A group of people go out to a cabin in the woods for the weekend to drink, do drugs, and have sex. Out in the woods, a maniac monster waits to pick them off one by one in creative ways. I know, sounds like every 80’s slasher you ever saw; well that is exactly the point of this curious little throwback gem Lake Nowhere.
This film falls in the odd no man’s land between short and feature. Running at a lean 51 minutes, it’s just about the length of a standard HBO show hour. The whole purpose of Lake Nowhere is to be a recreation of a 1980’s direct-to-video horror film, complete with low res FBI warning, Trailers, and the image blips that were common to a tape that had been recorded on over and over. What Grindhouse attempted for 70’s exploitation cinema, Lake Nowhere tries for VHS and it succeeds well except for the widescreen aspect ratio.
Production values, acting, and direction are thin at best. The random series of actions that make up the plot make no sense whatsoever. However, that’s not going to make a lick of difference to the audience for which Lake Nowhere was made. This homage is made with deep love and respect for the fast and dirty, bottom of the bin horror films of the 80’s, with enough interesting splatter to hold your attention for just under an hour. The gore is plentiful and ridiculous, as are the screaming and the breasts. In recreating the feeling of discovering new, forbidden horror films at a Friday night sleepover with your friends, Lake Nowhere succeeds spectacularly. The disc also includes trailers, featurette, and audio commentaries.
Norman is back for one last dance with mother at the Bates Motel. Set after his incarceration in the mental institute, part 4 serves as both a sequel and a prequel. Radio host Fran Ambrose (CCH Pounder) is hosting a special on matricide when she receives a call in from the biggest mother killer of them all. Norman is sane (for the moment) and about to become a father. Fearing he is breeding another monster he goes into details of the madness and murder of his youth. These flashbacks (starring Henry Thomas of E.T. fame as the young Norman) make up the bulk of the story with the pregnancy subplot serving as a framing device.
Scream Factory has now given us all three sequels in stunning Blu’s. It’s interesting because while all three are sequels to the original, there seems to be a lot of debate over whether any of them are sequels to each other. Part 4 confusingly has elements that seem to argue that it is somehow both connected to and ignoring parts 2 and 3.
Psycho IV is one of the more fun but least suspenseful entries in the series. The screenplay was written by Joseph Stefano, writer of the original film. Unfortunately, Director Mick Garris’ competent, but uninspired style lays bare some of the goofier elements of Stefano’s storytelling. Elements like stilted, clunky, over-long exposition, which is obscured by Hitchcock’s visual style and tension in the first film, becomes almost self-parody in Garris’ hands.
The disc also includes audio commentary, multiple behind the scenes featurettes, and a photo gallery.
I covered this marvelously weird masterpiece when it played Fantastic Fest. I’m going to reference that synopsis before diving into the disc.
‘Der Bunker is beautiful German surrealism from the first frame. In the opening moment we meet an unnamed German family just as they are sitting down to breakfast. They seem normal enough until we see that their home is an immense, subterranean bunker. A young physics student comes to rent their spare room and in spite of their strange behavior, he decides to stay. Things grow stranger still when the student is guilted into teaching the couple’s middle-aged looking son, Klaus, whom they claim is only 8.
Der Bunker is as strange as a David Cronenberg film and as fun as a Terry Gilliam movie. While each scene grows more bizarre than the last, the characters remain remarkably human. The main thrust of the plot is an absurdist comedy but there’s a curious mystery thread that demands to be unraveled. Just what’s going with this family and why they’re determined that Klaus will one day be president of the United States (being German by birth makes this quite impossible) makes one want to follow Der Bunker right down its strange rabbit hole.’
On second viewing, and in a home setting where I can go back, I am again struck by how inspired this film is. It can be compared to so many films in numerous genres but none of them fit just perfect as this is one of the most unique films I have ever seen. It is beautifully shot and each and every scene seems to be filled with both hilarious nonsense and profound meaning all at the same time. Der Bunker is a film that you can watch over and over and always take away something new.
The disc also includes deleted scenes and an audio commentary.
Adam Ruhl is a writer and life long Cinephile. He is the Executive
Cinema Editor of Pop Culture Beast’s Austin branch; covering festivals,
conventions, and new releases. When not filing reports, Adam can be
found stalking Alamo Drafthouse Programmers for leads on upcoming
DrafthouseFilms titles. Adam once blocked Harry Knowles entrance to a
theater until he was given extra tickets to a Roman Polanski movie.