God vs humanity--round 2,439--in Larry Kent's unnerving slash-n-shock SHE WHO MUST BURN

Opening simultaneously with the beginning of Yom Kippur, this new fundamentalist-Christians-against-the-humanists movie by South-African-born Canadian filmmaker Larry Kent (below) is super-unsettling in so many ways. It refuses to soften the kind of punches pulled by most other movies in this genre (it pretty much creates its own sub-genre by its finale), while managing to combine a treatise on the ever-present subject of right-to-life vs right-to-choice with some good, old-fashioned tropes mostly found in those horror/ slasher/thriller films.

SHE WHO MUST BURN takes place in a community that may seem just a little too god-fearing for some tastes, with the local (and only, it seems) church run by a crazy zealot with even crazier parishioners who do, well, the darndest things.

The film begins with the murder, very well filmed, of a doctor in the local women's clinic, for which the murderer is immediately jailed. Then we cut to an early morning love scene interrupted by some unpleasant protesters. Soon we witness a still-born birth by a woman, with her husband in tow, who have already been told by their doctor that the fetus will not survive. (They choose to have it anyway, 'cause it's, ummm, god's will.)

Oh -- but there are problems with the environment here, too, due to hazards the local mining company is creating (fracking, perhaps?), so lots of the populace are growing sick and dying. But so stuck in their god-knows-it-all routine, served up by the wacky minister, that most of the community is willing to go farther and farther afield to punish those they consider to be the sinful.

How far? You will see. Among the good guys are the local sheriff's deputy (Andrew Moxham, above) and his girl friend (Sarah Smyth, below) -- who worked in that clinic, which has now been shut down, so she's helping out the needy from her and her boyfriend's home.

In the press release for this film, Mr. Kent is called a "cult" filmmaker, though TrustMovies has not managed to see or even hear of any of his work until now. Still, She Who Must Burn is in some ways a surprisingly impressive film. The look and tone of foreboding is caught and held very well throughout, and while the performances are just fine individually, the actors also appear to form a kind of ensemble in which each is in sync with the others. You can image these characters all living in the same community, one that has become more and more fractured over time.

The subject matter, too, is handled well. It is taken as a given that, where the subjects of god, religion, patriarchy and women's "rights" (including especially abortion) are concerned, there can be no middle ground. As directed and co-writer (with Shane Twerdun, above, who also plays the very righteous and nasty local minister), Mr. Kent lays all this out quite strongly and effectively. But it is in some of its details that the movie begin to come apart.

The murderer of that abortion doctor (played by James Wilson, below) is brought to heel quickly, presumably by the town's sheriff (Jim Francis, above). Yet later, when another woman is killed, with her daughter as witness, that same sheriff seems to want to cool his heels. And when the beleaguered threesome -- daughter, deputy and his girlfriend -- need desperately to escape but the fundamentalist crowd attempts to stop them, would they, instead of driving the hell away, simply get out of the car to present themselves as compliant victims? Perhaps chase and/or action scenes, along with a little simple logic, are not in Mr. Kent's repertoire.

Still, there is enough genuine horror here -- the idea and presentation of fundamentalists in total control and gone nutcracker wild should throw the fear of the lord (or of something more rational) into sane audiences everywhere -- to turn She Who Must Burn into a possible current cult hit for this filmmaker. (That's Missy Cross, below, center, who's particularly nutty/scary as one in the good minister's family.)

One big question, however: Why -- unless he wants to give a "balanced, non-partisan" view -- does Kent decide to bring an act of god into the picture to "muddy" up the proceedings at the finale? And, as ever, why does God, since he's so omniscient, wait until the bad guys have done their worst before showering his wrath upon them. Oh, well: Ours is not to question the big sky in the sky. Ours is simply... to get the hell out. Fast.

The movie, from White Buffalo Films via Midnight Releasing, makes its debut on Tuesday. October 11, on Cable VOD, Digital HD and DVD. Look for it on Dish Network, Cox, Charter, Verizon Fios, DirecTV, iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play, Vudu, XBox and elsewhere. The DVD itself can be purchased exclusively via Amazon. Rental? Well, you can add it to your Netflix quene now, but the company claims that the film's availability date is still "unknown."

In John Martoccia's religious melodrama, DEATH OF A TREE, faith goes bonkers -- yet again

It begins with a seemingly endless round of preach, preach, preach, and closes with a climax of gun-fueled melodrama followed by a denouement of more preaching (and immediate conversion, of course, as most of these faith-based films allow for zero doubt). In between, DEATH OF A TREE, the second movie from John Martoccia, ambles along with scene after scene intended to show us how foul our current life style really is: How women wear clothes that are far too skimpy (never mind that our leading man is almost constantly seen in a tank top that reveals his arms and torso in all their glory: let the ladies take the blame, as usual); how one's reputation is far more important than what that person believes (wives, of course, are the culprits here; hus-bands do the right thing); and how abortion is the biggest crime imagin-able, while god, the Catholic Church and the Bible are the only true law.

If all this strikes you as the gospel to live by, you're gonna love the movie. If not, there may be a few problems, since Mr. Martoccia (pictured at right), as both writer and direc-tor, has saddled his film with characters who would rather yak about everything than probe their own behavior in more than cursory fashion or -- heaven forfend -- behave in a way that is more than cliché. This man is old school, for sure, and while this in itself could prove interesting if he were willing to go deeply into things, instead he relies on tried-and-true Catholic dogma to solve everything.

Further, he has his characters behave in ways that are simply too stupid to countenance, unless he intentionally wants to hand us a movie that keeps threatening to descend (then finally falls utterly) into the realm of camp. To give just the main example: He has his hero, the hot-looking Ronnie Marmo (above), keep placing temptation in his own way, despite the warning of friends and priest -- again and again and again -- until he falls for it.  Wow: That's a shockeroo.

Further, his leading lady, Gracie Tyrrell (above, left), exhibits most of the signs of a woman genuinely in love -- until his hero's narrow-minded obsessions or her own sudden mental instability do her in. Which is it, Mr. Martoccia? Is there simply no hope for anyone on this earth unless they bow down to patriarchy and Catholic dogma and "do the right thing"? (I suspect, on the basis of Death of a Tree, that the filmmaker is no fan of the current Pope.)

The movie begins with a poem written on the screen, and we see a man praying while being screamed at and threatened by another man. Then that prayerful one starts preaching -- at himself, at the other characters, and of course at us in the audience, and this simply never ends. The film turns out to be one long sermon by people who seem so limited in their understanding of life, human nature, and especially the enormity of that creation called god, that this constricts them and their movie entirely.

More poetry occurs now and then throughout, and we eventually discover that our hero is an artist. The surprisingly sophisticated art shown here looks actually pretty good, but the nitwit dialog given our hero to spout about it makes it seems nearly impossible that this guy could have created that art on his own. The dialog, in addition to the preaching, is full of male prerogative and scriptural cliche ("The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak), with a villain who, in addition to all else, is grammar-challenged. Says he: "There is a lot of girls I could bang."

Oddly, if audiences manage to sit through this debacle -- which, at only 79 minutes, is still far too repetitive -- they may actually emerge chastened, cleansed and finally understanding that, thanks to the stranglehold of religion on some brainwashed minds, no one in this movie has a chance in hell of leading an intelligent, fulfilling life.

Death of a Tree opens today at Manhattan's Quad Cinema, with a Q&A taking place by both John Martoccia (writer/director/producer) and Ronnie Marmo (lead actor) after the 7:45pm screenings on Wednesday April 8th and Thursday April 9th.  

PARADISE: stream Diablo Cody's most mature (and, of course, least viewed) film so far....

With Juno, first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody had the likes of Ellen Page, Michael Cera, high-school pregnancy, naughty language and an ending that could whisk a religious fundamentalist straight to movie heaven. Her next film, Jennifer's Body, tackled the horror-comedy genre and, while critically rebuffed, still proved pretty good fun. Then it was back to star wattage with Charlize Theron in Young Adult. Now Ms Cody adds first-time director to her screenwriting credits and comes up with what is her most mature work to date, PARADISE, which consequently received barely a theatrical release a few weeks ago and is already available on Netflix Steaming. Ah, the vagaries of the movie marketplace!

Paradise follows in the footsteps of another recent film, Electrick Children, about an innocent girl, brought up in a fundamentalist religion, suddenly up against the wiles of the devil in the big city -- that city in both cases being Las Vegas. Electrick Children is by far the better movie -- more original and unusual in every way -- but that does not mean that Paradise doesn't pack a lot of enjoyment and charm, as well. The writer/director, shown at left, while tamping down her penchant for motor-mouth obscenity (which, I admit, can be very funny), still comes up with some smart dialog and trenchant observations now and again, while leading her leading lady (played a bit too confidently by the very pretty Julianne Hough, shown below) through some interesting, growth-related coming-of-age paces.

Ms Hough is wonderfully abetted by her two co-stars, the ever-long-and-greasy-haired Russell Brand (here calmer and more accessible than usual) and the increasingly versatile and Oscar-winning Octavia Spencer, who gets to look younger and more adorable than we've heretofore witnessed, while proving just as adept at drawing laughs here as she is at jerking tears in the current Fruitvale Station.

For fans of Brand (below) and Spencer (above), this movie will be a must-see for their work alone, but it can certainly be recommended as passable entertainment to anyone remotely interested in religious growth, Las Vegas life and odd-but-kindly friendships.

Paradise, running just 86 minutes, can be streamed now via Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, and is also available on DVD.

PARADISE RECOVERED? Not quite--but for a Christian movie, this one's at least worthy

The first thing we hear is one of those Christian radio broadcasts informing us that America was founded as a Christian nation. So what? It was also founded as a slave nation. Let's start again. Whoops: here's a supposedly good Christian family making a big show of praying to god--in public, yet--even though Jesus exhorted his flock not to make such a show of things but rather to pray in private. Once again it's that "direct pipeline to god" that these people claim to have that rankles TrustMovies most. But wait: As we get farther into the new-to-DVD movie PARADISE RECOVERED, it appears that the filmmakers share this view. Shockingly enough, here's a Christian film that acknowledges doubt and is willing to accept non-believers as worthwhile, without insisting on converting them. Well, at least not right away...

The film's director Storme Wood (shown at left) and writer Andie Redwine insist on giving us a wider and fairer picture of Christians, particularly the fundamentalist type, than we're used to seeing on film (try Alleged, What If... or Suing the Devil for examples of the other sort), and the effect is bracing and worthwhile. The story deals with a young woman named Esther who has become part of a splinter sect that, the more we learn about it and its "rules," the more it begins to sound like a mash-up of the looniest parts of Christian Science, Seventh Day Adventists and low-end Christian Fundamentalism, southern style. And, yes, it turns out to be run by a television evangelist who leaves something to be desired in the ethics department.

Esther, played by Heather Wallis (above) with an interesting combination of reticence and slow-burning fire, lives with the preacher of the local branch of this sect and has become a kind of live-in maid for his family and the prospective bride for his son. But because times are bad economically, she asks if she can take a job in a local health food store, where the manager --- a nice kid named Gabriel (Dane Seth Hurlburt) -- takes a shine to her.

Young Mr. Hurlburt (above left, with Oliver Luke, who plays his goofy friend Mark) projects a genuine sweetness that never smacks of anything more or less than a decent and kind young man trying to make his way in the world--and with Esther. Hurlburt a has sweet sense of irony and a low-key charm that helps keep the movie on track. The rest of the cast, all unknown by me prior to now, are pleasantly professional and allow the movie to roll along in tune. Their characters, as written by Ms Redwine and directed by Mr. Woode, are also a bit more nuanced than one finds in many would-be Christian movies.

The preacher's son, for instance, well-played by Austin Chittim, (above, right) is no villain; he's just out for his own best interests and want to take Esther along for the ride. As pleasantly enjoyable as the movie initially is, it grows more obvious and less believable as it heads into a climax that is far too easily achieved.

Along the way there are also some too-heavy-handed scenes -- Esther's make-over (above) is one of these -- that make you wish the filmmakers had stuck with their earlier, quieter moves. (Esther also looks a hell of lot better before her supposed make-over than she does after it. Whether the director and his crew realize this is up for grabs.)

Still, it's such a nice surprise to find a religious movie that allows space and time for beliefs other than its own, that I'd recommend Paradise Recovered for this alone -- not to mention its able cast and budding talent behind the camera. Interestingly, the movie has achieved only a 2.4 rating on the IMDB. Whether this comes from fundamentalists taking out their ire on a film that finds fault with their unthinking surety, I don't know. But I wouldn't be surprised. The movie (95 minutes, from Monarch Home Entertainment) makes its DVD debut this Tuesday, April 24, after playing the 2010 Heartland and Austin Film Festivals.

WAITING FOR ARMAGEDDON: fundamentalist nut jobs on the march

If ever a movie screamed "religious nuts" at the top of its lungs, that would be WAITING FOR ARMAGEDDON, the absolutely straight-forward documentary from Kate Davis, (below, center) David Heilbroner (below, right) and Franco Sacchi (below, left). And yet this film barely raises its voice. It is content to let speak for itself that branch of the Christian-fundamen-
talist-right that is waiting for, praying for and perhaps helping to bring about a kind of Armageddon or, as they prefer to call it, The Rapture -- in which the world and everyone in it dies. Except, of course, for those who believe in Jesus. "Who wouldn't want the world to be over?" asks one believer. "Who wouldn't want to meet Jesus?" Talk about hubris. Talk about pyrrhic victories. Yikes.

The worst part of all, for this viewer, at least, is that some of these "believers" -- one sweet young, bring-it-on couple -- have jobs cre-
ating our missiles for U.S. warfare and defense. (With all the down-
sizing currently going on, couldn't we perhaps apply it where it does some good?) While the mother and father of another family insist that all things point to the Big A coming soon, two of their children -- teenage daughters -- indicate their belief that it will come, but maybe, uh... not too soon. These poor girls want a life that includes love, marriage and children. And who can blame them?

But, no -- for these folk, any nincompoop quote from The Bible turns every crazy belief, no matter how destructive, into fact. How happy faith can make you! Too bad that faith rarely seems to provide some kind of recognition of all the things we humans share and need in common. No: It has to be instead this consistently divisive, my-way-or-the-highway thinking. And when the movie, briefly, gives a us a quick look at some of the Christian fundamentalist politicians now (or recently) in power, the effect is a stunner.

One on-screen idiot talks about having the best seat in the house to watch the coming destruction of planet earth. Oh, the glee! And then we travel to Israel, where Christians want to get a look at Jerusalem before god has his way with it. It turns out that millions of dollars are raised by the fundamentalist Christian community and given to Israel for its protection against Islam -- which of course Israel happily accepts. We hear from Christians, Jews and Muslims -- each with the same rationale for possessing Jerusalem. They can't all be right, but it seems to occur to no one that they could all be wrong. Perhaps the most dispiriting information we learn is that any peace plan for the middle east is perceived by these people as a plot of the AntiChrist. Maybe they'll stumble upon Lars von Trier's film, have a much-needed epiphany, and go after each other with scissors and shovel! Ooops -- that wasn't very Christian of me, was it. Actually, if you're basing your actions on this fundamentalist version of Jesus' teachings, it pretty much is.

Listening to the stupid drivel spouted by Rapture-believers grows grueling after awhile. And though rational people (a few of which are heard from in the film) can easily dispel these faith-based theories, it is daunting to realize that millions of Americans are guided by this hogwash. One of the more rational speakers in the film explains cogently that the Bible's more apocalyptic books -- Revelations and Daniel, for instance -- were never meant to be scripts for those in power. "That's where the danger arises and the books become a self-fulfilling prophecy of violence and destruction."

Waiting for Armageddon, from First Run Features, debuts today, January 8, in New York at the Cinema Village. Further play dates around the country can be found here.

All photos are courtesy of First Run Features
and are -- with the exception of the ones
of the filmmakers -- from the film itself.