THE DANMAN CAN

Safe   (1995),  Todd Haynes ' sophomore feature film, elicits  Kubrick ian calm to present the story of Carol—a bored, rich housewife with a detached and somewhat insensitive husband living in L.A.—who develops an inexplicable environmental illness that crumbles her fragile stability and eventually leads to her moving into a cult-like desert community called Wrenwood for treatment. There are other films that deal in similar themes, but  Safe  does well to avoid feeling too familiar, thanks in large part to  Julianne Moore 's perfectly understated and brilliant performance, Haynes' appropriately flat direction, and  Ed Tomney 's moody ambient score—all of these elements really sell the level of disconnect. The production design, costumes, cinematography, and songs do an excellent job of capturing the late '80s, as well. *SPOILERS* Toward the end of the film, as she struggles to comment on her condition, Carol's sad attempt at giving a birthday speech to...

Maniac   (2012) is one of the few horror remakes that justifies its existence by finding that perfect blend of homage whilst carving its own path. At times,  Elijah Wood 's narration and heavy breathing/grunting is a bit too theatrical, but the inventive and well-handled POV technique, the incredibly gruesome effects (courtesy of  KNB ), and the excellent synth score by  Robin Coudert  (as Rob) more than make up for it. Working largely from  Joe Spinell 's story from the original  1980 film  [ review ] but substituting Spinell's sweaty, greasy, overweight Frank for a more slim, affable Norman Bates type,  Maniac  ups the gore—including many brutal scalpings—and trades the grime of late '70s NYC for the glamour and sheen of L.A. There are plenty of references to  William Lustig 's (who gave his blessing and served as a producer) original film, but this is no carbon copy. The characters are slightly more fleshed out (pardon the pun) ...

"You're still doing your documentary THING , man." I saw The Blair Witch Project (1999) in its original limited theatrical run (a couple of weeks before its wide release) at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge, MA. At that point, a lot of people still believed the events in the film were real. I saw the film at least once more when it was released on DVD, but it had been a minimum of 25 years since the last time I watched it. It was cool to see BWP  in a theater again, with an audience that included several people who had never seen the film. The movie holds up well, slightly better than expected, even. I'm not really into found footage films, but there is no denying that BWP  is the benchmark. This was my first time viewing the Festival Cut, which includes a few extra minutes that were trimmed for the theatrical release. It doesn't drastically alter the feel of the film, but it had also been so long since I'd seen it that I wouldn't have been able to...

What Have You Done To Solange?  (1972) is an interesting blend of sleaze and social issues (teachers sleeping with students, teenage sex rings, homemade abortions, the patriarchy), yet it seems to linger a bit too long on its frequently nude actresses—and revel somewhat in its excess—to be taken  too  seriously. But this is a giallo after all (so it  should  be a bit shocking). When you combine the above nitpicks with other ones like some poor dialogue, some so-so acting, very unrealistic reactions by main characters to events that take place, and some scenes that feel clunky, it detracts from the overall quality of the picture—which is a shame because  Solange  is a "deeper" giallo than most, full of great ideas that never quite get explored to satisfactory levels. Despite all of this,  Solange  is a very well-made thriller from director  Massimo Dallamano   (who made two other gialli that I still have yet to se...

Prior Vivarelli 's Satanik (1968) is a solid, if somewhat underwhelming,  fumetti neri  adaptation. Not as good as  Umberto Lenzi 's  Kriminal   (1966) [ review ] and a far cry from  Mario Bava 's incredible Danger: Diabolik (1968) [ review ], Satanik feels underplotted and a bit cheap at times, but it has a lot of fun fashion, and it's cool to see a female protagonist (the striking Magda Konopka ) in such an early Italian comic book film.

Lucio Fulci 's  The Black Cat  (1981) is a bit of a mishmash, full of non sequiturs and disparate ideas that don't get satisfyingly explored. Using only very basic elements from the 1843  Edgar Allan Poe   story  of the same name, the film follows a medium ( Patrick Magee , intense as usual and one of the film's strongest components) who is linked to the titular feline through a kind of supernatural hatred—similar to  David Cronenberg 's  The Brood  (1979) [ review ]. As far as adaptations of this story by Italian directors go,  Dario Argento 's version in  Two Evil Eyes   (1990) [ review ] has a slight edge over this one for sheer spectacularity, but I still prefer  Sergio Martino 's  Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key   (1972) [ review ] best (though all three are fairly loose adaptations). On one hand,  The Black Cat  has excellent camerawork by  Sergio Salvati  (with p...

While it is undoubtedly not as good as its predecessor (my review here ), and while it definitely retreads a lot of the same ground, Lamberto Bava ’s 1986 sequel, Demons 2 , is still a lot of fun. It swaps the movie theater setting and hard rock/metal soundtrack of the first film for a high-rise and new wave/goth, respectively. It’s goofier, the effects aren’t quite as impressive (though the makeup is still quite good), and the characters are even dumber, but returning DOP’s Gianlorenzo Battaglia ’s cinematography is effectively moody, and Demons 2 is an enjoyable (often hilarious) little slice of '80s horror. Lamberto Bava Films Ranked

Inspired by the popular Diabolik   fumetti neri , which debuted in 1962,  Kriminal arrived in print two years later. The 1966 film adaptation of Kriminal  made its way to screens two years before Mario Bava 's Danger: Diabolik [ review ], though the former doesn't hold a candle to the latter. Still, Umberto Lenzi 's film—with its charismatic but crass antihero, groovy costumes, exotic locations, and swinging soundtrack—is a lot of fun. Umberto Lenzi Films Ranked

This was my first time watching the German extended cut of The NeverEnding Story (1984). This version runs 102 minutes, compared to the U.S. theatrical cut which is 94 minutes. The differences are mostly minor (a detailed comparison is available  here ), but there are a few shots that are missing in the U.S. version (such as the one of G'mork pictured below).  I prefer the tighter pacing of the U.S. version, which Steven Spielberg had a hand in (I only learned this recently), and some of the voice work isn't as strongly mixed in the German cut (Teeny Weeny's voice is also completely different). While I love Klaus Doldinger 's beautiful score (I listen to it fairly regularly outside of the film), Giorgio Moroder 's wonderful additional music (and, of course, Limahl 's iconic theme song ) is sorely missing in the German cut. I'm not sure I'd ever watch the German version again (I'm just so accustomed to the U.S. cut from my childhood), but it was ve...

"With hope comes love. With love comes hate." Ken Russell 's controversial  The Devils   (1971) is a wild, demented, frenzied political, sexual, religious masterwork which looks and sounds amazing in its restored director's cut (and I hope the 4K UHD gets announced soon). My favorite fun fact about this film is that I was listening to  samples  from it since the early '90s, more than 30 years before I ever saw it. Ken Russell Feature Films Ranked