dontfeedthewabbit

In the underworld of direct-to-video erotic thrillers, "In the Heat of Passion" really is an outlier. It is reasonably well written and well executed - I imagine the difficulties were financial and technical -, it has an engaging atmosphere, a great soundtrack, the cast is competent and the direction shows creativity.

The sensual scenes could have been better explored, they seemed rushed and standardized to me, something that should just be there. But since I am not a puritanical viewer, I like boldness in this department too.

Despite this, the film remains entertaining and rhythmic from beginning to end and escapes the commonplace. It really needs a second look and to be restored, it is not a VHS work to be forgotten and simply disappear.

A great and entertaining adaptation of HP Lovecraft as only Dennis Paoli could write. I'm glad Joe Lynch didn't change Paoli's already well-known absurd pace to fit the current horror sluggishness. "Suitable Flesh" starts off frenetic and, accustomed to the format of streaming movies, I expected it to slow down after 30 minutes and subsequently lose direction. That didn't happen.

What begins with a call for help quickly reveals itself to be a trap for a real curse. A possession in several aspects, with an emphasis, of course, on the carnal. Judas Lewis has the physical attributes necessary to make Heather Graham's seduction plausible and his character enters a never-ending sexual nightmare, until it intensifies and expands to the point of completely losing its meaning - like real nightmares.

I may have missed a bit more "flesh" given the nature of this story, but I wouldn't have been embarrassed by a bit more heat on screen and a bit more ingenuity in the cinematography and delirium effects. Despite that, the soundtrack is great, the direction is nimble and it easily brings to mind Brian Yuzna, Stuart Gordon, Sam Raimi and Wes Craven, and the entire cast plays their roles well, with special mention for Barbara Crampton in the final act.

"Slumber Party Massacre" is a slasher from the minds of Amy Holden Jones and Rita Mae Brown, which draws more attention than the story itself, which consists of yet another 1980s slasher, with a misogynistic maniac on the loose, after girls very comfortable with their bodies. The weapon chosen to kill and the maniac's peculiarities give the viewer the necessary tips to understand the point that the original authors wanted to address.

What happens with this new version commissioned by the SYFY channel is the result of the new authors' inability to insert into the story the questions they supposedly intend to raise. This is not a problem exclusive to Danishka Esterhazy or Suzanne Keilly, it is a recurring problem in countless current titles, occurring more significantly in remake and reboot attempts.

The first half begins with a past cliffhanger, moves towards a girls' weekend, reveals a revenge plot... Nothing develops and, from the second half on wards, male characters appear to suggest a parody regarding female objectification, observed in the slasher genre... Nothing develops either... Not even male nudity, which is delivered in an embarrassed and prudish way, since the idea was to subvert the cliché... And the maniac is completely sidelined...

There is a corrective fever taking over new productions that compels new authors to revisit well-known titles from the past to correct, remodel and exacerbate their fashionable sociopolitical comments.

They are unable to insert what they want to express through their characters, in the course of a story. No, the characters just wander from one scene to the next, reproducing the catchphrases that flood social media. So nothing really develops in this new "Slumber Party Massacre." In fact, it is just another opportunity to exhaust the superficial maxims of identity empowerment a little more, while the material lacks boldness and substance.