Strange Things Happen At Sundown

Description

Product Description These are no ordinary vampires. There's a group of mobsters, led by the vicious Jimmy Fangs, intent on creating an army of the living dead. There are two vampire lovers, hiding out in a hotel room with a bag of the mobsters' money and a voluptuous girl tied to the bed. There's a thousand year old assassin who fears nothing except for this insane, virgin-killing wife. All of them are being hunted by a vinyl clad woman, whose intentions are mysterious and her powers unmatched, a vampire movie like no other. Review I really wanted to hate this movie. When it was first released, it seemed like everyone and their mother was getting a review copy. Not me. Pitiful pleas to the producers yielded promises, but no screener. Bitterness welled up inside of me. I began to resent all the other reviewers who got to see this movie, raving about it from the rooftops. Finally, I got it in a lot of other discs from the distributors. I sat back, sadistic grin on my face, determined to despise the hell out of "Strange Things Happen At Sundown". I was very disappointed. The movie is great. A wickedly funny take on the vampire genre, "Strange Things Happen At Sundown" tells the story of the working class undead underworld. Jimmy Fangs (DeVito) and his crew are long-in-the-tooth (pun intended) mobsters have been ripped off by a deadbeat deadfella wannabe named Marcel (Green). They hire a thousand-year-old ruthless, sadistic vampire called "The Reaper" (Gonzalez) to take him out. They're all being stalked by a mysterious woman in black vinyl (Sapron) who seems to want everyone dead. "Strange Things" manages to do a lot of things at once where most independent movies fail entirely. It's bloody, it's funny, there are distinctive characters, and a fully-realized story that progresses from a beginning, middle and end (even if it is sprawling and told from multiple points of view). And it does a good job of turning the overworked vampire genre on its ear by creating a thoroughly believable world that plays by its own rules. Hell, there's even a "don't blink or you'll miss her" cameo by Jasi Cotton Lanier ("Severe Injuries")! Some people may be daunted by it's length, and there are a few spots where the action does seem to lag, but truth be told these "dead spots" only last a couple of minutes before you re being dragged along the narrative path once again. Overall, the acting is very good DeVito being the best, with the voice of "The Reaper" (Robert M. Lemkowitz) coming a close second. "The Reaper" also provides the film with its funniest running gag - he's an ancient being that fears nothing but his psychotic, former-countess wife who flies into a hysterical rage over the tiniest bit of disarray. It's shot very well - Fratto and company work very hard to hide the low-budget seams with fast camera work, and rapid editing. (Kudos to them, further, for using the camera to move through the frame, rather than letting it go static, without making it jump around like a Mario Van Peebles film again, a balancing act that they pull off flawlessly nine times out of ten.) Like I said, I wanted to hate this movie. It wouldn't let me. --Film ThreatI love the way director Marc Fratto describes his movie STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN AT SUNDOWN, "a vampire movie for people who don't like vampire movies." Not a single "my lord" or frilly gothic costume in sight, and the movie's all the better for it. These vampires are scumbag sociopaths who get off on the kill. By focusing on the base carnal needs of the vampire as a predatory creature blending easily with everyday life, Fratto has made vampires frightening again. Don't be misled by the lengthy opening sequences revolving around a group of gangster vampires, "Goodfangs" this isn't. The real story surrounds Marcel and Amy, two relatively young vampires still adjusting to their world. The two just want to get away from the overcrowded vampire underworld and live happily ever after torturing hapless newlyweds. Somethings are easier said than done. To fund his nest-egg, Marcel robbed the vampires he once worked for and now has a contract on his head. While poor Amy lavishes in the kill, she has yet to figure out how to extract her fangs and feed properly. No, this isn't a conventional vampire picture, not by a long shot. STRANGE THINGS does for vampire movies what Scooter McCree's SHATTER DEAD did for zombie flicks 10 years earlier. While Fratto explores as many aspects of vampire lore as he can cram into the 135 minute running time, he keep events grounded in a SHATTER DEAD-like "what if" reality that isn't too hard to fathom. To his credit, Fratto also never loses sight of what a horror picture truly is, entertainment. He keeps the movie fun with a scorching sense of black comedy. Favorite scenes involve a born again Christian trying to help Amy turn over a new leaf by finding Jesus. Let's not forget the badass vampire assassin henpecked by his anal-retentive clean-freak wife. Some people might be put off by the lengthy running time, but take my word, STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN AT SUNDOWN is all story, there's nary a drawn-out walking sequence in sight, the likes of which bog down 90% of all shot on video productions. What story elements present that don't advance the plot are pure character. The worst that can be said about the movie is that there might be too much going on. In addition to what's been mentioned, there are subplots involving a second vampire assassin similar to the Sonja Blue character in Nancy Collin's SUNGLASSES AFTER DARK, and a running gag about zombies. A movie's technical aspects are generally something I refrain from mentioning in reviews, but I would be doing a disservice to everyone involved in STRANGE THINGS' production if I didn't. From Fratto's sense of camera work and editing to partner-in-crime Frank Garfi's score, everything is of the highest professional quality. With recent discussion on the B-Independent.com message boards regarding an established set of standards for commercial products, a sort of "Micro-festo", there aren't many better examples of what micro-budget moviemakers should aim for than STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN AT SUNDOWN. --b-independent.comWhat s more impressive the fact that the moviemakers behind STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN AT SUNDOWN manage to sustain it through a 138-minute running time, or that they re able to keep the DVD s audio commentary fresh and fun for the same length? The New York area-lensed STRANGE THINGS grew (and grew and grew) out of a short project to become a shot-on-video epic stocked with vampire mobsters, a bloodsucking couple on the run, their born-again hostage, a mysterious slayer, the Reaper himself, his housewife spouse who s prone to severe mood swings, lots of scantily clad girls, amusing tough-guy dialogue and plenty of graphic violence (which occasionally tips over the line between scary and sadistic). While the movie does feel longish overall, it s hard to think of a subplot that could be easily lost, and the commitment and energy of director Marc Fratto and his partners shines through both the feature and the commentary. During one of the quieter moments, a STRANGE THINGS participant says, "This is...right out of DARK SHADOWS, the vampires talking about being vampires." SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, another just-released, New York-centered video feature, is described by its writer/director William Hopkins as a homage to SHADOWS, and as "a softer kind of Gothic melodrama." While his intentions and some of the acting are good, SLEEPLESS, unfortunately, is just what you d expect from those descriptions: a movie in which talk takes precedence over action. Which is not in itself a problem, but neither the characters nor the storyline (involving a government anti-vampire squad seeking to destroy an undead overlord, a bloodsucker who s on the side of good and a woman seeking to make the dark transformation) are sufficiently compelling. The movie has its moments and interesting ideas, though not quite enough to set it apart in the very crowded vampire-movie marketplace. In addition, its best action comes early, during a brawl between agents and the undead; some of the subsequent mayhem is conveyed through frankly silly-looking CGI. Like STRANGE THINGS, SLEEPLESS was shot on digital video, and both projects were filmlooked for their fullscreen DVD releases. STRANGE THINGS looks better, sporting a generally crisp image that holds the colors and blacks well; occasional outdoor scenes are a tad overexposed and there s artifacting and grain in the darker moments at times, but it s overall a satisfying presentation (with crisp two-channel stereo sound). SLEEPLESS, which to be fair has many more scenes set at night or in gloomy interiors, has more artifacting in evidence, as well as pixillation resulting from the filmlook process. The presentation retains a decent amount of atmosphere, however, with a good mono soundtrack. The first sound you hear during the STRANGE THINGS commentary is that of a champagne cork popping, and what follows is a well-liquor-lubricated talk between Fratto and co-producers Steve "Gonzo" Gonzalez, Brandi Metaxas and Frank Garfi, along with a couple of the actors. As expected, there are plenty of rowdy, occasionally profane wisecracks along the way, but also a wealth of real production information. This group has a behind-the-scenes story for every scene and if not, they find something else to discuss. Even a simple shot of a setting sun occasions a lengthy, amusing discussion; the casting process and dilemmas are a frequent subject, plus the many obstacles faced by the team during the shoot. Some of the tales might make you laugh in spite of yourself, as when they recount that a dog living in one house location was terrified rather than disruptive or as one of the group puts it, "Instead of the dog ruining the shot, the shooting ruined the dog." We even find out who in the cast got lucky behind the scenes, thanks to the use of a "hookup bell." --Fangoria Magazine