HStammermann Reviews

Red Eye (2005)

Red Eye – it's always the smart guy who turns out to be bad

[8/10 · 21 September 2005]

I like thrillers that take place in air planes. The atmosphere is usually dense, the limited space and the semi-real design of an aircraft focuses the action and usually adds to the tension. Wes Craven used this atmosphere to produce a thriller full of suspense and highly entertaining and definitely worth watching. The main character Lisa Reisert, a hotel manager, is about to fly back to Miami from her grandmother's funeral when she meets smart looking Jackson Rippner who by accident is also seated right beside her on the plane. Anyway, after Reisert's "rise" into the air, Rippner turns out to be a proper Jack the Ripper threatening her with her father's murder. Reisert is supposed to phone her hotel and to rebook the important politician Keefe to a hotel suite where he and his family can easily be assassinated ... What can she do? I shall not tell you, go and watch yourself as this is definitely a good movie. Craven's thriller is fast paced and highly exciting. Although the plot is rather predictable and the showdown is a bit overdone, it is actually this very familiarity merged with a precise montage, an enthralling soundtrack and last not least acted and directed brilliantly that make this movie a thrilling entertainment. – 8 pts.

Empire of the Wolves (2005)

Empire - not convincing

[1/10 · 18 September 2005]

When I went to watch „Crimson Rivers", another movie based on one of Grange's novels, I was really amazed by the atmosphere, but rather disappointed by the ending of the plot which I found to be rather overdone. With "Empire of the Wolves" I expected the same. However, it turns out to be one of the least convincing movies of this year, at least according to my taste. There are flaws virtually everywhere. When Nerteaux, one of the cops, asks his buddy Schiffer during one of the many unmotivated fights of the movie: "Could you explain this chaos to me?" members of the audience will nod in agreement as that is what you want to ask the makers of this movie from the first minute on. The various pieces of the plot don't fit together, the soundtrack does not at all contribute to the suspense the movie should produce. Last not least, in order to symbolize "criminalism" and "brutality" and for the deflection of sympathy the movie uses Turkish people and Turkish nationalism. I do not want to discuss in how far the portrayal of the Grey Wolves is in any case realistic. What I find immoral is that the movie uses the fear of Arabs or Arabic looking people which is generated by 9/11 and terroristic assaults to tell its tale. By doing this the movies supports prejudices that should not be supported at all - even if it is only a thriller.

The American Nightmare (2000)

Interesting contents, but mixed feelings - The American Nightmare - German DVD version

[6/10 · 13 July 2005]

American horror movies of the 70s are well known for newly defining the genre and changing the borders of what was possible to show up to that point. Up to then there had been Hammer Productions with their usual suspects like Frankenstein, Dracula or there had been "gentleman" murderers like Dr. Phybes, who killed their victims out revenge, but still with a certain esprit of spirit. The "new" horror of the American movies was highly influenced by five movies the directors of which still have their say in today's horror industry: George Romero („Night of the Living Dead" 1968), Wes Craven („The Last House on the Left" 1972), Tobe Hooper („The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" 1974), David Cronenberg („The Parasite Murders" 1975) as well as John Carpenter („Halloween" 1978). The documentation "The American Nightmare" now sets out to connect interviews of the film makers, film critics and academics with excerpts of contemporary as well as fictional movies. The core thesis now is that the young generation of the 60s and 70s had a feeling of fundamental uncertainty that was taken up by young film makers and transformed into angry visions full of nightmares - American nightmares. Against that foil we learn about the connections between the Civil Rights Movement and "Night of the Living Dead", we see Tom Savini talking about turning his experiences in Vietnam into his landmark splatter effects, David Cronenberg referring to the sexual liberation with "The Parasite Murders" or Wes Craven saying that on seeing Napalm attacks in Vietnam he learned that also Americans could commit atrocities. - The documentation allows some very interesting insights into the immediate historical context of American horror movies of the 60s and 70s. Especially in the middle of the documentation it might be challenging to ask oneself whether is is actually the fictional horror that horrifies us most. … Yet, the documentary also wants to be a creepy and entertaining movie itself. There is too much atmospheric gewgaw (Stockhausen's score, for example). Altogether you get too little concrete information about what you see. Whereas the film makers' commentaries are very interesting the critics are sometimes not convincing often digressing into their own individual movie watching nostalgia ("It was like - wow!"). Furthermore, the German DVD bonus materials mostly consist of text barely readable. So, all in all, highly interesting and enlightening, but I could have done with some more minutes of interviews and some more film clips.