Banshee Chapter (B-)

You'll never drop acid again.

What do you get when you cross a tenacious reporter, a government conspiracy, a Hunter S. Thompson wannabe, and references to HP Lovecraft?

Banshee Chapter is a film I'd scrolled past on Netflix any number of times. However, when I saw it advertised by Arkham Bazaar, a shop that sells Lovecraftian memorabilia, I decided to give it a shot. It's a low budget movie that is a little rough around the edges, but it kept me wanting to know what surprises were in store for me at the film's end.

Katia Winter portrays Anne Roland, a reporter investigating the mysterious disappearance of her friend, James Hirsch (Michael McMillian). James had been researching a secret government program called MKUltra, which utilized experimental drugs on unsuspecting test subjects in an attempt to control human behavior. The drug in question, dimethyltryptamine-19 (or DMT-19) is a powerful hallucinogen with mysterious properties and effects.

Prior to his disappearance, James acquired a dose of DMT-19 from a mysterious source and ingested it while being video-recorded by his friend, Renny (Alex Gianopoulos). During the video, James takes the drug and begins to behave strangely as Renny continues to record. In the end, James disappears and Renny is questioned by police in regards to his missing friend. A few days later, Renny also vanishes without a trace.

James prepares to ingest some DMT-19 for posterity.

Anne investigates James' house, where his experiment took place. She locates clues, including an old VHS tape that contains recordings from MKUltra experiments utilizing DMT-19. She also locates a note that was sent to James along with the drug which is signed by his "Friends in Colorado." It turns out that the signature relates to a Hunter S. Thompson-like author by the name of Thomas Blackburn (Ted Levine).

Though rebuffed by Blackburn when she attempts to contact him by phone, Anne isn't so easily dissuaded. She lies to gain his trust and is later invited back to his home for a party with his chemist friend Callie (Jenny Gabrielle) who (incidentally) can make DMT-19. Blackburn proves to be too smart for Anne's act and turns the tables on her, so to speak.

"It puts the hallucinogen in the shot glass."

After a few freaky things happen at Blackburn's place, Callie disappears and Anne and Blackburn go to locate her. Along the way, more freaky things happen. Blackburn brings up the subject of Lovecraft's story, From Beyond, and his wild theories about what DMT-19 actually does. By the end of the film his theories are proven out, and Anne is definitely made into a believer.

Though it can be slow at times, I found Banshee Chapter to be enjoyable. Snippets of footage from the MKUltra experiments are seeded between the action, and these are tense and somewhat freaky. Though the real scares are few and far between (and consist mostly of surprise "gotchas!"), there is an underlying unease that pervades the entire movie. The film's connection (however tenuous) to actual events and government experiments also adds to the tension.

Anne and Blackburn keep in touch as she does the hard work.

Overall, the acting in Banshee Chapter is fine. Ted Levine (who you might remember as Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb in Silence of the Lambs) steals the show with his portrayal of the eccentric and drugged-out Thomas Blackburn, and Katia Winter does an admirable job as Anne. The sets chosen for the film ground the action well and very little seems out of place.

The cinematography is a little rough at times, but I think this was intentional. Much of Banshee Chapter looks to have been filmed by hand, so it feels like a found-footage movie (except for the fact that it obviously isn't). As mentioned, recordings from the actual MKUltra experiments are sprinkled throughout the movie, and there are some actual news recordings for good measure that prop up the film's premise.

Patient 14 (Monique Candelaria) gets her injection.

If you enjoy cerebral horror movies and aren't concerned by a film that takes time to get rolling, you'll probably enjoy Banshee Chapter. Then again, it might bore you to tears. I, for one, enjoyed it and found it to be a fresh offering from a relatively unknown director (Banshee Chapter is the directorial debut of Blair Erickson). For its low budget ($950k) and short filming time (only 28 days), it does what it sets out to do and does it well. I'm interested to see what Erickson has in store for us next.

The Last Days on Mars (B-)

"The search for life is about to end."

The Last Days on Mars is one of those rare movies that I might consider purchasing on Blu-ray. Though it seems that plenty of people have a lot of bad things to say about the film, I, for one, was pleasantly surprised by it. It may not be the most original movie ever produced, but it was competently filmed, the special effects were good, and the cast--at least in my opinion--was excellent. Of course, this sort of thing tends to happen when I go into a movie blind with nothing in the way of expectations, so... there's that.

A manned mission to Mars is nearing the end of its six months on the red planet with very little to show for it. The film begins with two astronauts, Vincent Campbell (Liev Schreiber) and Rebecca Lane (Romola Garai), picking up a third, Kim Aldrich (Olivia Williams), at her research site. Kim's lack of discovery enhances her normally acerbic demeanor, and she reluctantly returns to base with her two comrades. No one seems to like her very much, which isn't surprising given her bad attitude.

After the three return to base, Marko Petrovic (Goran Kostic) convinces the mission's leader, Charles Brunel (Elias Koteas), to allow him to return to his own research site to fix a damaged sensor. Brunel reluctantly agrees and sends Richard Harrington (Tom Cullen) along with him. This angers Kim, as she was forced to leave her research behind and return to base. She accesses Marko's terminal despite the protests of Lauren Dalby (Yusra Warsama) and discovers the real reason he was so hot to get back to his site.

"Marko did what? Man, that guy is such a jerk."

It is revealed that Marko has discovered some kind of bacteria, and despite his story about the sensors, was secretly returning to get a sample. By the time Brunel calls Marko and Harrington to put the kibosh on things, the sample is already being collected. Even as he holds the sample aloft in victory, the ground beneath Marko gives way and he falls into a pit, presumably dying in the process. Brunel and Dalby show up to help Harrington, but without the proper gear they're unable to climb down into the pit to retrieve the body.

Brunel leaves Dalby to watch over the site while he and Harrington return to base. By the time he returns to the site with Campbell, Lane, and the mission psychologist, Robert Irwin (Johnny Harris), in tow, there is no sign of either Dalby or Marko to be found. Though Campbell is lowered into the pit, all he finds is a strange, fungus-like mass growing at the bottom.

If this synopsis seems overly granular so far, I agree with you--there are a lot of characters to keep track of in a short amount of time. Once Campbell explores the pit, though, all hell breaks loose back at base, as Marko and Dalby have returned on foot. The two have been infected by the Martian bacteria, and it's turned them both into extremely violent space zombies.

"Pack your bags. We're leaving soon unless zombies attack."

From this point on, The Last Days on Mars is more or less a traditional zombie flick, albeit set on Mars. Stark differences from the norm are that environmental issues are definitely a factor, and there seem to be no weapons of any consequence available to the astronauts. The survivors try to stave off the zombies repeatedly without much success. As for the zombies, they're intelligent and apparently capable of using their hosts' memories and knowledge to overcome their intended prey. They're also very durable, fast, and nothing seems to slow them down (though they are all somewhat unsteady on their feet).

The movie careens towards its conclusion, with the ultimate finish being left up to the viewer's imagination--thought not in a bad way. There should be enough closure here to satisfy most people. I could see it going either way, honestly.

The Last Days on Mars's budget was apparently very low at 7 million pounds (approximately $11.8 million), but it wasn't obvious to me. The sets, props, and effects were well-done, in my opinion. I felt it was more entertaining than Europa Report (which I haven't reviewed yet). Liev Schreiber impressed me with his characterization of Campbell. He doesn't play a superman, but rather an ordinary guy with genuine flaws and emotions. I've always been a fan of Elias Koteas, and I really enjoyed Olivia Williams' performance (and I would've liked to have seen more of her on screen).

Dalby, post-infection. She just wants to be friends.

Though we don't get much chance to get to know some of the other cast members, most of them felt like real people to me. The exceptions here are Marko, who comes off as a rather shallow and egotistical jerk, and Dalby, who doesn't really get much screen time before she's transformed into a bloodthirsty space critter. Despite this, I think that first-time director Ruairi Robinson does a lot with very little at his disposal.

So the credits have rolled and The Last Days on Mars is behind me. Was it a completely original story? No, of course not. Did I like it anyway? Yes, I did. It's currently available on NetFlix, and at just 98 minutes long, you have very little to lose by giving it a chance... unless you're not a fan of zombie flicks. And in the end, no matter what you think, you can be thankful it isn't Apollo 18.