Oh So Intense – Der Todesking (1990)

Original Post Date: 07.11.18

“He makes people want to die.”

Suicide. That’s the subject explored on Jorg Buttgereit’s second film Der Todesking/The Death King (1990). It is an anthology of sorts, divided by the seven days of the week, Monday and Tuesday being my favorite as they were connected by their protagonist, the building neighbors, one obsessed by fish and the other by movies, this last guy, movie guy, was the one living the dream, the VHS dream that is.

Even though Der Todesking was oh so intense, and with the potential to fuck someone up if found under a fragile state of mind, I thought it was a good and easy movie to watch, especially due to the nostalgic VHS video store scene. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to share it with the world. So world, I give you, Dienstag/Tuesday:

(you’re welcome)

- Marath

Yes to YAZ! – Leatherface (2017)

Original Post Date: 06.10.18

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a nice weekend doing (or not doing) what you wanted. Life is good, baby, and I am glad you and I are here tonight getting our daily dose of Horror.

I would like to talk about Leatherface (2017) for a sec, but first, let’s watch that sexy trailer, shall we?

Just between us girls, this movie is 60% responsible for my love of the undeniably iconic horror character that is Leatherface. Leatherface was already cool in my book thanks to its original introduction on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), that guy was terrifying and appealing at the same time, dude, the scene where he grabs the girl and gets her back into the house only to put her thru the hook? And the other classic scene of him being mad and swinging his chainsaw in frustration for having let the other girl escape? I mean, it was a solid 40% right there. Anyhow, this Leatherface prequel made me understand the complexity of his personality and character and, to put it bluntly, this new movie humanized the monster that was meant to be.

As per usual, when I want to talk about a film I take notes so I have in front of me four pages worth of notes and whatnots but in the spirit of going to bed early for a change, I decided instead to give you my top 5 Yes to YAZ! list of my favorite characters from Leatherface, let’s begin!

5. Jed as a kid – That scene from the beginning at his birthday party broke my heart, as you could clearly see the kid did not belong with that demented family (my instincts were to protect him and take him away from there!). But oh, little Jed, you were only the product of your environment, weren’t you? That cow’s head tho.

4. Jed as Leatherface – This young man could have ended living a normal life in the middle of nowhere, being happy raising sheep and having a family of his own, guaranteed. Had he not been there when the riot happened, had he stayed in treatment, had he be given a chance, he could have been just like you and me. But we all know how things turned out for him… (Also, not a spoiler, but the scene showing why he now needed to wear a mask to cover his now deformed face was so satisfying to watch!)

3. Lizzy – I am not going to lie, I fell in love with her, as in, may I please take you on date kind of deal. This woman had it all, intelligence, strength, authority, compassion, kindness, and yes, the face of an angel. Lizzy was a nurse at the hospital where Jed (teenage Leatherface) had been living for the last handful of years after having been taken away from his violent home. Lizzy was also the hostage when all hell broke loose at said hospital. She stayed strong until the end. 

2. Clarice – If Lizzy was the perfect girl you take home to meet your parents, Clarice was the girl you swear on your mama’s grave has nothing to do with you while secretly living the most explosive love affair. I believe the keyword here is explosive. Homegirl likes to go wild! Wild at the hospital, wild at the diner, while at the camper (that love scene on top of the corpse!), wild until her last breath.

1. Verna – Mama Verna meant business. She raised her family on her own. She was bold and protective. After losing her kid to social services, she cleaned her act, married money, and hired a good lawyer to help her get her family back. Verna was now ultra-bold and ultra-protective and, shall we say, ultra-angry? She followed her heart and her heart followed her back. A family reunited makes everything okay, right?

Okay my friend, it’s time for me to go, turn off this computer, turn off the lights, turn off the brain. Time to rest and get ready for more horror in the morning. Good night.

- Marath

Body Horror Is The Worst – THANATOMORPHOSE (2012)

Original Post Date: 05.15.18

I just finished watching the Canadian body horror film Thanatomorphose (2012) and, girlfriend, it was like nothing I had seen before.

As a fervent fan of German director Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromantik) I can appreciate a good scene with a decomposing corpse, I can even see the beauty of a sexy-time scene with said decomposing corpse but, wow, Thanatomorphose took those concepts and ran an extra mile with them! Holy fuck sweet lord baby jesus! (excuse my language, I get extra excited when horror movies elicit in me this feeling of awe… I live for this shit!)

Before I move forward, I would like to show you in a few selected shots how Laura—our main character—slowly disintegrates into nothing.

Putting logic and common sense aside, it was perfectly fine for Laura to just stay alone at her apartment while she sees her body transform from living to dead. Laura never asks for help and even when her love interests offer to take her to the hospital she rudely says no and instead kills them because oh Laura you crazy girl!

All jokes aside, Thanatomorphose is a much needed tale of the human body and the human experience, of the primal fear we all have of dying, of the fear of seeing ourselves disappear. Also, it was really refreshing to see naked bodies, genitals, people having sex, and mind you, it was not pornographic, it was simply human and real.

Now, I have never seen a decomposing corpse in person but I can tell you that the way Laura was morphing was so incredibly believable that it made me feel really uncomfortable, thus me embracing my body as shown on my pic from above. Man, the skin turning black, the maggots, the slime, the flesh falling off… STAAAP! BODY HORROR IS THE WORST!

I have nothing else to say about this indie horror film except that it was good and that you should watch it (but not while you’re eating).

Good night,

- Marath