According to the Merriam-Webster, an underdog is a "loser or predicted loser in a struggle or contest" and so I can at least find consolation in the fact that I was not the only loser joining the Final Girls Berlin Underdog Marathon this past Saturday, watching movies about other underdogs, or underdog movies that never quite made it but are secret gems - I even received the "one of us" certification that I now stuck on my bathroom door with pride.
The film selection was a little different than the usual FGB festival lineup, with a super low rated indie gem, an older movie from the 80s/90s and a 70s porn horror with a mock appearance of the director herself! There were some movies that I unfortunately missed, because I had to work the morning shift at Hammett and I was very tired around midnight and went home. But I really enjoyed the movies I watched and I want to discuss them here.
This is a re-imagining of Kubrick's/King's The Shining, in which four friends stay at a hotel which belongs to the family of one of them. I really really enjoyed the parts that reminisced of the book/film, but it was a little like a thrift store version of The Shining, and I don't mean this in any bad way. As far as I know, the film was made with zero budget but was super creative to compensate for it, I would definitely recommend watching it.
Short selection/ PD Highlights
Abortion Party (Julia Mellen, 2025)
Kind of sad but very much hilarious at the same time. A student throws a party after scraping together the money for an abortion and she invites all these weird people, like her ska musician neighbor, her gay roommate, her Polish exchange student boyfriend, and the party sounds really chaotic and real-life-like. Sounds like the place to be. Wry.
Zure Melk (Yasemin Kevser, 2024)
One of those very short short films that deliver a powerful punch. Hannah, a young and pretty girl who lives in a castle, spends her days waiting for the milkman and trying to seduce him. But he has a secret that stands between them. Shocking.
Chick Wash (Bethany de Forest, 2023)
I never knew that I wanted so much to watch a film where little chicks are being washed clean and then bounce around as a great ball of thousands of chicks. Adorable.
Prou Be (Anna Carbonell, 2025)
A really bitter short movie about how far people will go to get what they need, and how far capitalism will push them. Impressive.
Pocketman (Ericka Clevenger, 2023)
A pocket monster that steals stuff from people's pockets raids a wedding party. So silly.
What if... you're an outsider in school and your life sucks in general, but then there's this mirror accidentally delivered to your house and it's a haunted mirror and it does all the dirty work and revenge you always wanted to take. This commonplace thing happens to high school goth Megan who even makes out with the mirror (yes) and after that gains supernatural powers.
Giving off 80's vibes, very much like Freddy Krueger, down to the house and even the mirror demon, I was mesmerized by this film. The killings were shot quite poetically, like in parallel scenes between what Mirror-Megan does and the killing actually happening, and some of these scenes were really impressive. I also love the 80s style, the dresses, the music, the hairstyles... And a great girl-friendship in the middle of it all.
A Woman's Torment (1977 -X rated adult film)
After hearing her sister and her brother-in-law talking about committing her into an asylum, Karen runs away and leaves for the family's summer house. The thing is, Karen is mentally ill, and she isn't only horny for every man she sees, and fiercely angry at lovers she sees, she also has frequent psychoses and kills people, either knifing or electrocuting them, or even throwing them off balconies. And all this just happens on the side, because center stage is actually people fucking, there's no other way to say it.
The focus point in the lives of these people is clearly sex, in the bed, in the bathtub, on the beach, in the beach house, on a boat, on the floor, in the kitchen, on the couch... It is not unusual that horror movies have a touch of soft porn going on for them, but this one was full blown x rated adult cinema and could have taken a few more killings in my humble opinion.
On a last note, I watched Seconds (1966) by John Frankenheimer the other day and I'm completely smitten. I so couldn't stop about how good this movie is that on Saturday I went to Videodrome and ordered the DVD (or tried to, because it was quite hard to find, frankly). It is also based on a book by David Ely, so I decided I'd make a book vs film post on that one. Did you guys know this film? Why isn't this a more famous work, everyone should know about this masterpiece of existential noir... This only reinforces my decision to go more regularly to the Boulevard Noir series, there's so much to discover.
I hope you're having a great time, the weather is awesome!
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