Sezin Devi Koehler's Blog

Dear Diane, it’s 536am on January 17, the day after David Lynch passed into the White Lodge. It’s dark. I can’t sleep. Not because I’m sad, because I’m restless. It seems I don’t have time for grief anymore. Which makes sense. Until August 10 2024 I spent the majority of my life on a spectrum of sorrow — mild to ideations of ending things. I lived with one foot in the grave. I don’t have time for death anymore, or long mourning. I’ve lost so many years in the Black Lodge, to way too many BOBs, Lelands, Bobbys. Suffering. I won’t succumb to depression’s seduction. I lived in that parallel dimension for decades, no going back.

Because Diane, even on the day that one of my heroes passed into stardust, many wonderful things happened. I didn’t leave my house and I had six pieces of artwork accepted into an exhibit at a chocolate shop in Oakland. I had more library book talk offers; I’ll be getting paid to watch Keanu movies and discuss them. Another book store is helping me organize a drag performance, where Queens will read from Much Ado About Keanu. People I’ve never met are connecting me with others who are thrilled at the fact me and my book exist at all. Even when housebound in the Bae Area incredible things happen to me.

How could I spend any of these precious moments wallowing? I am not. I am supposed to live. I am supposed to breathe in inspiration and breathe out art.

Diane, I used to be so afraid of being alone. I would stay in situations that were killing me, people who were dismantling me from the inside out. It felt safer than being on my own. Now that the shackles are off, I see I am self-contained in the most glorious ways.

I’ll be honest with you, Diane, I never thought I had this power. Now that it’s awake, it’s easy to know what to do. I will not let sadness over Mr Lynch’s passing knock me off. I will add him to the list of people whose lives I honor by succeeding. They have no use for my tears. They want my joy. And I’ll dedicate my smile to them.

It’s 5:55, Diane. I’m closing my eyes to dream of future wonders. That’s where I’ll finally meet Mr Lynch in person.

[For the rest of my Beyond the Red Room “tapes” visit 25 Years Later.]

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The post 🏔️🏔️Beyond the Red Room, Tape #21: Goodbye Mr Lynch, I’ll See You in 25 Years appeared first on Sezin Devi (Koehler).

On the third day of Halloween: The Last Voyage of the Demeter

You can’t have a Halloweenathon without a vampire story. And I’m going to admit up front that I’m an absolute slut for Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. I’ve read the book more times than any other since I was a child. And one of my favorite chapters has always been the Captain’s Log from the doomed seavessel Demeter. It’s one of the most enigmatic portions of Count Dracula’s journey to England, and I’ve often wondered why this story hadn’t been properly told on screen, from the perspective of the crew. It feels like Andre Övredal’s The Last Voyage of thr Demeter in many ways was made specifically for me as the audience.

Because of that, I fundamentally love it. Unconditionally, almost.

I love the addition of the ship’s doctor Clemens (Corey Hawkins) and Dracula’s living blood bag Anna (Aisling Franciosi). Anna fills a gap in Stoker’s original story I’d always wondered about. Of course Dracula would bring at least one person to feed on. I also love the multicultural crew which includes an Asian crew member in Joseph (Jon Jon Briones) as there might have been back then. And the addition of the captain’s grandson Toby (Woody Norman) reminds me of Laddie (Chance Michael Corbitt) from ‘The Lost Boys,’ a film deeply inspired by Stoker’s novel. These character additions are so welcome in the story.

But of course there are aspects of the narrative that trouble me, just as they do from the book. The first is the presentation of Romani communities as Dracula’s helpers, which is against every aspect of Roma culture. In short, they would never. And so their presence here remains racist and problematic. Also, the Anna character is a Romani woman, but played by a white Australian actor — whitewashing the Romani people while contributing to a narrative that the Rom are somehow linked to demonic forces. That they would sell one so their own daughters in service to the devil is hugely offensive and culturally improbable.

If this wasn’t a Dracula story I’d hate it. But since it’s not just a Dracula tale, it’s my favorite chapter of the book, it’ll always offer it a special place to feed on my heart. Others might not be so forgiving.

Lifeboat/5 stars. Highly recommend for fellow OG ‘Dracula’ fans.

Welcome back to Zuzu Zombie’s Halloweenathon, a series of microreviews featuring unusual and mostly out-of-the-box horror movie watchlists for the month of October. Browse the entire 2024 collection here, plus past years. Happy Halloween!

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The post #Halloweenathon2024: ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ Adapts One of My Favorite Chapters From Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ Novel appeared first on Sezin Devi (Koehler).

On the second day of Halloween: The Man of Tai Chi

Y’all remember The Watcher? Keanu Reeves’ serial killer horror where he plays a psychopath who stalks and murders dark-haired women? The one where someone faked his signature on a contract and he made the film Instead of fighting it in court? Keanu’s Donaka Mark in The Man of Tai Chi is what that role could have been, if it’d been consensual.

Not only is Reeves absolutely chilling as a dead-eyed serial killer who runs an underground fight and murder club for his own and other wealthy people’s sick pleasure. But this is also his directorial debut, and it’s fabulous.

The plot follows idealistic Tiger Chen (Hu Chen), one of the last practitioners of Tai Chi as a martial art. When confronted with Donaka Mark and the promises of great riches for his fighting skills, Tiger goes through a dark night of the soul as he sells his off piece by piece to a man who feeds on the decay of moral good.

The fight scenes are absolutely epic, with Tiger going up against men two or even three times his size. And seeing Keanu as a full-blown psychopath in his directorial debut is both chilling and awesome.

Wu Lin/5 stars. Highly recommend this criminally underrated martial arts gem.

Welcome back to Zuzu Zombie’s Halloweenathon, a series of microreviews featuring unusual and mostly out-of-the-box horror movie watchlists for the month of October. Browse the entire 2024 collection here, plus past years. Happy Halloween!

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The post #Halloweenathon2024: ‘The Man of Tai Chi’ Features Keanu Reeves as a Dead-Eyed Serial Killer, and it’s AMAZING appeared first on Sezin Devi (Koehler).

On the First Day of Halloween, BJ Novak’s VEANGEANCE

Greetings from HalloweenLandia! It’s that most wonderful time of year once again and this go around my Halloween recommendations are going to be even wilder than last year’s. Starting with BJ Novak’s — yes, him of The Office— directorial debut Vengeance, one of the oddest Blumhouse horrors in their entire catalog. The Blumhouse logo is right there at the opening of the film, which rubber stamps this as a scary movie in my book.

Vengeance follows Ben Manalowitz (Novak), a dime-a-dozen white dude podcaster whose player life in Manhattan is as cliche as his work. That is, until the family of one of his random hookups Abilene “Abby” Shaw (Lio Tipton) calls to inform him she’s not only dead, but might have been murdered. They also mistakenly think Abby and him were a couple, roping him into attending her funeral in Texas. As Ben gets sucked in deeper into the drama of Abby’s small town, its drug and other crises become Ben’s new story, one his podcast producer Eloise (Issa Rae) begins spinning into what might be an award-winning piece of investigative journalism.

But it’s never that simple. When Ben’s car is hot wired and blows up, he begins to realize there is far more darkness going underneath the small town veneer and Abby’s quirky family than meets the eye.

Ever since I saw this film during my broken elbow recovery I have not been able to stop thinking about it. The acting is stupendous, and the way Novak has cleverly hidden a horror film in what appears to be a family and journalism mystery/comedy is beyond brilliant. The ending continues to shock the hell out of me, and every time I watch it I see a fresh nuance I missed all the other times. It’s a fantastic commentary on the opioid crisis in America, while slyly poking at the dead white women obsession that runs the media. And so much more.

1-4-3-5/5 stars. Highly recommend especially for folks who don’t want to start Halloween season with a lot of blood and gore.

Welcome back to Zuzu Zombie’s Halloweenathon, a series of microreviews featuring unusual and mostly out-of-the-box horror movie watchlists for the month of October. Browse the entire 2024 collection here, plus past years. Happy Halloween!

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Eddie Kasalivich (Keanu Reeves) is a machinist who uncovers the final piece of a puzzle to convert water into a clean, renewable energy source that rivals solar power. After a party celebrating the culmination of this new process that will change the world and end fossil fuel reliance — effectively turning back climate change — the lab is blown up with project leader Dr Alistair Barkley (Nicholas Rudall) inside. And Eddie and his colleague Lily Sinclair (Rachel Weisz) are not just accused of murder and treason. They are also being hunted down, since between the two of them, they can recreate the formula with the potential to power the world forever without negative environmental consequences.

This relentless chase happens through the frigid and windy Chicago weather and the snow-covered suburbs where Eddie and Lily find help and shelter before they have to flee, again and again. There is a lot of early foreshadowing of ‘John Wick’ here, as Keanu must constantly run and fight and run some more as he and Lily attempt to uncover who wants them and the hydrogen power project dead.

While the plot gets a bit convoluted at times, ultimately this is a horror story about the lengths government agents will go to in protect capitalist interests, rather than the good of the people they are supposed to represent. So much murder and mayhem. The surveillance state gone wild.

Iceboat/5 stars. Highly recommend sitting through the credits for a fun post-credit scene.

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[Before I fell and fractured my elbow so badly I needed a titanium implant to fix it, I’d already written a bunch of microreviews for my #Horrorthon365 project. I’m just gonna go ahead and post them even though I’m not sure I’ll be able to see this project through the way I’d planned. And if you’re so inclined, you can contribute to my elbow reconstruction fundraiser here.]

After a group of oil riggers with complicated pasts survive a plane crash in the Alaskan wilds, they find themselves in the orbit of a pack of wolves. Led by professional hunter Ottway (Liam Neeson), the men do their damndest to make it through the blizzard conditions as well as the wolves, but the odds are well stacked against them. As it should be. This is nature versus colonizing forces who don’t belong there. And for once nature wins.

One of the most powerful things about this film that I find really moving and surprising is the fact that, amid all the machismo and misogyny, all of the men except for one have important women at their core. And in their last moments on earth they all turn to these women from their pasts, be they lovers, wives, or sisters and mothers. The one man who doesn’t realizes by the end how he has closed himself off to the totality of the human experience by rejecting love. While most of the deaths in The Grey are horribly gruesome his is arguably — and quietly — the worst. This film is as much a drama as it is an action/survival horror.

Mini whiskey bottle/5 stars. Recommend watching through the credits for a telling post-credit scene.

The post Frost Bites 2024: It’s Nature vs. Colonizer in ‘The Grey’ appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.

[Before I fell and fractured my elbow so badly I needed a titanium implant to fix it, I’d already written a bunch of microreviews for my #Horrorthon365 project. I’m just gonna go ahead and post them even though I’m not sure I’ll be able to see this project through the way I’d planned. And if you’re so inclined, you can contribute to my elbow reconstruction fundraiser here.]

Confession time: When I was younger — after reading ‘The Novel’ by James Michener and seeing the Harrison Ford film ‘Witness’ — I became mildly obsessed with the Amish. I used to say that I wanted to be an Amish housewife when I was older, which people always assumed was a joke. Because even if you haven’t met me, an outspoken queer multiracial Sri Lankan/Lithuanian woman, could you imagine? But. I was actually serious about it. I love the idea of living a simple life, staying in the same place, knowing where you belong and being part of history in a straightforward way. All of this was the opposite of my multiracial, multicultural, transcontinental, complicated and rootless existence.

So of course once I realized there’s a ‘Paranormal Activity’ installment set in Amish country, you didn’t have to ask me twice. ‘Next of Kin’ might be the seventh part of the franchise, but it could easily stand on its own with excellent production value and a chilling story. Margot (Emily Bader) was abandoned by her mother as an infant, and connects with a distant Amish cousin on Rumspringa thanks to an ancestry website. She decides to make a documentary about her search for family, which takes her to her mother’s childhood home. Deep in Amish country she finds a hell of a lot more than she expected, pun intended.

I was expecting this to be a mediocre found footage film, but ‘Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin’ is actually pretty excellent. And the Amish setting was icing on the cake for me.

Asmodeus/5 stars. Highly recommend this Paramount+ original.

Zuzu Zombie’s #Horrorthon365 project is a collection of eclectic genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and carpal tunnel surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. After a wicked fall at home and brutal elbow fracture that required surgery, posts will be sporadic until I’m healed. In the meantime, browse the entire collection here. 

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The post Frost Bites 2024: ‘Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin’ Is an Amish Horror Bait-and-Switch appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.

✨Dollhouse/5 stars. Highly recommend this miniseries that’s streaming on Netflix.✨

The post Frost Bites 2024: ‘La Chica de Nieve/The Snow Girl’ Is a Chilling Descent Into Misogyny appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.

✨Vodka/5 stars. Highly recommend, especially for folks who miss those wild erotic thrillers of the 90s.✨

The post Frost Bites 2024: Keanu Reeves’ Only Erotic Thriller ‘Siberia’ Is a Winter Heist Thriller as Bleak as the Sex Is Hot appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.

This is a surprising story, with beautiful performances to match.

The post Frost Bites 2024: ‘Jamie Marks Is Dead,’ Is a Deeply Haunting and Profoundly Sad Winter Indie Horror appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.