leads him on an atmospheric, dream-like journey through the cobwebbed catacombs and fur- ther towards the identity of his murderers.
Van Cleef (who also per- forms the title song) is his usual mean-spirited self, while Whit- man steals all of his scenes and grabs the best lines (“God is in Heaven, I am here, and I’m get- ting very angry”). Carroll Baker enlivened many European pro- ductions during this period (among them THE SWEET BODY OF DEBORAH, THE KNIFE OF ICE and BABA YAGA) but here she is given nothing to do except look glamorous as Maude, Whitman’s fiancée. Singer handles the ac- tion sequences well, aided by cinematographer John Cabrera’s effective use of the Spanish lo- cations, although elsewhere the film struggles with laborious pacing and the third act revela- tion of the true meaning behind the dead man’s final words is unsatisfactory.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this fine-looking 1080p release contains only a small selection of trailers as bonus material.
THE DEATH OF APRIL
2013, MVD Visual, 86m 4s, $24.95, DVD-0 By Lloyd Haynes
The title and cover art prom- ise far more than is delivered in this plodding combination of fa- miliar elements from the Para- normal Activity franchise and true crime documentary pro- gramming. Young college gradu- ate Meagan Mullen (Katarina Hughes) leaves her middle-class California family to take up a teaching position on the East Coast. Meagan has chosen to record a video diary of her relo- cation to keep family and friends up to date with her new life; her blog entries, captured on her cellphone and webcam, range from the ordinary (a guided tour
of her home) to the personal (discussing her “cute” new boy- friend). These are interspersed with a series of interviews with those closest to her—mother (Stephanie Domini), father (Travis Peters), brother (Adam Lowder) and best friend (Chelsea Clark)—and home movie footage of her happy and comfortable childhood.
The video diaries gradually take on a more sinister aspect, as the found footage shows Meagan staring blankly into space, experimenting with a Ouija board and fondling a kitchen knife. A series of unex- plained occurrences, such as doors opening and closing of their own accord, leads Meagan to the conclusion that she is sharing her apartment with the ghost of a young woman, April Fisher (Paulina Grochala), the vic- tim of a brutal and unsolved mur- der in the bedroom six months earlier. Megan’s family are skep- tical, believing her simply to be
THE DEATH OF APRIL documents the breakdown or possession of a young teacher (Katarina Hughes) as recorded by a video diary.
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