BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [April 2018]

FREAKS AND GEEKS:
THE DOCUMENTARY
insecurity in adolescence
BY MATTY HUME
VAMPIRE CLAY
claymation horror and humour
Sôichi Umezawa has made himself a career
in special makeup effects, and his directorial
debut is a chance for him to showcase that
skill with a unique premise: a blood-thirsty clay
monster.
Set at a small, rural Japanese art school, the
story is centered on a handful of students who
are eagerly learning how to sculpt. When their
instructor uncovers a mysterious box of clay
that had been buried in the yard, she brings it
into the classroom for the students. The clay
soon proves to be quite abnormal as it begins
to move by itself when no one is looking, and
it seems to have a malicious intent to harm the
students. Once it is able to absorb a few drops
of blood, its hunger and power grows, and it
becomes strong enough to murder.
Seeing this clay monster in action is quite
a spectacle. Just by touching its victims it can
mutate and absorb their flesh into its own
muddy, blob-like body. Once a student gets
devoured into its gaping mouth, the monster
can then mold itself into the shape of a human,
acting as a disguise to get closer to the other
students. The special effects are all done with
practical methods of makeup, prosthetics and
some claymation. Watching this artistry bring
the monster to life is really the movie’s biggest
highlight.
SLAVE TO THE GRIND
BY MATTHEW NYGREN
Although there is a creepy atmosphere to
appreciate, Vampire Clay focuses on violent
body-horror instead of psychological horror,
and luckily, a carnivorous clay monster is as
absurd as it sounds, and that generates memorable
scenes of ridiculous carnage. While Umezawa
may not have overtly tried to make a
horror-comedy, because of the serious tone
he establishes, there’s no denying the inherent
dark humour of anthropomorphic shape-shifting
clay trying to strangle people with its tentacles.
A fitting addition for CUFF’s late night screenings,
fans of gore will be rewarded with some
outrageous entertainment as copious amounts of
blood, slime and clay splatter across the screen.
Vampire Clay will screen as part of CUFF on April 20,
11:59 pm and April 22, 11:00 am at The Globe Cinema
“Did you ever go to high school? Yeah? Okay, then it’s about you.”
A
bout 20 years ago, Paul Feig and of Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation,” the song
Judd Apatow poured their hearts that opened the every episode of the
into the birth of TV’s anti-hero dramady
classic single-camera sitcom. Over the
spotlight on a dark movement
BY CHRISTINE LEONARD
— a coming-of-age opus that next 70 minutes, the doc outlines the life
necessarily been kind to, pause to reflect on the fac-
foreshadowed the stardom of James of Freaks and Geeks, from Feig’s initial
tors that unite and divide the volatile musical scene.
Franco, Seth Rogen, Linda Cardellini, pitch to Apatow at a comedian party
It’s not inconceivable that the next great grind
Jason Segel, Samm Levine, Martin house to the cast and crew’s sentimental
lyric might come from the list of hard-to-swallow
Starr, John Francis Daley and on and prom-themed, wrap-up party following
band names that grace this chronological survey:
on. Freaks and Geeks made its awkward,
the show’s cancellation.
Repulsion, Cretin, Discordance Axis, Fuck The Facts,
dorky and candid debut on NBC Even if you have no intention to con-
Anal Cunt, Vermin Wound, Warsore, Rotten Sound,
on September 25, 1999. Now, in 2018, sume Freaks and Geeks in all its glory (although
Morbid Angel and so on.
you should), make this documen-
Witness as metal nerds around the globe flock to
the story of that program is chronicled
in the long overdue Freaks and Geeks: tary a priority. What allows Freaks and Documenting the rise, crest and eventual this caustic chapter of outsider art at its loudest. Behold
the fervorous fans of machine gun percussion
The Documentary. If you cheered on Geeks to remain iconic is it’s authentic
denouement of the heavy metal genre
your favourite losers during the year it portrayal of many a high school student commonly referred to as ‘grindcore,’ Slave to the and demonic vocals, best-achieved through gargling
was on air or crunched through the 18 in mid-western North America. The documentary
Grind dutifully retraces the elemental progression Drano and Fireball, and, as the multi-biographical
episodes on Netflix this side of 2012,
allows viewers to see a room of of the offshoot from guerrilla rock to gore grind film details, the infamous grindcore “cheat beat,”
you’ll be a puddle of emotions within writers throw their most embarrassing, and all of the nasty, guttural, chainsaw-revving which involves hitting the high-hat every second
two minutes of this doc.
heart wrenching and formative moments cacophony in between. Somewhat akin to Anvil:
beat, as rapidly as possible. Thus, delivering that bru-
The Documentary exists as an
at a wall and seeing it all stick.
The Story of Anvil in its music historian’s tal and blistering “blast beat” by which drummers
accessible one-hour distillation of the Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary, approach and enduring affection for an underdog came to define the core of the grind. The musicians
success, insecurity, failures and survival
like the original show, will connect with subject matter, director Doug Robert Brown’s film themselves hold little back, spilling the goods on
of failures through the support of any audience that walked in a high school relies heavily on first-hand accounts to build his personal rivalries, grave robbing and mid-show
others in adolescence that the original foyer. Don’t sleep through your alarm for case for the fastest, most aggressive music of its fisticuffs with skinheads. As a bonus, some of these
show put forward — but for a brand this one.
time, and, possibly of any time.
exploits are cleverly animated to better convey their
new audience. It opens with a genuine
Proof that an English accent elevates the timber often hilarious absurdity.
reflection of high school experiences Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary will of any story, no matter how debauched, members
from the familiar voices of Freaks and screen during CUFF on Sunday April 22, 6:30 of Napalm Death weigh-in on what went right with Patch up your denim vests, Slave to the Grind screens
Geeks stars, followed by a title sequence pm at The Globe Cinema
their career arc. Meanwhile, other grindcore influencers,
as part of CUFF on April 21, 6:30 pm at The Globe
backed by a washed-out, adagio cover
the majority of whom years have not Cinema.
FILM BEATROUTE • APRIL 2018 | 17