Vasuri 🧐

Come and get me. ☕

Movie of the Day: Headshots (2018) * This film premiered at the Culver City Film Festival in the US on December 5, 2018. * This was the second full-length feature for director Chris O’Neill, who also wrote and stars in it as well.

Virginia recommends that Jamie see a photographer named Mason (played by Thomas Ohrstrom), which she does. Without getting into specifics, let’s just say that the photo shoot does not exactly go as planned. This gal can’t catch a break.

The incidental music in the film is typically tries to drum up drama that isn’t there, so it often feels out of place with what you’re seeing on the screen. The acts of violence and subsequent blood spatter are fake as shit. Not a great film.

While Jamie is dumping the trash one day, she’s spotted by a Creeper (played by Nick Howell), who creepily takes her picture without her knowledge, rides the elevator with her without saying a word, and then stalks her in the garage.

At a birthday party for Laura, one of the bitches from the acting class recommends that Jamie use the services of Lars West (played by Graham Selden), a photographer who supposedly takes amazing pictures. He makes her uncomfortable in record time.

Jamie (played by Nika Khitrova) has just arrived in Los Angeles from London with dreams of making it as an actress. She moves in with fellow actress-in-training Laura (played by Dani Savka), and the two hit it off immediately.

Laura invites Jamie to come with her to her acting class the following day so she can introduce her to her acting teacher Virginia (played by Christina De La Ossa), who is supposedly amazing.

As can be seen on this film’s promotional artwork, this film won a number of awards including Best Film at a number of American film festivals. I decided to take a gander at this one to see what the hoopla was about.

I don’t know which alternate universe the Los Angeles they’re talking about is in, but the melodrama in these opening shots is altogether off the chain. 42,000? None are ever found?

Movie of the Day: Embryo (1976) * This film was released in the US on May 21, 1976. * This film was directed by Ralph Nelson, and written by Anita Doohan and Jack W. Thomas.

As I’d expected, the whole dog aspect of the story was just a rather transparent plot device that was needed to give Paul a reason to ultimately use his experimental growth hormone on a human. He uses it on an unborn fetus extracted from a suicide victim.

What Paul doesn’t know is that the dog has been exhibiting increasingly violent and sneaky tendencies. I like that this film used itself as a vehicle with which to drum up a dialogue about the moral implications and ethics of controlling life in a God-like manner. How very Satanic!

Movie of the Day: Embryo (1976) * This film was released in the US on May 21, 1976. * This film was directed by Ralph Nelson, and written by Anita Doohan and Jack W. Thomas.

We learn that Paul continues to feel intense sense of guilt over the death of his wife Nicole in a car accident that he survived. In this context we can understand why saving the puppy’s life was so important to Paul.

I was pleased to see Jack Colvin in the cast, playing Dr. Jim Winston. However, he’ll always be Jack McGee to me.

Movie of the Day: Embryo (1976) * This film was released in the US on May 21, 1976. * This film was directed by Ralph Nelson, and written by Anita Doohan and Jack W. Thomas.

With the help of his assistant and sister-in-law Martha Douglas (played by Diane Ladd), he attempts to perform surgery to save the dog’s life. The operation reveals that the dog is pregnant, and while he’s unable to save her, he tries his best to save one of her unborn puppies.

A geneticist by trade, Paul realizes that he won’t be able to keep the pup gestated in the artificial uterus he’s using without nutrients from the dog’s mother, so he uses an experimental growth hormone to drastically shorten the gestation period and speed up the embryo’s growth.

Movie of the Day: Embryo (1976) * This film was released in the US on May 21, 1976. * This film was directed by Ralph Nelson, and written by Anita Doohan and Jack W. Thomas.

Rock Hudson and Roddy McDowall in a mid-1970s horror flick? Yes, please!

The film begins with Dr. Paul Holliston (played by Rock Hudson) out driving on a rainy night. His visibility is limited due to the weather, and he accidentally hits a Doberman Pinscher on the road. He gathers the dog and heads back to his operating room.

youtu.beHalloween — Original 1978 Trailer [HD] [HALLOWEEN ARCHIVE]YouTube video by The Haddonfield Registry

Released 48 years ago today. 🎃 youtu.be/8NrREGTS-Ws

Movie of the Day: Red Velvet (2008) * This film premiered at the Texas Fear Fest in the US on March 8, 2008. * This film was directed by Bruce Dickson. (No, not Bruce Dickinson, but that would probably have been awesome.)

There were some shots in here that would undoubtedly make Dario Argento proud of the influence he’s had.

But perhaps my favorite surprise was the brief presence of sci-fi/horror/fantasy writer, agent, actor, and archivist Forrest J. Ackerman. This film marked his 112th and final cameo appearance. “Forry” had been good friends with Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan.

Another surprise was the presence of Carol Ann Susi playing the Mother in the first twisted story that Aaron tells Linda. I recognized her immediately from the 1992 episode of Seinfeld (“The Boyfriend”) in which she played George’s date, Carrie.

Even though Aaron and Linda hold down the fort in this film, you can think of the movie as an anthology of sorts, comprised of the various sinister stories that Aaron tells Linda over lunch, like those about a white-clad killer who murders her friends.

In Red Velvet, Henry plays Aaron, an odd and standoffish guy who seems to have a chip on his shoulder. While at the laundromat one afternoon, he happens to find Linda (played by Kelli Garner) there as well, a neighbor from his apartment building.

Their dynamic together is amusing to watch what with her trying to be civil and him just being a total prick to her from the jump. As they talk (and argue), they eventually end up grabbing a bite to eat together while their laundry is busy laundrying.

Also known by its working title, The Birthday Party, this fun and playful little indie endeavor is a total product of California and it shows.

There were some pleasant surprises in this little indie number, one of which is the fact that its lead actor is Henry Thomas, perhaps best known for having played Elliott in E.T. (1982) and Davey in Cloak & Dagger (1984), two films that had captivated my imagination as a child.

Movie of the Day: Whisper in the Dark (2024) * This UK film was released online in the US on October 28, 2025. * This was the directorial debut of Pierre Levasseur, who wrote and produced it as well.

Calling the authorities turns out to be a fruitless exercise as there’s no evidence of breaking and entering or that anyone else was in the house. Doctor Smith convinces Jeremy to use his passion for art as a means of expressing what’s troubling him.

As a major fan and practitioner of both art and solitude, this concept of this film got my attention and held it easily. The 72-minute run time found favor with me as well. On the negative side, the horror imagery was rather weak, clichéd, and not nearly as scary as the psychology behind it.

Movie of the Day: Whisper in the Dark (2024) * This UK film was released online in the US on October 28, 2025. * This was the directorial debut of Pierre Levasseur, who wrote and produced it as well.

Jeremy maintains that his agoraphobia began prior to the situation with his aunt’s passing, so he remains uncertain of what its triggers might be.

I love how the film took the time to show Jeremy boxing himself into a lifestyle dictated by working out and porn consumption, further removing him from reality. His panic attacks worsen as he thinks something is in the house with him and trying to get him.

Movie of the Day: Whisper in the Dark (2024) * This UK film was released online in the US on October 28, 2025. * This was the directorial debut of Pierre Levasseur, who wrote and produced it as well.

From his online teledoc visit with Doctor Smith (played by Kevin Layne), we learn that Jeremy suffers from agoraphobia and has been trying to identify the triggers for its intensity so they might understand what keeps him from leaving his home.

Jeremy recounts from his childhood how he’d ended up living with his aunt and her husband David following the death of his parents, and that David was abusive to both his aunt and himself, ultimately leading to his aunt’s suicide.

Movie of the Day: Whisper in the Dark (2024) * This UK film was released online in the US on October 28, 2025. * This was the directorial debut of Pierre Levasseur, who wrote and produced it as well.

As we watch Jeremy interact with delivery drivers and concerned friends who stop by to see if he’s alright, we begin to get the picture that he’s not quite alright, and that something bad may have happened to him which he is now reacting to in his way.

He uses the excuse that he’s been busy planning the art exhibit for the last two months, but we can see that he is dealing with disturbing hallucinations of horrific, monstrous imagery that quickly incapacitates him via panic attacks.

Movie of the Day: Whisper in the Dark (2024) * This UK film was released online in the US on October 28, 2025. * This was the directorial debut of Pierre Levasseur, who wrote and produced it as well.

The film begins with our main character Jeremy (played by Luca Colucci) beating off rather feverishly under the table.

Jeremy is a reclusive young artist who finally worked up the courage to showcase his work in a forthcoming exhibition.

Movie of the Day: Whisper in the Dark (2024) * This UK film was released online in the US on October 28, 2025. * This was the directorial debut of Pierre Levasseur, who wrote and produced it as well.

If I recall correctly, the last UK-made film that I featured as a Movie of the Day was S.N. Sibley’s Deadly Display (2023) which I posted about ten days ago. I quite enjoyed that one, so I opted to roll the dice on the UK once again.