PEEPHOLE REVIEW: Disingenuous -- the Movie (2011)

The Truth Will Set Them Free...

It's anyone's darkest nightmare... being taken away from our everyday comforts, and locked away for reasons unknown.  This is the plight of the everyman central character of Disingenuous, a short film by new comer Scott Fitzgerald and Fair Port Pictures.

A Plumber awakes in a dark, dank, desolate warehouse, chained to a wall and sitting alone at a solitary table.  He has no recollection of how he got there, and the silence of the vast darkness drives his mad.  From the shadows steps a silent cloaked figure, accompanying a bald-headed brute of a man.  The man speaks quietly -- and with a questionable German accent -- asking the plumber to confess his transgressions, as the plumber rapt in fear, tries to figure out just what the hell is going on. It's like the Marathon Man moment, when Olivier insists, quietly, that Hoffman answer the question: "Is it safe?"  To up the ante, another hostage is introduced -- the plumber's... podiatrist?  With more grilling from the brute, the two men unwillingly confess, to each other, their transgressions.  Some of these moment are decidedly light, laced with quotes from Rowen & Martin's Laugh-In and Airplane, but then, just when the satire is ripe, the retribution comes, with the blow of a hammer.

It's hammer time... sorry

First time filmmaker Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates nicely that he knows how to deliver a story.  He proves, also, that he has a sly sense of humor, tossing pop references in that sort of plop down, not really asking to be recognized so much as waiting to see if you'll pick up on them.  There are so many amateur filmmaking pitfalls that Fitzgerald dodges (virtually all of them, as far as I can tell), and his ability to let the satire play, instead of banging it into the viewers head, is one of his strengths.  He laces puns and pop references in without a wink.  It's because he recognizes that the gags aren't the key to the film -- there is a relevancy in them, for sure, but it's all a part of the whole.

With the subtle humor is the dark drama.  And that drama is played well by the cast Christopher Clark (podiatrist), Jesse Conklin (bald brute), Gary Sundown (cloaked guy), and Dave Conley (the plumber).  Fitzgerald (who also wrote and edited the film) does well keeping his cast focused, and true to the situation.

But the other big star of Disingenuous is the cinematography by Derrick Petrush.  How I have craved to see high contrast cinematography return to my genre films!!  As video begins to overshadow film more and more, it seems that the shadows in the movies have all but disappeared.  Noir simply, it seems, is a label for a genre, and no longer is it considered a filmic technique.  With high tech video cameras, cinematographers reveled in the ability to expose the darkest of the dark shadows, areas that film could not expose.  And so night scenes became almost as visible as any of the daylight scenes.  Good for technology!  But bad for the thrills and chills the storytellers were trying to convey.  Petrush brings back those necessary shadows, with pitch black contrasts, that this story uses to convey its secretive mood.  This isn't the clearly viewed skuzziness of a Saw film, where dark colored props and art effects are used.  No.  Real darkness prevails.  Shadows and dark corners present the necessary mood here.

You simply are not you ready for this

Disingenuous is high contrast suspenseful drama that skewers our daily fears and the personal paranoia we wouldn't even speak of in our diary.  The subtle humor and dark drama take the audience on a ride, one where we question every turn, wondering where the hell we're going... until the hammer comes down on a climax that will rip everything apart.  Disingenuous is genuine fun.... But, whatever you do, don't spill the beans...

Disingenuous is now making the rounds at various festivals.  Stick close to their FaceBook page to learn when and where you will be able to see it.

Watch the trailer:

Lancelot LINKS: snubdom's review of classic TV movie Bad Ronald

I came across a link to Rick Tremble's website of wild, trippy illustrated movie reviews -- and other stuff -- snubdom. It's a funhouse full of subversive movie reviews, music, comix and other shit.  I parked myself down in the review archives for a couple few, I was having such a blast!  And, while reading my way through, I came across this review -- Bad Ronald! 

Undoubtedly, one of my all-time favorite TV Movies of the Week.  Scared the cripes outa me as a kid, and still puts the willies in me when I see it now.  It's not your traditional horror fare -- more a suspense thriller -- so it's not full of big frights or leaping cats.  What got to me was the brilliant perforance by Scott Jacoby as Ronald.  When he finally takes that turn into insanity, he is simply a big creepy creepster.

So sacred this movie is, to me, that I have not yet done a review of it, myself.  I figured I'd ask Rick if I could post his unique review here.  He said I could.  And I thank him greatly.  Enjoy!

TV MOVIE MADNESS: Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)

Can you see them, Sally...

TV Movies used to be a real blast.  And I'm not saying that just because I was present during the heyday of the MOW (Movie of the Week) era, and got to see most of the best on their original runs.  I'm saying it because it's gospel, folks!  These movies had to be good, because they were in direct competition with the theater down the street that was showing The Graduate, The Sting, The Godfather, Deliverance, Planet of the Apes, and a host of other future classics. It would be another decade or so before the TV movie became a joke -- thanks Lifetime! -- but, while it lasted, the golden age of TV movies spawned some real good treats.

One of my all time favorites was this gem Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.

On the surface, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a very satisfying chiller.  You've got the anxious young wife, a big old house, a cantankerous caretaker who holds its dark secrets, and a trio of creepy creatures who hide in the fireplace.  What develops is a terrifying little Gothic horror tale that pits a young woman against her own unsettling destiny.

Kim Darby is perfect for the role of Sally, the young wife of a rising young exec (played equally as well by Jim Hutton), who is trying to come to grips with her role in life and in her marriage.  She wants to be the good wife and good homemaker, but she's a young gal in the age of the feminist movement.  Hubby Jim Hutton has his hands full, after reluctantly moving into the spooky old Victorian home his wife has inherited -- not just with the fix-it-up nightmares, but with his wife who is not looking forward to hosting a big dinner party for the partners at work, whom hubby is looking to join. 

There is no scripted discussion or overtones of feminism, and Sally never speaks negatively of her marriage role.  But this was the 70s, after all, and the public discussion of women's rights and equality had moved squarely from the back burner to the front burner.  Sally may not have had her bra hanging over the burner, nor was she checking the want ads for a job, but you could undoubtedly sense her unspoken inner struggle.  The fact that this was Kim Darby, the feisty ex-child star, who was cast as Sally, speaks volumes to this, as well.  Darby was precocious young actor who so easily took on the roles of girls who were strong and resourceful -- check her out opposite John Wayne in True Grit -- and she grew into an adult who took on similar strong female roles.  She didn't play the pretty wife or girlfriend, nor was she anyone's plaything.  Her female characters were not to be idled with.  And this is what makes Sally, and her predicament, so interesting.

Get that nutcracker away from me!

Well... that and those freaky little walnut headed critters who were after Sally.  I was never prone to nightmares, when I was a kid, but these monsters really flickered some anxious moments at bedtime, after the lights went out and the shadows were long and spooky.

TV MOVIE: House on Greenapple Road

It's TV Movie of the Week time!!

CSI may think it’s the show that brought gore to the small screen. That’s because they didn’t see the opening scene of the made for TV movie House on Greenapple Road. With the backdrop of sweet melodic 70s muzak, little Eve Plumb (fresh in our minds and hearts as little Jan Brady) skips through pristine suburban streets towards home. She dances in, calling out her mother’s name—but she doesn’t answer. She sweeps into the kitchen, hoping to find her mom baking some tasty cookies, but she’s not that either. Unfazed by the puddles of blood and crimson hand smears that cover the walls, little Eve Plumb trots out the back door and across the way to her Aunt’s house.

Mind you, this is 1970’s television! This is an era when a gun shot victim would bear no visible wound—they’d just grab their belly in pain (always aim for the gut!)—and the utterance of “hell” would send parents scrambling to cover their kid’s ears. The most blood (in B/W, unless you were lucky enough to have Color) you’d likely see on the ol’ Quasar would be from the corner of the mouth of some sucker who just got punched.

That's sooo psycho!

House on Greenapple Road, like many other TV movies, was a pilot for the Burt Reynolds vehicle Dan August. Don’t look for the future Cosmo centerfold as the lead detective in this movie, though. That honor went to Christopher George (Grizzly). Obvioulsy they wanted to go a different route for the show, since George lacks that smart-ass charm that Reynolds was famous for. George does do a great job with his more gruff and bitter take on August, who is investigating the disappearance of the promiscuous wife (Psycho’s Janet Leigh) of a spineless salesman (recurrent TV guest star Tim O’Conner). Naturally, August has his run-ins with an unrelenting press, who clamor to collect every sensational detail, and with a fellow lawman (the even more gruff Ed Asner). The movie moves through flashbacks that inventory the various lovers turn suspects (amongst them is the fantastic William Windom) who August tracks down in search of the victim’s killer… as well as her missing body. He even shares a tender interrogation scene with his new bride, the sexy Lynda Day George (Mission Impossible).

Paperback Cover

This is a solid effort from the other genius TV producer (the other being Aaron Spelling) Quinn Martin. You always knew you were in for solid ride when you saw that familiar tag “A Quinn Martin Production.” Some seasoned film and television veterans were at work on Greenapple Road, including director Robert Day and writer George Eckstein (his script based on a novel by crime author Harold R. Daniels).

PEEPHOLE REVIEW: Sharktopus! Syfy Goes Shark Crazy

Here we go again!  Another shark-buster washes ashore the SyFy Channel, with another washed-up celeb tied to it.

If you're not expecting much -- and, I believe that if you're turning to SyFy for your entertainment, you're not -- then you're in luck!  Sharktopus should delight you.

Like all their other (fallen) star-studded beast pics, this SyFy flick is filled with more cheese than a Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza. This time around they've corralled Eric Roberts (do these guys' agents call SyFy to try and get their careers boosted. now that these beast-cheesers are so popular?) as the what-ever-happened-to? big name draw. Roberts plays a scientist who's created a shark/octopus monster mash-up for the Coast Guard-like folks to try and help them curb the offshore drug smugglers.  Naturally things go wrong and loads of people get squished and eaten by the behemoth beast.

I'm not gonna knock the acting on this small screen screamer, but I will say that in keeping with these SyFy cheapies, the acting is about as shabby as you can get.  The dialogue is just classic cheeseball ("They're just boobs. They're not gonna get up and dance or anything.") and the action is, especially the kills, designed to make you groan with utter guilty pleasure.  Of course, what would a beast blockbuster be without the babes and bikinis.

Sharktopussy! Can you believe she's the scientist?  [co-star Sara Malakul Lane]

It's not gonna keep you out of the water, or in stitches.  But, it'll do for a couple laughs.

PEEP-HOLE REVIEW: Burning Bright (2010)

"He Only Likes the Pretty Ones"This little flick was simply fun to watch. I'm a great big fan of the old 70s TV Movie of the Week, and Burning Bright reminded me a whole lot of those classic small screen gems. Girl in peril forced to make life altering decisions amidst horrific scenarios!

Briana Evigan (last seen slicing through Sorority Row) plays a young woman torn between moving on with her own life after her mom's death, or staying home to take care of her younger brother. Her decision is a huge one, because her little brother is severely debilitated by his autism, and, although he doesn't comprehend it himself, he needs her. If she takes on this responsibility, she will lose out on a full-ride scholarship, and her life will be caring for her kid brother, since her step-daddy has shown no interest. He's more enamored of the idea of starting up a wildlife attraction on their huge estate. In the midst of this personal turmoil, a hurricane is threatening to hit.
As the skies open up, and the winds thrash the house, the girl wakes up to find that she and her kid brother have been shuttered it by the groundskeepers. That's not so bad, though. At least she know's she's safe... until she hears a strange sound, and then finds that a tiger is roaming free in the hallways. The next hour of the film is pure perspiration. Director Carlos Brooks and Screenwriters Christine Coyle Johnson and Julie Prendiville Roux cast aside the popular need for clever piled on plot twists and keep the story moving with urgent success. From first encounter with the ferocious animal, the heroine and the audience are constantly covered in sweat. There's no hidden surprises or mystery to resolve -- the story is direct and nerve battering. This one would be impossible not to enjoy.