Strange Darling, 2024.

Directed by JT Mollner.
Starring Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Jason Patric, Giovanni Ribisi, Ed Begley Jr., Barbara Hershey, Steven Michael Quezada, Madisen Beaty, Denise Grayson, Eugenia Kuzmina, Bianca A. Santos, Sheri Foster, Duke Mollner, Andrew John Segal, and Robert Craighead.

SYNOPSIS:

Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.

Strange Darling begins by dropping viewers into its nonlinear structure, depicting Willa Fitzgerald’s “The Lady” wounded and on the run from Kyle Gallner’s “The Devil.” That latter nickname comes across as a cheat once director JT Mollner reveals the game being played here. The “everything is not as it seems” aspect also walks the line between a frustrating obviousness and a clever swerve here and there (a lack of crucial information in the opening credits text is an example of a more ingenious method of misdirection that feels fairer to the viewer.)

There is also no denying that, regardless of what is going on between these characters, they are embodied with a ferocious intensity that is all-consuming in a gleefully trashy sense. However, there is also a hollowness to the entire narrative that doesn’t grapple with the psychology of it all, meaning things also spiral into an increasingly sour third act that potentially sets a dangerous precedent. The issue isn’t what Strange Darling is doing since, realistically, anyone is capable of monstrous behavior, but rather how and why it has chosen an ugly core message.

It is virtually impossible to review Strange Darling without at least discussing its subversive concept, a dynamic that, throughout its first act, reveals The Lady to be, well, a strange woman having consented to a rough sexual night in a motel with this mustachioed stranger. The idea planted is that everything seen prior in chapters 3 and 5 is either the result of a disastrous night that has brought out a violent monster in this man or a demented continuation of the role-playing scene in chapter 1. However, there is an argument to be made that the film isn’t hiding what it’s doing that well.

In real-time, the more I write about Strange Darling, the more I want to spoil it; it’s that empty of an exercise. It’s a film built on twists and turns and the hopes that whoever watches it can’t handle the idea of what one of these characters is and what they are doing. It then transforms into something uglier about how we respond to horrific situations in modern times. Yes, this film is about a real serial killer; some of this happened. No, that doesn’t mean it has been presented here in a manner that doesn’t come across as anything other than mindless and exploitative true crime garbage seemingly designed to make someone think twice the next time they decide about what they do when presented with a similar situation in the news or elsewhere.

That’s also not to say there isn’t a point about society’s willingness to jump to conclusions without having any credible evidence or information, but again, this is a film only concerned with cat-and-mouse shock value violence. And yet it would be lying and hypocritical of me to say that Strange Darling, with its explosive performances and slick and neon-soaked 35mm cinematography from Giovanni Ribisi and the back-and-forth pulpy power shifts didn’t grab hold of me. Not to mention, eliciting such a visceral reaction, which it will almost surely do for anyone who watches it, is no small feat.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com

Directed by Charles Band (Full Moon Productions), Quadrant is a step away from the campy fun he usually represents. Instead, it shows us the dangers of virtual reality. Is virtual reality possible someday? Probably when we are all in the ground. Facing reality takes a lot of effort for me. I don’t think I would like the idea very much. It is bizarre to see a somewhat serious movie. I love Full Moon Productions; they gave us Puppet Master. I even use his films as a background when I write about the man who brought us Gingerdead Man, Evil Bong, and countless others.

Synopsis

The Quadrant helmet allows you to sit in virtual experiences, even death. It makes your worst fears come alive. However; people are stronger in the Quadrant. If they face their fears and win, the fear will be gone. The Quadrant is tested to it’s full ability and fired back when Erin arrives and begins to thirst for the experience, after several sessions. Erin (Shannon Barnes) witnesses the power of death and takes it a bit too far when she starts killing people off in a real world. Creators scramble to get the issue fixed but it is too late, Erin was on her own killing spree. A brand new Jack the Ripper.

Here’s a look at the official poster art.

A History

If you look at Charles Band’s credits, he has been doing this a long time. Dozens if not Hundreds of movies that helped some of us relied on in our dark times, just for a cheap laugh so we can feel better. Quadrant, however, is like a freight train coming right for you. This movie is the real deal when it comes to B-grade film. It confuses me sometimes, knowing that Charles Band can flip a switch and make a somewhat serious movie with a great plot.

The filming locations were excellent. I felt like I was living in the helmet; that’s how much the movie entranced me. It raises the question, “How far do we want to go with science?” Where will the obsession go when we stop paying attention? It tries to bully us into facing our fears and criticisms. But seeing it enough would bore me for sure. How far can you go? Will there be education? Although the movie was great, there were some confusing moments, and it starts with a big scene followed by Erin’s introduction.

In The End

I won’t spoil the movie because if you have seen it once, you’ll see it a few more times. It is enjoyable and exciting. The cast did their best, and the film turned out well. If this movie taught me anything, it’s that I am interested in seeing all the work being put out. With a legendary director, the movie made its mark on me. Charles Band has been an idol since his movies were almost all “straight to video” releases, and I loved finding random movies in the 90’s. It was a much better time.

This movie reminds me of all those moments of happiness I sought out in my darkest areas; it helped me ride the wave after a bad couple of weeks. I survived on Charles Band movies because they irritate people, not out of spite; it’s about being able to enjoy something, even if everyone else thinks you’re weird.

Quadrant will be heading to theaters on April 23 2024

(Contains spoilers about a certain cameo.)

A case could be made that Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus
is the third-best film of the nine movies to feature the infamous xenomorphs (with
the prequel Prometheus being the only one not to name-check them in the
title). Romulus, which is positioned as a “side-quel” set in between Alien
and Aliens, eschews some of the more ambitious plotting that
characterized the least-popular franchise entries in favor of a straightforward
narrative. Alvarez, obviously an Alien devotee, opts for an Alien/Aliens
“greatest hits” approach replete with Easter Eggs and instances of fan service.
It mostly works although the tension never quite escalates to the levels
reached by Ridley Scott’s original and James Cameron’s even-better direct
follow-up.

The time-frame is 20 years after the xenomorph rampaged
through the Nostromo before being blown out the airlock by Ripley. (This
event is explicitly referenced although Ripley is not named.) The body of the
alien is retrieved and brought on board the space station Romulus/Remus
for experimentation. Shortly thereafter, we are introduced to several workers
toiling away terraforming a rather inhospitable planet. Rain (Cailee Spaeny),
who has been harboring dreams of escaping the dreary world for someplace where
the sun shines, discovers that the Wayland-Yutani Corporation has unilaterally
changed her quota, pushing back her date-of-freedom for at least a half-dozen
years. Following this betrayal, she and her synthetic surrogate brother Andy
(David Jonsson) decide to join a small group of friends – her ex-boyfriend
Tyler (Archie Renaux), his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), her cousin Bjorn (Spike
Fern), and Bjorn’s girlfriend Navarro (Aileen Wu) – in an audacious scheme to
free themselves of Wayland-Yutani’s yoke.

Tyler and Bjorn have discovered the derelict Romulus/Remus
in high orbit above the planet and intend to take a small spacecraft to the
space station to salvage the cryostasis chambers that will allow them to travel
to a distant colony. Initially, things go as planned but, once the group boards
the station, it becomes clear that things did not go well for the previous
crew. The only “survivor” is the partially destroyed synthetic, Rook (which
uses the voice and image likeness of Ian Holm), who serves the Prime Directive
dictated by the Company. When an accident triggers the revival of a group of
facehuggers from their stasis pods, the stage is set for an impregnation and,
as always happens in an Alien movie, the subsequent “birth” results in a
fight-or-flight struggle for life between disadvantaged humans and the “perfect”
killing machine. In this case, as in Aliens, there’s more than one.

Some of the best bits of Romulus are direct
references to the beloved first two Alien films (although Alvarez also provides
more obscure callbacks to Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, and even the two
other sequels). Alvarez, a horror director by trade (having previously made Don’t
Breathe and the Evil Dead remake), knows how to set up a tensely
creepy scene (there are several of these, some involving facehuggers and/or the
mature alien) but isn’t as good when it comes to character development. One
area where both Alien and Aliens succeeded was in fleshing-out
secondary characters that would eventually become xenomorph-fodder. In Romulus,
the four supporting humans are paper-thin with one or two recognizable traits
each. Only Rain and Andy (and the relationship between them) seem worth the
screenplay’s time.

Set design establishes the divided space station Romulus/Remus
as another consistent module in the universe established by Scott and
embellished by Cameron. Everything here feels “lived-in” and borrows its aesthetic
not only from the previous Alien films but from the TV science fiction
series The Expanse. Creature appearance is faithful to that of
H.R. Giger’s original monsters with one new design. The decision to use Ian Holm’s
likeness (made with the agreement and cooperation of the actor’s family) is a
mixed bag. The way it’s used, for a half-destroyed android, diminishes some of
the downfalls of a CGI image recreation but it remains a distraction.

Cailee Spaeny, the young actress blazing a trail through Hollywood
(recent credits include Civil War and the title role in Priscilla),
fashions a character who’s more than a “poor man’s Ripley” but less than a
force of nature. It’s impossible not to compare her to Sigourney Weaver but
that feels unfair. (Ripley, for example, received most of her development in Aliens
– for the majority of Alien, she was part of the ensemble.) Spaeny does
what she needs to do in providing viewers with a port of entry into this world.
Her relationship with Andy, a glitchy synthetic refurbished by her father, is
more touching than any of the human/human pairings in Romulus.

Is Alien: Romulus the Alien film fans have
been craving since Ripley, Hicks, and Newt entered their cryo-sleep in 1986? Perhaps.
It contains most of the requisite elements and, if it doesn’t measure up to the
high standard established by Scott (who has a producer credit) and Cameron (who
provided suggestions to Alvarez), that’s only to be expected. It’s a good
showcase for the xenomorph in its various permutations and a solid horror/suspense
movie in its own right. The open question is whether it will reinvigorate the franchise
after numerous misfires and cash-grabs. Only time (and the box office) will
tell.

Alien: Romulus (United States, 2024)