UNDERRATED HORROR MOVIES PT. 3

RUTANYA ALDA

Sequence Break (2017)

Director and Writer: Graham Skipper Cast: Chase Williamson, Fabianne Therese, Lyle Kanouse, John Dinan, Audrey Wasilewski

What do you get when you cross a reclusive video game fanatic, a cute gamer girl, and an arcade on its last leg? Sequence Break does just that and the answer is not at all what one would expect. What sounds like the recipe for a John Hughes flick with a horror twist spirals into something much more sinister.

Chase Williamson stars as Oz, who has turned to gaming to cope with his anxiety and introversion. Games provide comfort and security in an otherwise terrifying world and he has managed to put his talents to practical use as a videogame technician. His peaceful, predictable world begins going all topsy turvy with the revelation that his boss Jerry (Kanouse) plans to close down the shop where they work. Revelations abound when, on the same day, a beautiful woman shows up sporting both a passion for gaming and an obvious interest in Oz. It’s right around this point that the Hughes feel dies away.

Since this film is best viewed without spoilers, the plot details have been kept to a minimum. The payoff is most definitely worth the lack of info. Williamson is so endearing and relatable, especially to outcasts familiar with the struggles of finding a comfortable space in the world. Therese’s performance is absolutely mindblowing, pulling the audience in as the caring, concerned love interest, leaving them questioning her ultimate role (protagonist/damsel/victim), and occasionally scaring the shit out of them.

Perhaps even this is revealing too much, but Sequence Break leaves the audience feeling like a pack of filthy voyeurs. As if we’ve stumbled upon someone’s acid fueled wet dream. No one is forcing us to watch. We can always shut it off, or look away. Leave the room, even. But we choose to stay, mouths agape. Our heads spinning with vertigo as we wonder just how far down the rabbit hole we’re about to go. So avoid the full online synopsis. Skip the little description that pops up on your screen and... Just. Press. Play.

Written by S. J. Carter

Director: Stuart Gordon Producer: Brian Yuzna Writer: Dennis Paoli Based on short stories: The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft Cast: Ezra Godden, Francisco Rabal, Raquel Merono, Macarena Gomez, Brendan Price, Birgit Bofarull

“We shall swim out to that brooding reef in the sea and dive down through black abysses to Cyclopean many columned Y’ha-nthlei, and in that lair of the deep ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory for ever.”

With a quote like that as the opening to a film with director Stuart Gordon and producer Brian Yuzna at the helm, viewers can expect some morbidly violent fare. Fans of H. P. Lovecraft may recognize the quote from his short story “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”, one of two that Dagon is based on. Also lending some inspiration is a story by the same name.

Dagon begins when Paul (Godden) wakes up from a jarring mermaid nightmare on a boat he is vacationing on with his girlfriend Barbara (Merono). Joining them are their friends Vicki (Bofarull) and Howard (Price). Vicki is injured and trapped after an unexpected storm runs their boat aground on some rocks. Paul and Barbara take a lifeboat to the fishing village of Imboca for help while Howard stays behind. The situation becomes more dire as Vicki and Howard realize they aren’t alone and whatever is in the water with them isn’t friendly.

On shore, things seem immediately ominous. Paul and Barbara are forced to split up and Paul loses track of both her and their companions. He barely has time for a nightmare fueled nap before the not altogether human villagers start hunting him down. He manages to find temporary solace with Ezequiel (Rabal), the only villager that doesn’t seem to want to string him up. Through Ezequiel, Paul learns of Imboca’s monstrous past and his heartbreaking part in it, as well as the possible fate of his girlfriend. In Paul’s attempts to save the day, he encounters the beautiful Uxia, who seems intensely obsessed with him. The slithering savagery that ensues is downright traumatizing.

It’s clear that Gordon and Yuzna put a lot of passion and attention to detail into Dagon which is not surprising as they had been attempting to get it off the ground since 1985. Opting to film in Spain definitely elevated the sense of dread. It feels like these people are really cut off from the rest of the world. The name Imboca basically translates to Innsmouth and is one of many loving nods to H. P. Lovecraft. There were definitely some smart casting choices. They all play off of each other wonderfully and both Rabal and Gomez are absolutely brilliant in their respective roles. Francisco Rabal rips at the heart as the pathetically hopeless Ezequiel. And Macarena Gomez is so shudder inducing as Uxia. She mesmerizes and entices the audience despite being so damn eerie. All of this and more make Dagon a chilling, hypnotic little gem. One can’t help but covet it. Holding it close and stroking it softly while falling into its depths. Over. And over. And over again.

Written by S. J. Carter

Session 9 (2001)

Director: Brad Anderson Writers: Brad Anderson and Stephen Gevedon Cast: David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Paul Guilfoyle, Josh Lucas, Peter Mullan, Brendan Sexton III, Larry Fessenden

At first glance, Session 9 seems innocuous enough. Any time a large medical building of any kind shows up on screen, the audience automatically knows what to expect. That all too familiar equation we can’t seem to get enough of, no matter how many times we see it. Abandoned asylum. A group of misguided, unsuspecting folks about to be haunted and hunted by whatever oogly boogly awaits within its walls. But viewers will find none of that here. Session takes an altogether different, unexpected approach. Most notably by trading in the usual youthful co-eds for a more mature, all male cast.

Gordon (Mullan) and Phil (Caruso) head up an asbestos cleaning crew competing in a bidding war for a much needed job at an abandoned insane asylum. They win the job when, much to Phil’s chagrin, Gordon guarantees his crew will finish three to four weeks of work in just one. The building tensions between the crew along with Phil’s growing concern over Gordon’s increasingly strange behavior exacerbate an already stressful situation. Phil and Hank (Lucas) have a contemptuous personal history. Mike (Gevedon) is weirdly distant. And Jeff (Sexton), the youngest member and Gordon’s nephew, is a wild card the team can’t afford. Relationships begin to deteriorate as paranoia and suspicions grow. And then Mike finds a series of audio tapes.

What’s so refreshing about Session 9 is it’s willingness to focus on the human element first. Without the distraction of 20 somethings roaming about getting laid or getting dead (or both), we’re left an intimate character study of the blue collar male. It almost feels like a peek into a normally hidden world. And it’s just so honest. These five men are doing their best to hold it together while facing each other, as well as their own demons. Despite some of their more negative attributes, they’re still so relatable. At the every least, anyone who’s done blue collar work has either worked with or actually been one of these characters. The no nonsense supervisor, fed up with everyone’s shit, including his own. The owner trying to keep the peace while refusing to acknowledge how completely overwhelmed and close to breaking he is. The guy that never takes anything seriously and covers up his failures and disappointments by being an asshole. The educated guy everyone thinks should be doing something better with his life. And the greenhorn who’s a little immature but eager to prove himself.

These people are real, which makes the possibility of a human cause to the strange goings on even more disconcerting. While there definitely seems to be a dark presence, it’s subtle. There are no decaying nurses skittering towards the camera, or ghostly inmates with rapidly shaking heads. There’s just five men. Five men who are all capable of doing bad things... under the right set of circumstances. Five men... and some voices on a tape.

Written by S. J. Carter

Escape From Tomorrow 2013

Director: Randy Moore Writer: Randy Moore Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Jack Dalton, Danielle Safady, Annet Mahendru, Alison Lees-Taylor

Disney. The most magical place on earth. A place full of joy and revelry. Fun for the whole family. And yet, one can’t help but wonder what secrets lie just beneath the surface? What really happens in the tunnels that run underneath the park? What kinds of monsters might be hiding behind some of those cheerful masks? How many people have gone in, but never come out? It’s almost impossible to ignore this particular brand of curiosity. The idea that a place as bright and cheerful as Disney could have such a sinister underbelly is intoxicating and one of the things that makes Escape From Tomorrow so damn appealing.

The film centers on Jim (Abramsohn) who gets fired over the phone on his family’s last day in Disney. Not wanting to spoil the fun, he keeps the news to himself and joins wife Emily (Schuber) and children Sara (Rodriguez) and Elliot (Dalton) for one final romp. Their vacation quickly takes a Lynchian turn for the worse when Jim encounters French teens, Isabelle (Mahendru) and Sophie (Safady), and proceeds to find flimsy excuses to stalk them through the park. In his travels he comes across a variety of creepy characters, including a disturbing man in a wheelchair and a mysterious woman who uses a bit of sparkle to get him in a “compromising position”. The film continues its dizzying descent into madness all the way up to its jarring, nauseating conclusion. Rather than viewers finding some kind of comfort in at least one or two characters, the entire cast lends itself to Escape’s unnerving claustrophobia. There is a sense that every one of the park’s otherworldly inhabitants are slowly closing in and not a single one is safe. Adding to the already crushing weight of this cleverly crafted dread is the fact that Jim might be the most dangerous monster of them all with his manipulative, predatory ways.

There is a wicked satisfaction in taking a magnifying glass to the possible blemishes concealed behind Disney’s sparkle and smoke. Escape taps into that. The fact that it was shot at both Disney World and Disneyland without permission makes it all the more devilishly delicious. It’s every Disney themed Creepypasta thrown into a blender and served up on a hellish buffet. A twisted culinary work of art. Eat Up.

Written by S. J. Carter

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