after dark

THE FLICKS: The death of the drive-in movie theater left a hole in the hearts of many a genre fan. It wasn’t just enjoying a flick in the great outdoors or smuggling in your own snacks or scoring some nooky during intermission. What the current multiplex lacks is that unique double-feature experience: watching two films in quick succession that complement each other like fine wine with a fancy meal. The Tarantino/Rodriquez project Grindhouse was an attempt to recapture the magic, but After Dark’s Horrorfest got there first, rolling out into theaters as a 3-day festival and now hitting DVD as individual titles or in a comprehensive box set. Even though it will set you back around $70 bucks, the latter is definitely the way to go, mixing the good with the bad, the cheesy with the genuinely chilling, for an old-school drive-in experience. THE DEATHS OF IAN STONE: Likely the most pedigreed title of the bunch, this comes from FX wizard Stan Winston’s studio and features some elaborate CGI work and creature design. The Twilight Zone set-up has Ian pursued by a group of nasty creatures who seem to take delight in killing him, then resurrecting him in another life only to repeat the torturous hunting process. Who they are and what they want is key to the plot, so ‘nuff said there. But, despite being stylishly directed by Dario Piana, the story falls prey to a Matrix structure and even lifts that trilogy’s distinctive look right down to the shiny black leather. Derivative, but elegantly so. NIGHTMARE MAN: You take the good with the bad, and this “Flick by Rolfe Kanefsky” as the credits so casually read is only a step or two above amateur shot-on-video fan films. The obvious inspiration is Sam Raimi’s original Evil Dead with a group of annoying victims trapped in the woods harassed by a masked demon. But your tolerance for bad acting and tired clichés in that film was rewarded with a killer ending. Nightmare Man might keep you guessing which slutty female will wind up the sole survivor, but that’s about the only thing that will surprise you. And, of course, being the worst movie in the set it’s packed with special features documenting the entire filmmaking process. Save it for the cast party, Rolfe! BORDERLAND: What’s a great movie like this doing in the After Dark Horrorfest? I’m not sure either. Yes, it’s modeled after the success of torture porn films past like Hostel and Saw, but I actually found it more frightening than either of those two played out series. Inspired by the true story of teenage tourists looking for a good time in Mexico who are kidnapped by a cult of devil-worshipping drug dealers, director Zev Berman shows a steady hand in dealing out the gore, focusing instead on the dramatic tension between his stellar cast of actors which includes Boy Meets World star Rider Strong and a scary against-type turn by Sam Gamgee himself, Sean Astin. Extras include facts behind the cult murder investigation, a filmmaker’s diary and group commentary. This is the pick of the litter, folks! TOOTH AND NAIL: With the popularity of post-apocalyptic films at an all time high, we were bound to run out of realistic nemesis at some point. So writer/director Mark Young delivers unto us...Vikings? Really, dude...Vikings? Did you choose your bad guys out of a hat or something? All kidding aside, Tooth and Nail works hard to make its situation believable. The world has run of out gas, society has gone to hell. The only people left have nicknamed themselves after cars (my favorite is Torino) and are holed up in a hospital in Philadelphia; the only people left, that is, besides the aforementioned cannibalistic Vikings, who have Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones on their roster. The low-budget means we don’t get to enjoy worldwide destruction and all the exteriors look like Canada. But Tooth and Nail has the audacity to take itself seriously, which despite the sub-par acting, earns it some points for trying. CRAZY EIGHTS: What do you get when you mix second-rate actors with third-rate dialogue? Exactly...a pretentious J-horror wannabe that fails on nearly every level. Lifting the childhood trauma routine straight from Stephen King’s It, the film casts a number of recognizable faces (or in Traci Lords’ case, perhaps you’ll recognize something else) who are put through their tedious paces exploring a notorious psychological clinic that was host to illegal experiments on orphans. No amount of therapy can explain the plot of Crazy Eights; it just doesn’t add up. Even the scares are so poorly edited that any R-rated imagery seems curiously out-of-sync with the standard “jump-in-your-seat” music cues. Writer / director James K. Jones isn’t all to blame; actors Frank Whaley, Dina Meyer and Gabrielle Anwar give Raspberry-worthy performances to match. 80 minutes never felt so long. UNEARTHED: By the time its final 20-minutes come around, Unearthed finally turns into what it should have been all along: a balls-to-the-wall monster movie. But writer / director Matthew Leutwyler insists on pounding a square peg into a round hole for the other hour and change, keeping his alien-cum-critter creation hidden in favor of exploring the emotional angst of his 21-year-old hottie alcoholic sheriff. It’s pretty standard Sci-Fi Channel stuff, but well constructed. Leutwyler has the chops to make a much better film if given the resources (even his previous film, the spoofy Dead & Breakfast, made an impression), but how many more chances is the guy going to get? LAKE DEAD: If not for the inventive gore, Lake Dead would be floating right alongside Nightmare Man as the worst film in this years’ collection. But a few disturbing moments of inbred brutality elevate this Hills Have Eyes rip-off to a tolerable level, if you’re a fan of such things. Having inherited a motel from a recently deceased relative, three sisters and their horny friends go up North to have a look-see. Little do they know, someone else has been planning a family reunion...and they like to keep it all in the family, if you know what I mean! The acting is hammy, the writing is worse (even if that is how twenty-somethings talk, I don’t want to hear it), but there’s a few impalements and head explosions to look forward to. MULBERRY ST.: This is why we sit through 8 Films To Die For, in the hopes that one of them actually will be! And director Jim Mickle breaks the mold by delivering an edgy, impactful zombie tale set in the heart of New York City, unleashing an unexplained plague that turns the entire population of Manhattan into rat-faced monstrosities. The story is lightweight, but the casting is spot-on, full of authentic New Yorkers who handle the situation with realistic aplomb. Mickle shoots from the hip with a newsy approach that’s part Cloverfield, part Diary of the Dead, but completely different from any of the other After Dark titles. Mulberry St. takes big chances and beats the odds. Extras include storyboards, deleted scenes, make-up tests and a Making Of. If you can’t afford to buy the whole set, this is where you should spend your money!