Avenue Kurtodrome

I’ve just worked my way through tons of spam (67 new messages since I last logged in). I must admit… it wears you out. After all that deleting you often lack the energy to write a new post. Nevertheless, “Bitches in Tokyo” is one of my favourite videos of 2008. It’s by the Canadian band Stars and a track off their 2007 album In Our Bedroom After The War.

For more videos: check my site. Recent videos include Lykke Li, Emiliana Torrini, Deerhoof and a tribute to Telex.

Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in one movie? With the addition of Hammer girl Yutte Stensgaard (Lust for a Vampire, Zeta One), surely such a movie can’t be bad! That movie is Scream and Scream Again and unfortunately I couldn’t find myself enjoying it.

Scream and Scream Again was a co-production of AIP and Tigon, released in 1970 and directed by Gordon Hessler. Hessler is mainly known for three other movies: The Oblong Box, Cry of the Banshee and KISS meets the Phantom of the Park. All movies which rate him as a cult movie director, just not a director of good cult movies. All have a certain je ne sais quoi (note we’re trying to overcome our shortage of French words at the Avenue) which make them watchable but not exceptional.

In Scream and Scream Again we witness a maniac on the loose, nicknamed ‘the vampire killer’ because he also sucks the blood out of his victims. We hardly see this happen, as this isn’t the focus of the movie. Which brings us to my key point: what is the focus of the movie? The film begins with an exhausted jogger dropping on the ground, someone trying to get into some sort of Nazi-like regime (yes, they even copied the red and white design, just with a different symbol in the circle’s middle), a überstrong killer on the loose… this movie is going places!

Sadly it’s going in four directions at the same time, which leaves the viewer feeling quartered. It’s a cop thriller, a sci-fi movie and a vampire flick. As mentioned before, the vampire scenes are barely mentioned, the sci-fi element seems directly lifted from an episode of Doctor Who or The Avengers and the cop thriller is so overexposed and stretched it’s still full of cops, but not exactly thrilling. And don’t be fooled by the poster of the movie: the acid bath is hardly there.

If there’s still a chance you want to watch this, it’s because of the cast. Cushing, Lee and Price in one movie is always worth an hour and a half of your time. Even if Cushing was a late addition to the cast and only shows up in a couple of scenes. Of the three movie legends, Price gets most of the screentime. Sometimes it looks as if he’s rehearsing for Dr. Phibes. Well, who can blame the man? Years later, Vincent Price was interviewed about the movie and confessed he’d never understood the script. See, now there’s a consolation: you’re not alone.

4.5/10

P.S. Anyone want to see the trailer?

Welcome to my latest DVD review, offered at least a week too late. And if you’re wondering why: be glad you’re reading this and you don’t have to listen to my voice, as I’m still sick.

Equally sick, be it in a different meaning, is the movie that’s on review today: Django Kill: If you live shoot!, which was called Se sei vivo spara when it was released. I’ve already written about the success of Corbucci’s Django and the stream of ’sequels’ that popped up shortly afterwards.
This is one of them: the producers changed the title (much to the dismay of the director), but for once something good came out of something bad. Even though Django Kill can still not be called famous, the Django suffix gave the movie the extra boost it deserved. Do remember that in the late 60s several euro westerns were released every week and it became hard to distinguish the handful of great movies between the hundreds of releases.

Django Kill: If You Live Shoot is a good euro western and the British release by Ardent (which was released in 2004, but completely slipped by me at the time) is the best version to buy. Here’s why.

Giulio Questi is the director of Se Sei Vivo Spara and he’s mainly known for two movies, the other being the equally weird giallo Death Laid An Egg.

Tomas Milian plays the lead and it definitely helped the producers that his character in the movie was either nameless or just called ‘The Stranger’. This made it so much easier to redub the character Django.
Fair enough, though this movie has nothing to do with Corbucci’s classic movie, of all the fake Django sequels this is the movie that resembles Django the most. It’s an incredibly cruel and violent movie: you’ll see a lot of people being killed, tortured and more of that unpleasantness.
One scene that had many censors worried at the time was the one where people realize someone has been shot with golden bullets and they tear the (still living) man apart to get their hands on the gold.

Ardent DVD offered the British audience the movie in its uncut glory, a very first for the British audience who probably heard about the movie when Alex Cox introduced the movie in BBC2’s Forbidden season in 1997. (Though the scene with the bullets couldn’t be shown in the film, you could see (most of) it in Cox’s introduction.)

The good news is that Alex Cox was willing to do another introduction for this movie, especially for the DVD release. This introduction can only be found on this edtion, which is why the British DVD manages to beat Django Kill’s American release by Blue Underground.

Also present on the Ardent release are an exclusive interview with the director and co-star Ray Lovelock and a set of trailers for other Argent western releases, as well as Se Sei Vivo Spara’s trailer.

The cut scenes have been reinserted and you have to know where they were to find them. The movie was restored from the original negative materials and a splendid job was done.
This, of course, means that people who aren’t familiar to Italian cult movies, will be able to complain that the blood is far too red to be believable. We, however, like our blood as red as can be.

Django Kill is a very good movie: if people disagree, shoot!

P.S. As a bonus, here’s Alex Cox introducing the film for a spaghetti western series on ITV4 (with thanks to Cultextras):

There’s a good occasion to review Messiah of Evil (a.k.a. Dead People) now: it became a public domain movie a couple of years ago, but now it’s become downloadable (legally!) at the Internet Archive.

The film’s plot is wacky enough: a young woman (Marianne Hill) goes to California to find out what has happened to her father, an eccentric artist. Once she arrives at the beach house, she finds out her father wasn’t the only peculiar guy around. What a strange town it appears to be!

The movie is decent and the scene in the movie theatre should be labelled as downright classic. Five years before Romero’s Dawn of the Dead this movie had an idea where zombies go when they’re roaming around. The supermall is fine, how about a ticket to the movies?
The theatre sequence builds up slowly (it lasts well over six minutes) but effectively: we (unlike the girl) know she’s the only human in the theatre and know trouble is brewing when the audience is filling up (ever so slowly) by dead people. While the character is awaiting the main attraction (Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye - surely a joke if you know the town is taken over by zombies) she and you are treated to some trailers. That’s always a sign of a love for cinema… genuine cult cinema likes to include clips from other movies, just remember how Django was incorporated into The Harder They Come (1972).
(If you can’t wait to watch this scene from Messiah of Evil, don’t despair: you can find it at the bottom of this article.)

The writer and director of Messiah of Evil is Willard Huyck. Huyck directed only four movies, with Messiah of Evil as his debut and Howard The Duck as his (erm) swan song. His penultimate directing job was Best Defense, a comedy with Dudley Moore and Eddie Murphy. All this makes you wonder: how can it go so bad for a director?

But, rather than wondering about that, let’s look at what Huyck was able to pen: that list includes Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and American Graffiti. American Graffiti was released in the same year as Messiah of Evil, by the way: 1973 must’ve been Huyck’s creative peak. Let us also not forget the influence of Huyck’s wife, Gloria Katz. Huyck and Katz tended to write together. Messiah of Evil is the only movie where she also helped him direct (albeit uncredited).

As 70s cult movies come, Messiah of Evil was released under a shower of alternative titles. Apparently the official title is Dead People, but I must confess I never saw a print of the movie under that title. The quite generic The Second Coming is another title and of course there’s Revenge of the Screaming Dead, which makes you assume you’ll be treated to a gore movie. Messiah of Evil sounds more occult and is therefore the best title for this movie. It may not be the scariest movie you’ll ever see, but it packs loads of atmosphere and definitely deserves more recognition.

Occasionally the movie plays like a bad trip, especially in the scene where our heroine, in the artist’s peculiar house, sticks a needle into her leg and has a rather nasty hallucination:

Messiah of Evil is available (as Dead People) over at the Internet Archive. You can download it as MPEG1, MPEG2 or MPEG4 here. You can also download it from the equally legal Public Domain Torrents (link). It’s also available on DVD. It’s on a double bill with the Belgian horror The Devil’s Nightmare, courtesy of TGG Direct (link) or, courtesy of Alpha Video, on a disc together with Sisters of Death (link). Both fine movies, but let’s not forget today’s star attraction: Messiah of Evil.

And here it is, the doomed trip to the movies…

Chainsaw Maid is a claymation short by Takena. An ode to the zombie movies by George A. Romero, enough gore to please Lucio Fulci and a hint of David Lynch (the Twin Peaks score by Badalamenti).

If you’re waiting for part three of our Pukkelpop review, you’ll need to have a bit more patience. It’s time for an interlude: two reviews of movies with a connection to the festival. Coming up in part two: the movie that inspired a band looking for a good name, it’s Creature With The Atom Brain. First though, we return to Thursday night in the Marquee: Mercury Rev were prepping the audience with a visual treat. A two-minute long scene from the cult classic Daisies. Which reminded us: high time for a review.

Daisies is called Sedmikrasky in its original Czech language. The movie was directed by Vera Chytilová in 1966 and was part of the Czech New Wave. The movie features two young girls, Marie I and Marie II (though you could do without their names), sitting in their bikinis soaking up some sun, but doing nothing. Not only are they bored, they have no plans and come to a shattering conclusion: “Everything’s going bad in this world. You know what? If everything’s going bad… we’re going bad as well.”

And so it begins… two young girls roaming through the city, being mischevous where and when they can. Don’t expect them to be sensitive. From time to time one Marie will ask the other if she minds. The answer is no. It should be no. Yes would show goodness and weren’t they supposed to be bad girls?

Some are questioning now how come this movie was called a feministic film. Surely, the depiction of these morally depraved girls (and, judging by the incredible amount of phonenumbers on their wall, I’m sure a lot of people wouldn’t hesitate to label them sluts) is the complete opposite of what a feminist should be. Well, don’t forget the film was made in 1966, at a time when it was even difficult for the actresses in television shows to be independent. Surely, we know how independent Catherine Gale and Emma Peel were in The Avengers, but BBC’s concurrent Adam Adamant (and his servant) told their female ally Georgina Jones on a weekly basis crime should be solved by men. Yes, Miss Jones was a highly fashionable Carnaby Street chick, but she often had to go home because “this is no place for female eyes”. Not that she ever listened, but it often led to her ending up in the hands of the enemy. Meanwhile, over on the other channel, Mrs Peel was kicking ass. Whereas most female characters in movies had to be content with looking admiringly at the male hero, the two young Maries dared to take their lives in their own hands and be bad, quite bad. The way girls shouldn’t behave.

So the girls take up the habit of dining with old men, having the men pay for their food, accompanying them to the station, but jumping off the train when it departs. Do they mind? Of course not. Nor do they mind breaking into a room ready for a banquet. So much food and noone to watch them… ooh, I wonder how that’ll end… (watch clip)

And if you don’t want to believe the movie has feminist undertones, watch how the road to ruin leads the girls to the final scene. What future do the girls have? We’re given two versions, both not exactly too great for the girls.

The movie is as whimsical as the two girls. Sometimes the colours change rapidly throughout a scene, sometimes the girls’ movements (as in the first clip) are accompanied by odd sounds. Sedmikrasky is an odd little film. You’ll like the film as much as you’ll like the Maries: sometimes you’ll adore them (and the film), sometimes you want to strangle the girls (and kill the film). By all means an achievement and something everyone who calls himself/herself a film enthusiast should’ve watched at least once. If not, I’ll send Marie and Marie after you.

Film: 9/10

Welcome back for part two of our Kurtodrome Vault double bill of men being madly in love with women (oh, and not for the good of mankind). This time we move to Japan for a movie called:

PART 2. THE HUMAN VAPOR (Gasu Ningen Daiichigo)

“At first I could not understand the terror in Dr Sano’s eyes. Then I knew: I had been transformed into something terrifying. Something repellant….”
Maybe not necessarily repellant, but the sight of someone’s body vaporizing till he becomes invisible… well, I’ve seen prettier things.

First the good news
The second feature of this double bill isThe Human Vapor and was directed by Ishirô Honda, the man who also gave you Gojira (a.k.a. Godzilla) and countless sequels with the rubber-suited monster.
Honda worked for Toho Studios who, apart from Godzilla and Samurai films, made four movies about humans who could change the state of their bodies. The Human Vapor, released in 1960, was the last of these four films.
So no monster in Gasu Ningen Daiichigo (to call The Human Vapor by its original title) but a librarian who agrees to be a test subject for a scientific study. Little did librarian Mizuno know the other test subjects had died during the test. He discovers he can vaporize his body and kills the professor (by asphyxiation).
Mizuno might want to turn his back to humanity, but he’s also madly in love with a beautiful dancer who’s been saving for her comeback performance. He decides to help her by robbing the bank. Maybe not such a bad idea, but it’s a crime my friendly neighbourhood officer tells me.
The police pursue his trail (he might be invisible, but his car isn’t) to the place where Vapor-Man abandons his car. Smart move, if it weren’t for the fact that there’s only one house nearby. That’s where She lives and when She suddenly appears to have enough money for her comeback and can’t/won’t reveal any information on her maecenas, she’s arrested.
This makes Mizuno so angry he becomes even madder than he was before (it seems like the test affected both his visibility and his sanity) and he wants revenge for the imprisonment of his beloved dancer. More banks are robbed and more people get killed.
That’s as far as I’ll go because, who knows, you might want to check this movie out and as the saying goes, there’s no crying over spilt spoilers. The movie is very decent and a remarkable ending.

Okay, and now the bad news.
The bad news is The Human Vapor isn’t just the American title of the film, it’s also the American version and sadly a lot went lost in translation.
First and foremost, Gasu Ningen Daiichigo was a mystery wheras in The Human Vapor the anti-hero tells his story in a long flashback. This would’ve been only half so horrible if the narration had been more interesting and if it hadn’t replaced the dialogue in quite a lot of scenes (which leaves us with the “I told him and then he said” effect). The jerking effect of the re-edited version is also not really a plus side. Even the soundtrack was changed. And if you can’t remember why the soundtrack seems so familiar: you must have seen The Fly (1958).

Crappy editing, dialogue and Americanised dubbing (Japanese characters are less credible with sentences like “Ah, go peddle your papers!”) aside, nothing can keep us from knowing this is a terrific movie. Even if it falls from 10/10 to 8/10, an eight is still better than most things you’re subjected to. The Human Vapor still has enormous amounts of tragedy and pathos, an anti-hero who can’t control his limitless powers and an enchanting but painful love story. What it lacks as a crime story, it wins as a character study. It’s fascinating to see how Mizuno evolves from a friendly lab rat into a psychotic megalomaniac.

Mizuno and Fujichiyo
We also wonder about the role of the dancer Fujichiyo.
Does she know where the money came from? Does she also love Mizuno? Her personality is quite different from the other female character in the film, the reporter Kyoko. Traditional versus modern.
Mizuno’s acts are beyond redemption, but still you feel some sort of sympathy for the Human Vapor and most of that comes from his unconditional love for Fujichiyo.
True, the special effects are minimal, but who needs special effects in a sci-fi movie when you’ve got a story?

I leave you with the trailer for the film. And the good news: it’s the Japanese trailer.

Time now to enter the Kurtodrome Vault again. This time we’ve taken two films out, both movies on men madly in love with women. They’d do anything for her. Because they are… in love.

PART 1. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925)

Introduction
The Phantom of the Opera is a classic and probably doesn’t need much introduction: even if you haven’t seen this version, you’ve probably seen another version, read the book by Gaston Leroux or just heard about it. The Phantom is so famous they even made an action doll of him, even though it’s good they were nice enough to tell us who the doll was supposed to represent. Note the stunning resemblance with Lon Chaney’s character.
Perfect twins, no?

Given that the story is so known, I won’t bother about the usual synopsis. (If you don’t know the story however, you can read it from scene 1 till The End here.)

Which leaves me with a few anecdotes on the film.
Now widely regarded as an all-time classic, the film was almost never released. The filming was painful, the assigned director Rupert Julian was an unbearable dictator who even bullied Lon Chaney, without a doubt the star of this production.

Yes, if even after a pack of remakes (not to forget the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical version) this version is seen as the best version, this is mostly because of Chaney’s fantastic performance. Chaney was an excellent actor, but still it’s this movie that he’s mostly remembered for. Like Lugosi will always be Dracula and Karloff always Frankenstein’s Monster (and, to a lesser extent, the Mummy), Chaney is most of all Erik, Phantom of the Opera.
Chaney liked the part (and the opportunity) so much he wanted to star in the film, even though he wasn’t too fond of Universal and producer Carl Laemmle.

The Laemle shuffle
Laemmle wasn’t happy with Julian’s work after seeing the preview and asked for additional shots (directed by comedy director Edward Sedgwick). The ending was altered - originally the mob found Erik lying dead on top of his organ -, Mary Philbin got more romantic scenes and intertitles were written for the new scenes.

In April 1925, three months after the first version was finished, this second version was previewed in San Francisco, where the audience’s reception was lukewarm at best and Laemmle demanded another version.
Most of the new scenes (except for the climax) were thrown out and in came scenes with comedian Chester Conklin and new intertitles. When shown to Laemmle, he luckily hated the comedy scenes. They were thrown out, but the rest of this new version was good enough and this is how the movie finally premiered on September 6, 1925. It became a tremendous success (which makes it all the weirder that Universal let the copyright lapse in 1953. The timeless classic became public domain and the studio lost a fortune in royalties.)

In 1929 Universal wanted to reissue the film, but decided talking sequences had to be added along with a new soundtrack and sound effects. Chaney was under contract at MGM by this time, so someone else dubbed him.
Thousands of feet of footage were cut out to get the new version, other scenes were compressed or combined with other scenes. Virginia Pearson, who played diva Carlotta in 1925, became Carlotta’s mother in 1929, thereby making her one of the fastest-aging women in the movie history.

Okay, so it’s a classic, but is it good?
Yes, it is (as I’ve mentioned before) even though Mary Philbin occasionally slips into overacting mode and Rupert Julian clearly isn’t a great director. One of the best scenes in the film wasn’t directed by him, but by Lon Chaney (while Julian was, alledgedly, venting his rage somewhere else). This scene, the Ball scene, was shot in colour. It’s not the only scene shot in colour, but the only one that made it to the final version.

Lon Chaney was also responsible for his own (fabulous) make-up. He never wanted to reveal how he did it, so we’ll just admire it.
The dramatic unmasking scene was so unusual for those days that distributors reported it had made people in the audience faint. (But that may just be promotional peptalk, one never knows.)

Judge for yourself. Here are six minutes of the film, all surrounding that mythical moment:

Please do not faint when Erik unmasks himself, that way we can meet again for the second part of our “Men Who’d Do Anything For The Woman They Love” double bill, where I’ll tell you more about The Human Vapor. Part two will go online in two days.

For now, why don’t you watch The Phantom of the Opera for yourself? Here are some links (all of them legal, of course):
1. Watch (or download) the 1925 version at the Archive: link
2. Watch (or download) the 1929 version at the Archive: link
3. Or if you prefer, you can also watch it on YouTube: link

Welcome to part two of our Pukkelpop review, which this year focused on only three stages: the main stage, the Marquee and the Dance Hall. Sadly this meant being unable to see a couple of concerts I really would’ve wanted to see: Tunng, Nina Nastasia, Martina Topley-Bird at the Chateau and The DØ and Blood Red Shoes at the Club? The latter playing on the same stage as The Ting Tings on Thursday night. As Friday’s line-up was unfulfilling, we moved (albeit virtually) to the Netherlands: the Dutch organize Lowlands in the same weekend as Pukkelpop (but from Friday to Sunday) and with often a lot of similar bands. Speaking of which, that this was an exceptionally poor summer for music is proved between how many bands appeared at Rock Werchter (Belgium’s biggest festival) and Pukkelpop (Belgium’s biggest alternative festival): Tim Vanhamel, Hercules and Love Affair, The National, Soulwax, 2manydjs, The Black Box Revelation, Hot Chip, Editors, Sigur Rós (yes, even the same headliners), Roísín Murphy and MGMT. The times when people cried murder when one band played two concerts are apparently over.

Anyway, Lowlands… in an interview with The Ting Tings the band said they’d feared they would have to play for an empty Club at Pukkelpop (because they played at the same time as The Flaming Lips). It turned out “okay”, the band reviewed their own concert and crowd. I hope they didn’t notice the twat in the audience with a Flaming Lips balloon with the words “The Ting Tings suck ass” scribbled on it. The Tings even played a session for the Dutch tv, reducing their songs to two vocals and two guitars (and sometimes even less). It proved that calling them just another poppy duo with a cute face is doing them unjustice. “Great DJ” and “Shut up and let me go” were okay, but “That’s not my name” became a cute lament when only sang by Katie and backed by Jules De Martino on guitar (and occasional backing vocals). Furthermore, I saw the footage of “Great DJ” being played live. Yes, the first minutes gave you the impression it would’ve been better to listen to the cd, but once the crowd interacted with the song, Katie and Jules found extra energy and gave the song a boost. From what I read, this was similar for the rest of the concert. Some critics said the band had their success because Katie is cute, which I hope is not true. Definitely not for me: I’d heard the record for a month before I saw their first video and her looks. Unless their songs contain a subliminal message: “I’m cute, I’m cute, I’m cute.”

Back to Belgium for day two of Pukkelpop, which was all about one band: Metallica. They’d claimed the main stage for nearly two and a half hour, but didn’t feel obliged to be on stage for the first twenty minutes. And to think this band made the tickets three euro more expensive. Did the people get good value for the money? Let’s review the Pukkelpop Friday.

And it’s good morning to you. The American band State Radio (marquee, 12.20) kicked off the concerts at the Marquee tonight, with rock music you’d forget the minute after it’d penetrated your ears. Until they dedicated a song against the current President of the USA. Which only proves that anger is good for rock.

Video proof:
STATE RADIO - Gang of Thieves

Raise your hand if you want dance for lunch (or breakfast)? It’s 12.30 and the Dance Hall’s second act (Autokratz didn’t allow footage - well, boo hoo to you) is Dusty Kid. The (live) addition to his name means he’ll tweak his buttons in front of the audience. There was cheering from the crowd and some danced their butts off, but a lot of them just nodded their heads and upper bodies to the sounds. The camera noticed the giant clock on Dusty’s table, which informs you of this guy’s biggest enemy: time. It was nice, but I won’t remember this forever. Let alone a week. And what does a Dusty Kid do when he thinks the audience could be more enthusiastic? Raise his hands above a semi-sour face (was it boredom or concentration?) and clap. And of course the crowd will follow.

VIDEO PROOF
Dusty Kid - Milk

One might be excused for thinking Michael lives in the fields of Hasselt because Michael Franti and Spearhead (main, 14.35) played Pukkelpop yet again. Even if the first notes weren’t in the key they should’ve been, one can forgive Franti because he was singing off stage. Which was a little odd. Anyway, Franti appeared on stage and managed to captivate the audience within the space of one single minute. The bravest question: “Is there anyone who likes reggae?” on a stage waiting for Metallica. And while the folks may not be big fans of reggae, they like Spearhead and its message of love and peace. One of the few bands who manage to combine a message with funkiness. Franti and band have been playing on status quo for several years now, but their level is high enough to keep appreciating the band and their message. Peace and love.

VIDEO PROOF
Michael Franti and Spearhead - Say Hey

The Wallonian band Girls In Hawaii (marquee, 14.40) greeted the audience in Dutch after being annouced as “the most stupid name on the festival, but one of the best bands in Belgium”. Just two hours later Deadmau5 would play and what about Plain White T’s? Those are my favourites for most stupid name. The Girls are the sort of band that are successful because they’re good, but not globally because most countries have a few of those good bands. Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a handful of Girls In Hawaii songs on your MP3 player/iPod. And no disrespect to the singer, but the band’s best song… was an instrumental. I wasn’t sure whether this concert was a 6 or 7 until the singer explained that, due to having to drive to another concert in France, they weren’t able to see Metallica and he was gutted. So a 6 then.

VIDEO PROOF
Girls in Hawaii - This farm will end up in fire

Next up in the Marquee: A Brand (15.50). Their logo resembles an aspirin tablet, which was what I needed after the godawful introduction by the announcer (shouting bad jokes doesn’t make them better). Which reminds me: I neglected to complain about a late addition to yesterday’s line-up. Mostly because I tried to ban Adriaan van den H. from my memory. Yes, you can be an actor who hosts a tv show with stand-up comedians and you may think you are funny, but your stand-up lines are written by others. The main proof is that you hosted another festival with your own jokes and everyone I know who attended Werchter has complained to me about the incredible lack of comedy you displayed. Adding this **** to the line-up was what kept me from running after a ticket. Pukkelpop, you should know better.

Oh yeah, weren’t we here to talk about today’s line-up and more importantly the band currently on stage? Forget about the awful introduction, “Hammerhead” opened the set and created for instant good vibes. Though it is of course dangerous to start with your biggest hit. But it’s a good way of starting a concert on the day you release your new album (Judas): start with a hit, an uptempo song from the new album and a new song which is a slow starter. Everyone but the drummer dressed up in their best white suit and A Brand delivered a tight and professional set. Even if the highlights were the hits from older albums (”Hammerhead” and “Riding Your Ghost”) and some songs were a big letdown (I fail to remember the title of the track, but it’s the one with the lyrics “Would you like to hear a guitar?”), the band proved they were Belgian subtop hoping for a chance to get international recognition.

VIDEO PROOF
A Brand - Hammerhead

Over to the Dance Hall or was it the Kindergarten Stage? Some DJs try and conceal their identity: Dr. Lektroluv has an exuberant outfit and wears green paint on his head. And then there’s Deadmau5 (16.40). You move to the Dance Hall with a heavy heart because of the foolish name and then you see a guy with mouse mask on his head. Well, I deduct it’s a mouse’s head because of the guy’s name. It looks as if a mentally handicapped five-year-old was forced to draw a mouse after playing too much Pac Man. After ten minutes he changed his stupid mask for a stupid baseball cap. Sometimes it helps being blind, it would’ve kept me focused on the music. Now I just can’t…

VIDEO PROOF
Deadmau5 - This Noise

Foals (marquee, 17.20) is one of those bands who allowed live streaming and then asked to see the material so only the best songs would be kept. The first notes of the first song sounded technically more daring and okay than a lot of what we’d heard before. Still, it took me a bloody long time to get into this concert. But just when you’re thinking “Good: yes. Memorable: no”, the band geared up and gripped me.

VIDEO PROOF
Foals - Balloons

Meanwhile on the main stage: Cold War Kids, quite a popular band with kids these days. If the question “Did you see X at Pukkelpop 2007?” was asked ten times, nine times the X would’ve stood for Cold War Kids. The band’s biggest claim to fame is the single “Hang me up to dry” and this was the penultimate song of the concert. Like the last song (”Saint John”), all I could think of was: what’s the fuzz about? Did this deserve a 5.30pm spot on the main stage?

Which brings us to the next question: do Stereophonics deserve to be on the main stage at 7pm? Don’t ask me. The answer has always been no and my nickname for the band is Stereophoneys. Still, a large crowd watched them (though some were probably there to get a good spot for the headliners of the night), so good for them.

“Who’s that girl?” That’s what it said on Robyn’s T-shirt. Reminds me of a Madonna song and so does Robyn’s poppiness. Combine that with the Roxette hairstyle. What’s the difference between me and thousands of people at the Dance Hall (19.55)? They seemed to like it, I didn’t. I listened for two and a half songs because I’d told myself I couldn’t dislike them more than “Who’s that girl?”. And while that’s technically true, that still doesn’t mean I liked them. Well, the second one was bearable.

Thank the Lord for the Dance Hall, the only stage that allowed those who couldn’t make it to Pukkelpop’s biggest day ever (a crowd of 57.000) to watch a bit of the festival. Before we continue, let’s boo Metallica, Within Temptation, Tim Vanhamel, The Breeders, Tindersticks and The Gutter Twins. Anyway, the time is 21.45 and the Dance Hall opens its doors to Miss Kitten & the Hacker. Behind their names the word ‘live’. Well, we’ll take their word for it: it was hard to see anything behind the light effects and enough fog to think you’re in Beijing.
Miss Kitten told the audience it was a long time since she’d been at Pukkelpop but that it felt like coming home. Good for her and to be honest, it’s good the Miss Kitten hype is over. Now people can see the act for what it’s worth rather than having to complain about the undeserved hype. Maybe not the best act in the Dance Hall today, but one of the most professional if you looked at creating an atmosphere (with the smoke and the lights). And as for a bit of self-awareness, here’s Miss Kitten to the crowd regarding their productivity: “We are preparing our second album. Better late than never, eh?”

Anyway, I don’t know if it was me or them, but after twenty minutes (when the hyperannoying track “Frank Sinatra” started) I felt I’d had more than my fair share of Kitten and her Hacker. Stupidly enough, I waited for the next two tracks which were equal insults to my ears. So the first third was okay, the second third annoying and the final third… don’t know, didn’t stick around.

VIDEO PROOF
Miss Kitten & The Hacker - 1982

Though I did return to the Dance Hall for the evening’s finale. Yes, the final minutes were just Boys Noize (dance hall, 23.00) playing a record (The Prodigy’s “No good”) but in order to get the audience to freak out you’d better have a damn good set in the previous 115 minutes. By the way, what a curious way to thank the audience: “You’re no good to me / I don’t need nobody” The Boys must love irony. Anyway, did the crowd like Boys Noize? No, they went berserk to a band that sometimes sounded like a punchier Daft Punk (e.g. & Down - see below). The crowd reacted as lyrical as that other crowd was probably doing at the main stage (Metallica), while over at another tent people revived the forties and fifties (you could listen to music or have your hair done to fit the soirée). Pukkelpop couldn’t be more different that night. As for Boys Noize, they didn’t do what I hate about this sort of act: stopping records all the time to get more interaction from the crowd. No, Boys Noize provided a two-hour-long rollercoaster, were quite successful and not undeservedly so.
Oh, and you couldn’t get these dancing teens to listen to some experimental music, but if Boys Noize mix some Laurie Anderson into their set (”Oh Superman“, of course), the hipsters lap it up as if were nectar from the gods.

VIDEO PROOF
Boys Noize - & Down

Day two of Pukkelpop: the biggest day if you look at the crowd, the most expensive day ever and the poorest if you look at the quality. Let’s go to bed and sleep this one off.

TOP 5
2. BOYS NOIZE
3. A BRAND
4. MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD
5. FOALS

(Yep, nothing worthy of the n°1 spot, but then again here’s my top ten of missed artists:)
TUNNG - Bullets
BLOOD RED SHOES - ADHD
THE DØ - On My Shoulders
THE DØ - Playground Hustle (no video, hence my cheating)
NINA NASTASIA - This is what it is
GET CAPE, WEAR CAPE, FLY - Find the time
DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? - We Are Rockstars
CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN - Is That Lady Sniff?
MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD - Poison
LADY LINN AND HER MAGNIFICENT SEVEN - Cool Down

It may be one of the best lines I’ve heard in a while. Picture yourself, a couple, bound to chairs and three masked figures standing near you, holding knives. Ask them: “Why are you doing this?” Hear the reply: “Because you were at home.”

The line belongs to the movie The Strangers and it’s out in cinemas now. The first releases (USA, Canada, Russia) were in the last week of May, lots of countries (incl. Belgium and Holland) got to see it in July, the UK crowds will have to wait till the end of August and the Germans will have to wait till November. All of this is in 2008 of course, which (as a sentence) mainly makes sense because the film was shelved for nearly a year. Why did it take so many months for this movie to become released? Were people frightened for parallels with the French movie Ils? Both movies are about a couple who’re being watched at home and then attacked. I hadn’t thought of the parallel at first and when I knew, The Strangers fell a couple of spots on my “To See” list. Not because I don’t like ripoffs, but because I didn’t like Ils. The couple there was no annoying that in the end I was rooting for the villains, just so the movie could finish earlier.

The Strangers makes similar mistakes. It takes an eternity and then some to get started. As the movie starts, we see Liv Tyler crying in the car. She and her boyfriend are driving home and apparently he has upset her. It takes the film half an hour to explain this, so allow me to be a bit more brief: he proposed to her, she didn’t feel ready for marriage yet and declined. To make matters worse, he and a friend had decorated the house and now they have to spend the night there. There, did that take me long? No, it didn’t and the director should’ve known that too. Because it’s spread out over such a long period, I lost a lot of sympathy for the couple, especially for the obnoxious Scott Speedman. But things change rapidly. Someone’s at the door. Who could that be? And how late is it anyway? James Hoyt (Speedman) “suspects it’s around 4am.” A look at the clock informs him he was only five minutes wrong. Obnoxious guy! At the door is a lovely girl, who looks a bit strange and very much in the dark (literally and figuratively). The girl asks if Tamara is home. Nope, no Tamara. The girl leaves a bit reluctantly, uttering eerily she’ll see them later. For me this was a key scene: I couldn’t help but wonder if all this would’ve happened if they’d been nicer to the girl (they could’ve invited her in, given her a phone etc.). We will never know.

Anyway, back to arguing. Kristen (Tyler) is out of cigarettes and James tells her he’ll go and get some. “That’s not what I meant,” she says. Not that it stops him. Annoying man. After he leaves, the girl and her companions become a bit more active. In fact, the viewer gets to see the masked figures before Kristen does. We see him looking through a window, we see him standing inside the house (without her knowing someone’s in the house). This is a lot creepier than what happens when Kristen phones James to come home immediately because she knows there are people in the house. Macho James goes looking through the house and the director decides to turn the sound up as James pulls away a curtain. Which is scary because it’s a sudden and loud noise, but in the long run that’s a bad idea: the viewer is aware the director wants to scare him/her with essentially unscary sounds. Movies work better when you stay unaware.

Had I already mentioned the masks were brilliant? Not in the least because the girls’ masks look a bit like their faces (well, judging by the girl who asked for Tamara). Incidently, these three individuals who enter a house to torture a couple both mentally and physically remain anonymous for most of the film. Even the credits list them as Dollface, Pin-up Girl and Man in the Mask. Well, ‘mask’ is a bit much for this guy: doesn’t it remind you of El Orfanato (reviewed earlier this year)? Good, we know who Dollface is (the girl looking for Tamara), but I wish the director had known his movie would’ve been better if he hadn’t decided to show their faces in the penultimate scene. This penultimate scene features the three people driving away in the morning (and no, that is not a spoiler: I’m doing my best to write a review and keep the spoilers and a couple of scares out) and meeting the two Mormon boys we’d already seen in the beginning of the film. Dollface (well, not anymore) asks for a flyer and one of the boys asks if they’re sinners. “Sometimes,” the girl replies. As they drive off, we hear an even more ominous line: “Next time it’ll be a lot easier.”

That is where the film should’ve stopped, but no, Bryan Bertino apparently wanted to do everything to make his movie longer and less good. There comes another scene and a scene that annoyed me so much the film lost a full point there and then. Good, The Strangers was his debut, but someone could’ve told him to chuck twenty minutes and the final scene out, no? (By the way, the original title of the film was The Faces, which would’ve made the three criminals even more creepier: now they’re just strangers, otherwise they would’ve been even more bodiless.)

At least the film does something with its title. Apparently James and Kristen like vinyl records more than cds and that’s why in this film all the music you’ll hear comes from vinyl records you’ll see playing. The crackling sounds are included. Excellent choice. One of the artists is Merle Haggard, whose band was called The Strangers. One of the other songs included in the movie is Sprout and the Bean by Joanna Newsom. I was quite happy to hear that one being used.

Allow me to go to what may seem like a conclusion: it’s a pity Bertino fell in the same trap as the makes of Ils: using a good idea and milking it. The masked figures are often quite scary, but sometimes overused. At one point (it’s the scene pictured on your left) Pin-up Girl follows Kristen, but Pin-up Girl doesn’t do anything and Kristen doesn’t notice her. And then Pin-up Girl just runs away. That’s just a poor attempt to scare the viewer and, as I mentioned earlier, viewers will eventually become sick of being scared without reason. If fewer scares had been better timed (lose five, that would’ve been enough), this film would be better. If the introduction wouldn’t be so long, you would’ve had more sympathy for Kristen and James (especially for James - had I already mentioned if found the guy quite obnoxious?). Oh, and that final scene. Out with it, no excuse for that. Right, so if all that advice had been followed, we would’ve ended up with a classic. Now, it’s a lenient 6/10 because it’s Bertino’s first movie and because the movie company shelved this for a year.

Never mind all this criticism. Go and watch the film: you’ll be guaranteed to jump out of your seat at least a couple of times. Yes, you may notice that the final scene doesn’t make any sense if you remember how the movie started (the text you’ll get to read) and that’s one of the scenes that’ll give the movie a nasty aftertaste, but it’s still worth a watch. If only just once.

Here’s the trailer: