Movies
Late Bloomer
“Starting out as a carefully paced character study, the movie doesn’t hit the horror jackpot until the final 20 minutes, and even then, it’s not the exactly the craziest roller coaster in the amusement park.”
Aside from Lars Von Trier and the suits behind ABC’s long-defunct Life Goes On, very few players in the entertainment industry have given handicapped people the chance to play serious roles. Let’s be honest, midgets get far more movie and TV work than the physically or mentally disabled. That can probably be attributed to a collective fear of appearing exploitative, but director Go Shibata bravely eschews these common fears, as is evidenced by Late Bloomer, his carefully paced character study about a palsied cripple turned serial killer.
Masakiyo Sumida spends most of his hours sequestered to a motorized wheelchair, communicating through an obnoxious electronic speaking device (which sounds strikingly like a Japanese version of the Speak ‘N Spell). He gets along well with the trio of aides that switch-hit to assist him, particularly Take, a good-looking, affable singer in a roaring thrash band who loves spending his nursing shift downing a few beers with Sumida.
Despite the constant presence of friendly helpers, Sumida is addicted to porn and lonely as hell, and when he has a chance to hire a cute little college girl as his newest aide, he jumps all over the chance. After briefly enjoying the fresh dynamic the college girl provides, Sumida grows frustrated as she grows progressively interested in the handsome Take, and a darkness begins to spread inside of him.
Masakiyo Sumida is disabled in real life, and his tightly-wound facial muscles frequently mask the emotions trying to break through his bearded, bespectacled visage. Late Bloomer doesn’t come across as exploitative—Sumida appears to be enjoying himself in more than a few segments—but director Shibata does employ a dubious technique that’s been utilized heavily in recent Steven Seagal films: Just plant him in the middle of a scene and edit around him, no acting required. Still, it somehow works for Late Bloomer.
Starting out as a carefully paced character study, the movie doesn’t hit the horror jackpot until the final 20 minutes, and even then, it’s not the exactly the craziest roller coaster in the amusement park. More art film than gore fest, Go Shibata’s film aims to get into your brain and stay there. And there’s no denying that once it takes root, Late Bloomer is a hard movie to shake.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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