Dave Montalbano & Michael Berryman
By Dave Montalbano
AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com
Hurricane Irene damaged the box office. Don’t Wait Until Dark performed poorly, but this Guillermo Del Toro production has a second chance this weekend for much-deserved redemption. This great date movie is the summer’s best monster movie.
With no relation to the Lee Marvin classic from 1967, Point Blank is a French Film with English subtitles that needs no dialogue. This visual treat opens at a breakneck pace and never lets up, yet provides just enough character identification to merit audience empathy.
When a thief with mob connections ends up in the hospital, an unlucky male nurse is blackmailed by the mob bosses to free the thief. To make matters worse for the male nurse, his wife is suffering from a problem pregnancy when she is kidnapped by sinister forces. Point Blank draws the audience into a roller coaster world in which the bad guys are not so bad and the good guys are not as good as they appear. Not a moment of film is wasted up to the final frame.
As the summer blockbuster season slows down, the convention and festival season pick up. Six years ago, Petey Mongelli staged Screamfest in Coral Springs and Hurricane Wilma destroyed Broward County for two weeks. Screamfest, which began in 2002 originally, outgrew Broward and evolved into Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend, the biggest horror movie convention in Southern United States.
Staged in Orlando, this year’s Spooky Empire will be held Oct. 7-9 (www.spookyempire.com). Headliners include Malcolm McDowell, Lance Henriksen, Michael Berryman, and artist Barry Anderson and Night of the Living Dead’s Bill Hinzman continue their perfect attendance.
When asked about the migration to Orlando, Petey replied, “We outgrew Broward. The convention grew bigger and bigger, and the Wyndham Hotel on International Drive provided a suitable venue for the Creepy Car/Hearst Show and the Zombie Walk, which involves thousands of volunteers.” While Petey will continue his Spooky Empire in Orlando, next year he plans a 10-year retrospective in Broward County.
As Spooky Empire concludes, the 26th Annual Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival begins. Director Gregory von Hausch has been playing close to the vest, but this Labor Day weekend, he plans to reveal the listing of filmmakers, special guests and key dates for festival screenings, parties and events. (Fest runs Oct. 21-Nov. 11). For more information, visit www.fliff.com.
