SUSPENSION jumped right in with a scene of a dominatrix getting ready to torture a psychotic murderer with the old iron-poker-up-the-ass trick. But he escapes and turns the tables and...it turns out it's just the active, artistic imagination of a schoolgirl. One whose father did snap and kill 8 people years ago, and one who is regarded by almost all her classmates as a freak. Director Jeffrey Scott Lando, whose SAVAGE ISLAND played at Holehead way back in...2004 at the first Holehead (if you don't count the final all-horror weekend of 2003 Indiefest, which some of us count as the first--or zeroth--Holehead) is back and updating classic horror genres to modern times again. Back in 2004 he was playing with redneck horror. Now he's playing with slasher horror in the mold of HALLOWEEN or FRIDAY THE 13TH (oh hey, look at the date!) Anyway, after taking some excessive abuse from bullies, Emily (Ellen MacNevin, rocking the lead role. As an aside, strong female lead performances have been a feature of Holehead this year) goes home to babysit her brother while the rest of the kids go to a party to drink, do drugs, and have underage sex. But Emily just stays at home with her little brother--her creepy, almost non-verbal brother--who wants her to draw more of her bloody horror story featuring her escaped psycho father torturing and killing all those who have wronged her. And the movie switches back and forth from her babysitting to the story-within-the-story, until...they converge. And then things get gloriously out-of-control bloody violent. I loved this movie!
Oh, and I happened to be wearing my orange psycho ward jumpsuit and a hockey mask in honor of the date and the late-night movie, but it turned out to be even more appropriate for SUSPENSION, so that was an awesome little bonus. And for the people behind me (which is everyone, since I sit in the front row) I turned the mask around (mostly because it gets too hot and too hard to see through it) so they got to see the back of my head staring at them through the movie. I know they appreciated that. It's one of those rare moments that I wish I were someone else, just so I can experience the awesomeness of being around me. (No, I'm not too much of a narcissist, why do you ask?)
Next up was SACRED BLOOD, by the maverick Coppola, Christopher--whose THE CURSE OF BLOODHEAD also played at Holehead 2004. And he was also in attendance, so it was kind of a reunion of original Holehead filmmakers. Chris said he made this movie as a love letter to San Francisco, and is the first of 16 independent features he plans to make here. And that's pretty exciting. But before San Francisco, the movie starts out in...crap, I forget what Eastern European country...I wanna say Bulgaria, but maybe Georgia? (I just checked, it's Georgia.) Anyway Natia (Anna Biani) is a circus performer--a sharpshooter who lights candles perched on her sister's head. Their circus is struggling, but of all things a dog act perks things up...until it all goes wrong and she gets bit. So, with a bad case of vampirism she shows up in San Francisco knowing nobody but possessing some awesome fighting skills. She needs money, and she needs help wiring it back to her sister in Georgia. But the powers that be in San Francisco don't make it very easy for her. Lilly (Bai Ling) is a sexy vampire of Chinatown who gives her some tips. Kato Kaelin (yes) shows up as a pimp and is taken out pretty quickly. And Rob Nilsson is the God-fanger (Christopher just had to have some fun with his uncle Francis' most famous film series) who runs the city. They're not really there to help, they're their to use her. Luke is actually there to help. (Bailey Coppola, Christopher's son. And I will try to avoid pointing out that he looks like a young version of his uncle Nicolas Cage, because apparently he hates that. But I will say he did a great job in the film and welcome a new generation of Coppolas to the family business.) A struggling artist who is immediately infatuated and just wants to draw her. And so an eventual showdown is set. Allegorical San Francisco politics is all over this film, which makes me wonder how well this will play outside the Bay Area (but then, that was true of a lot of his films) but for those with even a passing familiarity will recognize a San Francisco that's ruled by (literal) bloodsuckers but still features some good people who will help make it your home.
A visibly drunk, wine-sloshing Christopher Coppola did a Q&A that was as over-the-top as his personality. And it went a little long, but nobody other than the regular pass-holders who were sticking around to see the
And finally, the late, late show, FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER (ignore the fact that this was number 4 out of...10...11 if you count JASON VS. FREDDY.) It starts with Jason's body being taken to the morgue. Where the doctor and nurse getting busy seems to wake him up again and start another slashing spree. Enter the teens (including Crispin Glover and his epic dancing) who are there to drink, go skinny dipping, and fuck. So of course that brings Jason, and the body count rises. And right across the street there's a family with a very young Corey Feldman as a monster-special-effects obsessed little boy. And ultimately he has to be the one to take out Jason. And I really don't care if that's a spoiler, because this movie is over 30 years old, and they all follow a formula. But I will say this about the ending. It's set up so that Corey Feldman's character Tommy Jarvis might snap and continue Jason's legacy. Sadly, that's not the case, because that would've been awesome. Instead, the grown-up version of his character faces off against Jason in a few more movies, becoming Jason's prime nemesis. Which is cool, too, I guess. I mention this mainly because so many fans last night asked about it.
Total Running Time: 278 minutes
My Total Minutes: 410,419
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