Author of adventure/thriller and horror fiction

MAD GOD (2022)

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The magnum opus of veteran animator Phil Tippet, MAD GOD (2022) is a surreal stop-motion animation horror trip that’s beautiful and puzzling, rolling out like an artist’s scream, a filmmaker’s dream project that amazes you that it somehow got produced.

Currently watchable on Shudder, the film begins with the Assassin descending onto a ruined, mutant, horrible world on what may be a suicide mission under orders from the Last Human. He passes through bizarre landscapes populated by tortured souls, monstrosities, terrible machines, and endless war, and runs afoul of the Surgeon, producing a chain of events leading to the Alchemist creating a new universe that only falls into the same state of decay. A form of decay that never quite dies, one that becomes a malignant ecology of its own.

If that doesn’t make sense, that’s okay. Most of the fun of this creative wonder is simply in beholding. The rest is up to interpretation, if you’re up for it: themes about humanity being prone to its own self destruction, religious allegory about every renewal leading to corruption. Visually, the film is nothing short of astounding in what it achieved technically and aesthetically. MAD GOD rolls out like something Hieronymus Bosch, the painter of the famous landscape of Hell, might have produced if he had the means to produce stop motion animation and a budget.

Otherwise, there’s the emotional impact, which infiltrates more than punches. MAD GOD is nihilistic, sad, horrible. Everything dies, everything is self-absorbed, everything fights everything else to get what it wants, everything beautiful eventually falls into ruin.

Definitely check it out if you’re into–I’m not sure. Something beautifully bleak, horribly interesting, engagingly savage.

LIMETOWN

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I love a weird mystery, the weirder the better, and so I was curious when LIMETOWN showed up on one of my streaming services. Based on a podcast of the same name, it chronicles a radio journalist’s exploration of the bizarre violence and mass disappearances occurring at Limetown, a corporate-owned town populated by neuroscientists working on a secret project. The result is Very Serious Fluff, but it’s well put together, well acted by Jessica Biel and Stanley Tucci and the rest, and overall delivers a good deal of fun.

Fifteen years ago, a visionary corporate leader with incredible financing built a town and populated it with neuroscientists with the goal of developing a revolutionary technology that might change the world. Instead, the townspeople disappeared, leaving behind signs of panic and violence and otherwise a mystery that was never solved. Fast forward to the present, and public radio journalist Lia Haddock (Biel) is digging into the story to try to find the truth, as she had a strong personal connection in her childhood to one of the people who disappeared.

In each episode, we see Lia uncover clues leading to pieces of the puzzle slowly fitting together until forming a grisly whole. The pacing and reveals are pretty well done, particularly as each person she interviews not only shares information but has interesting side stories to tell that add to the general weirdness and mystery while shedding light on some vital part of it.

Other things I liked: the overarching story that once completed is great, the artistic direction that sets the mood perfectly, the suspenseful pacing, the terrific acting, and an overall titillating experience. Though it relies pretty heavily on convenience and frustratingly vague answers so that Lia only gains the truth drip by drip, the way it all comes together is good storytelling as far as plotting.

The only problem for me was the protagonist. Biel is a stunning woman and has really come into her own as an actor, but I’ve always found her a bit wooden, and the shallowness of the character she portrays does her no favors. Lia’s sole defining characteristic seems to be her obsession and nastiness toward anybody even slightly getting in her way or offending her, and aside from a few weird “broken” traits to appeal to the Gone Girl market and other strange fixations, there’s honestly not much to her, and she comes across as actually unlikable. We know she has a girlfriend, though their relationship goes nowhere and barely serves a purpose other than to provide her a sounding board. We know she has a complicated relationship with her parents, though it’s barely explained or explored. Another grating part of the script is a motif following the TV trend of characters telling female protagonists how smart and awesome they are (for a really good example of this, watch Apple TV’s INVASION). I find smart and awesome female protagonists to be wonderful, but I’m a grownup and don’t need to be told in every episode, just once will do and preferably when it matters, when the protagonist needs to hear it. Otherwise, Lia doesn’t seem to be all that great at her job; she allows vague answers, she abuses coworkers, she’s blatantly unethical in her journalism, and she actually threatens her boss. She’s so Karen, in fact, that during the times she’s nice, I don’t quite believe it.

I haven’t listened to the podcast, which I understand was very popular, but I think my problems with the show stemmed from translation. In a podcast, you can dump creepiness on the listener, and they’ll enjoy it for what it is. When you do the same in a show, you need a protagonist who does more than deliver mystery, you need one the viewer can empathize with. Besides that, for willing suspension of disbelief in the TV medium, you need to flesh out the creepiness so it doesn’t fall apart with some critical thinking. As a result, I found myself enjoying the story of Limetown far more than Lia’s story of discovering the story of Limetown.

Okay, enough bitching on my part. Despite some flaws I found pretty glaring, I did stick it out, and overall I enjoyed it, quite a lot in fact, so much so I’ve found it sticking with me after watching. Recommended for those who like creep and mystery that solidify around a satisfying story coming to light.

SHEPHERD (2021)

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In SHEPHERD (2021), a man mourning the loss of his wife accepts a job as a shepherd posted on a remote British island, only to find it a personal hell. There’s a whole lot to admire in this stylish horror film, though I found the basic story wanting. Let me explain…

Eric Black is bereft after the death of his wife. Barely able to function, he decides to escape for a while by taking a job as a shepherd on a remote British isle. A creepy boat pilot brings him there. The house where he’ll be living is a mess, but he makes it home and tends to the sheep. Then odd things start to happen … frightening visions, a mystery, and something that appears to be hunting him.

There’s a lot to like here. The acting is solid, with pros like Greta Scachi and Kate Dickie rounding out the minimalist cast. The setting of the windswept, barren, and dreary island is fantastic and lovingly displayed. The slow trickle of reveals about Black’s past punctuate and assist rather than drag down the central conflict. The horror elements deliver creep and punch in equal measure. Thematically, the film is about loss and the personal hells it inflicts on the mourning, particularly when there’s a sense of guilt attached.

Unfortunately, for me, it all comes undone in the last act. I mean, from a technical perspective, the story comes together perfectly, wrapping everything up and revealing what is really going on. It just doesn’t work, at least for me. Just as horror and comedy are kissing cousins, horror and justice are often directly related, and that is absolutely the case in SHEPHERD–it’s an explicit part of the theme. My problem is the guy didn’t really deserve this hell, it’s that simple. And the writer seemed to go out of the way to make me believe this. The result is a view of grief and guilt that’s way more nuanced than the movie presented itself as, not to mention bleak, as it implies redemption doesn’t mean you’re free.

Minor spoiler/trigger warning about an animal dying: I should also add a warning for those squeamish about animals being hurt, particularly pets. Black has a dog, and from the first scene, you think, oh, that poor dog, he’s probably a goner. If you think that, you’d be correct. You don’t see the death occur, but you see the aftermath, and it’s kind of a gruesome scene.

Overall, I liked SHEPHERD for its acting, excellent artistic direction, brooding setting, ominous atmosphere, strong horror elements, and overall story, though I left feeling fairly unsatisfied by the story itself, notably in its conclusion. I’d still recommend it for horror fans, as again there’s a lot of good here–frankly, as a whole it’s a cut above average–and you may get more out of the ending than I did.

LOVE, DEATH, AND ROBOTS, Season 3

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The first season of LOVE, DEATH, AND ROBOTS (Netflix) wowed me with its anthology of stunning, action-packed, and titillating animated stories. Season 2 upped the production quality though at the expense of story, and I feared the show had become nothing more than a series of self-promo resume reels for its creators. Season 3 put all those fears to rest, delivering a really terrific series of animated shorts that fire on all cylinders. I loved it.

In “Three Robots: Exit Strategies” (written by John Scalzi), three robot tourists from the first season revisit Earth to learn about its apocalypse; this time, we learn it was climate change that killed everyone, and we see how different strata of society reacted to the end, with the have-nots fighting each other and the haves secluding themselves until they died out. Poignant, funny in a harsh “haha, we’re a really stupid species” kind of way.

In “Bad Traveling” (David Fincher’s animation debut), a massive shark-hunting sailing ship runs afoul of an intelligent sea monster, forcing the crew to make a decision about whether to save themselves or a nearby island full of people. Brutally satisfying.

In “Night of the Mini Dead,” we see a condensed zombie apocalypse from a bird’s eye view, looking down at tiny people and cities. Funny and quirky.

I intended to only describe the ones I really, really liked, but I’m now realizing that’s almost all of them. I was really impressed with the consistency of quality across the entire anthology this season. I’ll skip the others with a recommendation to just watch if it you have the chance, but I should talk about the finale, “Jibaro.” In this fantasy story, a squadron of warriors and priests pauses to rest by a lake in the wilderness, only to draw the attention of a local siren. The catch: Her charms don’t work on Jibaro, who is deaf. Thus beings a game of attraction and repulsion between the two, a tale of violence and greed. It’s simple with frenzied, exquisite action and visuals, and it’s quite beautiful and stirring to watch. Even if you discover this season of LOVE, DEATH, AND ROBOTS isn’t for you, I hope you’ll at least give this episode a crack.

Overall, I found this season brilliant, different, and giving me plenty of reasons to hope for a fourth season.

X (2022)

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Ti West’s latest horror flick, X, explores the juxtaposition of sex and death. It’s fun, competent, and has a great aesthetic. While the last act didn’t quite pay off for me, I liked this one.

In this film, it’s 1979, and a strip club manager, trio of would-be porn stars, and a two-person film crew decided to travel out to rural Texas in search of the perfect location for their porn movie. For the actors, they have stars in their eyes, thinking the film will make their names. For the manager and director, they see dollar signs, hoping to cash in on the developing home video market. All of them are young, hungry, and want it all.

Unfortunately, the old couple they’re renting a boarding house from is very odd and facing the end of their lives. And boy, do they resent the young for having it all.

West earned a reputation for producing solid workhorse horror films known for their consistency of quality and competence. In this film, he delivers while flirting with the juxtaposition of sex and death and horror’s kissing cousin: humor. The characters are more or less developed, the actors do a good job, there’s an original take on the villain and its agency that comes as a twist, and the overall aesthetic is 70s grind house. When the violence happens, it has a FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH vibe to it.

My only downer is the same as with other Ti West films, which is while they’re solid and competent, they tend to roll out as a fairly even road from beginning to end, with barely a suggestion of a roller coaster, and as a result, when they end, they just sort of end rather than come in for a big finish, at least for me.

Overall, I liked it and would recommend it for horror buffs looking for a hearty square meal.

UNDONE Season 2

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Amazon Prime’s first animated series, UNDONE explores the nature of time and the yearning to do life over if only to correct one’s mistakes in a series that is trippy but also very relatable and grounded in strong characters. Season 1 was top-notch sci-fi, authentic and hallucinogenic and challenging in its ideas; Season 2 isn’t as powerful, though it delivers the goods.

Skip this paragraph if you haven’t seen Season 1 yet, which I recommend you do. In Season 1, Alma (Rosa Salazar, probably my favorite actress after seeing her in this and BRAND NEW CHERRY FLAVOR) is broken and restless due to her father (Bob Odenkirk) vanishing and turning up dead during her childhood. One day, she sees him again just before a car accident, but this was no hallucination–Dad is reaching across time to ask her to help save him from ever dying in the first place. The key, he says, is for her to unlock her dormant power to control time itself. The result is an exciting journey of discovery, reconnecting with her father, keeping her worried family at bay, and pulling the right strings so reality would shift and become in her mind perfect.

In Season 2, the story continues right where it left off. Alma gets everything she wants, but she’s still unsatisfied and restlessly looking for a problem she can fix. The only trick is her powers have weakened, resulting in her working with an ally to once again go into the past to fix a problem hanging over the family’s head. Is Alma looking for a problem that isn’t there because she’s disposed to being unhappy, itchy to use her power to “fix” reality for its own sake, or is there something real she can fix and finally make things perfect?

For me, the result isn’t as strong as the first season. Alma doesn’t have the same agency, there isn’t the same exciting process of discovery, and her ally is reluctant. The result is the plot moves forward, her ally says I don’t know if we should be messing with this, Alma says we do this and everything will work out, and then it repeats. When things finally break, the plot starts to get exciting, but until then, I was feeling a little uncertain as a viewer and a fan of the first season, as the second season felt softer both in the plot and dialogue. What you do get, what really carries the story, is the characters are darn likeable, and you want them to win.

Overall, Season 2 is far more of a family drama than the story of a young woman discovering her power to change reality, but it’s a likeable family with interesting problems, and I enjoyed it. It’s different, but it’s still good.