BECKY – Young brat has a bit of an attitude, though no-one expects her to be the next Rambo till she starts romping around the woods, offing escaped cons – quite resourcefully in the case of her ‘metal ruler through neck’ gag, a masterpiece of outdoorsy improvisation. The cons are Nazis and generally despicable in other ways, just in case we weren’t sure of who we were meant to be booing / cheering. I thought it was pretty fun. There was a bit where it seemed to wander a little, but all in all scores a good few points for somehow managing to seem fresh-faced and breezy whilst being intoxicatingly violent and a bit cynical.
LORDS OF SALEM – I’ve often thought of LOS as R Zombie’s strongest work. Revisiting it I’m not so sure, but I think it’s his most interesting in many ways. The vibe of subdued menace he seems to be courting – shadowy lighting, long perspectives down mildewy corridors, washed-up people living washed-out lives – partially manifests, but he lacks the subtlety to really bring it off, there’s too much that is still quite tropey. On the other hand, there are so many mad little bits, especially towards the end, with its Ken Russell inspired extravaganza of wanking, Francis Bacon-esque demon bishops etc etc. Maybe he’s at his best with vivid grotesquery, but ‘Lords Of Salem’ shows he can (sort of) do both.
CAVEAT – Guy meets an underworld acquaintance and takes a job. It’s a bit weird though – go to a house on an island in the middle of nowhere and babysit someone’s psychotic daughter whilst tethered to a harness on the end of a chain. I think I’d want to see the contract first. ‘Caveat’ is an exercise in sustained atmosphere that for the most part works. The two leads are good, but in a sense the main ‘star’ is its setting, a big rotting house that is the last word in shadowy decrepitude. As well as sickly lighting and endless corridors there are lots of little hooks, like the hostile-looking rabbit toy that rattles away on a drum whenever anything supernatural might be happening. It doesn’t quite add up (at all, actually), but I generally take feeling and style over sense, and in that respect ‘Caveat’ is a moody success.
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