"The Nostril Picker" aka "The Changer"

"The Nostril Picker" or, as it is known on Amazon Prime, "The Changer" is a strange movie for sure.

The movie's basic concept that a grown man with an attraction to high school aged girls can make  himself look like a teenager is pretty creepy.  The basis for his ability to change makes little sense and the "effect" is achieved a bit like how they did it in "Quantum Leap" (except here there are a few reflection "goofs".  A common problem for any independent production.)  Overall though, once  you buy into the concept, I think that aspect of the movie is pretty convincing.

The movie is a strange watch though.  I think it's biggest problem is a lack of focus on its intent.  It swings from gory to intentionally (or I think intentionally) humorous pretty quickly.  I've been known to inject humor into my own movies, such as "Alien Vengeance" or "Stopped Dead" and "Lumber vs Jack" was clearly meant to be an off kilter concept from the get go, but something about this movie's core concept and then the High School comedy tone of the music video in the early few minutes was odd.  Although, if I'm honest, I guess AV suffers the same quasi serious subject matter vs humor of the cheesy retro F/X and use of a plunger as a weapon.

The Movie's Musical Interlude.
Warning: Disturbing finger use ahead!

The movie's tone aside, modern audiences also may be put off by a few other points. Being a product of the 90s, some things will stand out as not commonly acceptable. Transvestitism is used as a source of comedy, with a tongue in cheek performance by Steven Andrews as a cross dressing prostitute.  The fashions may seem like they're there for comedy, but people used to dress that way for real.  Although clothes in indie horrors do tend to be a few years out of date since we all know we'll be covered in blood before the shoot is over.  The video quality is also not what one expects from a modern "shot on video" affair.  The audio, however, is surprisingly clean for what seems to be a very independent effort.

Overall, if you're a fan of offbeat, disturbing and unintentionally funny horror, I'd give this one a spin.  Some of the acting is exactly what  you'd expect when someone gets non-actors together for a movie.  ( A few of the cast members have only this movie to their credit.)  Carl Zchering, however, is very effective and creepy in the lead role and that's what really matters.

You'll find yourself scratching  your head while watching, "The Nostril Picker", which I guess is better than what you could be doing with  your finger.

The transformation ritual.

Demon Wind!

Get those fart jokes out of the way now so that we can discuss the movie.

A Product of it's time.

Charles Phillip Moore's 1990 monster movie, "Demon Wind" is a mash-up of the horror films that came before it.  A lot of people compare it to "Evil Dead" and the inspiration is undeniable, but there are definitely elements of "Night of the Living Dead" in there too.  And then the movie brings in a big helping of occult movies from the 70s, such as "The Devil's Rain".  It's actually a nice divergence from the knife wielding, faceless stalkers that surrounded it at the time.

What's fun.

If you've read a few reviews here then you know that I love my monsters, enjoy retro F/X and enjoy a straight forward story with characters who act out of some kind of motivation.  "Demon Wind" treats us to most of these elements.

The make-up F/X get a bit "sloppy" at times, but gooey, drippy, puss filled demons were the order of the day in the late 80s and early 90s.  When these demons get attacked their whole body sneezes, spewing forth a yellowish green goop that will make the uninitiated viewer gag.  

The human blood and gore are fairly well done too.  It's your standard syrupy blood that sprays or drips depending on the circumstances.  There's a fairly unconvincing severed head, but they found a way to make sure you knew whose head it was by accessorizing it. ( I did this in quite a few of my movies because nearly every severed I used was one of only two I had at the time. In "All Wrapped Up" we gave him a hat and sunglasses to match him to the actor.)

The creature f/x are a mixed bag.  There's a scene in a  barn that I won't discuss too much, but the effect is very well achieved and one that I've used several times in the "Alien Vengeance" movies. (That will probably give you a hint of what to expect.)  Later in the movie when we finally see the main demon I felt like an opportunity was lost.  Like the demons that came before him he's a bit of a deformed slime covered mess.  That may be scarier to some, but for me, well, we've been looking at melting possessed people the whole movie.  At this point I wanted a well sculpted horror from Hell.  Oh well.  His legs were cool and they did give him some nifty demonic powers.

Ah, the light effects.  Lightning, "fire bolts", magic and whatever else you'd like to call it, we're treated to all of the pre-CG glowing f/x they could think of here and I loved it. Cheesy? Yes.  Effective? Yes.  Fun? You betchya!  I specifically added a light effect to the closing of "Indiscretions" because it was a "stranded in a cabin with a monster" movie and they all need some glowing magic effect to be complete.

Our lead character has a believable, if not totally realistic, motivation. Cory ( Eric Larson ) is looking for answers at his ancestral home, where his grandparents died under mysterious circumstances six decades earlier.  Some of his friends seem like genuine friends, but others are obviously just there as demon fodder and why they went along on this journey or stayed for any length of time after things got weird is never really explored.  It doesn't need to be though.  We're given a basic explanation and then the magic (evil magic, mostly) starts and that's enough.

The Performances. 

Overall, we have a pretty strong cast here.  No real weak links in the acting.  A few over the top performances, but they're all called for and well placed.  There are even a few very creepy kids if that's the kind of thing that scares you. 

The Story gets lost a bit.

Towards the end the movie takes some odd turns and I think they may have been partially explained by the big demon, but his voice was so synthesized that his maniacal ramblings were a bit difficult to understand.  In the end, I wasn't sure what had made Cory's family so central to the plot or what we were supposed to think was going on.  We get an action packed, monster tossing heroes, fire spewing finale of a fight scene though, so I'll forgive it.

The Wrap up.

You can currently see "Demon Wind" included with a Prime membership.  Last I checked it has a four star rating on Amazon with over 31 reviews, which is pretty high praise for a movie of this kind.

Check out the trailer and decide for yourself if this fun, demon filled, goopfest is for you.

Razorback!

A gigantic, killer, horned pig.  I have always thought wart hogs and such were pretty scary looking.  And I've always wanted to see one as a monster on  movie.  Apparently I missed this masterpiece when I was a teenager and it's not an easy movie to catch.

This is a bit of a cheat because it's not streaming free and the budget is kind of big to consider it "indie".  In fact, according to the IMDB trivia section, even back in 1984, they spent $250,000 on a full sized animatronic pig.

But, the movie is definitely "niche". I managed to DVR it when it ran on TCM.  You can currently RENT it on Amazon.

"Razorback" is a mix of  three revenge stories and a giant monster movie.  Two men have reasons to want to kill the  titular creature and at least one of those men, Carl Winters, played by Gregory Harrison, also has some human villains to contend with, although he doesn't know it.  You know me, I like to let you guys get the plot from watching the movie, but those are the bones of it.  Giant pig, bad guys, heroes out for justice and/or revenge.

The cinematography is just amazing.  Another trivia tidbit refers to this movie as "Ozploitation".  Australia was very popular in the 80s, I think mostly thanks to "The Road Warrior".  Cinematographer, Dean Semler, set a very dark, desolate mood.  The landscape became a character and every shot was more impressive than the last.  The movie is worth watching for some of the truly beautifully shot scenes alone.

Russell Mulcahy didn't do a bad job at directing either.  Another reviewer stated that he felt the action sequences were a bit hard to follow, but if you're used to 70s and 80s monster movies, you're familiar with the standard "Monster Cam" POV shots, not showing the creature in full much, if ever, and all of the tricks a good director will use to cause viewers to build the monster in their minds.  I think it's an art that CG has largely killed.  Audiences just expect to see the monster now.  The whole thing, jumping and climbing and running and eating people. Mulcahy relied more on atmosphere and suggestion most of the movie.  Giving us glances here and there until things really get moving.  It's an art form all its own and done well here. We do get some nasty close ups of the Razorback and it's actually not bad looking.  Good by the standards of the day.

The creature F/X are on point, but we're given very little explanation as to where a pig the size of a Buick came from.  "Interbreeding" is mentioned and we're told that it's bristly hair makes it hard to shoot. (Really.)  Aside from that, little explanation is given and little is needed.  We know it's strong as a rhino and hard to kill. A proper monster.

The human villains would be comical if they weren't so violent.  That's not to say that comedy can't be dark.  In fact, there are one or two scary moments in the movie that definitely have a comical tilt.

I  recommend this one for fans of cinematography, mutated animals, gigantic monsters or Australia. 
It slows down now and then, but the atmosphere is relentless from about the 20 minute mark, keeping you on edge even when not much seems to be going on.

Terror in The Wax Museum

Not be confused with the 1933 classic,  "Mystery of the Wax Museum", starring Fay Wray, Lionel Atwill, and Glenda Farrell, or the 1953 3D remake, "House of Wax" with Vincent Price (proving that some remakes are excellent movies), "Terror in the Wax Museum" is a bit of a whodunit with kills that allow it to be categorized in the horror realm.

By the way, I'm sure the intention was absolutely for the 1973 movie to be reminiscent of the two classics I mentioned.  It's difficult to imagine a movie set in a wax museum, using the words "wax museum" in the title not being at least a bit connected to the movies which came before it.  It's almost unavoidable.

To be sure, this little production doesn't stand with the movies that came before it and yet, it rises far above it's derivative roots.  It sort of played out like a made for TV movie.  The pacing was a bit off at time and the edits a bit rougher than you'd expect from a theatrical release.  It has some comedy and the well-known names turn in capable, but a bit campy, performances.  The movie features Ray Milan, Elsa Lanchester, Maurice Evans, Patrick Knowles and John Carradine to name a few.

It has all of the elements you'd expect from such a movie.  A museum full of wax figures modeled on famous killers, a boiling cauldron of wax positioned under a dodgy catwalk, a disfigured, hunchbacked, deaf mute assistant, an eccentric museum curator who may be a bit too attached to his figures and of course MURDER.

The lighting falls into that TV movie category most of the time.  Not super bright and cheery, but hardly shadowy and moody, which the 53 movie gave us.  Still, the movie manages to create an atmosphere that is a bit off from center and creepy at times.  This atmosphere is often broken by a Scooby-Doo like tip toeing through the museum by characters who have heard a noise in the night.

There are some clues dropped here and there and few blind allies that lead to red herrings, but in the end you probably could guess the killer if you're paying attention and enjoy that part of the game.  Overall, it's a decent little old dark house sort of thriller with some mystery, comedy and clichés thrown into the mix.

Perfect for these cold nights we've been experiencing on the East Coast recently.  Get under the blankets, head over to Amazon Prime and give "Terror in the Wax a Museum" 73 minutes to entertain you.

It should be noted, I have soft spot for these Wax Museum movies.  I watch Mystery and House every year in October.  "House of Wax" is one of the first horror movies I remember watching with my Dad when it was on TV one weekend afternoon.  I don't think I even saw the whole thing, but I remember being very confused by the big reveal toward the end.  And "Mystery of the Wax Museum" is one of the first TCM movies I remember wanting to add to my annual roster of Halloween Horror viewing.  Osbourne's introduction and after movie wrap up reminded me of classes in film school and the nostalgia just stayed with me.  That said, this affection for the two movies could have given this one a leg up, but it also could have made me more critical of the newer film.  In the end I think it was original enough to justify it's existence, but true enough to the style to be a nice addition to the very limited sub genre.