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micheldan
Reviews
Panic Room (2002)
Tough as nails thriller
I was really looking forward to Panic Room. I am a big fan of David Fincher, and "Fight Club" is one of my favourite films of all time. I can say that my expectations were realised.
I managed to see a finished print in Brisbane, Australia the other day. First of all, this film knocked me out. It is one of the best thrillers ever. Too many thrillers sink themselves into a mire of cliche and just end up becoming stupid revenge fantasies (Ransom anyone?). This film is made with intelligence as only David Fincher can do. Also David Koepp's economical script can receive top credit as well.It is his best script since 'The Trigger Effect".
Performance wise, Jodie Foster is of course excellent, but it is Forest Whitaker as the criminal with a conscience, and Dwight Yoakam as the criminal without one, that excel in this film. Yoakam is a standout as the suitably creepy, and nasty Raoul.
"Panic Room" is definitely one to see. The best film so far of 2002 and one of my favourites of all time. I can't wait to own it on DVD.
Schock (1977)
I saw this the other night on tv and I was hooked
The other night, an excellent documentary was on tv about Mario Bava. I had never seen a film of his before, but I had heard of him. After the doco, they played 'Shock'. The guy who introduced the film said that it wasn't Bava's best film but that it was a film that gets better every year.
Bava's films are hard to get in Australia so I watched this one without any expectation.
I wasn't more than pleasantly surprised. I felt that it was probably the best haunted house flick that I had seen. I enjoyed the twists and the turns of the plot, and the economy of the size of the cast,(3 principals). The whole film left me with a very creepy feeling and for that I feel that the film worked completely.
I could see the influence on other films such as 'The Sixth Sense', 'Stir Of Echoes', and 'What Lies Beneath', and I can safely say that I enjoyed 'Shock' more than all these others. I suppose it's because Mario Bava's direction was not flashy and concentrated more on telling his story and keeping us guessing.
Finally, my enjoyment of this film has encouraged me to seek out Bava's other films and that can only be a good thing.