Worth Mentioning - Got Some Weirdness Going Down

We watch several movies a week. Every Friday, we'll talk a little about some of the movies we watched that we felt were Worth Mentioning. 

Cody celebrates the 50th anniversary of the events of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then watches some more horror.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) – 2020 FAMILY REUNION VIRTUAL EVENT, NIGHT 1

The fiftieth anniversary of the release of director Tobe Hooper’s classic horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre won’t roll around until October 11th of 2024, but today – August 18th, 2023 – does mark the fiftieth anniversary of the events of the film, which play out on August 18th, 1973 (and into the morning of the 19th). So of course I had to take in a viewing of the film, which is one of my all-time favorites, to celebrate. Back in 2020, Exurbia Films hosted a “family reunion virtual event” in which viewers were able to watch the movie along with legendary movie host and drive-in movie critic (not to mention Chainsaw super-fan) Joe Bob Briggs, co-writer Kim Henkel, and cast members John Dugan, Edwin Neal, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Allen Danzinger, and Ed Guinn... and a recording of that event seemed like an ideal screening of TCM to watch for the fiftieth anniversary of the titular massacre.

The presentation might bring to mind Hollywood Squares, with the movie playing out in the middle of the screen while surrounded by the squares of the contributors’ webcam screens, but it makes for a fun viewing experience. While everyone watches the film together virtually, Joe Bob, Henkel, and the cast members provide some interesting information about the production and release of the film, its legacy, and what it was like to work on the set. 

Topics covered during the screening include memories of late cast members, the feeling that Tobe Hooper was a “ghost” on set during the filming of outdoor scenes but became much more involved once filming moved into the home of the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface and his cannibalistic family, a moment when Hooper walked off the set because actors couldn’t get their giggles under control and Henkel had to direct the scene, the fact that investor Jay Parsley had no faith in the movie and was constantly considering pulling the funding... But luckily, Parsley was dating lead actress Marilyn Burns, and she was able to talk him down. Repeatedly. 

We hear about the extremely wealthy plastic surgeon who did the makeup effects. McMinn reveals that she actually had fun shooting the scene where her character gets hung up on a meat hook. She also had an interesting experience of picking up a hitchhiker sometime after the movie was released... and once he was in her vehicle, the hitchhiker started talking about having just seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, not realizing she was one of the stars. The Leatherface family home has been moved to a different location since filming and is now a restaurant, and apparently there was a screening at the restaurant that involved a headcheese eating contest that really grossed out Henkel and Neal, so that gets a mention. They also talk about the fact that the film was banned in multiple countries, and briefly cover the questionable business dealings of the original distributor.

If you’re a fan of this movie, it’s highly recommended that you find a way to get a recording of this event, because it’s very interesting to hear what Henkel and the cast have to say about making this classic. The conversation extends longer than the film as well. The end credits have rolled, but Joe Bob and the Chainsaw folks continue chatting for about twenty more minutes, ending at just under 105 minutes.

NIGHT OF THE CAREGIVER (2023)

After directing four Westerns in a row (A Prayer for the Damned, Incident at Guilt Ridge, Promise, and Gunfight at Rio Bravo), Joe Cornet has switched things up and made his horror debut with Night of the Caregiver – and he brought several Rio Bravo collaborators along with him: producer Alexander Nevsky, writer Craig Hamann, and cast members Natalie Denise Sperl and Anna Oris. Now that Cornet is working in the horror genre, he doesn’t waste any time getting to the good stuff. There’s no holding back from letting viewers know there’s a demonic creature in the mix. Within the first minute, the camera has roamed through a creepy house, we’ve seen the hand of a monster that’s making its way around the location, and we’ve seen that the titular caregiver is so creeped out that she’s napping with a flashlight close by. Of course, this is a flash forward and we’ll soon be jumping back in time to see how the situation progressed to this point, but the fact that Cornet was willing to show part of the monster within the opening seconds went over well with me.  

The caregiver is Juliet (Sperl), a hospice nurse who has answered an ad for a high-paying one-night job to watch over an elderly woman in an isolated mansion. The woman is Lillian Gresham, played by Eileen Dietz – who has over 100 screen acting credits to her name, but the one you’ll see referenced most often is The Exorcist, where she was the face of the demon Pazuzu. Dietz makes sure we care about Lillian within moments of meeting her, as this lady is adorable and very friendly, serving up cookies and tea. But while the terminally ill Lillian rests in her bedroom, Juliet begins to suspect there’s some “paranormal weirdness going down” in her home. She starts seeing things and hearing things, including visions of her own murder at the clawed hands of a demon. Soon enough, she’s napping with a flashlight close by...

It’s an economical set-up for a horror story, as the film largely takes place in one location, and for most of the time we’re focused on just two characters: Juliet and Lillian. But they aren’t the only people in the movie. There are occasional phone conversations with Juliet’s friend Pamela (Oris), and Cornet himself plays a detective who is trying to find out what happened to his mother when she disappeared twenty-six years earlier. There’s talk of an urban legend that resurfaces every thirteen years – and to aid the detective in his investigation of this urban legend, a parapsychologist (Eric Roberts) directs him to an isolated mansion. Lillian Gresham’s place.

The cast does well in their roles, with Sperl making for a good horror heroine and engaging in some fun banter with Oris. Cornet’s character adds an interesting element to the story, and it’s always nice to see Roberts show up in something. It’s not a rare event, because Roberts may be the busiest person working in the entertainment industry today (he has racked up over 700 acting credits!), but it’s still fun to see him every single time.

Night of the Caregiver moves quickly, which is evident from the fact that it wraps up in just 77 minutes. If you’re tired of bloated running times and slow burns, watching this movie might bring you a sense of relief. This one doesn’t drag things out, it isn’t padded with filler, it just sets up an intriguing mystery, puts Juliet through some creepy scenes, then delivers an exciting climactic sequence. Sometimes a short and simple, straightforward creepy house / lurking demon movie is exactly what you want to spend your evening with.

The review of Night of the Caregiver originally appeared on ArrowintheHead.com

MURDERBOT (2023)

Back in 1986, director Jim Wynorski brought the world the killer robot classic Chopping Mall, which was originally called Killbots. Thirty-seven years later, it was announced that Wynorski would be making a new movie called Killbots – something completely separate from Chopping Mall, but also about killer robots – for Charles Band’s company Full Moon. But things changed along the way, and by the time it was released the new Killbots had undergone a title change just like its predecessor did. It ended up being about a singular Murderbot.

Written by Wynorski and Kent Roudebush, the movie stars Rocky DeMarco as the titular character, Raquel. She looks like an attractive, large-breasted woman (as you would expect to see in a Wynorski movie – especially since he and DeMarco have worked together 25 times previously), but she’s actually a robot that was created by in a U.S. Army Cyber-Lab. After becoming sentient, she escapes from the lab and sets off to wipe out the human race. Thankfully, she has to make her way through a desert ghost town first.

While Raquel murders everyone she comes across with brute strength, electricity, and lazer beams, scientist Dr. Merriweather (August Kyss) sends lab assistants Mary (Emma Keifer) and Mari (Sarah Noelle) try to track her down with the help of soldier Santos, played by Rib Hillis. Before the experts can reach the scene, Raquel has set her sights on a group of young people who have wandered through the ghost town while on a road trip. There’s not much character to these characters – the most we know about any of them is that one them plays trumpet... which he does, often, to everyone’s annoyance... - but they’re fine cannon fodder for Raquel.

Murderbot is quick and entertaining enough. The only problem is the fact that it was marketed as a feature and yet it’s basically only half a movie, having a running time of just 46 minutes. Full Moon movies have tended to be quite short lately, but while I can be okay with a running time of 59 minutes or so because it’s close to the length of many of the classic Universal Monsters movies, 46 minutes is a bit too short for my liking. Murderbot ends like it’s going to lead right into a sequel, but if we get a Murderbot 2 with the same running time it will be like we got one movie total for the price of two.