The Keep (1983)

There's a seemingly endless list in my head comprised of countless film titles that I've been anticipating seeing for ages. I'm not talking about films I want to see, per se, so much as these are films that have a storied and/or controversial history which makes them even more appealing. One such title has been director Michael Mann's disowned 1983 Nazis-versus-ancient-demon picture, The Keep. To be perfectly honest, as aware as I've been about its troubled production and heavily edited final release form, the bulk of my interest lay in hearing Tangerine Dream's score. The group has been responsible for imbuing pictures with a life far beyond what many "normal" composers could achieve, simply by virtue of the fact that their themes and instrumentation are often second-to-none. I still think the score for Ridley Scott's truncated theatrical version of Legend (1985) is outstanding, fully elevating the film to a higher plane even maestro Jerry Goldsmith couldn't match with his score to the director's cut of the picture. It also didn't help that I've heard nothing but praise for the soundtrack, even more so than for the film.

Don't think I'm discounting Michael Mann's name here. Without delving too deep into my thoughts, know that I am a HUGE fan of his filmography. Except for his HBO series, Luck, which was fucking dreadful. Not sure what went wrong there, but part of it was likely due to the fact that watching jackasses bet on horse races redefines ennui. But I digress. It's also relatively well-known that he has more or less disowned this film, which (if I had to guess) is almost entirely due to the fact that he hasn't ever re-cut it to his original intentions. Mann is one of those filmmakers who loves to re-edit his movies, sometimes years after the picture has found an approving audience (or not).  Sometimes he even pulls off sly edits, with no press given to them, by removing or adding small bits of footage because he is clearly a fastidious auteur obsessed with the minutia of his films. I'm fairly certain Heat has been slightly tweaked for each subsequent home video release, as just one example. Mann's original cut for The Keep was rumored to run around three and a half hours in length, which is a far cry from the current running time of 96 minutes. To prove just how much he hates his own movie, Mann successfully blocked Paramount from releasing it on DVD in 2004, although another reason for that release's cancellation was a dispute between Tangerine Dream and Virgin Records, too.

Enough with the history lesson, pal. How's the damn movie? Intriguing and dark, despite clear evidence that it has been substantially altered. It opens with Nazi officer Klaus Woermann, played by the always intimidating Jürgen Prochnow, leading his party of German troops to a desolate village. Surely, he has come to crush these peasants with his iron f- oh, wait, he's being nice and polite to everyone. What kind of sick film is this? Klaus sets up camp inside an old citadel (the titular "keep"), whereby he is instructed to "NEVER TOUCH THE CROSSES" by an emphatic, enigmatic servant to the keep, played by Wild at Heart's William Shepard. These Nazis are greedy fuckers, though. So, sure enough, a couple of them start trying to pry off a cross made of silver when suddenly - WHOOSH! (That was the sound of ancient evil being unleashed). Something has been awoken in the keep, and it is absolutely destroying the shit out of these Nazis. Fearing Klaud may not be up to the task of keeping his men safe, the SS troops send in Eric Kaempffer - a subdued but cunning Gabriel Byrne - to get a hold of the situation. Using sensitive and investigative SS tactics, Kaempffer threatens to kill five villagers for every one Nazi that dies until he gets an answer as to what's doing the killing. Even though Klaus has told him the villagers don't know. Hey, maybe that old servant dude knows! He's been tending to the keep for his entire l- oh, wait, Kaempffer just shot him and his two sons dead. Well, shit. Guess it's up to this mysterious holy man, Glaeken (Scott Glenn, with a goddamn majestic pair of blue eyes), to combat whatever old-school evil is up to nefarious deeds.

I got sucked into the film's mystery quite easily once the picture got rolling. Mann had already displayed his trademark abilities - long, lingering shots; deft camera work; fantastic shot composition - in his directorial debut, the utterly brilliant Thief, starring James Caan, so it's not like he made this film still rocking his directorial training wheels. In fact, his style is a major reason why the film manages to work as well as it does. In lesser hands, this could have been a cheap looking, unspectacular monster movie. The keep is an ominous building, standing like a massive monolith above this shanty town. The mysteries surrounding it spark interest, and the more we learn as an audience the more it feels like the film is building up to something big.

Only it doesn't. Not exactly. Once this "evil" is unleashed, it turns out to be a roided-out version of Uncle Frank from Hellraiser. The more souls this big beast claims, the more complete his physical appearance becomes. I do have to admit that the demon design, supervised by Alien's Nick Allder, isn't all that bad. It's right on that borderline of being a big, blocky meathead, but the sculpt - and some well-placed lighting - ends up lending the creature a foreboding visage.  

"I've been trying to cut down on my carb intake."

 

Scott Glenn's mysterious wanderer, Glaeken, seems to have taken the brunt of the editing massacre. Very little is known about him. Maybe that was intentional, though I'd like to think Mann wanted to build him up to be a little more than a pretty set of (contact lensed) eyes who bangs a concentration camp victim's daughter within moments of meeting her. The only thing we really know for sure is that he can combat whatever evil is trying to escape the keep. Once he does, however, the film's big climax ends in a very anti-climactic fashion. The writing is on the walls; you can see what Mann likely wanted to do here, but lack of final edit over the finished film means that we probably won't ever get to see his true vision. Even in this truncated form, it's not a bad film by any means. And Tangerine Dream fans will undoubtedly dig on the score. I hope that a company like Shout! can somehow obtain the rights and see that this film is given its due. 

Drag Me To Hell (2009)

Yet another review from the crypt, this for Raimi's best film in ages...

It’s been almost 20 (!) long years since Sam Raimi waded into the genre pool with his last horror offering, 1993’s Army of Darkness. The film was the second, and most likely final, sequel to the Evil Dead film series, the trilogy which put Raimi’s name high up on the list of horror’s most beloved directors. After its release, everyone was wondering what kind of new horrors he would have in store for fans. However, rather than sticking to his low-budget roots, Raimi expanding into cinema with non-genre offering such as The Quick and the Dead (a much better film than it’s given credit for being), A Simple Plan (a well-received, and rightfully so, crime drama), For the Love of the Game (for the love of God, why?) and The Gift (a decent, if not bland, thriller). Fans, though weary of his output, held out hope for another masterpiece of horror. And then the announcement came that he would be directing Spider-Man. This was, in essence, the nail in his horror coffin, since once most low-budget directors go big (I’m looking at you, Peter Jackson) they don’t tend to revert back to relying on practical FX and smaller budgets. The Spider-Man film series has kept Raimi busy for the better part of the last decade, so when it was announced that he was taking a much-needed break to direct a low-budget horror film, well, needless to say, his longtime fans were frothing at the mouth. No, it wasn’t going to be the oft-discussed Evil Dead 4 (a project which, frankly, is past its expiration date), but an original piece written by Sam and his brother, and longtime collaborator, Ivan. The finished product, Drag Me To Hell, is a fun little horror flick, but there are some obstacles that keep it from being the low-budget jewel so many were hoping for.

Christine (Alison Lohman) is a loan officer at WilshirePacific Bank, where she’s hoping to snag the newly-opened Assistant Manager’s position. When an old gypsy woman comes in to get a third extension on her mortgage, Christine’s boss, Mr. Jacks (David Paymer), tells her that an assistant manager has to make the tough decisions, so it’s her call. Knowing that her promotion may ride on her choice, she decides to deny to old woman her extension, even though she will lose her house. After work, the two have an all-out catfight in a parking lot, culminating in the old gypsy placing a curse on Christine. As told to her by a local soothsayer, Rham, the curse causes the recipient to be tormented for 3 days, after which the ground is opened up and they are literally dragged to Hell. Christine, and her boyfriend, Clay (Justin Long), now have to find a way to undo the curse before she suffers that very fate.

The film’s trailers don’t do a whole lot to make it look like anything other than a generic horror flick, but fans of Raimi’s prior films will know this is likely to be anything but. Raimi is known to combine horror and slapstick comedy, a trademark in full effect here. That’s both a blessing and a curse, since many scenes that should be terrifying end up as slightly campy due to the humor. This isn’t necessarily a slight on the film, but I think that there should have been a stronger undercurrent of terror running throughout the picture. A few gags are repeated once too often, especially the possessed handkerchief. Yes, you read that right. It worked once, but it doesn’t do much the second time it pops up. My biggest complaint has to be the overuse of shoddy CGI. I had hoped Raimi would use almost 100% practical effects here, since he’s known for having some of the best in his films, but many of the intended scares were diluted by the poor computer renderings. That fact left me dismayed since I had hoped to get some spectacular gross-out set pieces, only to find haphazard computer work. I will say, though, that what practical effects are shown on-screen are rightfully nasty and definitely got the audience hooting and hollering.

I wasn’t entirely sold on Alison Lohman in this role. She does a reasonably good job, but she often has an uneasy delivery to her lines that tended to throw me off. I can’t complain too much, however, since the lead was originally intended to go to Ellen Page, she of (the worse fucking film of 2007) Juno fame. Her inclusion here would have kept me from seeing the film at all. I loathe her on so many levels. But I digress… Lohman does seem to be sleepwalking a bit here, but as I said, she does well enough that I’m not going to complain much.

One actor who always shines, in my opinion, is Justin Long. Even though it’s a slight stretch casting him as a college psychology professor (I don’t know, maybe my mental image is of someone who looks a bit more distinguished, or like Dr. Weil), the guy can still hold a film together. He was one of the highlights in Jeepers Creepers, but I’ve found his best work to be in comedy. He’s got some serious chops in that department. See Zack and Miri Make a Porno and you’ll know what I mean. Though he doesn’t have a whole lot to do here aside from acting concerned, and providing a major plot point at the end, his presence is still a plus for the film.

Here’s something I rarely notice in films today: sound design. Drag Me To Hell has some of the most incredible sound I’ve heard in a theater in a long time. It’s abrasive, unnerving, tormenting and VERY FUCKING LOUD.. I doubt this is going to win an Oscar or anything, though it should, but the sound design here alone is worth the price of admission. I’m sure it’ll sound sweet as hell on a decent home theater system, but don’t wait for the Blu-ray to come out. This is definitely something you need to experience in a theater. Raimi has always had a penchant for creative use of sound, Evil Dead II is a perfect example of this, but the uninitiated will be in for quite the auditory treat.

I’m recommending you see this, but it’s a mild recommendation. I really wanted to be blown away by this movie, but some of my minor quibbles keep it from being a full-blown return to form for Sam Raimi. For one, the torment Christine goes through for 3 days isn’t nearly as tormenting as I had anticipated. Truth be told, it’s rather tame. There are some worthy practical FX on display, but for every one of them there’s any equally appalling CGI monstrosity that sucks you right out of the action. I will say this, though: the ending has some balls, and those are in short supply these days. Don’t let the PG-13 rating dissuade you here. Anyone familiar with Raimi’s films knows that he has a tendency to use multi-colored oozes and puss in lieu of traditional red blood, and there’s no need for nudity here, so an R-rating isn’t required. Many great horror films haven’t been R-rated, not that this is great, but it’s simply not an issue for this particular flick. Summer could use a few good scares, so go see it to diversify your summer viewing schedule.