Fred and Loathing on The Internet

Kickboxing Has The Grace and Style of Boxing, But With Kicks

2023-Oct-19

The production branch has some updates! Look over at the about_me section and you’ll see a slightly more manicured look. I peppered in a few photos that match up with the highlights in the ‘about_me’ story. Nothing super fancy to report. Some members of the development team have been interviewing around a bit, so they’re focus had been on those rather than the production schedule at fredlambuth.com. Don’t worry, readers. They may have day jobs, but I have a lifetime lease agreement with every member of the development team here. I own them until death, at least in the evening hours. What a bunch of suckers they were to sign that deal! Ha!

There have been so many scary movies loaded into the review chamber that I worry that I will not be able to do them justice. Well, there is only one way to find out:

First subject is Suspiria, the pan-European horror classic from Dario D’Argento. I had known that director from the people who claimed him as an inspiration. I was expecting a psycho-sexual thriller, and Suspiria was somewhat that, but not with normal depraved sociopaths as the antagonist, but a full blown supernatural haunting with witches, apparitions, and sometimes tiny squeaking bats. The most immediate impression the movie gives is sight and sound. The movie has the most gaudy colorful sets that flood the camera. The shots linger, giving the wallpaper to be a character itself in the movie.

Although I found it to be entertaining, I could not find just what makes this movie so lauded by movie critics. The movie does take risks. I grant the director did go for a sensation over plot approach that imbues the movie with terror despite a clear direction about what is happening. The music is another layer of the movie that matches the visual exuberance. Often the music volume is amped up over the sound effects, giving scenes a proto-music video pacing.

All that put together is not enough to cover what is a rather boring story of some ditzy dance students terrified by not so dangerous supernatural forces. There are some interesting scenes there. I did not think they were numerous enough or held together well by a tale of terror worth investigating by the audience through the main character. The villains were just not that dangerous. They seemed so obvious and kind of easy to avoid.