Devouring Horror One Bloody Chunk At A Time….
Congrats everyone! We’ve managed to make it through another shit show to witness the next to come! Can you dig it?! On a serious note, I hope everyone reading this is doing as well as possible. Times are tough, but I hope that this can […]
Movie Reviews Movies & TVCongrats everyone! We’ve managed to make it through another shit show to witness the next to come! Can you dig it?! On a serious note, I hope everyone reading this is doing as well as possible. Times are tough, but I hope that this can give you a little bit of a break from “real” life or maybe even a chuckle.
So, I just watched an incredibly weird and confusing, but thoroughly enjoyable film called That Cold Dead Look in Your Eyes. This essentially French offering is written and directed by Onur Turkel (Scenes from An Empty Church) and stars Franck Raharinosy as our protagonist Leonard, a down on his luck fellow, even though he tries his best.
Leonard works as a chef in a restaurant in downtown New York. The only problem is that he’s a horrible cook. No one has one good thing to say about his food, except for Leonard. The owner of the restaurant wants to get rid of him. The co-workers he works with are all assholes. There’s also the love of Leonard’s life (Nora Arnezder) whom he’s getting ready to lose thanks to a stupid mistake he’s made. Essentially, Leonard’s life is in a downward spiral.
Throw in a bunch of strange characters and frightening hallucinations brought on by either the stress of his life going to shit, or the theta-waves being put off by the strange boxes around town that are supposed to be “accelerators” of some type, and life begins to get really fucked up for Leonard. As for the watchers of this film, you’ll feel just as disoriented as poor Leonard does and it’s a really fun time!
Now, That Cold Dead Look in Your Eyes is NOT a film for everyone. Not only is it very arthouse-y, but there are several scenes of graphic male nudity, sexually explicit dialogue, some BDSM, etc. So, if that’s not up your alley so to speak, there’s your warning. There’s also some graphic conversation about bowel movements, so again, it’s not a Disney film by any means. It’s very raw and it pulls no punches.
It’s also confusing when it comes to the dialogue because the movie flip- flops from French to English at times, and it’s subtitled here and there. It also switches from color to black and white, but the reason for this becomes apparent as you watch the film. Also, if you want to watch a film that makes complete sense, again, this film is not for you. There really isn’t a solid story here to follow. This movie is just a bizarre, disconnected series of events that don’t make sense, but you want to keep watching to see what happens at the end.
That Cold Dead Look in Your Eyes is a trippy and confusing, but entertaining and twisted mashup of a sci-fi, horror, arthouse, comedy, and thriller films. It doesn’t give you any kind of definitive answer to anything you see on the screen and that’s what’s kind of awesome about it. You take away from it what you want to take away. The cast is phenomenal. The visuals are beautiful as is the score. Again, this film isn’t for everyone, but if this sounds like something you’d like to try out, do it! I thought this was a really fun watch and I’ll probably watch it a few more times! Let me know your thoughts if you decide to take my advice.
Remember the name Clyde Phillips. Like many of you, your humble reviewer was sitting in front of the TV on September 22, 2013, tuned into to Showtime to watch Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall)—the Miami Metro Homicide blood spatter analyst turned vigilante serial killer—as he […]
Movies & TV TV ReviewsRemember the name Clyde Phillips.
Like many of you, your humble reviewer was sitting in front of the TV on September 22, 2013, tuned into to Showtime to watch Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall)—the Miami Metro Homicide blood spatter analyst turned vigilante serial killer—as he ostensibly drove his boat into an oncoming hurricane, only to turn up in a short epilogue as a lumberjack in an Oregonian logging camp. Fade to black. It was as inauspicious an ending to a beloved series as this reviewer’s ever witnessed, even when considering the monumental, dragon-filled fizzle of a certain other hit series on a rival network some five and half years later. After eight hit seasons that featured the highest highs and the lowest lows, Dexter had managed to give us a near-universally reviled series finale.
However, trouble had started brewing on Dexter several seasons prior to that disappointing early-autumn night nine years ago. The first four seasons of the show were truly excellent. They were the embodiment of can’t-miss television that became so by finding a successful formula and then mining it in myriad clever and creative ways to deliver high-octane, compelling, and at times devastating drama. It was typified by fantastic casting and the resultant wonderful performances across the board from an ensemble cast, and the unmerciful weaponizing of the almighty cliffhanger. This period of Dexter defined what became known as “binge-worthy” TV, especially as the show made its way on to Netflix.
And then, as if someone had flipped a switch, the last four seasons of Dexter were an unmitigated mess.
Here’s where we get back to Mr. Phillips. Clyde Phillips was Dexter’s showrunner during those salad days, having led the writer’s room to greater and greater heights that culminated with the show’s fourth and best season as Dexter took on John Lithgow’s unforgettable Trinity Killer. That season’s finale was dramatic. It was tragic. Earth-shattering, even. And, as it turns out, it was series-shattering, too.
When all was said and done, Dexter was teed up to head in a new direction. And with that, Phillips decided the time was right to depart the show.
Although the series continued casting outstanding actors to play opposite Michael C. Hall’s titular protagonist in subsequent seasons, Dexter never found its post-Clyde Phillips footing. The event’s depicted during its fourth season removed what had been the show’s dramatic engine, thereby forcing Dexter’s writers to essentially assemble a new one and to do it without Phillips leading the way. Unfortunately, it would prove too big a challenge to overcome.
By the time Ravenous Monster belched forth from the pits of hell, we were left covering the show’s demise. Beginning with season five and seeing it through to that disappointing fake suicide mission as “Slice of Life” skimmed the waves toward the oncoming CGI hurricane in the waning moments of the series finale, we discussed at length the reasons we thought the show tanked. But the one thing we kept circling back to was the name Clyde Phillips.
Common sense would lead any reasonable person to believe that Dexter was a cautionary tale as television series go. A classic case of squandered potential and an unfulfilled artistic commitment at that. For fans of the show in the wake of its bomb of a finale, it felt like the inability to find closure after losing a loved one.
But you know what, Horror Fans? Cliches exist for a reason. Sometimes empty platitudes suddenly fill up. Sometimes good things really do come to those who wait, and after nearly a decade the impossible happened: Phillips and Hall disclosed that they were both finally willing and able to give Dexter fans the final season we were clamoring for, and that had certainly been merited by the show’s first four seasons if not its atrophied second half.
And thus, on November 7, 2021, Dexter: New Blood debuted on Showtime in a bold attempt to right one of TV’s golden era’s most egregious sins. There are mild spoilers ahead, Horror Fans….
Approximately a decade after Dexter had faked his death off the coast of Miami, we find him living as Jim Lindsay in fictional Iron Lake, New York. When he’s not cashiering at the tiny town’s camping supply/sporting goods shop, “Jim” lives alone in a cabin in the woods. He also happens to date the town’s chief of police, Angela Bishop (Julia Jones). In classic voice-over form, Dexter tells us that he’s managed to suppress his “Dark Passenger”—his serial killing urges—since he’d left Miami behind.
But we recognize within the first few minutes of the premiere that this town is full of people who fit Dexter’s code, i.e., murderers and rapists who go unpunished. According to the code, these people are okay to butcher. One of them, Matt Caldwell (Steve M. Robertson), is the douchebag son of local business owner Kurt Caldwell (Clancy Brown). Dexter learns that Matt once drove his speed boat into another boat, killing five people…and got away with it. Uh-oh.
After another encounter with Matt Caldwell, “Jim” finally fails to fend off his reemerging Dark Passenger, killing Matt and breaking Dexter’s near-decade long no-kill streak. As things are spinning out of control, Dexter’s estranged son Harrison (Jack Alcott) from his past life suddenly shows up, throwing everything into chaos.
Fans of the original series know all about Harrison’s tragic and traumatic early life and when it looks like he’s shown up in Iron Lake with a Dark Passenger of his own, Dexter sees an opportunity…even if Dexter’s hallucinatory dead sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter)—with whom he argues frequently—sees it differently. Double uh-oh.
As Dexter struggles to maintain “Jim’s” identity while also reconciling with Harrison as Dexter, a shifty Kurt Caldwell tries to take Harrison under his wing while behaving suspiciously about the “disappearance” of his own son. Dexter suspects that Kurt is a bad guy. And soon we realize that Dexter’s right on the money as Kurt is revealed to be a serial killer preying on vulnerable local young women.
Just as Harrison’s Dark Passenger makes itself known and Kurt schemes to manipulate him, internet sensation/true crime podcaster Molly Park (Jamie Chung) shows up and offers to share her theories about the area’s missing girls with Angela. She also has a few theories on the Bay Harbor Butcher case from Miami about ten years back, incidentally. If there was ever an appropriate time to write the words: “triple uh-oh,” it’s now, Horror Fans.
From here we’re hurtled toward the inevitable fulfillment of Dexter Morgan’s arc as he and Harrison must find closure, however that arrives. In the meantime, will Dexter get away with killing Matt Caldwell? Will his true identity be found out? Can he put an end to Kurt Caldwell’s 25-year reign of terror? Can he help Harrison mold his Dark Passenger? And what of his relationship with Angela?
Dexter: New Blood is a successful return to form. It doesn’t quite meet the highs of the original run (how could it?), but it’s a huge improvement over its final four seasons. That begs the question: Why? Is it really as simple as Clyde Phillips coming back to help finish what he’d started? Well, yes…mostly.
It’s important to remember that as impressive as well-written TV can be, this stuff ain’t rocket science. These excerpts from Ravenous Monster’s reviews of seasons six and eight, respectively, get at the simple recipe for success—that aforementioned “dramatic engine”—that Clyde Phillips brought to the series early and brought back to New Blood:
“The series thrived on portraying Dexter’s attempt to reconcile his dark side with his attempt to function in a family unit with Rita (Julie Benz) and her children, and later their own child. That inherently tense and dramatic dynamic is the successful thrust of the first four seasons and it’s what’s been sorely missing ever since.”
And…
“The end of Season Four marked the ‘beginning of the end.’ Dexter’s home life with Rita and the kids juxtaposed against his life as a prolific serial murderer was what fueled the narrative. When the Trinity Killer murdered Rita, it created a huge void that required incredible skill in the writer’s room to overcome. But unfortunately, the series’ show runner left the series after season four and subsequently left Dexter without someone to adequately guide the ship over the course of its final four seasons.”
That’s basically it: Dexter the family man vs. Dexter the serial killer. When the family dynamic goes away, the show stops working. Phillips brought this simple formula back to the Dexter, creatively plugging in new variables where they belong: Angela for Rita, Iron Lake PD for Miami Metro Homicide, Deb’s ghost for Harry’s ghost, teenaged Harrison for baby Harrison and so on.
In some respects, New Blood does things better than the original run did. For example, our protagonist is a psychopath and a prolific murderer. He’s both sick and immoral, code or not. So, making us root for such a man is a pretty tough ask. It’s also a bit of a precarious context in which to write. The original run largely handled it by avoiding the homicidal gorilla in the room. Conversely, New Blood leans into the conundrum.
When large revelations happen, we expect Dexter to react a certain way—because he’s our protagonist—however, the script allows for Hall to drop performative gems, clearly playing these beats in such a way that emphasizes the subtextual reality that Dexter’s primary concerns are not that of a hero, but rather those of a sick man who lacks any empathy and who’s mostly guided by his code’s primary objective: Don’t get caught butchering people. The results are uncomfortable and at times bone chilling. And all along, Michael C. Hall delivers what’s arguably his finest performance.
New Blood is not without its faults. Most of them are the byproducts of having a mere ten episodes to wrap up eight seasons worth of flawed legacy storytelling and reconcile that with eight more years of fans’ frustrations and unrealistic expectations. So, there were times during the season that required foregoing setting up some major beats with well-developed, organic storytelling and instead relied on cheap tricks to get us where we needed to be sooner than is ideal but on a timeline necessitated by the limited number of episodes.
The most egregious example happens when Jim Lindsay gets outed as Dexter Morgan. This needed to happen relatively early in the season, but without any time to set up a plausible scenario, we were given three wildly implausible coincidences happening simultaneously to get us there, instead. On a positive note, one of these plot contrivances comes in the form of fan service by way of Dexter’s former coworker at Miami Metro, Angel Batista (David Zayas) in a brief cameo that’s largely the lynchpin for unravelling Jim’s/Dexter’s ruse.
Unsurprisingly, the finale’s conclusion has polarized some fans. Shocking, I know. Without giving too much away, it’s worth mentioning a few things about that. Centuries of storytelling inform us that Dexter’s character arc would resolve exactly the way it did. It was an inevitability. Heroes ride off into the sunset after saving the day. While Dexter Morgan is this story’s protagonist, he’s most definitely not its hero, though it’s easy to conflate those ideas. And no matter what happens going forward it’s important to remember that this series was originally conceived as a one-and-done chance to redo Dexter’s FINAL season. For what it’s worth, this reviewer hopes it stays that way.
Dexter: New Blood accomplished its goal. Fans got a well-crafted final season to a beloved series, one that seemed like a total pipe dream not too long ago. As a result, we got true closure. No ambiguity. No CGI hurricanes. No irreconcilable disappointment. Clyde Phillips and company seem to have accomplished the impossible by simply stripping away the nonsense and getting back to basics.
Despite my overwhelming desire to visit macabre places around the globe, I have yet to step foot in the magical city of Prague. When it comes to European locations steeped in mysticism and ghostly lore, few can be mentioned in the same breath as this […]
Book Reviews Books & ComicsDespite my overwhelming desire to visit macabre places around the globe, I have yet to step foot in the magical city of Prague. When it comes to European locations steeped in mysticism and ghostly lore, few can be mentioned in the same breath as this ancient city of the Czech Republic. The Golem once tread the Jewish ghetto here and alchemists, warlocks and occultists have flocked to the city for centuries. While it is now a vibrant, modern city, the past still lingers here, and many notorious locations can still be visited.
Sure sounds like a great locale for a horror novel, doesn’t it? Author Nicole Jarvis agrees and has made the city almost a central character in her new novel The Lights of Prague. Her version of Prague is a dangerous, haunted place, but one well worth visiting. After you’re done with The Lights of Prague, you’ll actually feel like you’ve been to Kampa Island, stood in the shadows of Tyn Cathedral and crossed the Charles Bridge which stands over the dark waters of Vlatava River. Jarvis’ painstaking descriptions of 19th century Prague add a lot of authenticity to the novel and could almost function as a guide to the legendary town.
The Lights of Prague is a great Gothic horror full of action and adventure. It’s not really the kind of horror novel full of gore and revulsion, but more of a blood and thunder adventure that happens to feature vampires, ghosts, and other denizens of the night. It would make a great movie. As I read it, I could almost see the film in my mind. Who would play the characters of Domek, Ora and Czernin? I’ll let you use your own imaginations to fill those roles…
One thing I really like about the novel is that it is absolutely self-contained. Mercifully, this is not something needlessly dragged out into a trilogy or…God forbid…even more volumes. This story has a beginning, a middle, and a definite end. Will we see more of Domek, Ora, and the Lamplighters? I hope so! There’s a lot of room for their adventures to continue.
In addition to being an adventure with plenty of horror overtones, The Lights of Prague also has something to say about the conflict between rich and poor, privileged and underdogs, and the inequalities of society, both human and vampire. It’s a tale of how simple human decency can defeat the darkest of impulses…although not without cost.
The tale takes place in mid-19th century Prague, a time of change in the old city. One of the changes is the coming of gaslight to the dark and dangerous streets. For the first time, powerful lamps cast a constant glow in the formerly pitch black streets. Working to keep the new gas lamps lit is a union of working-class men known as the Lamplighters. But the Lamplighters hold back the night in more ways than just igniting a lamp. They are a brotherhood dedicated to fighting the supernatural monsters that prowl the darkness.
One of the Lamplighters is the story’s hero, Domek Myska. Domek is a humble, scrupulously honest fellow who takes his job very seriously. He’s still devoted to his mother, a fortuneteller who uses Tarot cards, and helps out around his uncle’s watch shop. He’s shy around women and loves opera music. But when it comes to fighting monsters, he’s a fierce warrior motivated by a terrible incident in his childhood.
The monsters haunting Prague are a varied lot. In the dark waters of the Vlatava River and its tributaries lurk the vodniks—evil beast-like creatures of the deep. In places where the darkness is deepest and the lights of the gas lamps don’t reach reside the bubaks, living pools of black energy that feed on fear. Ghosts also stalk the streets of Prague. Many are harmless, but some are very powerful and malevolent. There are also evil humans…occultists and dark alchemists, as well as the more typical thieves and murderers.
But the greatest threat of all is the pijavice…vampires! These bloodlusting undead come in many shapes and forms, from almost bestial inhabitants of the catacombs to powerful and rich pijavice who are protected by privilege. The Lamplighters spend much of their time waging a secret battle with the vampires for control of Prague.
One night, Domek encounters a strange vampire who is hellbent on protecting a jar he is carrying. After a pitched battle, Domek finally destroys the vampire and opens the jar…only to find that it contains a will o’ the wisp. A powerful ghostly spirit in the shape of a glowing orb, this wisp is bound to whomever controls the jar. That means Domek is now the master of Kaja, the wisp…a creature of immense power.
This creates a moral dilemma for Domek. Should he turn Kaja over to Paluska, the stern leader of the Lamplighters? With the power of the wisp on their side, the Lamplighters can win great victories against the monsters of Prague. But good-hearted Domek feels that perhaps he should also free Kaja from a life of slavery.
There’s more to the situation. While battling the vampire, Domek also encounters the White Lady, an immensely powerful ghost known to haunt the Royal Castle. She has never been seen outside the Castle grounds…until that night. What is her connection to the wisp? And if that’s not enough, Domek finds that the apartment he shares with roommate and fellow Lamplighter Anton has been ransacked. Somebody is already looking for the magic jar.
The other major character in the story is Lady Ora Fischerova, who couldn’t be more different from Domek. Where he lives in humble surroundings, she is rich. Where Domek’s life revolves around work and survival, Ora spends her time at fancy parties, operas, and art exhibits. And while Domek is a human being, Ora is a vampire. She is hundreds of years old with a complex past including a human husband now deceased.
Ora is determined to deny the darker side of her vampiric nature. She drinks animal blood only and avoids preying on humans. In fact, most of her friends are human and fully aware of what she is. These friends include Sokol and Valka, two government agents attached to a group dedicated to fighting pijavice. Ora has become something of a collaborator with them, giving them insight on vampire culture and helping them against the worst.
Ora is something of a tragic character. A witty party girl on the surface, she’s wracked by guilt and constantly at war with her dark side. Other vampires detest her, and she still has to take pains to conceal her true nature from the humans she longs to join.
She has now become aware of something strange going on in Prague’s pijavice underground. Some vampires are beginning to boast that they are “cured.” This means they can operate in broad daylight and have become immune to hawthorn wood, which otherwise is a deadly bane to them. A new faction of vampires seems to be taking over. If they can really find a cure, they will be a danger to the whole human race. At the urging of Sokol, Ora goes undercover to try and find out more of what’s going on.
As you might expect, Domek and Ora meet and are instantly attracted to each other. The sworn vampire killer becomes smitten with the reluctant vampire lady even as he struggles to figure out how to handle the powerful spirit he controls.
From there, their relationship takes a lot of twists and turns, many of them disastrous. They both become aware of a great vampire conspiracy that is capturing wisps from all over Europe and using them to change the balance of power. There are also elements of the Lamplighters who want to use Kaja’s power to destroy all vampires, including Ora. The Czech government also seems to be deeply involved in all the subterfuge. Domek and Ora discover they can trust nobody…not even each other.
It ends in a wild blood and thunder climax as all the various factions collide and a lot of secrets are revealed. I can honestly say that I could see some of the surprises coming, but this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story at all. The Lights of Prague is paced really well and when the action starts to flag a bit for some romance, it will soon reignite even hotter than before.
Despite all the action and monsters, there’s always a focus on character. Domek is a great hero because he’s such an honest and decent guy, yet that honesty is a torment to him and causes a lot of problems. Ora is much more cynical and world-wearier, but with a desperate desire to experience the humanity she lost centuries ago. Another intriguing relationship is the one that develops between Domek and Kaja. The wisp is quite articulate and very tricky to deal with. At first, he despises his new master Domek, but as the novel moves along, the two learn how to work together. The resolution to Kaja’s story is very satisfying and is linked to the ghostly White Lady.
Side characters are also well developed. There’s the mysterious Bazil, a player in both the vampire and human criminal underground. What part does he play, and can he be trusted? You won’t know until almost the last page of the book. We also get introduced to the scary Lord Czernin, the ancient vampire overlord who lives in his old castle far in the country. He was Ora’s master for a long time until she broke away from him. I get the feeling that author Jarvis really wanted this character to be Dracula but couldn’t pull the trigger. Czernin is a master plotter, but he is wildly out of touch with the rapidly changing world of the 19th century.
The maze of characters and their interaction rivals the twisting alleys of Prague itself. Plenty of darkness but there’s always light on the other side of it. This is a fun, cinematic adventure with plenty of horror and history…I look forward to a sequel!
Something evil lurks in the backwoods of Black Holler. When a college camping trip crosses paths with the evil entity, it’s up to Laquita Johnson, to save her witless classmates, and bring an end to the curse that haunts the land. Last month, I had […]
Movie Interviews Movies & TVSomething evil lurks in the backwoods of Black Holler. When a college camping trip crosses paths with the evil entity, it’s up to Laquita Johnson, to save her witless classmates, and bring an end to the curse that haunts the land.
Last month, I had the pleasure of watching the fantastically fun Horror-Comedy Black Holler. You can read my review here on Ravenous Monster. And as luck would have it, Black Holler director Jason Berg recently had the time and the patience to sit down and answer some questions about the production of his latest release….
Ravenous Monster: What was the genesis for Black Holler?
Jason Berg: Black Holler started as an idea from Rachel (Ward Heggen) and Heidi (Ervin). They had put together the beginnings of a short that played with a lot of the genre tropes common in ‘70s and ‘80s horror and that’s when they approached me. We fleshed it out into probably a 12-page script and realized very quickly that the story was too big and so we set about the task of writing a feature.
RavMon: The film was co-written between yourself, Heidi Ervin and Rachel Ward Heggen, how did the three of you cross paths to make the film? Have you worked together on any prior projects?
JB: No, we’d never worked on anything before, but Rachel and I knew each other from college, and I had heard of Heidi as a local standup. I was working in production in Nashville when Rachel reached out about a project she’d been developing with Heidi, and they pitched a really funny idea and showed me what they’d written already. I loved it immediately, said yes, and we got to work.
RavMon: Bringing an independent movie from idea to completion is not an easy task. Were there any moments where you felt like the movie may not come to fruition?
JB: Ha! All the moments? I’m kidding, but there were a lot of obstacles during production that could have sunk us. It’s something that I’m super proud of actually because we developed a kind of siege mentality, and everybody supported each other in really great ways when things got hard. We never gave up and Black Holler exists in part through the sheer force of collective will from the cast and crew that worked on it.
RavMon: Following on that trail, were there any unexpected difficulties you encountered while filming in the woods?
JB: The woods, while great from a budget standpoint, is not a very forgiving place to film. It was a lot of lugging equipment through overgrowth and searching for power options. We all got intimately familiar with deet and permethrin and if they didn’t know before, everyone who worked on the film can spot poison ivy now. I think that the difficulties were all expected but maybe we underestimated their severity. We got very lucky with a couple locations though and once we had those pegged down things became a bit easier.
RavMon: Tamiko Robinson Steele is great as Laquita. It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the part. Was the character written for her specifically, or did she audition once casting began?
JB: Tamiko is AMAZING, and I have to take a moment to shout her out specifically for some things viewers of the film won’t see. She is an absolute joy on set, always upbeat and high energy, and I once saw her go from fully asleep to nailing a take in less than 30 seconds. If you’re reading this and you’re working on something, you should one-hundred percent hire her. She was known to us from the beginning and the character developed with her in mind for sure because to us she was always Laquita.
RavMon: The rest of the cast matched their characters perfectly as well, were they found through auditions, or were they already known to you?
JB: They were all known to us from various branches of the local creative scene prior to the film. The way Black Holler was developed—essentially from a short story, to a script for a short, to eventually expanding into a feature—is pretty non-traditional. That said, it afforded us a lot of opportunities that we wouldn’t have had otherwise and one of those was definitely in character development. We had already cast the film as a short so when we decided to make it into a feature we were able to write for the actors that we had in the roles. Our cast are all talented and VERY funny, so we kept set open and collaborative. I think that let them embody those roles and try things that they felt made sense for their characters which ultimately made the film better.
RavMon: The biggest laugh I got was the Classic Brett bit. I’ll be honest, it took a few rounds for me to even pick up on the joke, but once I got it, it got me good. The joke gave me something to look forward to with each scene change. Do you recall where that particular idea came from?
JB: I’m glad to hear that landed for you because it’s my favorite goof as well and its origin is kind of a perfect encapsulation of Black Holler. Heidi and I were outside one of the rehearsal spaces we used and we had just gotten some bad news around the availability of the actor originally cast as Brett. We were trying to figure out what we were going to do because we had already filmed a few scenes with this person and our schedule was fragile at best. As we talked through it though we were like hold on, replacing an actor mid-series is also a trope from the era if not the genre we are using as our touchstone, maybe this can work? That situation gave us not only a great joke, but also some breathing room in our scheduling and the opportunity to showcase more local talent. The flexibility we had during production and the ability to turn problems into jokes is both the thing I’m most proud of and the thing that our audience will probably never fully understand.
RavMon: It was a nice touch to include the mural of Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix in the opening credits. Was there a particular reason behind its inclusion in the film?
JB: One of the most exciting things for me personally about the original idea for Black Holler was that it elevated a black woman from “Sassy best friend #2” that gets killed 10 minutes into the film to that rarified Final Girl status. Cinema from the era that we were referencing was pretty abysmal when it comes to representation and we wanted to signal early on that while we were using films like Sleepaway Camp and Foxy Brown as inspiration, we’d be reframing core elements in ways that were more inclusive.
RavMon: Are there any future projects we can look forward to seeing from you, horror or otherwise?
JB: It’s quite a departure from Black Holler but in 2019 I worked on a feature documentary around homelessness here in Seattle called Stories of Us: Camp Second Chance which will be available on PBS soon. I’m currently working on short documentary exploring the benefits of cognitive role-play in the autistic community. Spoiler alert: fewer fart jokes in both….
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Big thanks to Jason Berg for taking the time for this interview. Black Holler is currently available on VOD. I highly recommend giving it a watch. Show some support for independent artists and show the cast and crew of Black Holler a little bit of love. They’ve earned it.
Try to resist the impulse though we might, we define our eras by their crimes. You think of sooty, oppressive, desperately poor Victorian London and you think of Jack the Ripper. Get as dewy-eyed as you want about Woodstock and the Summer of Love, but […]
Movie Reviews Movies & TVTry to resist the impulse though we might, we define our eras by their crimes. You think of sooty, oppressive, desperately poor Victorian London and you think of Jack the Ripper. Get as dewy-eyed as you want about Woodstock and the Summer of Love, but a dark corner of the ‘60s will always belong to Charles Manson and the Family. And while he doesn’t command quite the same recognition, Ricky Kasso, the Acid King, became an icon of the 1980s.
Even in a decade filled with Satanic ritual sacrifice, the 1984 murder of Gary Lauwers stands out—probably because unlike every other alleged Satanic crime, it actually happened. Kasso, a homeless seventeen-year-old obsessed with the occult, survived on the streets of Northport, New York by selling LSD, and killed Lauwers, a former friend, under the influence of his product. But when Kasso commanded Lauwers to say he loved Satan while carving his eyes out with a knife, his legend was sealed.
It’s a legend that Jesse P. Pollack and Dan Jones studiously avoid in their new documentary, The Acid King. Told largely through interviews with friends, classmates, and others who knew Kasso on a personal level, as well as a few directors and musicians who created work inspired by the case, The Acid King forgoes sensationalism in favor of a far more tragic reality. Rather than a teen Satanist rebel, Pollack and Jones paint a picture of a lost soul: homeless, angry, rejected, and lost in drug addiction. Kasso’s Northport isn’t a secret hub of devil-worship, but a town full of aimless, alienated kids who found solace in drugs and the ‘80s metal ethos of rebellion.
It’s a wise narrative choice that makes The Acid King a far more engaging film. By painting such a vivid portrait of the world that Kasso inhabited, The Acid King deftly shows that if he was a monster, he wasn’t a self-created one. The film discusses the cultural fallout of Lauwers’s murder only as an epilogue, instead posing a tougher and more haunting question: if the moral guardians of the time cared more about poverty, abuse, and mental illness than Ozzy Osbourne’s lyrics, would there have been a Ricky Kasso case? In an era of school shooter drills, it’s a question that remains all too relevant.
The Acid King dissects its subject with such skill, restraint, and sensitivity that it’s hard to find much to criticize. Certain segments replaying taped police and witness testimony could have benefitted from subtitles, but that’s a minor complaint. Pollack and Jones have created a powerful, nuanced, and at times difficult film. Here’s hoping it gets the attention it deserves—and needs.
Little girls are supposed to be made up of sugar and spice and everything nice, right? That’s not always the case, especially in horror. Killer kids are always fun to watch and in a quirky little story called Ankle Biters (aka Cherrypickers), it’s definitely a […]
Movie Reviews Movies & TVLittle girls are supposed to be made up of sugar and spice and everything nice, right? That’s not always the case, especially in horror. Killer kids are always fun to watch and in a quirky little story called Ankle Biters (aka Cherrypickers), it’s definitely a case of the more, the merrier. This strangely entertaining tale is brought to us by the Canadian writer/director Bennet De Brabendere.
Essentially, Ankle Biters is a horror/comedy about a hockey player who’s not so great of a guy, named Chase (Zion Forrest Lee) and his girlfriend, Laura (Heidi von Palleske), who’s beautiful, but she’s also a widowed mother of four young girls (Lily, Violet, Rosalee and Dahlia Reid).
Early on, we see that Chase and Laura like to have rough and dirty sexy time…and they like to save their playtime sessions on their phones to watch for later. Nothing wrong with that, am I right? However, Laura’s girls are pretty observant and very protective of their mommy. Things start to get a little tense once the oldest of the four starts to notice little things, like bruises on her mother’s arms and legs, but her mom tells her not to worry.
However, the grownups start to become a bit careless after a while, and the girls find things they shouldn’t, such as a cell phone with a certain type of video on it, and they see that Chase likes to “hurt” their mom. So, soon after learning that Chase wants to become a permanent part of their family, the girls come up with a few plans of their own to keep that from happening.
There are quite a few Easter eggs dropped throughout the first half of the movie that keep you wanting to watch all the way to the end to see what’s going happen. What are these evil little girls going to do? What’s this asshole Chase going to do to them? Oh, and then there’s Colin Mochrie as a police detective thrown in for shits and giggles, so that adds to the fun of everything else going on in the second half of the film.
Without giving anything else away, I’ll just confirm that Ankle Biters is a strangely enjoyable movie. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all, and that’s what I like most about it. It’s got no agenda. It doesn’t shove anything down your throat. It’s just fucking fun and that’s what so many films are lacking these days. I mean, sure, it’s got its share of flaws, some bad acting and some horrible dialogue, but the four adorable little girls who portray the “killer kids” just make the whole movie. Ankle Biters also has a vibe of The Bad Seed to it, and I completely appreciate that.
If you’re looking for something fun and original, give Ankle Biters a watch On-Demand or DVD via Dark Star Pictures.
When Laquita Johnson (Tamiko Robinson Steele) is accepted to O’Fish Community College, she is disappointed to learn that contingent upon her enrollment, she must take part in a class camping trip to Black Holler. Surrounded by weirdos, stoners, and pyromaniacs, as well as the annoying […]
Movie Reviews Movies & TVWhen Laquita Johnson (Tamiko Robinson Steele) is accepted to O’Fish Community College, she is disappointed to learn that contingent upon her enrollment, she must take part in a class camping trip to Black Holler.
Surrounded by weirdos, stoners, and pyromaniacs, as well as the annoying and arrogant TA-Turned-Trip-Leader, Laquita comes to have second thoughts about just how much she wants to finish school. Something else in the woods gives her pause as well. Something evil lurks in the forest. An ancient curse haunts the land. If Laquita wants to survive, she must use her training, her wits and her resolve to break the curse and finally escape Black Holler.
Black Holler is a horror-comedy directed by Jason Berg and written by Heidi Ervin and Rachel Ward Heggen (who also play supporting roles). Composed of equal parts loving homage and farcical skewering of classic slasher and “Evil in the Woods”-style ‘80s horror, Black Holler is a fun and genuinely funny movie.
There’s a danger in making a deliberately cheesy movie. A delicate balance is needed between self-aware silliness and straight earnestness. Lean into the ridiculous too much and the intentional badness becomes a crutch. Don’t lean into it enough and the final product becomes lifeless and boring.
Black Holler doesn’t lean over that edge. It cannonballs. Defying the guidelines for not stepping too far, this movie careens into its absurdity and is entertaining through sheer force of will. Within five minutes of the opening, it is made crystal clear what kind of movie we are watching. It is a loud, crass, and juvenile affair.
If you’re not onboard with the blood spray and crude humor of the opening scene, then call it a night. Black Holler is not meant for you.
It’s meant for people like me.
Holding the movie together is the character of Laquita. Her strong-willed and intelligent demeanor acts as an anchor for the film. She grounds us in some semblance of reality as she expresses her frustration with the exhausting band of characters she’s found herself surrounded by. Her chemistry with Walter Love (Nick Hadden), the only other camper not completely oblivious to the world around him, is endearing and gives a strong central core to the film. In a movie like this, the audience needs someone likeable to root for. Laquita and Walter rise to the occasion perfectly.
Plotting does become a bit haphazard around three quarters in. After dispatching the majority of the cast, the film seems to struggle to tie the rest of the story together. Also, as the story plays out, the movie seems unsure if it wants to be about a slasher, evil spirits, or zombies. By the conclusion, this discretion is explained, but leading up to the ending, the mixing of styles was a bit confusing. The choice is understandable as Black Holler is a throwback to ‘80s B-movies, so a little bit of everything is tossed into the mix. However, the movie would have benefited by having a more streamlined antagonist, rather than a dash of everything sprinkled here and there.
Minor complaints aside, Black Holler is thoroughly enjoyable. We didn’t come here for plot and logic. We came to see some gratuitous violence and stupid teenagers. And that’s exactly what we got.
Armed with a wicked sense of humor, a charismatic hero, and a great soundtrack (composed by co-star Bruce Ervin), Black Holler is a funny, bloody tribute to low budget cinema of the not so distant past.
Every country and every culture has its own deep-seated traditions of magic. It can be Sub-Saharan Africa, Scandinavia, Southeast Asia or the Appalachian Mountains of the US. They also have their own “wise folk” who can use knowledge of the natural world to help…or hurt…the […]
Movie Reviews Movies & TVEvery country and every culture has its own deep-seated traditions of magic. It can be Sub-Saharan Africa, Scandinavia, Southeast Asia or the Appalachian Mountains of the US. They also have their own “wise folk” who can use knowledge of the natural world to help…or hurt…the people in their care. The names and details change, but there’s remarkable similarity in the broader aspects of folk medicine and magic.
That holds true for Mexico as well. “The Old Ways” can yet be found deep in the countryside, but the true secrets are dwindling all the time beneath the onslaught of technology and commercialism. Fading but not yet forgotten….
The Old Ways is a new film from director Christopher Alender that looks at the darker side of traditional Mexican folk magic. For sure, this is a rich vein of generally unexplored material to delve into. In some ways, the movie is a contemporary “exorcism” film…a genre that has been rather overdone in recent times…but one that gets a fresh coat of paint due to the subject of indigenous Mexican magic.
I’m happy to say the movie is more than watchable and at its best, genuinely thought-provoking. It takes a hard look at a clash between modern and traditional cultures and frames it as a supernatural thriller. There are also some flaws and how you interpret the movie’s ambiguous ending will probably have a big effect on your conclusion. I know I’m still processing it.
It’s a low budget movie done in just a few locations with a minimal cast, yet you never have the impression you are watching a “cheap” movie. It looks like a film that can genuinely play in a theater, instead of being a direct-to-DVD or straight to streaming flick. It can’t escape a few cliches of the modern horror film, but the performances and direction are good and, like Bill Cosby said on Fat Albert, “If you’re not careful, you might learn a thing or two.”
The movie starts with a prologue that is crucial to understanding later events. In what looks like a hut somewhere in the jungles of tropical Mexico, a woman is tied down to a bed. She is obviously the focus of some sort of traditional rite, complete with incantations and plants being brushed over her body. The woman gestures for a little girl to attend her and tells her not to be afraid. Obviously bad advice, because the woman immediately snarls and lunges, grasping the terrified little girl with claw-like hands.
We move ahead an unknown number of years and are plunged into the middle of a story. An attractive Latina woman has apparently been kidnapped by local people in the same jungle we saw earlier. This is Cristina Lopez, technically our “heroine”. That term is used loosely because Cristina is a woman with attitude and a lot of darkness inside her. She is a reporter sent to investigate the disappearing folkways of rural Mexico. Apparently, she journeyed to a cave called “La Boca” or “The Mouth”—an extremely dangerous place. At some point, she was incapacitated and is now a captive of local shamans who believe her to be possessed by a demon.
The defiant Cristina is made subject to a lot of harsh rituals meant to cleanse her of the demon, such as being force-fed a bucket goats milk by the taciturn and menacing Javi. The real chief of the operation, though, is a rather terrifying old “bruja” named Luz, complete with scary face paint and eyes clouded by cataracts. Luz is one of the last of the true “wise women” with the power to cast out evil from people.
Being a thoroughly modern woman, Cristina is convinced her captors are maniacs and she tries to resist at every turn. Surprisingly, Luz and Javi are assisted by Miranda, Cristina’s cousin, who assures Cristina the pair are trying to help her. By now, it is obvious that Cristina was the little girl seen in the prologue. While Miranda remained in the jungles of Vera Cruz, Cristina has pretty much totally rejected her heritage and embraced the modern world. To her, Miranda and her friends are the remnants of a primitive and utterly superstitious society.
We discover that Cristina has one demon that even she can’t deny: an addiction to heroin. Although pretty much imprisoned in the jungle cabin, she’s able to get to the dope stashed in her camera bag. The revelation that Cristina is a drug addict has a definite impact on the viewer’s perception of the movie. Are the supernatural aspects of her possession real or perhaps the results of a drug-addled mind?
It certainly seems that there is magic in the air. Candles mysteriously go out whenever Cristina is nearby. A rat in the cabin seems to be squashed and torn apart by some violent force. And when Cristina attacks Javi and tries to leave the cabin, she is stopped by what seems to be an invisible forcefield. Not only that, but the grueling exorcism rites performed by Luz and Javi result in some pretty queasy body-horror scenes such as Cristina coughing up yards of black slimy hair. During one ritual, Luz roots around in Cristina’s stomach and tosses out some disgusting tumors. These scenes are not for the squeamish, for sure.
Gradually, Cristina comes to accept what Luz and Javi are trying to do. And in doing that, she embraces the “old ways” she’s spent most of her life denying. But it takes a lot of pain and horror before this happens.
Now no longer resisting the exorcism, Cristina prepares for the final rite where the Posteckhi—the demon that has haunted her life—will be cast out. It’s a life and death battle that will have a life-altering result. For good or ill? The rather ambiguous ending leaves that for the viewer to decide.
Director Christopher Alender really makes the most of the budget he’s got. The setting sure looks like the tropical jungles around Vera Cruz, Mexico, with plenty of lush foliage. There are also some spooky scenes in the cave called “La Boca” which is obviously a real cavern. Almost the entire movie takes place in the rustic cabin of Luz and Javi, giving it a claustrophobic feel. There are some brief scenes in the offices of Cristina’s employer…the antiseptic room with its computers is a stark contrast to the cabin, which could have just as well been from the 1800’s or earlier.
There are some modern jump scares which are kind of cliché, but not enough to ruin the film. Mood plays a big part in The Old Ways and is present throughout. There’s one real throwaway line during Cristina’s confrontation with the Posteckhi that kind of had me cringing. It’s hard for films to completely escape the expected tropes these days.
But really, there’s more good than bad. We learn about the characters gradually, including all of Cristina’s faults and her relationship with Miranda. At first, Luz and Javi are menacing, threatening characters, but they gradually become more humanized as real people. Alender could have gone the Rob Zombie route and had them as deranged maniacs, but he goes in the opposite direction, as Cristina eventually accepts what they are doing. But the big question is, does she go too far in the other direction? That’s up to you.
The attractive Brigitte Kali Canales dominates the movie as Cristina. She doesn’t shy away from the negative aspects of the character and while we identify with her to a point, there are times you feel like shaking some sense into her. Everybody else in the cast is up to par as well, with Julia Vera making Luz both a scary and yet heroic character at the same time. She looks like your abuela gone black metal with her makeup and cloudy eyes. Sal Lopez as Javi evolves in much the same way.
It looks like a lot of research was done regarding the folk ways of the exorcists. I looked up some “cleansing rituals” of authentic folk healers from Mexico and South America online and they were virtually identical to what we see in the film, with lots of herbal lore, smudging, painting of symbols and chanting. These really are the Old Ways that still cling to life in a digitized, mechanized world. You could go to Haiti or rural Vietnam or even Pennsylvania Dutch country in the USA and encounter the equivalent of what we see here.
Just remember, though, the Old Ways are not all light and sunshine. There is still ancient darkness in the forgotten places of the world.
We have some release news along with a trailer from Terror Films, Ravenous Readers! Directors Airell Anthony Hayles and Sam Casserly unleash They’re Outside, a supernatural found-footage feature starring Nicholas Vince (Hellraiser). While shooting a documentary about a woman with debilitating agoraphobia—a rare anxiety disorder […]
Movies & TV NewsWe have some release news along with a trailer from Terror Films, Ravenous Readers!
Directors Airell Anthony Hayles and Sam Casserly unleash They’re Outside, a supernatural found-footage feature starring Nicholas Vince (Hellraiser).
While shooting a documentary about a woman with debilitating agoraphobia—a rare anxiety disorder that often results in its sufferers never leaving their homes—a celebrity psychologist finds himself neck-deep in pagan shenanigans and supernatural peril.
They’re Outside stars Emily Booth (Grindhouse, Event Horizon), Tom Clayton-Wheatley (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), and Christine Randall (9 Full Moons). It will be available worldwide on digital beginning October 29, just in time for Halloween.
Check out the trailer and poster below, Horror Fans….
It’s finally here! The very last season of AMC’s hit horror opus The Walking Dead is coming in for a landing and we’re already neck-deep in rank offal. It’s mind-blowing to think about how this ultra-gory television show about zombies of all things began relatively […]
Movies & TV TV ReviewsIt’s finally here! The very last season of AMC’s hit horror opus The Walking Dead is coming in for a landing and we’re already neck-deep in rank offal. It’s mind-blowing to think about how this ultra-gory television show about zombies of all things began relatively unassumingly all the way back in 2010. So much has changed since then. I bought a house. I had a kid. Hell, I survived a pandemic (knock on wood) which felt kind of like a zombie plague. And all the while, Rick and Carl, Daryl and Carol, Maggie and Michonne, and so many other characters slogged on for better and for worse, braining walkers and arguing with each other over how best to survive the apocalypse, themselves. And while I’ve bemoaned the quality of the series over the course of its later years—and rightfully so—I’m not too proud to admit that I’ll be a little sad and a bit lost after it’s over….
The show’s currently bloated footprint on AMC includes four separate series and multiple movies. That, combined with Covid-induced production delays, means that this season, like the last one, is going to roll out a bit differently than most seasons past. Instead of 16 episodes broken into two eight-episode chunks and separated by a hiatus, this season will deliver 24 episodes in three eight-episode chunks ending in late 2022. So, if you were wondering why we’ve abandoned our “Midterm Report Card” titling conceit, that’s why. And now that the first eight episodes of The Walking Dead’s final season are in the books and the end is nigh, we can jump in.
When we left off, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) had returned to Alexandria from Meridian – a settlement she’d started and had led until it was taken by a hostile group of survivors known as the Reapers. Alexandria’s resources were badly depleted after its de facto sister settlement Hilltop was raised by fires started by The Whisperers. Meanwhile, Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) and Princess (Paola Lázaro) were being held captive inside boxcars at a mysterious settlement that seems to have many of the creature comforts and technology from the “Before times.”
[SPOILERS AHEAD!]
As season 11 begins, food is in even shorter supply at Alexandria. As a result, Maggie leads a team back to Meridian to commandeer the food stores left behind there. Her group includes Daryl (Norman Reedus), Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), Alden (Callan McAuliffe), and of course Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) – the man who brutally and needlessly murdered Maggie’s late husband Glenn in front of her so many years ago.
It’s not long before they’re ambushed by the Reapers, killing Cole and Duncan who had travelled with Maggie from Meridian, wounding Alden, and separating Daryl and Dog from the others. Inevitably, Maggie’s left to complete the next leg of the mission alongside only her hated nemesis Negan. Eventually the pair are rejoined by Gabriel and Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari), and Negan teaches Maggie the way of the Whisperers so that together they can dress up in gross zombie-skin outfits and lead a herd of Walkers into Meridian.
After Daryl gets captured by the Reapers, he learns that his former lover Leah (Lynn Collins)—from last season’s filler episode explaining how Daryl ended up with Dog—is one of them. She convinces Daryl to ingratiate himself to their leader, Pope (Ritchie Coster)—a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a cruel, angry man. Daryl agrees, while also secretly using the opportunity to be a mole for Maggie and the others.
This mission to retrieve food serves up three of the major subplots of the season: Maggie vs Negan, Maggie vs the Reapers, and Daryl vs the Reapers.
Elsewhere, as Eugene, Ezekiel, Yumiko and Princess are being processed and debriefed by a combination of soldiers and bureaucrats, we learn that the Commonwealth is a large network of settlements containing tens of thousands of survivors and led by some form of new government. Here we meet Stephanie (Chelle Ramos), Eugene’s radio fling from last season, and the inspiration for his and his group’s trek to West Virginia.
As our heroes navigate through processing at the Commonwealth settlement, they vacillate between being in their captors’ good graces and being punished for violations that they—and we—don’t really understand yet. And this comprises the other major track of the season: Just what the hell is the Commonwealth, exactly?
The Commonwealth and Meridian stories culminate separately in this eight-episode segment’s penultimate episode and finale, respectively (episodes seven and eight). We leave our pals in the Commonwealth right after a Rube Goldberg Machine of coincidences has Eugene punching the Governor’s son in the face. What governor, you ask? Stay tuned. While Eugene is imprisoned, he’s offered his freedom in exchange for giving up the location of Alexandria. Uh-oh.
And what of Alexandria this whole time?
The rest of the series regulars including Carol (Melissa McBride), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), Rosita (Christian Serratos), and Aaron (Ross Marquand) have spent these first eight episodes largely holding down the fort at Alexandria in the face of starvation, fatigue, and paranoia, doing their best to cobble together what little food there is and to keep the walls standing. The most consequential thing this group does is find Connie (Lauren Ridloff), who’s been missing since the second-half premiere of season ten.
But as far as the finale goes, the Meridian story is the main event. Daryl and Leah ostensibly help Pope defend Meridian from the walker herd led by Maggie and the others in Whisperer masks. However, after Daryl secretly helps Maggie and Gabriel infiltrate the settlement, he confesses to Leah where his true allegiances lie and invites her to join him, Maggie, and the others. As Pope prepares to fire a hwacha—a Korean weapon from the 16th century that shoots hundreds of rocket-propelled arrows—at Walkers and Reapers alike, everything comes to a head. As it turns out, Pope’s wonton disregard for his Reapers is a bridge too far for Leah who’s more loyal to the Reapers than she is to Pope, so she kills him.
Rather than joining Daryl and escaping, Leah jumps on her walkie-talkie and outs him to the Reapers as a member of Team Maggie and blames him for killing Pope. The hwacha fires away as we fade to black.
One of the more interesting things about this final season so far is that at long last characters are proactively taking measures to protect themselves and their people again. It’s like a cool drink of water after being stranded in the desert for half a decade. Of course, there’s nothing to indicate that this return to basic storytelling best practices isn’t just because there’s an inevitable conclusion ahead—an actual end date forcing the writers’ room to complete our heroes’ arcs. But I’ll take it how ever I can get it, even if it is way too little and way too late.
Let’s remember, for five seasons we watched an ensemble of complex protagonists develop from average people—men and women, parents and children, couples and loners, young and old, cops and cons, and everyone in between, instinctively trying to retain the social framework and rules from the “Before Times”—into a collective of moral but ruthless survivors as they slowly realize there are no rules or framework left to speak of. Compelling stuff. Plus, again, ZOMBIES!
Then, halfway through season six, we met Negan which forced our characters to abandon all that well-conceived, impressively executed characterization, all of it subjugated in service to the “Negan and the Saviors” plotline. What we got next was about five seasons worth of passivity, our heroes refusing to act. In fact, during that stretch the main source of tension wasn’t some new outside threat or some walker evolution. No, it was merely one protagonist after another deciding at the most inopportune times to arbitrarily follow a path of pacifism—again, merely refusing to act—and thereby sabotaging the efforts of the other protagonists to save themselves. This happened over and over again as if on a loop, rotating characters in and out of the pacifist role. It put the show’s entire narrative apparatus on a treadmill, slogging away but going nowhere.
It’s early yet in this curtain call season, but Pope is far and away the series’ most effective villain going all the way back to the Governor from seasons three and four. He is a viable menace onscreen and that’s been missing for a long time. That’s why killing him off now is so surprising. It surely must indicate that something worse is coming to fill the void. Will it remain Leah? Or will she inevitably end up a place holder for a more nefarious character? That’s one of the major threads of interest going forward this season.
Much of that remaining narrative path forward is marred by the writers having painted themselves in years ago. Some of these problems can’t be avoided. For example, by making everything that had come before season six subordinate to “Negan Fan Service” for a few seasons in a row, Maggie and Negan’s current working relationship will never ring true because it can’t be justified. It’s a classic case of chasing short term success to the detriment of the big picture. It’s been written about at length here many times. It is what it is.
So, here we find ourselves one-third of the way through the final season of The Walking Dead. It feels strange to even type that. There’s a latent, yet palpable sense of relief in the offering here, Horror Fans. We just have to get to the finish line. Not a lot has happened over the course of these past eight episodes, but when something has happened, it’s been with purpose. It’s moved us toward the end and that’s the very essence of storytelling. And perhaps most importantly, our heroes are acting like it again, at least in fits and starts.
If these eight beginning-of-the end episodes are any indication, it looks like the dedicated crew responsible for The Walking Dead is going to be able to land this plane after all. Finally. Mercifully. And I intend to be at the end of the runway with a popcorn.
See you after the next eight episodes, Horror Fans.
