Holy Crap! A Zombie Orgy! Literally.
The picture and headline for this review should give you an insight into the latest and last entry to "Masters of Horror" season 1. Don't worry they gonna come back again in later this fall will some old directors line-up and possible some new ones. Originally they were gonna show the Takashi Miike's short called 'Imprint", but of course I was like that will be awesome. It was to be Miike first English language film and another venue to get him into the homes of America by the great people at cable. Well Showtime didn't give in, and we all know why. Miike's short was disturbing and deemed inaccessible for even cable's standards. I some what knew this would happen, but was so excited to see it. Instead they made John McNaughton's short the last and end of this season, and what an ending this one has. Probably not as gruesome or more shocking as Miike, but you got make due with what you got. Miike's short will be released by Anchor Bay, as so the rest of the shorts will be released through Anchor Bay, but for Miike's film it will be hard unrated special edition! Awesome!
So McNauhgton("Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer","Mad Dog and Glory", "Wild Things") is the last on the roster and what a conclusion. Originally for George Romero and Roger Corman, but both dropped out on the last minute and McNaughton was a replacement. And Why Not? He deserves to be on that roster as much as anyone. Based off a short story from the weird Clive Barker and written teleplay from "Masters of Horror" creator Mick Garris. The short starts out with "In Association with George A. Romero", like it was some kind of disclaimer. I can see why, because it wasn't a rip-off or homage to him, but McNaughton taking Romero ideas and Barker's and giving his all.
The story is simple. A tale set in old England where church belief and science was still debated openly and ran the democracy of scientist tryin to have test on dead bodies. McNaughton has worked with this actor on ABC short lived one-hour show that was scripted and produced by Ben Affleck. The show being "Push, Nevada" starring Derek Cecil, McNaughton used him to play the role of the budding scientist Ernest Haeckel who has an interest of re-animating the dead and the magic that is used by a local merchant called Montesquino. Played by none other than the seemingly character actor Jon Polito who shows Haeckel his magic and is still unimpressed. After learning that his father is dying from a illness he is set to travel and visit him on his death bed. He is later stopped by and old man who offers him shelter and is introduced to his young wife who he makes a move on.
The whole trappings with a set design that echoes a Hammer films and a smoke machine on a grave site. The dialogue is fare on the English wording that eschews a B-movie late night horror film, but the performances are really good especially the woman who plays the wife of the farmer. As the atmosphere gives you that tingle you wonder how this old man got such a young woman. The movie goes more into at what she does at night to be pleasured since she can't by the old farmer. Haeckel, of course, is a curious young chap and wants to know the answers to everything since he is an arrogant scientist saying goes of curiosity killing the cat, cliche it may be, but the proof is in the twist! I saw it coming, but didn't think they were actually gonna do it.
Haeckel try to find answers and is sworn by the old man to stay in the house, no matter what noises you hear. He later ask the old man what's going on and why is the miss out side making all those noises. He finds out that she had a husband who died and she visits the site periodically!YEAAHHH! We all know where that's going to. SO he follows the voices all the way to the grave site and sees Montesquino(of course) resurrecting the dead. What he also sees is the old man's wife having sex with her dead husband, but not just him. Their is just a slew of zombies all waiting their turn to have sex with her. It's necrophilia to the max! It's like a gang-bang zombie orgy, I was sitting there in the house just saying "I can't wait to die!" it was true horror erotica!
Haeckel tries to stop this madness, what a fool, and accidentally kills a few people in the process. The ending or twist which is predictable but such a crowd pleaser, I won't give away but all I can say is "Zombie Baby". Throughout all the mayhem that played out like "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things", directed by Bob Clark, it just fades out with a "THE END". Like that's it, that's the whole season, like it was a whole 12-Hour movie with different narratives but one true passion for horror. I gotta say it was a great way to the season, it was the 'Decalogue" for horror fans. If it ended with Miike's short that would have been a great ending, but McNaughton beat him to the punch and he knew what he was doing!
I'm gonna keep this one short and just give an actual criticism, that McNaughton displayed a treatment of macabre that was eminent in a lot of Hammer and Amicus films and daring as a Pasolini film. McNaughton say he doesn't work in any genre and it is true at his work because this movie is rather not horror, comedy, transcendental genre mixing, erotica or even a zombie film. It's just a true master executing a unique story without being mere excess and shockability. It's true macabre and McNaughton knows what the hell he's doing(the Same with rest of the directors who are enlisted with the series)! This is Aliye Nyoka saying "See You Next Season for Masters of Horror, until then PEACE!"
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