I am breaking night again. Sleepless and restless yet bored and tired of the hamster wheel of square living; lost in the ether of the surface web again. I’m just here vegetated and binging on information and entertainment to numb the nerves and relax me as I float and drift with spontaneity. It looks like there’s an abundance of skullduggery and cloak & dagger schemes occurring in the world – more than the average citizen or loiterer could fathom. There is just so much information to process, to extrapolate, to synthesis and to summarize with such short time left. Information is more important than necessity; without information you have no access and avenues to proceed in society. You cannot arm yourself mentally and physically without information and the access to it.

That is what compelled me to present 1992’s Sneakers and luckily someone on YouTube was cool enough to have it uploaded.

Sneakers directed by Phil Alden Robinson, screenplay co-written with Walter Parkes and Lawrence Lasker. Starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and David Strathairn.

A successful movie from the creators of the 80’s classic WARGAMES, and the 20^th highest grossing film of that 1992, Sneakers is a crime thriller that if made nowadays would be considered cyber-noir. It’s another film that Roger Ebert didn’t get and gave a low review when released but, he had a knack for disliking movies before they found their audience.

The films plot revolves around a group of security penetration testers or “Pen Testers” that are recruited by men claiming to be NSA agents to retrieve a Russian black box that they are looking for. After successfully retrieving the item, the team learns that they have walked into something bigger than any of them could have imagined.

Filmed in multiple locations with a really good script and a stacked ensemble cast of heavy hitters, Sneakers has just enough humor and intrigue to keep your attention for the whole journey. A moment in time capsule for real-life cyberpunks of an analog time when things were more hands on. I definitely recommend this film for you the viewer.

Interesting sidenote:

• Leonard Adleman was the mathematical consultant on this movie. The character of “Bernard Abbott” was named after Robert Abbott, the so-called “Father of Information Security,” who was also a consultant for the film. The character “Whistler” was based on Josef “Joybubbles” Engressia and John “Cap’n Crunch” Draper, well-known figures in the phone phreaks and hacking communities.  “Donald Crease” was based on John Strauchs, a former CIA officer who founded the security consulting firm Systech Group.  Dan Ackroyd’s brother Peter supplied conspiracy material on “UFOS, cattle mutilations, the Tri-Lateral Commission, the staged moon landing, JFK, [and] Marilyn Monroe” that was used to “spice up” his character.

• The film’s press kit was accompanied by a floppy disk containing a custom program explaining the movie. Parts of the program were quasi-encrypted, requiring the user to enter an easily guessable password to proceed. It was one of the first electronic press kits by a film studio.

I know you’re probably out there in the wastelands feeling it right now: living check to check, angry, scared, dejected, detached, and trying to find some kind of escapism from reality. I hope my retro movie choice can give you some form of escapism from the madness and noise. Movies are an escape. Movies have a beginning and a definitive conclusion with all the drama and conflict playing out made digestible by the dialogue, characters and exposition, unlike reality. Reality sucks for everyone. But just know that you’re not alone out there in the storm. Stay safe, live reckless, question everything, dress smart and always keep one finger on that Rewind button. Til’ Next time.

In the four years that have gone by, something cold, alien and deadly has been frantically cutting through the fabric of reality.

As the night grows ever darker a brutal, systematic rhythm can be heard coming from a distance.
A sound of metallic heels colliding against black basalt stones, the hissing of a blade gleaming wildly through the shadows, a low, regular rumble that amplifies the vast darkness that surrounds us.

The basic formula for cheesy 90’s cinema; if you didn’t see it in a matinee then you probably rented it from the local video store. Schlocky leftover clichés from the previous decade: firearms that sound like explosions, urban cowboy boots, duster jackets, and of course another film that warns you not to electrocute serial killers or else they’ll come back from the dead and keep killing.

Yes, just like House 3: the Horror Show, Shocker and Ghost in the Machine (1993), a homicidal maniac is resurrected into the world to reap havoc and kill, kill, kill.

The First Power is a 1990 American neo-noir horror film written and directed by Robert Resnikoff, and starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Tracy Griffith, Jeff Kober and Mykelti Williamson. The film received mostly negative reviews, but was a financial success just like a lot of horror movies of the era.

The film begins with LAPD on the manhunt for a serial killer (Jeff Kober). Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump, HEAT) and badass Filipino Detective (Lou Diamond Phillips) go to the borderline of law & order to catch the killer. After a near death confrontation with the “Pentagram killer” Lou Diamond Phillips character, Detective Russell Logan, manages to apprehend the killer with the help of an anonymous tip. But, that anonymous tip came with a price – “No death penalty”, a promise that Det. Logan breaks when the Pentagram Killer is sentenced in court. “Shaklack, klack” and the verdict is given. The killer enters the chamber and he is gassed to death in the presence of the arresting officers and officials. Tormented by a feverish nightmare of the killer breaking his restraints and stabbing him, Detective Logan awakens and is relieved that the nightmare is over. However, after a few more daymares he suspects something is wrong.

Tracking down his anonymous informant to a lavish house in the hills; home to a popular online psychic played by Tracy Griffith. How that works in 1990? I have no idea. Is she using search tools, such as ARCHIE, Gopher, or WAIS? I don’t know.  Her site looks like DOS. Regardless, another body is found. One of the officers involved in the arrest of the Pentagram killer is found murdered in one of the gang hideouts from Police Academy 2: the first assignment. Looks like another Pentagram murder or possibly a copycat.

When confronting Tracy Griffith about the copycat. She is angered by the Detectives ignorance and chastises him about breaking his promise.

What follows is an absurd, neo-noir horror thriller that is entertaining to say the most. On the surface, this very similar to the film Fallen starring Denzel Washington. The killer jumps from body to body and rooftop to street level, with the grace of Spider-Man in some parts.
Other parts are pretty cool: such as using the ceiling fan as a blender gimmick.

• “Psychic and a Cop walk into a bar… the partner died.”
• “Oh shit! It’s the flying bum. Cock Blocked by the homeless”.
• “Downtown LA was just as filthy as it is now.”
• Hocus Pocus and sexy nuns. It’s a film that will be forgotten but, not this day.

I present to you – THE FIRST POWER (1990). Stay safe. Stay sanctified. Get smart. Get lost and Get Free. The writings on the wall. Keep your finger on that REWIND button.

Movie Link – https://youtu.be/F3s0PlxWavE

That being said- I will recommend two TV series and two films that fall into the same pocket as Lovecraft Country. I was immediately reminded of these titles while watching the first four episodes and I know yous all will love them as well, if you can find them online or at any local business that sells dvds, blue-rays and the like.

ANGEL HEART (1987):

The neo-noir horror thriller directed by Alan Parker (The Wall) and based on the novel ‘FALLING ANGEL’ was released in theaters in 1987, starring Mickey Rourke and Robert DeNiro. And followed a private investigator hired by a mysterious client to look for a missing singer during post WWII America. Mixing classic themes of Satanism and Mysticism with elements of Voodoo (which is mostly benevolent) and filmed in NYC and New Orleans. My first recommendation for anyone looking for more of the same vibe similar to Lovecraft Country but more nihilistic with that Noir punctuation of “Everyone is fucked”.

Friday the 13th : the series (1987-1990)

The adventures of Micki & Ryan and Jack Marshak as they hunt for cursed items and safely store them in the safe/vault of their antique shop. The series although only related to the movie franchise by name only was a really fun series to watch on NYC channel 11 back in the late 80’s when primetime television was fun and ahead of its time. This was way before the X-Files aired on FOX and can be seen as a precursor to that show; the only major difference being Friday the 13th’s overall storyline was more coherent and not just a bunch of random events around a horror anthology.

Cast A Deadly Spell (1991):

A hard boiled detective story inspired by HP LOVECRACT’s Old Ones mythos and the Necronomicon starring Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, Clancy Brown and David Warner and produced by Gale Anne Hurd (Aliens, The Terminator). Originally aired on HBO in 1991 and was so likeable with its movie quality practical effects and story when it premiered(to a young 9yr old me). I still think of it fondly and will re-watch it whenever I feel the urge. A very good blend of all the elements with an EMMY award wining song featured in the film by Curt Sobel.
Cast a Deadly Spell starred Fred Ward as Harry Philip Lovecraft a hard-lined sleuth living in a fictitious Lost Angeles where the citizens not only are aware of Magick but use it in their mundane/ordinary lives… Everyone except Private Detective H.P.LOVECRAFT.
Playing somewhere on YOUTUBE, go find it.

Kolchek the Night Stalker (1974–1975):

You can’t mention Friday the 13th and X-files in the same article without mentioning the grandfather of both series, Kolchek.

The series followed wire service reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly those involving the supernatural or science fiction, including fantastic creatures. The series was preceded by the two television movies, The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler (1973). Although the series lasted only a single season, it rapidly achieved cult status and has remained very popular in syndication.

 

Those are my recommendations folks. Now go and watch LOVECRAFT COUNTRY now playing on HBO and HBOmax.
Stay safe out there. COVID, the goons, the government and the aimless dregs are all out in the night where the wolves once fed. Before the bland and the blahzay blah had their say.
Stay safe out there. Stay cool. Keep your head up. Talk hard. and always keep your finger on that REWIND button.
– SamHaiNe

***SamHaiNe’s new spoken word album – ‘Natural City’ is out and NOW PLAYING
@ https://samhaine.bandcamp.com/album/natural-city .
#hainesvilleshit #neonoir #crimefiction #vaporwave #lofibeats #flashfiction #graffiti #cyberpunk #experimental #audiodrama #JadePalaceGuard #triphop #punknoir
https://samhaine.bandcamp.com/album/natural-city

There’s no rest and relaxation for the terrorized couple featured in the tense 1989 Australian thriller Dead Calm. A time of recovery in grief becomes a fight for life when they come across a man with a dark secret. How will they survive in the middle of the Pacific Ocean isolated from outside help?

Within the first few minutes of director’s Phillip Noyce’s feature, you already empathize with John (Sam Neill and Rae (Nicole Kidman) Ingram. A joyful homecoming for the naval officer turns into a familial tragedy. To recover, John takes his wife on an extended vacation on their yacht. The couple spot a mysterious man (Billy Zane) furiously rowing away from a stranded ship and towards them.  What is he hiding behind those boyish looks? Will their assisting him be their last mistake? What will happen if the dead calm of the ocean begins to stir?

A film of this sort can be hard to pull off. Why? Because the cast is small and the setting is one of isolation, the focus is primarily on the performances of the actors. With a larger cast and multiple locations, you can often overlook a bad performance or two or a mundane plot if the action is varied and there are great visuals. This way you’re not fixated on the weaknesses of the feature.

Fortunately, all three actors perform well, pushing the story along so that you’re wondering what each will do next under the circumstances. Neill portrays John as the resolute and capable husband that he would likely be as a military man. Although he makes an early error in judgement, he does his best to recover and survive with the skills that he would’ve likely learned in the navy. However, Kidman really shines as the hero of Dead Calm. She makes physical and emotional sacrifices to deal with the terror inflicted by Hughie, the mysterious young man brought aboard. It takes an incredible actress to portray the varied emotions that she displays as Rae. It’s an amazing role for her, a then-young woman known for light comedies such as BMX Bandits.

What about Billy Zane? It’s a shame that his career hit an apex in the mid-nineties with The Phantom and Titanic. In this role, he’s able to combine a devilish charm with an unsettling presence. When you first view Hughie in a frantic but tired, terrified state, you can sense that something is not quite right, but the ultimate mystery still hovers. There’s a brief scene where he is staring back into the distance with a haunting look on his face while the music swells. In another context, this could be a triumphant stand of the hero. However, we know this character is a psychopath with a sordid path. Is he regretful of what he did? The viewer has to decide.

The discussion of this scene brings us to one of the highlights of Dead Calm: the music. Graeme Revell, then new to film composition, brings a unique take to the genre. Having a background in the industrial scene of the time, he brings a touch of that to the synthesized-based scoring. The music is often rhythmic with tribal tinges to it. In addition to the track “Sadness” that plays during the previous scene just mentioned, the other highlight is “Finding John” that mixes a calming synth line, pulsating beats, and chant-like breathing. Combined with the dusk-to-night visuals, it leaves an impression.

Most of the filming takes place during daytime. Compared to nighttime action, it can be harder to convey horror during the bright daylight. The visuals of a ship against the ocean and the high sun is beautiful; to most people it would convey a pleasure cruise rather than a fight for life. However, the director and cinematographer are able to a picture of relaxation into an atmosphere of dread. Instead, it’s during the nighttime where we begin to feel a return from despair to triumph.

Even many who have much positive overall to say about the film have one major gripe: the ending scene. A fairly grounded film ends in an over-the-top fashion. This does not mean there is fantastical break from reality, but there’s a spectacular conclusion that became predictable in later thrillers. It should be noted that it was not the original ending, which was more open-ended. I don’t feel that it ruins the film; I do believe there could be more connective tissue to how the movie gets there. It didn’t necessarily have to feel tacked on, but it does. Either the studio should’ve let Noyce know they wanted that ending during principal filming, or let the original ending stand.

People seem to mention Dead Calm as a curiosity rather than as a must film now. Generally, they highlight that it lead to Kidman and Zane becoming bankable lead actors. However, though it’s not a masterpiece, one can recognize it as an accessible film that provides thrills without dumbing down the characters in order to move the story along. Moreover, it has a taut running time so that it doesn’t sink under the weight of outstaying its welcome.