Quiet Earth Review

Monday, January 19th, 2009 Don Neumann

Review of Jon Springer's brilliant combo of noir and horror THE HAGSTONE DEMON

INSTANT. HORROR. CLASSIC. Yup, I said it and I'm not taking it back. With elements of film noir, beautiful photography which lushly switches back and forth between color and B&W, and an incredible storyline The Hagstone Demon brings something totally fresh to the horror canon. What I'm wondering is why is this premiering at Troma Dance? (No offense to Troma) This should be playing Sundance! I could keep gushing, this film was that good, but let me say it reminds me of Cthulhu with its all around talent and ingenuity and a seemingly mismatched lead character who is nothing but perfect for the role.

I've often said I love it when the underdog, working with very little pulls off a genuine masterpiece, and that's the case here. While Springer may have plenty of experience DP'ing (which shines through the entire film), he clearly did quadruple duty on the film, co-writing, directing, editing, dp'ing, and producing.. And that's when you know someone has some real talent.

That brings me to the style, black and white noir set in a gothic apartment building filled with history and some sort of retention, not to mention a creepy hairless cat I'd like to use for target practice. The aura is that of a story around every corner, like the walls have their own tales to tell, and so do some of the tenants. The old man with the terrible comb over and his insistence he knows everything there is to know about the building, not to mention he says he won't leave as it's condemned with only a couple of months to live.

Our main character Douglas, an alcoholic, fits in here as he's the caretaker. Constantly bothered by the tenants, he deals with their sometimes unsanitary issues, both real and fabricated while battling his own inner demons. He still hasn't gotten over the loss of his wife by suicide. She's started appearing in the periphery as if the building has brought her back to life, and maybe it has.

The building is where the culmination of the suicide comes to it's head. Passed out on his couch he is suddenly awoken to the vision of his ghostly dead wife sitting across from him. Double checking, she's still there, then after some outside interference she's gone. With the ghostly visions, Douglas follows one of the tenents which is where a heavy part of the film noir element fits in. Is there something deadly going on with one of the tenants in the building? And what does this have to do with the tenants who start turning up dead in the hallways?

But this ultimately isn't about the perfectly chosen backdrop for the story, it's much larger then that. With hints of Rosemary's Baby, an often surreal communion with the film, and the briefest hint of dark comedy, The Hagstone Demon's production design and cast of characters bring together something so totally mesmerizing that this transcends mere horror and puts this on the level of genius. I can't say this enough, this is not just a horror film, it's one of those films you find only one copy of in the video store which completely blows you away and I HIGHLY recommend it. This will appeal to both cinephiles and horror fans alike.

On a last note, I hope someone picks this up for distribution quickly so you won't have to wait long to see it. Anchor Bay, are you listening?

FANGORIA REVIEW

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 11:01 AM Samuel Zimmerman

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie revolving around witchcraft and satanic rituals, and in that respect, THE HAGSTONE DEMON is a fun breath of fresh air. Shot on what was clearly a low budget, Jon Springer’s tale of a haunted apartment complex (which recently premiered at the Tromadance Film Festival) is generally successful and entertaining throughout.

Douglas Elmore, played by Mark Borchardt (the subject of the 1999 documentary AMERICAN MOVIE), is hired as the caretaker for a now-condemned apartment building that’s soon to be torn down. Douglas spends his days getting to know the inhabitants of the Hagstone, fixing their leaky pipes, listening to them rant about the trashy blonde squatting in the vacant room downstairs and drinking himself into a stupor. He’s still taking the suicide of his wife Julie pretty hard, and it doesn’t help that since he moved into the Hagstone, he’s been seeing her everywhere. When its already low number of residents begins to dwindle via murder (whether it’s supernatural or not is undecided), Douglas becomes the prime suspect. With the help of new tenant Barbara and his priest brother-in-law, he tries to uncover the truth amidst strange occurrences and the even stranger people surrounding him.

THE HAGSTONE DEMON does have its problems. Borchardt seems to be pretty much playing himself, and was apparently cast more for his personality and presence in the community than for his actual acting ability. His performance is pretty flat, though he does have a certain charisma and hits the occasional note right on the head. The rest of the cast range between decent, mediocre and pretty terrible, though even the terrible ones add to the atmosphere in an odd way—not in the sense of “so bad they’re good,” but in a more positive, off-kilter vibe. For instance, Jay Smiley as Bill Thompson, an eccentric old man who claims to know everything about the building, hams it up in every scene he’s in and is clearly playing a character much older than he is. But rather than detract, his character casts a bizarre cloud over the proceedings that make them all the more enjoyable.

A similar role is that of Karna, the homeless girl secretly staying in the empty room. Because the building is so close to demolition, Douglas lets Karna’s illegal residency slide and even does her favors, like coming by to fix the toilet. She’s a strange beast, this Karna: She has a very unsettling, skinny pet cat, speaks in a distant, spaced-out tone and very well may be a prostitute. Nadine Gross’ portrayal of her oddball personality is a little silly, and maybe too obvious, but it somehow works.

The highlight of HAGSTONE, however, is Springer’s direction and cinematography. While the movie was produced with very little economic means, he does a great job of elevating its look and keeping the visuals interesting. Mostly shot in black and white with bits and pieces in color, the film uses each appropriately. When Borchardt heads into a crawlspace in the floor and finds a demon, the ultra-shadowy dark space coupled with only the creature’s visage shining through is quite effective and creepy, while many of the colorful satanic rites give off a surreal, madness-filled atmosphere.

There is a definite noir undertone to the film, given its monochromatic lensing, Douglas’ journey/descent and his narration. The latter isn’t exactly a joy to listen to, as Borchardt’s delivery isn’t too strong, and neither are his lines. Much of the dialogue feels stilted and awkward; in some places that’s fine because of the “off” nature of characters, but in others it’s just a coupling of weak writing and the actors’ recitation of it.

But as more is revealed (why everyone acts so strange, and what Douglas and his late wife have to do with all of this), the story becomes increasingly interesting, though the ending might leave some unsatisfied with its open-ended nature and setup for a sequel that may never come. Still, THE HAGSTONE DEMON has a great quirkiness and energy that makes the film worth a watch and helps it surmount its typical low-budget problems. Sometimes you can tell that even with setbacks such as these, the people involved believed in and put a lot of love and effort in their creation, and such is the case with THE HAGSTONE DEMON.

               When I sat down to watch “The Hagstone Demon,” I allowed myself low expectations. I was prepared for the worst, as I normally always am whenever I pop a movie into the DVD player. I’m not a fan of the occult, or of demonic movies in general.  They tend to be very one sided in their depiction of the darker half of the Judeo-Christian faith. By its title alone, this film promised at least 35% more demon than your average film. However, from the moment the movie opened I was pleasantly and completely caught off guard.

                The story is filmed in what I can only describe as a hybrid of noir and traditional horror, black and white being the medium of this bizarre journey. Only occasionally does full color bleed into the frame, at critical plot points and moments of character development essential to the story. Director Jon Springer, wearing multiple hats behind the camera, delivers a low budget movie that utilizes every single element of the beast in a way few movies have done since “The Evil Dead.” And like Sam Raimi toiling away in the Tennessee backwoods to tell the story of a lone survivor, Springer brings to life the dark tale of a recently widowed maintenance man named Douglas Elmore, played with a pitch perfect subtly by Mark Borchardt.

                While the story of suicide, ghosts and botched ritualism unfolds around him, Borchardt somehow manages to balance, even upstage, the supernatural events by being a completely believable anti-hero. I say that not to minimize the flow or narrative of the film, but rather to commend the performance of the actor. The character of Douglas is immediately identifiable as that one guy we all know, the guy trying to do right but just can’t catch a damn break no matter what happens.  From the first act on, it’s clear that Mark Borchardt grounds the fantastic elements of the film in reality, so that you never really feel you’re watching escapist entertainment, but rather a horrific glimpse into what could have happened to you if you had made different choices in your life.

                The supporting cast, including notable names such as Charles Hubbell, Nadine Gross and Cyndi Kurtz, put forth solid performances and lend a tangible feeling of reality that can’t be denied. Each tenant living in the condemned building that Douglas has charged himself with are a vital piece to the puzzle. The varied elements of “The Hagstone Demon” come together to create a creature far greater than any of its parts by themselves, and it shows from the cinematography right down to the musical score.  The make-up effects were top notch and provided some truly horrific images that stick with you long after the credits have rolled. The story itself is bold, unforgiving, heartbreaking and pulls no punches. And, more importantly, it scared me.

                Check out this flick, horror fans. I hereby award it the coveted rating of 5 out of 5 severed heads.

The Hagstone Demon

Some cheap thrills in multi-unit house of horror

Chances are the last time you caught Mark Borchardt onscreen, he was pounding beers and raging on about his ambition to direct a horror movie in the little-film-that-couldn’t documentary “American Movie.’’ All these years later, it looks like Borchardt has finally managed to make the sort of picture that was in his head, with the help of similarly DIY-minded writer-director Jon Springer. It also looks like Borchardt didn’t spend the intervening decade studying acting at Juilliard.

THE HAGSTONE DEMON

Rosemary’s cool uncle

By JONATHAN DONALDSON

''In the ever-crowded world of horror movies, rarely does one break through with both a character-driven plot and an emphasis on reinventing te genre. Yet writer/director Jon Springer manages to do just that.

The Hagstone Demon tells the story of Douglas Elmore (Mark Borchardt), the new caretaker at the Hagstone Apartment Building. Aside from being an unholy dump on its way to condemnation, the Hagstone also seems to be a hotbed of other unsavory activities. A mentally ill homeless hooker, a fat man and his witch porn, and an ugly little Manx cat that likes to lick fish heads are just the beginning. The Hagstone is also host to various other health code violations, such as mysterious and gruesome murders, resurrections of the living dead and arcane Satanic sex rituals. It's enough to make you think that the single mom and her little boy who just moved in ought to move right back out.

At the center of all of this is Elmore, who—though we'd like to believe is this Douglas Elmore character—is nothing short of Borchardt just playing himself. We've already met the real Mark Borchardt. You might remember him as the charismatic centerpiece of the 1999 Sundance hit American Movie, which documents the making of Borchardt's own low-budget horror-short, Coven. His protagonist here is in many ways a mirror image of the archetypal Fangoria disciple: long, scraggly hair and beard, dragon tattoo; a drifter, a boozehound, polite but brooding, almost catatonically calm.

Borchardt's Minnesotan gas-huffer temperament even comes across as an odd choice for a caretaker whose tenants keep dying off. "Borchardt does the deadpan, understated persona so well," says Springer. "And this banality sort of catches you off guard when you start to realize that there is some really disturbing stuff going on with this guy." Our protagonist is an ex-Satanist whose wife committed suicide following a botched ritual and is now some sort of succubus demon bent on destroying him. Some people have baggage and some people have baggage. Or as our hero puts it: "Nothing in this world could come between two people in love; not even a fucking grave."

While Hagstone Demon's script and acting come across with B-movie stiffness and earnestness at times, the film never seeks to push any of the cliché horror movie buttons. Rather than startle you or hold you in suspense, Springer seeks to simply show you things that are truly complex and twisted, such as rituals, symbols and erotic overtones that don't make sense. Says Springer: "What I wanted to capture more than anything in terms of the nudity in the film was not so much a fear of sexuality, but the banality of sexuality, which is in a lot of ways more disturbing." As Hagstone builds to its visually stunning climax, Springer ratchets up the dreamlike confusion and psychological ambivalence with creepy, almost psychedelic cinematography, sound and imagery.

How Hagstone Demon manages to be such a wild film, yet one that has you thinking about your ordinary life, is the greatest trick of all. "The best films put you in a dream state," says Springer. "They allow you access to a self-enclosed world."

"The Hagstone Demon is perhaps most interesting [film at Nevermore 2010] as a curiosity; it stars Mark Borchardt from the cult documentary American Movie in a rare lead role. Shot mostly in black-and-white, it achieves a weirdness reminiscent of David Lynch and the classic Carnival of Souls in a few places, but other parts are more like something by Ed Wood. It's more interesting than Coven, the short Borchardt did in American Movie, and the auteur is ... well, himself; it's oddly amusing to hear him droning through the film's narration."