moreso the past few months. Sometimes the simplest things satisfy me, like fart and poop jokes, while other times, I sit in pure boredom, and it’s like juicing a turnip to get a rise out of me. I can’t really pin down what the problem is, maybe I’ve seen too many movies (geez, is that possible?), maybe I feel like it’s all been done and there’s nothing new, or maybe I need to change genres for a while. I really don’t know, but I have to figure it out, as I’m in desperate need of viewing satisfaction (have you noticed that my reviews lean heavily on negativity?), and want to be reassured that creativity still exists. Sure, I’m aware that this problem may be all me, but I can’t discount that some of the simplest films still satisfy me, like Stripes or Porky’s or The Exorcist, so there is hope.
After seeing several films from Vicious Circle, I can see how this fits into their slate, as it has a sort of exploitive grittiness, which we've come to expect from their titles. At first, I was disappointed with Hanger, but as it continues to linger in my head, I've grown to appreciate it, and I put Run Bitch Run as my #1 pick for 2009, even though I never did a review for it and need to watch it again. Sympathy had potential, but failed, and I have a screener copy of Temptation, which I’ll try to get watched before it streets in late June. Not all is lost with Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!, but I feel it would be best viewed late at night as a double bill with Black Devil Doll or Gutterballs, and with plenty of friends and lots of alcohol.
While it’s currently a mixed bag with VCF, I haven’t given up on them, but can only hope that they offer something in the near future to break me out of my slump. Until then, I highly recommend Spirit Camp and Texas Frightmare Massacre, both of which I recently viewed at Texas Frightmare Weekend in Dallas, and both were more than satisfying.
