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Now I'm going to tell you a scary tale. Listen.
A long time ago, in a Dark Age far, far away, there was an evil warlock
named Ambolin. (This is the point where I ponder if "Ambolin" is a shot
at Spielberg, who in the last decade managed to milk every genre that
was once thrilling, from haunted houses to naziploitation. Even if
that's not the case, makes me happy to think so).
Rant mode off, moving on: Ambolin managed to create a parallel dimension
encased within the ice he scraped off the sun (don't ask!). It was a
dimension where heavenly and hellish creatures had no access. A place
where Ambolin and his apprentice Abraham (the spooky DJ Vivona) pull six
not-so innocent humans from Earth every few years, and proceed to play
with their fears until they crack - sometimes, literally. To the
screenwriter's credit, those phobias aren't the over-the-top absurdities
from the 80's horror, but real mundane fears like suffocation or being
cornered on a dark alley by armed thugs. I don't know about you, but
surviving a car crash only to become paralyzed from the neck down is ten
times scarier than a proctological exam performed by Freddy Krueger...
and Stanze did well by showing the terrors we read about in the daily
newspaper and pray to God not to be victims of.
But power-hungry Abraham wanted more and, after overpowering and
destroying Ambolin, became a more powerful being. He became... The
Presence. But the idea of a soul-leeching dimension beyond their reach
didn't sit well with all the angels of Heaven and all the demons of
Hell, who joined forces to kick the Presence's arrogant ass. Problem
is, only a being of flesh and blood can penetrate the ice that encases
Abraham's realm. So they enlist a human, Alison (Ramona Midgett, a tad
weak for such a demanding role), who just committed suicide in her
bathtub. Alison's soul is intercepted on the way to purgatory and sent
back to her body, so she can sneak into the Presence's lair along with
the six humans selected for the next session of tortures and mind games.
But why did they choose Alison? Well, you'll have to watch it and find
out.
Such story, imagined by writer-director Eric Stanze (I SPIT ON YOUR
CORPSE - I PISS ON YOUR GRAVE and SCRAPBOOK), screams for CGI effects, a
bunch of Rob Bottin's creatures and an A-List cast to drag even
non-horror fans to theaters (well, I surely would pay to see Freddie
Prinze Jr's head exploding!). But you're not Amblin, you're just...
Ambolin. All you have is 193 rolls of Super 8 film, some friends who
don't mind being buck nekkid in front of a camera, a very limited amount
of money and no Macs. What do you do, hotshot? What do you do?
You do some real filmmaking, that's what!
ICE FROM THE SUN is a cheap movie with cheap sets, not-so-good actors
and all the shortcomings of a Super-8 production. It just doesn't LOOK
cheap, for Stanze and his crew managed to create an entire dreamlike
universe using basic effects like grain, b&w and negative images,
intentional scratches, over and undercranking, exquisitely clever
editing choices and an astounding sound design that goes from
subliminary noises to complete silence at the right moments. Ah, you're
not here for the pretty pictures? Don't worry; IFTC also delivers on the
gore department. You have exploding and melting heads, graphic surgery
images and some extremely sadistic stuff. The fact that some of the
tortures can easily be done in real life by any sicko-wacko only makes
the story ookier.
I must confess that I didn't like I SPIT ON YOUR CORPSE I PISS ON YOUR
GRAVE. It looked like one of them porn flicks with plots. ICE FROM THE
SUN was made three years earlier, so I popped the DVD in my player
expecting the worst, but came out pleasantly surprised with Stanze's
talents and skills. This is a guy who sure knows the tools of the trade
and has plenty of imagination to burn. All he needs now is to be paired
with someone with money to burn, cause I'm sure we can expect cool
things from this fellow.
The first batch of this DVD was riddled with authoring problems, but
this one is the remastered, fixed version, with the label printed in
blue (you can trade the red-labeled defective one at Wicked Pixel's
website, wickedpixel.com). How does it look? Very good for a Super-8
film, and the Dolby Digital AC3 sound is also nice, although some
dialogues during the coke-sniffing sequence are muffled. Extras include
a still gallery, two trailers (the first one joyfully announces that the
movie hates my family, my house, my religion and even myself, and I must
deal with it; thanks for the warning!) and two commentary tracks - one
by director Stanze and sound designer Matt Meyer (both have interesting
things to say, so listen carefully ye aspiring filmmakers!), the other
track with actors Angela Zimmerly, Todd Tevlin, Ramona Midgett, and
Jason Christ.
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