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The Thompsons (2012)
One hell of a ride!!
The Thompsons is a 2012 horror film directed by the Butcher Brothers (Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores) and is actually a sequel to the Butcher Brothers' previous film The Hamiltons.
The family is on the run and have taken to the road first of all in sequences set in Texas and Paris before the bulk of the story brings Francis (Cory Knauf) to rural England in search of others of his kind, which leads to a hook-up with the more confident, callous and well- established vampire clan, the Stuarts, led by the local patriarch (Daniel O'Meara) and his wife (Selina Giles).
Complications arise which involve the Stuarts' human-born daughter (Elizabeth Henstridge) and murderous twin sons (Sean Browne and Tom Holloway) which eventually bring in Francis's twin siblings, David (Samuel Child) and Darkene (Mackenzie Firgens), plus injured younger brother Lenny (Ryan Hartwig), whose role has changed radically since the first film.
What I liked in the first film, but I can talk about more this time round since this is the sequel and people should know what to expect, is that whilst the family are basically vampires, they are certainly no ordinary strain of vampire as they have not been turned. In a world where vampires procreate, they were born with a disease which left them blood thirsty killers. Killers that can set foot in daylight but are also just as susceptible to pain and death as anyone else. I felt this was a cool way of integrating something different into the world, and it works well here.
The film begins and continues in the same vein as the first, with the narration coming from Cory Knauf who was the highlight in the original film. He is even better here, and as well as being the main character in The Thompsons, he also had a hand in writing the screenplay. The narration works well, and I really enjoyed the 'time shifts' as we keep going back and forth via flashbacks which brings us up to date on what has happened in the 6 years since The Hamiltons was released.
The Thompsons is far glossier than the original and it has to shift our attitudes towards the family to make the film work. This is definitely a positive, as aside from one they were distinctly unlikable in the original movie. It plays much more like a thriller here, unlike The Hamiltons which was light on blood and tension. This time round we have vampire battles, blood and guts a-plenty and a family we find ourselves rooting for rather than railing against. Definitely how a sequel should be, and this certainly was an improvement in every way.
The Thompsons is a fast-paced, beautifully shot, fun and violent film with good performances from all the cast, including a star turn from Knauf, that relies more on the style than the substance. It's also nice to see everyone returning from the first movie, and whilst they have changed physically in the 6 years, character wise they are still the same but ultimately all pull together as families should. Whilst the dialogue at points is a little weak (and slightly stereotypical to how us people in Great Britain speak in a Dick Van Dyke movie) and the storyline is fairly simple, I was stunned by how good this film was considering it had been 6 years since the first film, and essentially it's a low-budget vampire film.
I would love to see a part 3 to this story, and hopefully Knauf is involved with the writing again as this movie improved on the original in every way. I definitely recommend this if you like your films fun and bloody, and if you can look past a couple of weak story aspects and dodgy accents then The Thompsons comes highly recommended. Try and watch part 1 of this series The Hamiltons first if possible though!
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Rites of Spring (2011)
A nice surprise and welcome addition to the genre
Directed by Padraig Reynolds on his feature film debut, Rites of Spring stars AJ Bowen, Anessa Ramsey, Sonny Marinelli, Katherine Randolf, Marco St. John, Hannah Bryan, Sarah Pachelli, James Bartz, Shanna Forestall, Skylar Burke, and Andrew Breland.
The film opens in a similar vein to movies such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with some title cards informing us that back in 1984, several teenagers vanished without a trace. No bodies were ever found. However, no sooner had these unexplained disappearances begun, than they stopped. Until the following year, when the cycle started again. This pattern of disappearances has continued for 24 years.
Rites of Spring is a strange film, almost two different movies playing at once that then collide together towards the end. I actually liked this approach, at least they tried something different with it. One plot is about a group of kidnappers who abduct the daughter of a wealthy socialite and hide out in an abandoned school in the middle of the woods. But feelings of guilt soon overtake the kidnappers, dividing the group and putting their entire plan in jeopardy. The evening further spirals out of control when their poorly chosen hideout becomes a hunting ground for a mysterious creature that requires springtime ritualistic sacrifices. The creature is led to the hideout courtesy of the films second running plot. This involves a farmer who has abducted two girls & is keeping them tied up inside his barn, whereupon he tortures them and drains them of some blood. The blood is taken and thrown into a hidden basement/lair for the films creature which at this point we only catch the briefest glimpse of. Eventually one of the girls escapes and manages to reach the school and coincidentally bumps into the hostage situation. The action then gets ramped up as the creature has followed her and now has more victims to pray on.
Rites of Spring is very reminiscent of Jeepers Creepers, from the creature down to a chase through some cornfields. Even some sacrificial people on crosses. Then I read that the director was helped out by Victor Salva who directed the Jeepers Creepers films and this influence and help clearly shows. Not in a bad rip-off way either, this film really stands on its on two feet and tries to carve its own niche in the genre.
It is a low-budget film, and yet looks way better than I expected it would. The director really did a fine job and delivers a crisp, fun and clever film. Mixing together two genres was a risk but it paid off well here. Acting wise, AJ Bowen as the kidnapper just trying to get some money without hurting anyone and Anessa Ramsey, the girl who escapes the farmers clutches, are the standout performers. The others are a mixed bag, a couple were average at best but overall definitely better acting standards than in most low-budget horror.
The creature (or Wormface as he is referred to in the credits) comes across as a mixture of genre bad guys, he certainly looks creepy enough and armed with some tools for slashing and cutting his victims he is a welcome addition to the genre. The director is hoping to make a trilogy based on this creature, so hopefully we will get more back story in the future. There were a few unanswered questions and a scene after the credits so again I look forward to seeing a continuation in this story.
Whilst there is some blood and violence, a beheading, limbs chopped off and a few people hacked up, there is nothing to be to squeamish about. Rites of Spring seemed to be going for a stronger story rather than just be gory for the sake of it, and the end result is a decent, suspense filled horror film that I hope people check out when it's released later in the year.
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Twixt (2011)
Such a shame, disappointing film but Kilmer is back on form
Twixt is written and directed by the legend that is Francis Ford Coppola, and stars Val Kilmer as Hall Baltimore, a writer looking for his next story. One potentially arrives in the form of a ghost played by Elle Fanning. It sounded like a great film premise to me in the pairing of Coppola and Kilmer, combined with a horror/ghost story angle but ultimately I came away from watching this feeling pretty disappointed. It just felt like an episode of Twin Peaks, which is fine as I like that show, but Twixt is sadly not something I'm craving to see again or can really recommend. I would never of guessed a film written and directed by the man who gave us The Godfather, starring the actor who has played so many incredible parts – Heat in particular – would be so disappointing.
I'll start with the positives. The film looked beautiful, the use of colours throughout the film really stood out and visually it was a treat to watch. Val Kilmer was as good as I've seen him in years, he really encapsulated this character and added a humour and innocence to the role, whilst being engaging at all times. He has also shed some weight which just from a Val Kilmer fans point of view such as myself was nice to see! He actually looked like he wanted to be there filming this, unlike in some movies I have seen of his recently which were just blatant pay days. Elle Fanning was also good as the mysterious ghost 'V'. She had a sweet innocence to her mixed in with flashes of creepy when she needed to be.
As for the negatives? Well, there are a few. The biggest problem I had with the film was the weird story. Val Kilmer's character searches the town for clues and inspiration for his new story, and meets its quirky inhabitants and town legends. We just follow this journey which happens in real-time and in dreams. Coppola himself has admitted when writing Twixt he never had an ending in mind and this really shows. The ending was, well, just that. The film just kind of stopped, leaving me to wonder what the hell I had just watched.
The story kept branching off and taking on weirder directions, bringing in stranger characters along the way such as Edgar Allen Poe, it just seemed pretty obvious no one really knew what was going on. The cast themselves have admitted as much whilst promoting the movie. I just wasn't sure if it was meant to be a comedy, drama or horror film, and it wasn't confusing in a good way. As I mentioned earlier it really was just like watching a bad episode of Twin Peaks. Except without a strange talking little man.
Overall, the idea of Twixt came to Coppola in a dream, and as such we are treated to several dream scenarios throughout the film. They are what make the film more complicated than it needs to be, and as such I felt as though those dreams should have stayed with Coppola rather than him trying to share them with the world. The only redeeming part to me is the performance of Val Kilmer, so I can only really recommend it to his fellow fans as the man shows he can still act. For everyone else, if you're a fan of the great director maybe go watch The Godfather or Apocalypse Now as from now on he is only going to make films he loves, and going by the example shown in Twixt I'll stick to his old masterpieces if this is what he loves.
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The Clinic (2010)
Nice, different Aussie horror film
The Clinic is an Australian horror/thriller starring the beautiful Tabrett Bethell as a young mother-to-be named Beth and tragically the late Andy Whitfield as her fiancé, Cameron. After a near accident on the road they stop at a motel and things take a turn for the worse.
It is loosely inspired by true stories of infant abduction, and after nipping out for some food, Cameron returns to the motel only to find his pregnant fiancée missing. Naturally he reports her disappearance to the police but things do not improve for either of them. We then cut too Beth who wakes in an ice bath naked and no longer carrying her baby after someone has performed a homemade c-section. Naturally distraught she sets about trying to find out who did this to her, and on her way she finds other women in the same situation and discovers they are all locked in an abandoned facility.
I knew nothing of the film so went in blind when this came on TV last week. I didn't know if it was a horror, torture film, about serial killers or creepy ghosts, but it was on the horror channel so I thought I would give it a watch and without spoiling it too much I was glad I did. The Clinic is set in the year 1979 which we are told is six years prior to the advent of DNA testing. I thought this was a strange statistic to open a film with, but as it progressed and ultimately concluded the movie would only work in this time frame, in the current day and age there would be no point to any of it. However, overlooking this and trying to appreciate the film for what it is, I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw.
The lead actress Tabrett Bethell is brilliant as Beth. She really made me care about her journey and nice to see someone beautiful who can really act. She is on-screen pretty much the whole time, and her journey gets worse and worse. She meets other women in the facility who have all had the same surgery, and they eventually they find a room with all their babies in. With no idea who is doing this to them, they are made quickly aware (by someone or something!) of the fact that they each contain a clue to the identity of their baby – inside their freshly stitched wounds. One by one the numbers dwindle and I really like the direction the film took with this, very reminiscent of Saw II in particular. Naturally we get a bit of bloodshed but nothing too graphic or extreme, the film relied more on the story and characters with some brief moments of killing and wound opening thrown in.
The main tragedy of the film was that the ending was a let down. Don't get me wrong, I liked the conclusion of Beth's journey, and some neat little revelations about her past thrown in added to it, but her partner Cameron just disappeared. After he located where Beth was being held hostage, he set off to save her only to have an accident. Like in most films I was waiting for him to return and save the day but he never appeared again in the film. After doing some research, I found out the actor Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in the same year The Clinic was filming and the rumours were he was too ill to continue filming, and whilst he still appears in the first half of the film his character was just written out of the second half. It would have been interesting to see how they originally intended to use his character if he tragically wasn't ill, but sadly it really tarnished the film as it felt incomplete. A real shame, as he was a great actor and had a real commanding presence about him in the scenes he is in.
Visually the film looked good, the barren Australian outback looked beautiful and desolate, and the facility the girls were held hostage in was claustrophobic enough without getting boring and the director worked well by changing the scenes enough to keep offering us something different. The other girls all played their parts well and whilst I kept waiting for the usual horror film clichés none of them happened really so that was a positive. Mix this is with a killer in their midst, some silent bad guys watching on video cameras and a bent cop/disgusting pervert motel owner and you have a very different horror film. A least it offered something unique and this is always good to see.
I really feel that if we had seen a better ending this film would have been a much bigger hit and ultimately a more enjoyable experience, as it was I saw a great effort but it fell away and felt incomplete towards the end, with too many loose ends and unanswered questions that made the whole film seem a little far-fetched. The villains were never really explained, and whilst you will find out the motives it just doesn't make much sense, such a shame as the film started so well and had so much potential.
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Borderland (2007)
Not bad, could of been better
Borderland is very loosely based on a case which occurred in Mexico in 1989 where a group called "narcosatanicos" killed at least 20 people and their bodies were used in satanic cults. They were accused of the murder of a student who disappeared in March 1989 and killed by this group during a spring break.
The film revolves around friends Ed (Brian Presley), Henry (Jake Muxworthy) and Phil (Rider Strong), three recent Texas college graduates who decide to head down to Mexico for a week to hit up the strip clubs and take advantage of a lack of law enforcement. Naturally things don't go as smoothly as they had hoped. One of the friends is kidnapped and taken hostage, and he is then held under the watch of a man named Randall (Sean Astin – in a very different role to his role as a hobbit in Lord of the Rings!). With the aid of a disgraced local policeman the two remaining friends plan to try and save the life of their buddy.
Borderland started with a nice scene which showed the cult the film revolves around, as they torture one policeman whilst making the other watch in a bid to scare the rest of the police away from interfering in their business. Straight away the violence is strong and sets the scene for the rest of the movie. The main villain is established as psychotic and clearly enjoys his work. As the film progresses, the violence is mixed in constantly and we get various scenes of torture and brutality. Be-headings, limbs hacked off and eyes removed, Borderland doesn't hold back in the violence stakes!
The story itself moves along at a fast pace, and whilst we get a few little side stories involving bar maids and babies, it's all about rescuing the missing friend and trying to work out who is doing this and why. Visually the film looked good, and whilst some of the 'Films To Die For' have a slightly amateurish feel to them, this really felt like a much bigger and better production. The students all played their parts well, the disgraced cop angle worked well and whilst it would have been nice to get more of his back story it was nice to see how his story intertwined with the boys journey. Sean Astin fans may be shocked at the character he plays here, a refreshing change to see him do something drastically different and he was heads above the others in the acting stakes. They are aided by a good supporting cast including 2 very different but no less psychotic villains running the cult, topped off with some ladies to give the film some eye candy, overall Borderland had a lot going for it.
It definitely has some flaws, the story could have done with being a little tighter, a few too many loose ends and unanswered questions mixed in with some strange choices from the characters, but overall I really enjoyed this film and was surprised by it. I try watching all the After Dark/Films To Die For series and this is up there with the very best they have produced. Not an easy film to watch with a few scenes of graphic violence, but all in all good watch and worth checking out if you can find a copy.
More of my reviews - http://headinavice.wordpress.com/
Stake Land (2010)
A unique take on the modern vampire craze
I picked Stake Land up cheap when it was released on DVD, and when a new release is offered at a cut price straight away I wasn't holding out much hope. Boy was I wrong. What I got was a brilliant and unique twist on the more modern day vampire films (Twilight I blame you!).
The film starts with a voice-over from our young lead Martin. We are then shown a flashback to his chance encounter with his saviour simply known as Mister. Martin's family fall victim to a vampire attack and he has no other choice but to join Mister. Martin then goes through a karate-kid style of training as Mister teaches him the ways to kill a vampire.
Their journey north through a post-apocalyptic America is slowly paced but beautiful and harrowing to look at. They bump into fellow people struggling to not just survive but start a new life. Small towns and communities block themselves in and pray for sunlight in the hope they can survive each night.
The vampires aren't the only danger, as Mister and Martin soon find out as they meet a crazy religious cult/gang. After they save a nun simply known as Sister from being assaulted (played by an unrecognisable Kelly McGillis, not quite the looker she was in Top Gun) the gang come after them. This ramps up the action in the film and we see how good Mister is at simply staying alive. A little later on the gang come across a pregnant girl called Belle who decides to join them on their journey.
Minor Spoilers lie ahead.................
Any time the action lets up and we think the gang can finally rest, a curve ball is thrown in by the film's villain and cult leader. The scene in which vampires are thrown out of a chopper into a civilian safe place shows just how evil the cult is. A refreshing twist though, as I thought this was probably the best scene in the movie.
Despite the religious 'this is gods will' undertones Stake Land is a very good film. The acting was superb, especially by Mister, it looked so authentic and beautiful yet bleak and soulless at the same time. The vampires looked great, no poor prosthetics on show here, and whilst there isn't too much blood and gore on display there are still some shocking moments, even in the opening family scene. Not something you see everyday..........
I'm so glad I picked this film up, and it's arguably one of the best vampire-themed films I've seen. Stake Land definitely offers a unique take on the modern vampire craze. It has action, heart, great acting and I urge people to check this out if they ever get the chance.
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Snowtown (2011)
Hard to watch but great film
Snowtown is an Australian film based on the true story of 'The Snowtown Murders', also known as the 'Bodies in Barrels' murders, where 11 people in South Australia were murdered between August 1992 and May 1999. The crimes were uncovered when the remains of eight victims were found in barrels of acid located in a rented former bank building in Snowtown on 20 May 1999.
Living in the United Kingdom I was unfamiliar with the murders, but as a big fan of true stories I thought I would check this out. What I saw was a horrifying film and something which really shows how little some people value the human life.
The film starts by introducing us to the lead character, a young boy named Jamie. He lives a dull and uneventful life, in which his distressed mother Elizabeth looks after him and his younger brothers, and he lacks a father figure. One day his mother's boyfriend takes indecent photographs of the boys - which we are shown from the top up but this scene is beyond creepy - and since the police are reluctant to intervene, Elizabeth is contacted by Barry, a gay man who introduces her to John.
John despises paedophiles and homosexuals, so he helps Jamie's family out and deals with the boyfriend by continually harassing him until he is forced to leave the town, making him seem like a hero and therefore John assumes the role of Jamie's father figure.
As the film develops and Jamie befriends John, he is slowly drawn into his homophobic and violent tendencies, and soon realises that he is within John's control, unable to escape because of his charismatic and intimidating dominance. This is when the focus of the film shifts, from a slow burning start where the boys are meeting a new father-like figure to the realisation that John is out of control and Jamie is taken along for the ride. Towards the end of the film things get a lot more brutal. Whilst some action is implied or happening off camera, we do see some pretty gruesome torture scenes and an awful rape scene.
Whilst being hard to watch, Snowtown also made it nearly impossible to look away as I didn't want to miss anything. The houses, sets, clothing, TV's etc, it was perfect in it's authenticity and made me feel like I was back in the 90's. There was a real gritty look and feel to the experience, and like most true stories I'm sure some liberties were taken to fill in the gaps between the murders, Snowtown really was an impressive film and one I'm glad I managed to see. It's tricky to recommend this to everyone, but for those that like true stories and can overlook some occasional blood and gore this is well worth checking out.
For more reviews please check out my blog http://headinavice.wordpress.com
The Loved Ones (2009)
A nasty (but good!!) twist on the traditional prom
The Loved Ones is an Australian horror/thriller starring a guy from Twilight:Eclipse (Xavier Samuel). That's how I pitched this to my wife to get her to watch it. As true as the statement is, I may have left out that it's a pretty warped prom movie with some brutal torture scenes thrown in.
The film revolves around a young guy and his struggle to live with the guilt of accidentally killing his father in a car crash. 6 months after the accident he has a loving girlfriend and his life looks like it is on the up again as he prepares to go to the prom. Little does he know a girl he rejected has other ideas and decides she wants her own personal prom and with the help of her father decides to take what she couldn't have.
It's a pretty far-fetched idea, and whilst people are hurt and rejected all the time I'm guessing not many go to the extremes Lola goes to in this film. If you can look past the surreal premise though there is a good film to be found. The lead actor who plays 'Brent', Xavier Samuel, is brilliant, really watchable and makes the most of the script. Even in trickier times throughout the movie for his character, which without giving too much away, when his character is more limited and confined he still acts the hell out of the role. He deserves better than Twilight!
Lola or 'Princess' (Robin Mcleavy) is the villain of the movie and along with her equally warped dad takes prom night to a whole new level. She is great in the role, and was instructed by the director (Sean Byrne) to study real life serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and she plays the psychotic villain brilliantly. Calm and sweet one minute, crazy and calculating the next, it was a nice change to see a young female as the lead villain.
The side story of Brent's friends seemed pointless really until a couple of shots near the end tied in why the friends were shown, very subtle but worthwhile in my opinion.
I can't really go into anymore details without spoiling it. Needless to say if your interested in love stories with a difference and don't mind some violence and blood thrown in you could do a lot worse than watch The Loved Ones. I believe it is now getting a release in the US so hopefully it can pick up more of a following. Not for everyone but if you can ignore the far-fetched notions of Lola then it's well worth a watch.
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The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
Deserves a much wider audience
The Poughkeepsie Tapes is filmed as a faux-documentary which recounts the story of the 'Water Street Butcher', a serial killer who terrorized a town called Poughkeepsie, NY for over ten years.
I thought The Poughkeepsie Tapes was an above average horror film. We were shown a very methodical killer who very much enjoyed playing games with his victims.
Gore wise most events happen off camera, but by far the most unsettling parts of the movie happen in the killers basement or dungeon. Here we see him tie up his victims, either to pipes or in different positions to get his point across he is in charge.
The film primarily focuses on one victim in particular, a girl called Cheryl. After abducting her and imprisoning her in his basement, the killer seems to develop a special interest in Cheryl and becomes determined to keep her alive as his personal slave. In the beginning this involves just a few words, making her call him master for example. Eventually he takes this further to the extreme of introducing Cheryl to another victim in the dungeon and then he orders Cheryl to kill the new victim.
Spoilers
We even see the killer re-visit Cheryl's home and meet her mother, which results in a traumatic revelation for her mother which I didn't quite buy into 100%. How did she know it was him?? A feeling?? I guess the point of the scene is too show just how twisted this guy is, as he took great delight in meeting the mother.
I like the fact that Cheryl was found alive, albeit in a very bad way. Missing parts of her body and having suffered endless torture, seeing and listening to her interview at the end was so sad, it showed his methods had unfortunately worked and she could no longer live without him. Her suicide was the only way to end it really, it would have been no life for her to carry on as she was.
The negatives are mainly about some of the acting. It is a low budget film, and does look like it due to the nature of the VHS quality of the found footage. The look of the film doesn't detract anything from it, but whilst some actors/actresses were great, Cheryl in particular, some of the cops for instance were a bit wooden. Also the use of a soundtrack in parts over the footage was strange, not sure the killer would have had time to add some mood music but again the good outweighed the bad. With a bigger budget and more studio support this really could have been a horror film that was widely seen and highly regarded in the genre, as it is it tends to divide opinion from the small minority that have seen it. A shame really as the idea and concept deserves much more.
The film was originally released in 2007. When I say released I mean shown off at a few festivals where it received a good reception and great word of mouth and then was strangely pulled from all release schedules. Here we are in 2012 and there has still never been a cinema or DVD/blu ray release of the film. They even put a trailer out before a few other major releases but again it just slipped into oblivion. When I see the state of a lot of horror films in particular that get a big worldwide release and suck big time, it shocks me when a low budget but above average film is just left to rot on a shelf. People need to see this film. On the IMDb forums people still talk about this film regularly. 5 years on from its non-existent release and people have somehow managed to see it and still talk about it. Such a shame that this may never get the wider audience it deserves. At the very least it should be made available on DVD or on-demand video services. If you do get chance to see this, which whilst it may be tough is not impossible (some websites were offering it as a free to watch film if you sign up - that's how I found it) or through some miracle it gets a disk release I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you are into your horror films. I know for sure I have seen much worse and whilst it may not be the gore-fest that some people lust after, it has enough in my opinion to satisfy all horror fan needs.
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Ang-ma-reul bo-at-da (2010)
An incredible film - simply a must see
I Saw The Devil is a Korean film about a serial killer who is on the loose and committing some of the most diabolical crimes the police have ever seen. No one is safe as the body count rises and the killer continues his evil odyssey of sadistic butchery. But when the fiancée of an elite special agent becomes one of his victims, a personal investigation becomes a merciless and brutal game of vengeance.
The serial killer is played by the superb Choi Min-Sik (Oldboy) and Lee Byung-Hun (A Bittersweet Life) plays the special agent. These 2 actors really push it to the limit and the film excels in every possible way. I Saw The Devil is reminiscent of other serial killer films such as Seven but with a level of violence that far exceeds anything that most directors will make. The violence whilst extreme really adds to the experience. It really is all about showing how far one man will go to get the ultimate revenge.
Minor spoilers
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Another Korean masterpiece I love is Oldboy, and seeing Oldboy's Choi Min-Sik in I Saw The Devil in a very different role as a serial killer shows just how good an actor he is. He really is a horrible character, and you almost want him to get caught and get tortured due to the things he has done. Rather than just capture the killer, Lee Byung-Hun captures, tortures and then releases him again and again committing the maximum amount of pain possible without killing him as he seeks revenge for his fiancée. And boy does he go to town in the torture stakes. Every time you think the shot is about to cut away as it normally would with a Hollywood produced film it doesn't, and you see everything. Any fellow Asian cinema fans will already know this as films produced in the eastern side of the world don't do toned down violence.
Visually it looks superb, featuring some top drawer cinematography and the choreographed fight scenes are incredible, but again this is not surprising given the calibre of the actors and director involved. The subtle soundtrack, the supporting cast, just everything about the film is pretty much perfect. And without giving it away the ending is very satisfying.
I cannot recommend this highly enough. It may not be for the faint hearted, but it deserves to be seen. This was the toned down version, the director had to take some violence out just to get it release. Staggering really as I can't picture a more extreme version! However, if you can look past that (or through your fingers at it!) you will be rewarded with an incredible film which gives us a villain as memorable as Hannibal Lecter and an anti-hero special agent who you will root for to get his revenge.
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The Tunnel (2011)
A decent effort - looking forward to part 2
An investigation into a government cover-up leads to a network of abandoned train tunnels deep beneath the heart of Sydney. As a journalist and her crew hunt for the story it quickly becomes clear the story is hunting them.
I went into this film knowing next to nothing about it. All I knew was that is was released online to download for free and was an Australian found footage film. Well, I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw and I think the less you know about the film the better.
Ill keep it as spoiler free as possible to begin with. The basic premise revolves around the governments sudden u-turn in a plan to use the underground train tunnels to utilise the water. An investigative journalist named Natasha decides something is not quite right and decides to take matters into her own hands. So she leads a team down into the underground labyrinth determined to get a story. The film mixes the found footage from the expedition with interviews with the survivors.
It starts off quite slow and we get to meet the crew. If you're not into the whole found footage/shaky camera work then this film may not be for you. However, if you can look past that and enjoyed similar styled films such as Blair Witch and The Descent then there is a good story to be found. The crew are a likable group and I was genuinely interested in what their investigation would uncover. We are told that the tunnels are rumoured to be full of homeless people. We even see an interview with one former resident who was very frightened when discussing what he saw during his time living in the tunnel.
Once down in the tunnel the drama starts to unfold and mysterious things happen. Noises, objects moving, and eventually members of the crew start to disappear. The claustrophobic location and the fast movements of the hand-held cameras really works well here. Like any good horror movie, we don't see who or what is stalking the crew until pretty near the end, and even afterwards it is all very ambiguous as to what actually happened. The director did a great job of only showing us a glimpse of what was stalking them, basically you see some bright eyes, but a little more back story to what it actually was would of been nice. They are doing a sequel later this year so maybe we will get more of an explanation.
It's hard to go into any more detail really without ruining the film. It isn't particularly graphic or violent, there is a bit of blood shown but the main horror is of the unknown and the claustrophobic surroundings whilst being hunted. The main negatives for me were that by having a film with a survivors interview narrative running alongside the actual found footage, it ruins the suspense of who actually dies and makes it out alive. The film leaves lots of unanswered questions and has a few plot holes, but overall I'm glad I've seen it and I look forward to the bigger budgeted sequel which I hope goes some way to rectifying some of the questions from this film. It was a good solid effort and I like the fact it was partly funded by fans who were offered the chance to buy a digital frame of the film.
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The Devil Inside (2012)
Tepid, dull exorcism film
In Italy, a woman becomes involved in a series of unauthorised exorcisms during her mission to discover what happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism.
The Devil Inside was made on a $1 million budget and went on to score a huge box office return. A few films over the years have opened on similar micro-budgets and gone on to make massive profits whilst being at the very least good films. For example, The Blair Witch Project, Saw, Insidious – all made for similar amounts and all very highly rated by critics and fans within the genre. The Devil Inside however doesn't deserve to be in such company. I tried to look past the fact that the found footage and exorcism films seem to have been done to death in recent years, and give the film the chance to try stand out on its own. Well, it does stand out but unfortunately not for very good reasons.
The film follows a young woman named Isabella Rossi on a quest to Rome to try and find some answers about her mothers possible demonic possession. Her mother Maria Rossi committed a triple murder during an exorcism performed on her twenty years earlier. The Catholic Church became involved, and she has since been in a Catholic psychiatric hospital in Rome. Once Isabella arrives in Rome she follows two priests working outside of the Church who perform a series of exorcisms.
It just felt like everything the film did has been done a thousand times before and much better. It offered nothing new, just the standard demonic possessions with some strange contortions and bone braking noises thrown in for some cheap scare moments. The film isn't overly graphic, and in my opinion the best parts of the film are when the director actually shows some action whether it be during an exorcism or the standoff towards the end of the film.
The acting is average at best, there are no recognisable stars hence the budget, but this doesn't always equal a bad film, some of the best films contain no recognisable stars, but nothing acting wise could save this film sadly. I think there were a few good ideas but they were just poorly executed. And the ending
..its literally as though the director ran out of time and didn't bother with one. My guess is due to the massive financial success of this film we will get a sequel. Whether that answers any questions on this film remains to be seen. I'll be happy if they just make a better all round film and try and find something new rather than re-hash bits from every previous exorcism film.
The acting is average at best, there are no recognisable stars hence the budget, but this doesn't always equal a bad film, some of the best films contain no recognisable stars, but nothing acting wise could save this film sadly. I think there were a few good ideas but they were just poorly executed. And the ending
..its literally as though the director ran out of time and didn't bother with one. My guess is due to the massive financial success of this film we will get a sequel. Whether that answers any questions on this film remains to be seen. I'll be happy if they just make a better all round film and try and find something new rather than re-hash bits from every previous exorcism film.
For more reviews please visit me at http://headinavice.wordpress.com/