With Josh Lobo's VERY slow-burn, would-be horror-thriller, I TRAPPED THE DEVIL, prepare to shred your disbelief

That's right: Do not simply, as they say, "suspend your disbelief." Instead, shred it, stomp on it, burn it and bury it, if you plan to even vaguely enjoy a new "scary" movie entitled I TRAPPED THE DEVIL. As though -- let's say, to begin with, one even believes in the devil -- you could actually "trap" the thing. What? The devil is to be that easily had? In any case, if you have even paid attention to the title of this movie, then the first third of the film -- the what's up here? portion -- will be quite clear to you, even if it is not to two out of three of the movie's protagonists.

These would include two brothers and one's girlfriend or maybe wife, the latter two of which, come to visit the other brother at Christmastime.

As written and directed by Josh Lobo, shown at left, once all three characters are on the same page, the rest of the film is then devoted to some very paltry discussions about morality and philosophy and various things to which said devil might be up.

The final third is, as expected, devoted to what is really locked behind that basement door, along with the requisite would-be suspense and bloodshed and -- it must be said -- the sort of heavy-duty boredom during which TrustMovies thought he would go straight put of his fucking mind having to sit through.

The leading cast members do what they can with material that is, at best, been-there/done-that. These would include AJ Bowen, above, as the bro who comes to visit; Susan Burke, below, as his wife;

and Scott Poythress (below) as the bro who's done the trapping. I've seen them all in better films, and will no doubt have this pleasure again. And I hope to eventually see another, better movie from Mr. Lobo, too. (If the finale of this film does not put old-time movie buffs in mind of Toby Dammit, the Fellini segment of Spirits of the Dead, I shall be surprised.)

Distributed by IFC Films and running just 83 minutes, I Trapped the Devil opens in a select and very limited theatrical release this coming Friday, April 26 -- at which time it will simultaneously appear on VOD nationwide.

Frat boys run amok in Daniel Robbins and Zack Weiner's riveting and scary thriller, PLEDGE

I can't prove that the connection between Capitalism and very bad fraternity behavior was foremost in the mind of the writer and/or the director of the new horror/thriller PLEDGE, but by the end of this gruelling but somehow satisfying, if ugly, movie, that connection has been made in spades. The writer, Zack Weiner, is also one of the stars of the film, and while Pledge gives his character some decent dialog and amusingly awful situations to endure, Mr. Weiner (pictured below, left) has actually given the center of attention and interest to a character we rarely see as central or heroic: the fat boy in the trio of friends who make up the movie's "group hero."

That rotund and generally affable fellow is played exceedingly well by Zachery Byrd (above, center), who relatively quickly comes to seem like the voice of reason of the three pals, all of whom want fairly desperately to be able to join a fraternity on their college campus. How they're enticed to cast their lot with the very unusual group, whose simple insignia grows more horrifying as the movie progresses, takes up maybe the first third of this short, dark and dirty little genre movie that succeeds mightily where a number of other naughty-frat-boy films have not. Pledge knows what's it's up to, dives in and proceeds to its finale with devastating focus and force.

The director, Daniel Robbins (at right) has paced things very well: offering up a slow, sure and crisp beginning followed by a middle and end in which we're barely allowed to draw a breath. Best of all, thanks to Weiner's screenplay and Robbins' handling of it, there are quite a few genuine surprises along the way, most of these coming, thankfully, toward the end.

These are not merely "plot" surprises, either; instead they often involve character. Though our roly-poly is the best defined of the group, almost all of the subsidiary characters, victims or villains, are given enough interesting characteristics for us to easily differentiate, as well as care for or detest them appropriately.

The "hosts" of the very oddball fraternity to which our boys want to attach are played with lip-smacking delight by several good actors, including Cameron Cowperthwaite (above) and Aaron Dalla Villa (below).

The young women seen here are used for mostly decorative purposes and as an enticement to and reason for our less-than-intrepid heroes to come aboard. No, the subject at hand is the American male, Alpha variety, and all the wonders he can get up (and down) to.

Mr. Robbins knows just how far to dish out the blood, gore and vomit (more is smartly imagined/suggested than actually seen, but what is suggested/seen is plenty). This combination of smart, if very unappealing, subject matter -- brought to life via good writing, direction and performance -- turns what might have been just another fairly standard horror/thriller into a nastily memorable genre piece.

From IFC Midnight, Pledge opens theatrically in New York City (at the IFC Center) this Friday, January 11, and in Los Angeles (at the Arena Cinelounge) the following Friday, January 18. If you reside elsewhere than either coast, fear not: the movie hits VOD this Friday, January 11, as well.

Blu-ray debut for a cult "classic" from the 1970s: Ted Post/Abe Polsky's THE BABY

Is THE BABY -- the 1973 shocker/horror/ slasher/chiller genre-movie written by Abe Polsky and directed by Ted Post just released on Blu-ray via Arrow Video -- some kind of camp classic? Or is it one of those movies so bad that it's good? Or simply so bad that it's awful? Or maybe just groundbreaking enough to sneak into the "classic" category? Turns out that The Baby proves pretty much all of the above. Just when you decide it is one thing, damned if it doesn't turn into another. And then another.

Overall, TrustMovies would have to say that The Baby is worth the time of viewers who love genre movies, particularly those that rather strain (if not full-out break) the "naughty" barrier. According to what we learn from the interviews in the Special Features section of this full-packed disc, the movie is more the work of writer Polsky than of director Post (shown at left) -- who, according to the Special Features section of this packed disc, had been brought in to class up the proceedings a bit and to add a little humor to the movie's dark mix. (During this same year of 1973, the director would also have two major films released: The Harrad Experiment and one of the "Dirty Harry" oeuvre, Magnum Force.)

The Baby's cast, too, is a cut above the usual for the horror genre: Anjanette Comer (above) and Ruth Roman (below) play, respectively the protagonist and antagonist, and both do a good job in roles the characterization of which rely as much on acting talent and charisma as any depth of writing.

The plot has it that an overly-caring social worker (played by Ms Comer) sets her sights the case of the "baby" of the title, a grown young man who is still in diapers and baby clothes and never seems to have progressed in intelligence or motor skills beyond the infant stage. His mother (Ms Roman) and sisters seems happy, eager maybe, to make sure he remains this way. They get a nice monthly stipend from the state to take care of the boy.

Baby is played by the young actor who used the name of David Manzy (aka David Mooney), and who is indelible enough in the role that you could imagine no casting director would ever take a chance on him in any other kind of role after this film. (Look what happened to the versatile, hugely talented and award-winning Anthony Perkins, once he had made his mark in Psycho.)

The plot, as well as the pacing, goes up and down, back and forth, as the movie moves oddly along and we are treated to some very weird, maybe even taboo delights, the best of which involves a babysitter (Erin O'Reilly, above) and a little unplanned breast-feeding.

We move on to a kidnapping, slashings and murders, and a surprise ending that's a hoot and a half. (That's Marianna Hill, above, who plays one of Baby's two nasty sisters.) By movie's end, you'll probably be satisfied that you watched this very oddball genre piece. Certainly, nothing quite compares to it.

As usual with Arrow Video, the Blu-ray transfer is excellent -- crisp, bright and colorful -- and the disc comes complete with a number of interesting bonus features: new audio commentary from Travis Crawford, archival audio interviews with Ted Post and David Manzy, a recent interview with Marianna Hill (in which she talks about director Post as though he were Ingmar Bergman or Roberto Rossellini), and a very interesting appreciation of The Baby by film professor Rebekah McKendry.

Distributed in the USA via MVD Visual and running 84 minutes, the movie hit the street this past Tuesday, September 25, on Blu-ray only -- for purchase and (I hope, somewhere, somehow) rental.

Pierre Morel's PEPPERMINT: revenge, blood, explosions, nonsense -- and a modicum of fun

What do you do when you're a witness to the murder of your husband and daughter, and then the justice system completely lets you down?  If you're Riley North (Jennifer Garner, still trying to atone for that Daredevil movie), you disappear for a few months, get skilled in martial arts and firearms, and then return to destroy literally every bad guy involved in the event -- from the murderers' sleazy defense attorney to the bought-off judge, crooked cops and the drug dealer and his (far too many) henchmen responsible for it all.

Director Pierre Morel (shown at left), who some years back gave us the better film, Taken, still has some talent and a few tricks up his sleeve. One of these is to not have to dish up every single killing of every single bad guy. No, some of these we just hear about via police chatter or TV breaking news. This speeds things up a bit -- though not quite fast enough:
The movie is still ten minutes too long for its own good. The massacre of the drug dealer's many henchmen -- really, wouldn't one dozen, rather than 24, have been enough of a body count? -- seems to go on for-fucking-ever.

On the plus side is a nice, if nasty, surprise toward the conclusion, and the film's final shot proves witty, concise perfection that drew both a deserved laugh and applause from the preview audience.

Ms Garner (shown above, in her "homeless bag lady" disguise) acquits herself as well as an actress could manage, given the ridiculousness of what she is asked to do (and what we are asked to buy into). She is pretty and game, and she makes the movie more fun that it might have been.

As written by Chad St. John, the film is full of the standard "vengeance" tropes that the genre provides -- the courtroom scene, above, in which the murderers laugh at Riley's anger and disbelief when they are summarily acquitted is a typical example; her revenge on the sleazy judge, below) is another -- PEPPERMINT does not lack for genre clichés.

But the pacing overall is fairly strong, so these clichés go by relatively quickly. As the two policemen working most closely on the case, John Gallagher Jr., and John Ortiz (the latter is shown below, center) provide decent support,

while the leading drug-dealing villain, Juan Pablo Raba (at center, below) does just about everything a villian should -- except twirl his mustache (it's simply not long enough).

With explosions and a very high body count, Peppermint -- does that odd title refer to the kind of ice cream chosen by our heroine's daughter (below, with dad and mom), just prior to her demise? That's the only reason for it that I could come up with  -- should please action/revenge fans enough to make it profitable, if not anything close to either a sleeper or blockbuster.

From STX Entertainment and running 102 minutes, the movie opens tomorrow -- Friday, September 7 -- pretty much nationwide, I think.

Creepy scares--and quite a bit more--inhabit Jeremy Dyson/Andy Nyman's GHOST STORIES

If you're looking, as TrustMovies often is, for a worthwhile and different "scary" movie, I'd highly recommend a new one entitled (not especially originally but no matter) GHOST STORIES. The ghosts here are quite interestingly connected -- and guilt-generated -- even though they appear in what initially looks like several different tales. The link between them is one of those parapsychology "experts" dead set on exploring and then debunking what might appear to the untrained eye and mind as "other-worldly."

The writer/director purveyors of this strange and alternately entrancing and disturbing movie are Jeremy Dyson (shown at left) and Andy Nyman (shown below), the latter of whom may be more familiar to viewers as an actor, which he is again here, essaying the leading role of Dr. Goodman, the fellow who would like to debunk the various tales we're going to see. How the good doctor goes about this and what happens then makes up the meat of Ghost Stories, a kind of anthology movie that turns out to be but a single story, after all.

The connections in the three-tales-within-a-tale are both obvious and barely there, but by the finale of this 97-minute movie you may be surprised at how many more associations and relationships are present here than you'll have first imagined.

By the time of its conclusion, the movie has offered a good deal more surprise and depth than expected in what would initially seem to be a mere genre piece.

The three let's-debunk-this-nonsense tales involves a night guard (Paul Whitehouse, above) at a closed-up sanitorium, a very odd and maybe paranoid young man without a driver's license (Alex Lawther, below) and a highly entitled, upper-crust twat about to become a father (Martin Freeman, two photos down).

The three give as fine and specific a performance as can be managed in the short screen time and limited character development provided. But that's quite all right because the filmmakers also offer up the requisite scares and fright along the way (nothing we haven't seen before, but nicely done) and most important a compelling and increasing sense of absolute dread -- of what, we're not even sure.

Storywise, the movie's all over the place, and yet it manages to somehow cohere, while visually it seems dark and foreboding, even in the daylight scenes. Judaism, the faith and culture, are important, too -- how much so we don't quite understand until the finale.

Oddball but finally memorable, Ghost Stories, I think, will slowly build a following and someday perhaps take its place as a kind of minor genre icon. Released via IFC Midnight, the movie opens in New York City at the IFC Center this Friday, April 20, and in Los Angeles next Friday, April 27, at the Landmark NuArt. Simultaneously with its theatrical release, the film will also be available via VOD.

At NYC's AFA, GIMME SHELTER: HOLLYWOOD NORTH offers a few choice Canadian canapés

We don't expect to see movies that fit the term "blockbuster" coming out of Canada. The current and surprisingly popular/divisive Arrival might be the closest thing to a huge mainstream success to come from our northern neighbor in quite some time, yet it's the movie quiet intelligence and ability to draw us into its philosophical/spiritual dimension that proves its most effective weapon. Instead, Canada has long been noted for its smaller films, either art or genre items, many of which were subsidized from the 1960s through the 1980s first by the state-run Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC) and later by the Capitol Cost Allowance (CCA) -- the former paid for via tax-payers, the latter by tax-sheltered investments.

The results were iffy, as is usually the case with any programs like these, and a dozen of the films out of the many produced over two decades can be seen in New York City in the current Anthology Film Archives series, GIMME SHELTER: HOLLYWOOD NORTH -- beginning tomorrow, February 24, and running through March 8. On view is everything from Louis Malle's generally-acclaimed-a-classic Atlantic City and Canadian genre king Bob Clark's (Porkys and Black Christmas, the latter of which is part of this round-up) to Claude Chabrol's under-seen (and rightly so) BLOOD RELATIVES, his first film in the English language and very probably his worst, as well.

Because TrustMovies will take Chabrol's work over that of many other filmmakers, this is the film he chose to watch, having seen most of the others already. In addition to Atlantic City, the series features what may be the very best of David Cronenberg's dark and bizarre oeuvre, The Brood, as well as some pretty good genre movies like the youth-quake Class of 1984, the sort-of mystery The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, and the early what-to-do-about-cults movie, Ticket to Heaven.

As for that Chabrol, Blood Relatives -- adapted from an Ed McBain novel by the filmmaker and Sydney Banks -- probably ought to have been made in French rather than English. Chabrol is said to have thought English worked better because McBain had written the original in that language, But the dialog is often stilted and always so prosaic that is is soon clear that Chabrol had little facility for working in English.

It is clear almost from the first scene what is going on and just who the murderer might be, so we spend the rest of the film catching up with what we already know/suspect. Along the way, we get some nice cameos from the likes of Donald Pleasance and David Hemmings, though that fine French actress Stéphane Audran (above, center right, and Mme Chabrol, for a time) is utterly wasted here.

The theme of the movie would appear to be the varied uses of sexuality and lust -- from pedophilia to near-incest to age-inappropriate couplings, but the filmmaker's usual interest in the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie seem somewhat misplaced here. as there is no real depth to anything or anyone. Both theme and character seem paper-thin. Though never what you would call a master of the visual, Chabrol's work here seems unusually drab.

The police-procedural plot has to do with the murder of a teenage girl, with the investigation probing her somewhat odd family life and her workplace. The first half of the movie couples event with investigation; the second half, once the murder victim's diary is discovered, is told mostly in flashbacks pushing us toward the big "event."

In the leading role of the investing policeman, Donald Sutherland (above and above) hovers and is one-note, while the remaining performers range from alert to hardly memorable. Though first released in 1978, Blood Relatives didn't make it to the USA -- and then only barely -- until 1981. You'll understand why when you see the film.

To view the entire schedule for AFA's Gimme Shelter: Hollywood North, click here and then scroll down to click on each individual film for details.

Home video debut: THE FOREST answers the question, how dumb can a scary movie be?

From the looks of THE FOREST -- out this coming week on Blu-ray and DVD, after its Digital HD release last month -- this would-be fright film had a relatively high budget. Because some of the movie, at least, appears to have been shot in Japan, and since it supposedly takes place in one of that country's forests, a rather special one to which suicides come to end their days, the bigger budget would seem appropriate. Other than putting its ten million bucks to decent visual usage, however, there's almost nothing else good to say about this nitwit bit of second-rate twaddle.

Written by three people (who still could not manage to come up an even vaguely believable story) and directed by first-time full-length filmmaker Jason Zada (shown at left and clearly in hiding), this is a film in which the lead character, played by Natalie Dormer, below, cannot seem to do a single intelligent thing throughout the entire movie. Warned repeatedly not to do something, she will do exactly that. Every time.

We might accept this kind of behavior once. Twice is a slap in the face. By mid-point in The Forest, you'll be talking back to the screen. If the movie provided many (try any) scares, one might give it a mild pass. Instead it just keep getting sillier, as Ms Dormer, playing a set of identical twins, goes to this forest in search of her missing twin and proceeds to do one stupid thing after another, to the consternation of everyone around her -- but mostly to us viewers.

Those around her include a friendly journalist (Taylor Kinney) above, and a helpful guide (Yukiyoshi Ozawa, below, left). Other than these two, the film is mostly full of would-be scary "spirits" who inhabit the forest and induce newcomers to commit suicide. At least that's what the exposition tells us. What finally happens seems something else entirely and just as dumb as all that has come before.

I would call the movie a complete waste of time, but afterward my spouse and I admitted that we'd rather enjoyed talking back to the screen and marvelling at just how stupid a movie could be. We also get a dose of flashback/hallucination, as below, that takes us into the twins' past but doesn't add much to the story or to our empathy for anyone on view. Instead, it's simply a chance to show a little bloodshed, since the forest itself isn't providing much.

If this sounds like fun, the movie -- from Grammercy Pictures via Universal Studios and running 94 minutes -- hits Blu-ray, DVD this coming Tuesday, April 12 -- for purchase or rental. (It has been available via Digital HD since March 22.)