EVIL SEASON ONE: EVIL LIVES

 

If you’ve been reading this column long then you know I have a fondness for horror films. They were the forbidden fruit to me as a child, determined by my parents as inspiring nightmares rather than my imagination being the cause. In truth there were some that did add fuel to the fire but not all. They became my fascination and in time I grew to view them when I could and find something truly creative in these tales that deep down offered moral stories.

The same held true for various TV series over the years that caught my eye. DARK SHADOWS ran in the afternoons after school, THE NIGHT STALKER showed a wide variety of horrors and NIGHT GALLERY exposed me to the literary works of authors whose tales were transformed to screen. When I heard that CBS had a new series coming out called EVIL it piqued my interests. When I’d see the commercials for it even more so. The result was a great horror series but something far more than what we’ve become used to.

Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) is a forensic psychologist called in to consult with the police department when a murderer claims to be possessed in order to attain an insanity plea. Skeptical of all things supernatural she interviews the accused and thinks he’s faking it. But there were strange things that took place during their interview. When she requests further interviews with the accused the prosecutor refuses and fires her. Enter David Acosta (Mike Colter).

Acosta is a fledgling priest who works with the Catholic Church. He lets Kristen know who he is and offers her a job as part of his team. Their goal is to sort out those cases that they are approached with to determine if they are true possessions or simply cases where people are having mental issues. The third member of the group is Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi), their technical wizard who helps determine if there is some fakery involved in each case. With four young daughter to raise Kristen accepts the job.

Lurking in the shadows is someone that the team will face off against throughout the first season. Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) is the new forensic psychiatrist hired by the prosecutor. But he’s more than that. Townsend is the representation of evil in the series, a possible link to Satan himself whose goal seems to be to thwart any attempt by the trio to solve the problems they face. At one point he steals Kristen’s notes on the first case, at another he begins dating her mother on the side. As the series progresses he takes on cases of various people he encourages to do the most horrible things they can imagine. One more evil image that consistently pops up in this first season is a succubus or demon spirit named George who haunts Kristen’s dreams.

So does the series work? Absolutely and on more levels than the superficial horror element. The series will inspire discussions among those viewing about the nature of evil and the question of does it exist in the world as a manifestation of man’s inability to deal with reality or is there truly some supernatural force out there that interferes with the lives of men on Earth creating havoc? Each episode calls into question that balance of the rational mind versus faith when it comes to that issue.

Tossed in are the family structure on several levels as well. First off Kirsten is married, her husband a professional mountain climber off on and adventure when the show opens. We learn through this that Kristen was once a climber too. Their four young girls are central to the show, displaying a youthful energy and wide eyed wonder that at some points places them in danger. And then there is the metaphorical family of the trio as they become close to one another. Kristen’s attraction to David is obvious from the start but this is a man studying for the priesthood.

Incredibly well made with some of the best acting to be found on series television the series may have missed your radar when it first aired. A second season is on the way and my guess is once you watch the first you’ll be hooked. It might also lead to some dinner table conversations about the nature of evil not just in the series but in the world today. One look at nightly news will make you think twice about that. EVIL will just make you wonder what or who is inspiring it.

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DREAM DEMON: LOST AND FOUND

As a fan of horror films it’s a rare treat to find one that you missed somewhere along the way. Either the movie was never released to theaters, didn’t make it to the local video store back when or it simply never found a home anywhere. Arrow Video once again resurrects a forgotten film that many will enjoy and discuss not that they’re releasing it. That movie is DREAM DEMON and comes from director Harley Cokeliss who directed BLACK MOON RISING and MALONE.

The movie revolves around Diana Markham (Jemma Redgrave), a London school teacher about to marry Oliver (Mark Greenstreet), an upper class war hero who seems more preoccupied with his fame than his upcoming marriage. Living in a building her fiancé has bought for them she continues to have nightmares most of which involve him treating her cruelly. Her therapists insist this is just nerves before the wedding but they nightmares increase in frequency.

Returning home one day Diana is sideswiped by journalist Paul (Jimmy Nail) and his photographer Peck (Timothy Spall) who act innocent before launching attack style questions at her. Out of nowhere pops Jenny (Kathleen Wilhoite) to her rescue fending off the duo. Inviting her inside Diana and Jenny become quick friends. Jenny is visiting from LA looking to find information about her biological parents who were from London. This house was their home back then.

Diana has another nightmare involving Peck attacking her involving the basement and then dying. The next day she tells Jenny about her nightmare and the two go downstairs to prove it was all just a dream. All seems fine until they come across Paul hiding there and letting them know that Peck has gone missing. After kicking him out, Jenny agrees to stay with Diana to help protect her. Later on Diana falls asleep and has another nightmare, this time pulling Jenny into it. Waking her from the dream the pair realize that Diana has the power to pull others into her dream world.

The series of dreams and realities combine to reveal the true story of the house, Diana, Oliver and of Jenny. All are tied together in a puzzle that comes together nicely and provides a satisfying story told with great visuals by performers giving some great performances. The special effects were quite well done and the set designs and cinematography were much better than one would expect from a genre film like this. These efforts provide a movie that should have received more attention when it was released. Thank Arrow for saving it.

As with all Arrow Video releases this film is chock full of extras and presented in the best way possible. To begin with this release is a 2K restoration from the original camera negative supervised and approved by Cokeliss. It also offers both the director’s cut and the original theatrical version. The other extras include a new scene-select audio commentary track with Cokeliss and producer Paul Webster, a new interview with Cokeliss, a new interview with Webster, a new interview with Jemma Redgrave, a new interview with actor Mark Greenstreet, a new interview with actor Nickolas Grace, a new interview with actress Annabelle Lanyon, a new interview with composer Bill Nelson, “Foundation of Nightmare: The Making of Dream Demon” a behind the scenes look at the production of the film, image galleries, the original theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve with original and newly-commissioned artwork by Christopher Shy, for the first pressing only a collector’s booklet with new writing on the film by Anne Bilson the author of the novelization of the film and Cokeliss and also for the first pressing a reversible poster featuring exclusive newly-commissioned artwork by Christopher Shy.

If you’ve not seen this one it’s worth seeking out. And compliments once more to Arrow for a superb job.

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ONE CUT OF THE DEAD: THREE FOR ONE!

Have you ever watched a movie and thought to yourself that wasn’t bad but I don’t think I’d watch it again. Then a few days go by and you start thinking about that movie. You find yourself laughing at funny items, finding scary items now more frightening and dramas more dramatic than when you first watched the movie. Then you realize maybe I need to watch that one more time. I found myself that way with ONE CUT OF THE DEAD.

The movie is actually three movies in one, though the first is incredibly short. We open with a zombie attacking a young woman, clearly terrified but sad because the zombie was apparently her boyfriend. As he moves in to bite her and the scene ends it actually, well ends. It turns out what we’re watching is a zombie movie being made with actors in the roles. End movie one.

The director is a bit of a megalomaniac, a man who suffers for his art, demanding certain things from his cast and crew. They stop for a break and while sitting together they discuss the location. It turns out the director chose it because it is supposed to be haunted. It’s little surprise then when screams are heard and an arm is tossed into the building. Thinking it’s a prank that turns to terror when the arm’s owner enters bleeding profusely. Yes the zombies are an actual thing here.

As the cast and crew members untouched and uneaten try to survive they run around the building being chased by flesh eaters. They run around outside the building. They discover weapons out of the blue on the property. Dead members rise up again clearly not undead yet. You watch and think to yourself while laughing is this the worst zombie movie ever made? And then the credits roll. Only 30-40 minutes into a movie clocked at 96 minutes. What in the world? End movie two.

The reason is that we go back in time and find out what brought this movie about to begin with. It was planned as a live zombie presentation to be on par with the original WAR OF THE WORLDS. The director they hire is the director we saw earlier. He’s a lot more humble though. This is because the actor meant to play the part didn’t show. Some of the cast members are missing too. To replace them he uses his wife as an actor since she did that in the past and his daughter on the crew.

We watch as the entire team is assembled and the cast is chosen. We see rehearsals take place. We get to watch the interaction among everyone. And we begin to see that this film isn’t so much a tutorial about how to make a zombie flick so much as a comedy of errors that gets funnier the further in it goes.

SPOILER ALERT

All of the mistakes and funny things we found in the movie itself turn out to be the result of creative off the top of their head decisions made as the film move forward. This is where much of the humor stems from, watching as the director attempts to keep this live movie going while dealing with everything from lost actors to drunk actors to having to take on a screen roll himself. But there are more surprises as well.

The movie was made in Japan in 2017 but is making its way to disc now. RLJ Entertainment has released it with collectors in mind in a steel box edition.  The extras are minimal but that’s okay, it is the movie that makes this worth watching and perhaps picking up for horror or comedy fans. And while the title may make many think that this is a horror film it’s actually more of a spoof about the making of movies.

As I said at the start I wasn’t overly impressed on my first viewing. But the more I found myself thinking about the film the funnier it got. It’s a bit twisted humor at times and near slapstick at others but it really is better than I realized. So much that I may have to watch it again this week.

The odds are you won’t find this for rental at any nearby locations but that doesn’t mean you can’t watch it. SHUDDER streaming service is featuring the film right now. It can also be rented on streaming services like amazon prime. And if you want you can also order your own copy if you choose.

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GUNSMOKE THE COMPLETE SERIES: A CLASSIC

The most original purely American genre of film and television is the western. Spawned from the drive west of settlers in our early history the stories that rose from those days became quite popular. Tales of Buffalo Bill and Bat Masterson flourished in pulp magazines. When movies came into vogue they were popular too, the first feature length film with a story actually being THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY in 1903. Radio jumped on the bandwagon too with numerous radio plays involving characters like THE LONE RANGER. When television began the genre followed and in 1959 there were 26 western shows on TV. Among those 26 shows was one that actually became one of the longest running series in TV history. That series was GUNSMOKE.

Starting out on radio with William Conrad in the lead role the series premiered on TV in 1955. It ran an astounding 20 years and was the longest running live action TV-series of all time until 2019 when LAW & ORDER: SVU passed it. The role of the main character in the show, Marshall Matt Dillon, was offered to John Wayne who turned it down. Movie stars did not appear in TV series back then. But he suggested a young protégé to play the part instead. His name was James Arness and he played the role for the entire run of the series.

The stories of GUNSMOKE revolved around Dillon and his friends in Dodge City, Kansas during the old west. This was one of those series that shared stories among the entire cast. Those characters included Chester, the Marshall’s deputy, played by Dennis Weaver. There was Doc Adams played by Milburn Stone, a gruff old guy who took no guff. After Weaver left his character was replaced with Festus Haggen played by Ken Curtis. While some may not recall this for 3 seasons a character named Quint Asper, a half breed blacksmith, was added to the cast. He was played by a young actor named Burt Reynolds.

Perhaps the most famous of characters to stand beside Marshall Dillon though was Miss Kitty Russell. Played by Amanda Blake for over 500 episodes Miss Kitty was a “dance hall girl”, a profession cleaned up for TV but who many knew what that meant. Romance between her and Matt was always hinted at for years. Eventually she became the owner of the Long Branch Saloon.

From 1955 through 1961 the show was a half hour long but changed to an hour long format after. It remained in the top rated shows early on and continued to do well the entire time it ran. It was considered one of the best shows ever made for TV and has been included in numerous lists of the best television ever made.

The stories were varied and ran from the usual to different kinds of stories found in westerns. Marshall Dillon faced off in numerous gun battles throughout the series and the show opened with one. There were stories about gold mines and stealing gold. There were stories about racial injustice like a Chinese man being run out of Dodge and Indians seeking revenge on a buffalo hunter. Land owners faced injustice until it was set right. Gunslingers had to face up to their pasts and outlaws were seen in tons of different situations. To think you could tell a different story for 20 years on a weekly TV series is amazing to consider.

So why talk about this now? It’s been years since the series ended after all. The reason is that CBS/Paramount is now releasing the entire series on disc in one complete box set. The individual seasons have been released in the past but not every one of them is contained in this set, all 635 episodes. From the very first time Marshall Matt Dillon walked out in the street to take on the bad guys to the last are all here to be enjoyed. If you remember the show but your kids or grandkids have no idea what you’re talking about, you can pull this out and let them watch with you. Some episodes will seem quaint to them but as it moved forward you can see how well developed the series became.

At a whopping $339 dollars it won’t be likely that everyone will leap at the chance. But fans can take advantage of this collection now. Or several families could go in and share it. This would be binge watching taken to the extreme with 143 discs of material. Also included are great bonus features like episodic previews, original cast sponsor spots, audio commentaries, featurettes and more.

If you grew up with the great western television series then this is one collection worth adding to your shelf. The odds of a new western series appearing again aren’t likely. We’ve become “too sophisticated” for those these days. Which means of you want to enjoy them this is the way to do so. Not only is it great history TV wise, its great entertainment as well. I’ll be honest, I haven’t come close to finishing watching this set. But I look forward to watching each new episode with each disc. I’ll get there one day.

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