Shudder Saturday: Hell Hole (2024)

While I very much appreciate the work of the Adams family, a film-making unit who have spent years writing, directing, and starring in their own low-budget movies, I've sadly yet to watch more of their filmography after thoroughly enjoying Hellbender. Seeing that Hell Hole was now available did make me consider visiting some of their other features first, but then I decided that I would instead just check in with them on their latest outing.

This is the tale of a fracking crew that ends up in trouble when it accidentally digs up the cocooned body of a French man. The man is still alive, but he doesn't want to be. That's because he has some kind of parasite living inside him, one that shows itself occasionally by protruding from his ears or nostrils. The crew aren't sure of what to do, but their remote location means that they can hopefully deal with the situation before it becomes a problem for too many other people. 

Shot in Serbia, this feels like someone offered the Adams family access to a great location that they then planned a movie around. Things may not have happened that way, but the fact that they make such great use of the setting, with some lovely establishing shots reminding you of how isolated and at the mercy of the environment and weather the main characters are, makes me think they did. Thankfully, they came up with another fun genre sandbox in which they could play around.

Co-directors John Adams and Toby Poser, who also co-wrote the movie with Lulu Adams, also take on a couple of main roles, playing two of the people in charge of the whole crew. This allows them to remain as the decision-makers for most of the runtime, trying to figure out what is best for the safety of everyone around them, but it also gives viewers familiar with their work a couple of familiar individuals to worry about as things begin to get more dangerous. Adams and Poser head up a small cast that also includes Olivera Perunicic, who manages to do well with what she's given, Maximum Portman, Bruno Veljanovski, Petar Arsic, Joana Knezevic, Boris Lukman, and a cameoing Anders Hove. The quality of the performances may vary somewhat, but nobody stinks.

It's a shame that the same cannot be said for parts of the screenplay. The first half of the movie is full of exchanges that just don't work as well as they should. There isn't enough jargon and work talk being thrown around to ensure that the setting is as fully-realised and detailed as it could be, and the workplace banter feels a bit strained (with Adams and Poser a lot less comfortable in their roles until they can start to focus on the parasitic horror side of things). There's a general feeling of everything being a bit bigger and more ambitious this time around, compared to past films from this collective, but it's admirable that this doesn't completely drown out the interesting and unique voices of film-makers who have been crafting a rich and rewarding filmography for just over a decade now.

There will be many who dislike this, especially if they keep trying to compare it to the classics influencing it, but I would encourage most horror movie fans to give it a go. There are some fun special effects throughout, interesting conversations about the nature of the beast, and self-preservation, and a third act that somehow manages to mix tension, gloopiness, and an ending that will leave you with a wry grin on your face as you consider how well it ties together a number of important thematic strands.

While not the best feature from the Adams family, this is still very good, and they are still incredibly deserving of your time and support. Do check it out, and please let me know if you end up enjoying it as much as I did.

7/10

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Oddity (2024)

Writer-director Damian Mc Carthy made a very impressive impact on horror fans with his first feature, Caveat, and now, there's no reason for me to keep my cards close to my chest here, he is two for two. Oddity is arguably a slight improvement, although it's a very close call, and I will be very happy indeed if Mc Carthy continues to make movies of this quality, and with this level of creepiness.

Things begin with a tense sequence that ends in murder, the victim being Dani (Carolyn Bracken), the wife of a psychiatrist named Ted (Gwilym Lee). The main suspect appears to be a former patient of Ted, but there may be more to it. Anyway, we then jump forward to find Ted in a new relationship (with Yana, played by Caroline Menton) and apparently trying to maintain a cordial relationship with Dani's twin sister, Darcy (Caroline Bracken again). Darcy is blind, but also claims to be clairvoyant and able to glean knowledge from objects that have an interesting history to them. Darcy still seeks closure on what happened to her sister, disbelieving the official explanation, and she eventually turns up to visit Ted and Yana at the house where the murder happened. She's not alone though, having previously sent a strange wooden mannequin to the address ahead of her arrival. Will that humanoid structure help her in any way, or is it just designed to unnerve her hosts as she tries to get at the truth of what happened to her sister?

A fantastic mix of spookiness and intermittent jump scares (and there's nothing wrong with a jump scare if it is a well-executed jump scare), Oddity may put some viewers off with the way in which everything seems slightly off-kilter and precisely staged, but that all adds to the unease as the plot starts to wind together on the way to a satisfying and beautifully dark finale. Colm Hogan deserves praise for cinematography that keeps things dark and unsettling without ever being impenetrably gloomy, and the score by Richard G. Mitchell is another element that works to keep viewers on edge. Mc Carthy has made something that could have easily been focused more on the mystery than the horror of the situation, but he uses every tool at his disposal to ensure that this is a claustrophobic and disturbing nightmare scenario that closes in on viewers right up until the very last scene.

Bracken is excellent in her main role (she's also very good as the ill-fated Dani, but it's Darcy who has much more screentime, for obvious reasons), and the other highlight is Tadhg Murphy, used to such great effect in the opening sequence. Menton also does well, and is the one person who seems able to see how strange and crazy the whole situation is, but she's disappointingly moved out of the way during some key sequences. As for Lee and Steve Wall (playing a colleague named Ivan), there's a rigidity and artifice there that works better for the atmosphere of the film than it does for the performers. Those performances are based on the idea of maintaining a polite smile on your face while mentally calculating the quickest way to get rid of someone who is proving to be a constant bother. 

Absolutely in line with Caveat, in terms of atmosphere and visual style, this essentially plays out like a few "Tales Of The Unexpected" bolted together and smoothly shaped into one feature, and that's not meant as any kind of criticism. I loved it, and I hope many others love it, but I can see why some may find it too low-key and uneven in tone (considering those mannered performances, and the fact that there's very dark humour running under some of the bleakest scenes).

8/10

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Latitude Zero (1969)

Stop me if you have heard this one already. Two scientists and a journalist are stuck in a submarine, trapped underwater until they are rescued by another submarine. Okay, it's not actually the start of a joke. It's the beginning of Latitude Zero, another film directed by Ishirô Honda, with a screenplay written by Shin'ichi Sekizawa (based on source material by Ted Sherdeman).

Dr. Ken Tashiro (Akira Takarada), Dr. Jules Masson (Masumi Okada), and Perry Lawton (Richard Jaeckel) are the three men rescued by Captain McKenzie (Joseph Cotten). They end up on a super-sub, Alpha, which is apparently much older than it looks, as are the captain and crew. While that seems difficult to believe, Captain McKenzie soon proves what superior technology can do for the health and lifespans of those on board the Alpha. There's a rival trying to destroy them though (Dr. Malic, who has a super-sub named Black Shark), and Tashiro, Masson, and Lawton find themselves in the middle of an ongoing undersea battle.

While certainly not on a par with other films from Toho in this era, Latitude Zero is a fun adventure film, helped by a decent cast and a selection of crazy creatures that liven up the second half of the film. You get giant bat-humans, giant rats, and a winged lion with a human brain placed inside it. There are also the scenes that just show off the subs moving around underwater, a real treat for those who enjoy practical effects and model work (even if it's far from the best examples of either).

While the cast has a good mix of both Japanese and American players, it's the latter getting to have more fun here. Cotten is as stolid and decent as you'd expect in the role of Captain McKenzie, and his crew is brightened up considerably by Linda Haynes in the role of Dr. Barton. Takarada, Okada, and Jaeckel are largely used as witnesses, they have the information conveyed to them that is therefore also conveyed to the audience, but they're fine. The Black Shark is more fun though, with Cesar Romero playing Dr. Malic in a very fun performance, accompanied by his lover (Patricia Medina) and the captain of the sub (Hikaru Koroki). The film moves back and forth between the two subs in a way that helps the pacing of the whole thing while it punctuates the dry science chat with scenes of Romero growing impatient and irate as he aims to close in on his prey, not entirely dissimilar to the way he would perform his most iconic villain role on a show that also featured at least one Batman.

Honda remains as capable behind the camera here as he was on so many other projects, and the screenplay maintains a consistent "boys adventure" tone throughout that will allow most viewers to know whether or not they are going to be able to relax and have fun with this in the first 5-10 minutes. I thought this was great, even if the very last scene seemed a little bit abrupt and lazy, and it's got me hankering for a deep dive (no pun intended) into many other submarine movies I have neglected to watch/rewatch over the past decade. So don't be surprised if you start seeing more reviews from me that are sent up from the watery depths of various ocean trenches.

8/10

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Prime Time: Bedazzled (2000)

It's been a while since I've seen the original Bedazzled, a 1967 feature that showcased the wonderful comedic duo of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, but I remember having a lot of fun with it. Moore is a great "dimwit" and Cook is sardonic and wonderful as George Spiggott AKA the devil, looking to gain another soul from a human who keeps making wishes that deliver unintended consequences, of course. It's a series of sketches nicely smooshed together (apologies for the technical jargon) to make a great comedy film. So just keep in mind the fact that I am a big fan, and will aim to revisit it soon.

This version of the tale, however, feels like a decent remake. Brendan Fraser is the clumsy and awkward Elliot, looking on with puppy dog eyes at Alison (Frances O'Connor), and the devil this time around is played by Liz Hurley. Elliot is given seven wishes. He hopes that he can use them to create a life with Alison, which would make the price tag (his soul) worthwhile.

Directed by Harold Ramis, who also worked on the screenplay with legendary writer Larry Gelbart and less legendary writer Peter Tolan (look, not knocking his work, but check out the respective CVs of both individuals and you'll see what I mean), the biggest thing working against Bedazzled is that it cannot find a double-act equal to Cook and Moore, but that feels like an impossible task. Ramis directs well enough, and the script is full of amusing exchanges, but some people will roll their eyes at the mere thought of Fraser and Hurley being cast in the lead roles. I think it's a good move though, particularly because neither of them feel comparable to the iconic Pete and Dud.

Most people will have encountered a fun and lively incarnation of Fraser in one of his many broad comedies, but the opening scenes here don't play to his strengths at all, making his character far too sad and dull. Thankfully, that starts to fade away once he meets Hurley, and the various wishes allow him to play a fun variety of characters that often make use of his comedy chops. Hurley, on the other hand, is almost consistently wonderful in this. I wouldn't ever nominate her as a great unsung talent of cinema, but I do wish she had a few more roles that allowed her to have as much fun as she seems to be having here. The film makes use of her sex appeal, but it also uses her appearance to sweeten the poisoned apple that she keeps offering people while tempting them into various sins. O'Connor is fine, defined more by how Fraser's character loves her than how she really is, and Miriam Shor, Orlando Jones, Paul Adelstein, and Toby Huss play co-workers who also end up portraying different incarnations of themselves as the wishes are played out.

There's nothing really memorable here, but that doesn't stop it from being fun. Ramis is a dependable director, and he puts together a number of moments that make good use of the two main stars. That's it. It doesn't have the same feeling of anarchic joy that the original film had, and I would have enjoyed some different scenarios in place of one or two weaker sections, but it still aims to provide a mix of laughs and devilish mischief. And Hurley certainly seems to remind some of us that, as AC/DC once informed us, Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be.

6/10

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Longlegs (2024)

I started to "raise the fences" as soon as I heard the praise being heaped upon Longlegs. A lot of people were effusive about it in a way that made me think I should keep my own expectations in check. When people start comparing a crime thriller to The Silence Of The Lambs then I know that hyperbole is usually in play.

Written and directed by Osgood Perkins AKA Oz Perkins, who impressed me enormously with his first two features (February AKA The Blackcoat's Daughter and I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House), Longlegs is a dark and disturbing thriller that deserves a lot of the praise it has received, but it's unsurprisingly not quite the masterpiece that some claim, although I am happy for those who feel that way.

Maika Monroe plays Agent Lee Harker, a young woman who ends up being used by the FBI to crack a difficult and disturbing case involving a killer nick-named Longlegs (Nicolas Cage). Harker has some strange ability, call it an over-developed sense of intuition, which may help, but she also ends up being somehow connected to the case in a way that may hinder things. Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) worries about Harker, but is also impressed by her. Meanwhile, Harker's mother (Ruth, played by Alicia Witt) may need to be questioned about past events that could help our lead in the current investigation.

With an impressive mix of unsettling shot composition and equally unsettling sound and music, Longlegs is a film that aims to keep viewers on edge for the majority of the runtime. There are very few scenes that allow you to feel completely relaxed, and that's before you start to notice the many small details that either foreshadow or link to a backstory revealed on the way to a very dark and tense third act.

Much has been made of Cage's performance here. He's good, but he still gets to indulge in some familiar Cage-isms. This isn't a complete transformation, although the make up and his changed voice do a lot to keep him feeling much more like Longlegs than "CAGE does Longlegs". Monroe is finally in another film that is at least worthy of her talent and presence, and she does a very good job of being awkward and struggling in every moment. Underwood is very good, often playing his part in a very obvious way until the one or two moments that allow him to break out from the stereotype, but the real standouts, for me anyway, are Kiernan Shipka and Alicia Witt, both delivering some of their very best work. Shipka gets to be more serious and dark than usual (although I've only seen some of her movie work, maybe she gets to be serious and dark in the Sabrina show . . . but I'll always be thinking of Melissa Joan Hart), and Witt is the person who delivers a performance that is truly transformative. I don't mean this to sound dismissive or insulting, but Witt has been doing work over the past few years that I never expected after she seemed to enjoy spending so much time in the lucrative Christmas TV movie market. Then again, looking through Witt's filmography makes it clear that she hasn't stopped working in a variety of projects over the past few decades, but it's the Christmas TV movies that get the guaranteed airtime and marketing.

While I would still be hesitant to immediately place it in a conversation with the absolute greats in this sub-genre (one from Demme, two from Fincher, plus one or two others), Longlegs is a meticulous and quite brilliant journey into darkness that may well leave even the hardiest of viewers slightly rattled by the time the end credits start to scroll. Perkins shows that he has been on an upward trajectory ever since his feature debut, becoming more confident and skilled with each outing, and I cannot wait to see what he does next. I also cannot wait to rewatch this, scouring every inch of the frame for the details that offer astonishing verisimilitude and indicators of how everything is due to play out.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Monica (2022)

There's a very valid point that is often made in conversations about representation and equality. It isn't quite enough just to have more women onscreen, more varied ethnicities, and more roles for people who would previously not be afforded any of those opportunities. True equality comes from allowing those people on both sides of the camera to make mistakes, to be imperfect, and also sometimes outright awful. Monica is another step in the right direction, being the tale of a trans woman named Monica (Trace Lysette) that allows her to be a rounded and complex character without everything in her daily life revolving around her gender.

It's a simple premise. Monica has to return home to help care for her dying mother (Patricia Clarkson). There's a difficult history to wrestle with, considering her mother never accepted her as a woman, but Monica tries hard to keep the past in the past as she comes to terms with the mother she once knew being replaced by a whole new person she may actually have a chance to more strongly connect with.

Director Andrea Pallaoro, once again also working with his long-running collaborator Orlando Tirado on the screenplay, has spent his career making films about various women dealing with difficult situations. He has often helped himself a lot with great casting, and uses that part of the process once again here to give the film a major boost, but there's also an emotional honesty and insight in the writing that makes it surprising to see that two men were responsible for the screenplay.

It's much less surprising to see such a great performance in the lead role from Lysette, an actress who has been working hard to build an eclectic and impressive selection of roles for just over a decade now. She manages to show everything her character is going through without ever turning herself into a collage of frowns and sadness, always diving into herself to find one more reserve of inner strength as things get tougher, and it's rewarding to spend time with her on this part of her life journey. Clarkson is also unsurprisingly great, although hampered by the fact that her character is so seriously impaired by illness, and Emily Browning, Adriana Barraza, Joshua Close, and Jean Zarzour all do well enough to support the central mother-daughter relationship being explored. In fact, Browning does a bit more, somehow feeling much more integral to the whole thing just because of the way she seems to work so well in trying to facilitate a less painful experience for loved ones around her during this difficult time.

Monica isn't a film about a character defined by one thing, although that is a big part of their lives. It isn't a film overloaded with stereotypes and mis-steps. It admirably doesn't often feel like a film specifically about a trans woman (and I say admirably because it is able to show that the central character is defined by much more than that). It's a film about Monica, and I hope most viewers appreciate being able to spend some time in her company as much as I did.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Other Woman (2014)

A rom-com that is very much an anti-rom-com, The Other Woman is a fun time with a solid trio of lead actresses who all seem to be having fun playing off one another.

Cameron Diaz is Carly Whitten, a successful attorney who believes she may have found a special man in Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Unfortunately, there's a big problem. He's married. Carly finds this out when she attempts to surprise him at his home, which then leads to her forming an unlikely, and initially very unwanted, friendship with Kate King (Leslie Mann). The two eventually realise that there's also another woman in Mark's life, which then connects them to Amber (Kate Upton) and turns them into a united trio determined to make Mark pay for his lies and bad behaviour. Revenge is a best served cold, and most things tend to feel colder when there's a lot less money in your bank account, which is what the ladies have in their sights.

Whatever I write here could be taken as a positive or a negative by people who already have their mind made up on this film. It's the kind of thing that is easy to dismiss, but also the kind of film I like to recommend to those who don't mind straying away from their usual choices. Men may assume this is going to be unbearable, although I know I am making my own assumption there, and women may pass over it in favour of any number of movies that received bigger and better marketing, but this is a perfectly enjoyable way to pass 109 minutes, thanks in no small part to a number of people having fun with the comedy.

Diaz may not be one of the comedic strengths, she just doesn't work as well here as she has in other comedies, but she's very good as the smart and powerful woman who ends up in an awful position, and then ends up formulating a plan to help a woman avoid some painful consequences of inadvertently being married to a scheming cad. Mann is hilarious though, very funny in almost every scene, and the perfect choice to sugar-coat the bitter pill at the heart of this. Upton also does well, very sweet and silly to immediately offset the potential extra jealousy that she brings to the situation. Coster-Waldau knows his place, and he sets himself up brilliantly for the many punchlines making use of him, and there are enjoyable little turns from Don Johnson and Nicki Minaj. Taylor Kinney may not be doing much, but he's there to catch the eye of Diaz, despite being the brother of Mann's character (which could make things even more complicated . . . or maybe not).

Writer Melissa K. Stack generally does better with the situations and set-pieces than with the dialogue, but the screenplay feels improved by director Nick Cassavetes having that game cast. Everyone knows what they're doing, both behind and in front of the camera, and it's the kind of entertainment that often seems bad to people who haven't truly seen how much worse things can get in various sub-genres. 

The pacing is great, the tone stays light enough even as it dances around a subject that could have turned things much darker, there's a good dose of female empowerment, an enjoyable soundtrack, and a huge dog that is used just enough to create an extra couple of laughs before being placed in the background as the central plot strand develops and moves resolutely towards a VERY satisfying finale.

6/10

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Shudder Saturday: Night Of The Demon (1980)

Ahhhhhh when in doubt for a viewing choice . . . you could always do worse than pick a title that was given the notorious "video nasty" label in the UK in the 1980s. Of course, you could also always do a lot better, but I am a simple man of simple pleasures. Watching Night Of The Demon was a weird experience for me. It's one of those films that I started to suspect I had seen before, many years ago, but couldn't recall exactly when. I'd either watched it before I started to get better at keeping track of my ratings and reviews, or I'd seen bits of it back when it would have been viewable in contraband VHS form. Or maybe it just has that feel of so many other video nasties I have seen.

The plot is, quite frankly, bobbins. An anthropology professor (played by Michael Cutt) takes a load of his students into the wild to track down some kind of Bigfoot creature. Oh, the creature has spent some time mutilating and killing people it has encountered, but that doesn't dissuade this group of determined disposable victims. 

This is the kind of film that makes up for a lack of budget and technical ability with some scenes that really wallow in grime and grottiness. Not that any of it is truly shocking, certainly not nowadays, but there's still something satisfying about watching a film from this era that feels as if it has a certain edge and unpleasantness to at least warrant some of the over-reaction to what was becoming more accessible via VHS throughout the 1980s (predominantly). Despite it being murky and overacted throughout, this at least tries to deliver on how it was sold. Things happen, there are some gruesome moments, and there's even some gratuitous nudity thrown in there to upset modern viewers against that concept.

It's no surprise to see that this was the only screenplay written by Mike Williams, just as it isn't surprising to see that director James C. Wasson never did anything to match this dubious success, but I applaud them for presenting something here that feels very much like an unabashedly trashy and fun horror ride. This would make a surprisingly decent double-bill with something like The Funhouse (a film I have never loved as much as most horror fans), or you could maybe slot it into a line-up full of much less eventful "Bigfoot" movies. Just don't accidentally line it up after Harry And The Hendersons, I don't think anyone could handle that traumatic juxtaposition.

The cast all deserve some praise for participating, considering some of the more unpleasant scenes, but there's nobody here you will immediately recognise from many other movies. Cutt went on to have a number of other roles in film and TV, as did Paul Kelleher (who plays the Sheriff here), but many, such as Melanie Graham, Shannon Cooper, William F. Nugent, and Jody/Jodi Lazarus, appeared in very few, if any, projects after this.

There's so much to dislike here, but I liked this, despite the fact that it's the kind of film that gets you a side-eye from people if you mention it as something you have enjoyed. Okay, maybe I am being a bit more positive BECAUSE of that, pushing back against those who can't appreciate all of the wide and varied movie entertainment that comes under that big umbrella of cinema. That doesn't alter the fact that I would watch this a dozen more times before I would watch the interminably dull Willow Creek though, which is something I hope they put on any advertising when this is re-issued for some glorious 50th anniversary cinema release.*

*never going to happen, I know, but I would support it nonetheless.

6/10

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MaXXXine (2024)

X was first, and then it was equalled by Pearl. Now we have MaXXXine, the final instalment of what could be, if handled well, the most consistently brilliant horror trilogy of the past quarter of a century. No pressure then.

Mia Goth returns, of course, in the role of Maxine Minx, an adult film star we first met in X. Minx has achieved the first part of her plan to be a great success, but now comes the tricky time when she hopes to transition into more mainstream fare. She knows she has what it takes, but she just has to hope that the horror movie she is due to star in will be good enough to match her talent. Meanwhile, a killer is cutting his way through the young women who work in the parts of Hollywood not covered in glitter and stardust.

Whatever you think of this trilogy, you have to admire the fact that Ti West, as well as collaborating creative/lead Goth, has delivered three slasher movies that feel very different yet also feel brilliantly in conversation with one another as they waltz around one another on their way to a looming door with a neon "EXIT" sign flashing above it. It also helps that West has done such a great job of evoking three unique eras in a way that allows for a change in aesthetics while also feeding into everything that is being explored in the central character (whether that is Maxine or Pearl).

Before people start to get the wrong impression here, perhaps thinking that I am going to rank this film as an equal alongside the two that preceded it, I should say that this doesn't quite stick the landing. The third act of the third film is where West stumbles, which is a great shame. That will allow many viewers to come away from this and think of nothing more than that one aspect, but a moment to remember the whole trilogy, and what was achieved overall, should be enough to make you give this film a bit more goodwill. It also helps that it shows so much love for the history of the horror genre, and the history of movie-making, as the other instalments, and does so once again without bringing everything to a complete halt in order to nod and wink at the audience.

Goth deserves some kind of special award for her work in this trilogy, and her performance here is as faultless as anything else that she's done recently. There is no trilogy without her astonishing work at the heart of it, which is another big plus. There are some other big names alongside her, but results vary. Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale are pretty wasted as two detectives trying to catch a killer, and Kevin Bacon is having a bit too much fun as a slezay private investigator who feels like he should be in a different movie, but Giancarlo Esposito, Moses Sumney, and Lily Collins do very good work, Simon Prast somehow pitches the tone of his performance just right, and Elizabeth Debicki does so well that she comes closest to stealing a scene or two from Goth. She doesn't succeed, but she comes close.

I started this review with some hesitation. I wanted to praise the film, but also wanted to explain my disappointment with the mis-steps. In the process of writing it, however, I have actually managed to convince myself that the mis-steps aren't that important. This has a number of people working at what seems to be the height of their powers, a great soundtrack (and the music from Tyler Bates is also wonderful), and some gory moments of violence on the way to an ending that serves as a near-perfect way to say goodbye to this mesmerising and challenging character. It may not equal the other two films in the trilogy, but it doesn't miss by much.

8/10

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Orca (1977)

When Jaws was released in 1975 it has to be said, no pun intended, that it really opened some flood-gates. Not only was it the birth of the summer blockbuster, but it also had people chasing similar success with a variety of watery thrillers/horror movies. Orca is one of those attempts to ride that wave (okay, that pun was totally intended), and it was one of the major titles I had been meaning to watch for decades. And now I have.

What you have here is the tale of a a fisherman (Captain Nolan, played by Richard Harris) who ends up engaging in an ongoing battle with a cunning killer whale. To be fair, this whale saw the fisherman kill his partner and child, in a scene that is genuinely distressing and wild. It wasn't necessarily done with malice, but it was done nonetheless. Nolan ends up endangering himself, his colleagues (two main supporting characters played by Robert Carradine and Bo Derek), and, to use the technical term, a sea mammal expert (cetologist Rachel Bedford, played by Charlotte Rampling), but it looks inevitable that things are leading to a showdown between two determined individuals who have suffered great losses.

Directed by the fairly dependable (at this time anyway) Michael Anderson, Orca is a strange mish-mash of elements that don’t ever really fit together, but it has to be said that this is as much a strength as a weakness. Orca isn’t really what you think it is, not for the majority of the runtime, but it keeps trying to remind viewers of the film it is most indebted to. Writers Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Donati have a couple of excellent set-pieces to work around, including that stunning opening sequence that starts the whole chain of events, but they are unable to properly weave together the visceral thrills and the interesting exploration of characters and livelihoods shaped by the sea.

Harris isn’t doing his best work, but he’s good enough. He is certainly still very much a leading man, although Rampling matches him, and gets to share plenty of screentime with him without being reduced to an inconvenient love interest. Will Sampson is very welcome, despite his disappointingly small role, but Carradine, Derek, and Keenan Wynn are given too little to work with. The whole film would have benefited from a smaller core cast and a bigger platter of potential victims, but then it wouldn’t be the oddity that we got.

The best way to sum it up is to label it as technically mediocre, but intermittently impactful. I won’t rush to rewatch this, I may actually never rewatch it, but there are a few scenes that will stay in my mind forever, which is quite the achievement for what is an otherwise unexceptional Jaws “knock off”.

6/10

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Prime Time: Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)

It’s time to go on another adventure with everyone’s second-favourite giant turtle beastie (because The Great  A’Tuin should be number one on anyone’s ranked shortlist of giant turtles), and Gamera is once again on a mission to battle other strange life-forms and keep some children safe.

Two young boys, Akio (Nobuhira Kajima) and Tom (Miyuki Akiyama), end up spying a flying saucer landing that they then proceed to board. The vehicle then takes off with the boys on board, taking them eventually to a different planet, where Gamera fights a new foe, and also encounters an old enemy.

With everything once again in the hands of writer Niisan Takahasi and director Noriaki Yuasa, this is solid entertainment for those who are happy enough when the kaiju movies skew towards a younger demographic (as so many of them do). There is a sense of adventure and playfulness throughout, but no real danger, and the slight plot pauses for a few good smackdowns (and Guiron is a worthy opponent, in terms of both strength and design).

There’s no point in spending too much time discussing the cast (something I say during almost every kaiju movie review . . . seriously, just check out a sample of them and get back to me), but both Kajima and Akiyama are decent child actors, maintaining the right expressions of awe and nervousness as they watch everything happening around them. 

Considering my past worries as I started to work through the Gamera movies, I am very happy to report my positive response to this one, and any Gamera features still in my future. Either the movies have moved on from the low point that had me worried or I have recalibrated my mindset as I become more used to the tone and presentation of these movies. Gamera fans will have some fun with this. Everyone else will just have to accept that they don’t like joy.

6/10

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Alien: Romulus (2024)

It's been a while since an Alien movie has left me feeling anything other than slightly disappointed. I did enjoy the trailer for this, but trailers have been known to mislead us movie fans before. And the fact that Cailee Spaeny had a main role in this made me even more nervous. I have REALLY enjoyed the performances from Spaeny in everything I have seen her in so far, but I have rarely enjoyed any movie that she's starred in. And yet . . . it was time to do the dance that we always do.

Spaeny plays Rain, a young woman hoping to find a way out of her hard life of health-afflicting indentured servitude that feels like a daily batting with a big stick while the carrot of life on a new planet continues to be dangled in front of her. An opportunity arises when a group of like-minded youngsters figure out that there’s a seemingly-abandoned Weyland Yutani vehicle floating in orbit above them. They have a plan to get to a much better place, but they need Rain and her half-brother (full android) Andy (David Jonsson). The obvious problem is that the vehicle isn’t as abandoned as it first appears to be.

Taking place in between the events of Alien and Aliens, apparently, this is a love letter to the whole franchise from director Fede Alvarez. Having co-written the script with Rodo Sayagues, Alvarez does well to use the main creatures in a premise that is once again a pure and unabashed horror movie experience. It moves away, but doesn’t ignore, the aspects of the backstory that Ridley Scott seemed to become more and more obsessed with, and makes good use of the xenomorph lore while adding some nice details throughout.

Things go wrong when Alvarez feels the need to lift some things from the last movies that didn’t need to be here, whether it is a line of dialogue or a disappointingly lazy “cameo” from someone recreated in the usual painful CGI style that we’re all supposed to pretend is life-like and realistic. And one of the set-pieces feeling a bit too much in line with Don’t Breathe (despite an apparent plot hole at the start of the sequence) is both a positive and negative, depending on how much you enjoy Alvarez and Sayagues revisiting some of their own past glories.

Although I have seen others strongly disagree, I think the cast and characters are a fantastic group, more of less, to start worrying about when faces look ready for hugs. Spaeny is a superb lead, and it’s always toughest for anyone playing a female lead in these movies after the series spent so much time on the shoulders of Sigourney Weaver’s iconic performance. She is strong, smart, but also as vulnerable as anyone else when it comes to facing off against a monster that has acid for blood. Jonsson is equally good, and benefits from being able to deliver more than one persona (thanks to a mod to upgrade him as everyone prepares to get into the thick of any action). Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, and Aileen Wu are appealing enough, and given just enough moments to stand out as individuals from the group, and Spike Fearn is saddled with being the annoying dickhead, which he plays so well that I spent some time hoping for his demise. Let’s not evaluate the performance of the computer-generated cast member, because the film would have been much better without their presence.

It’s imperfect, and I know some will be more annoyed than I was by the multitude of memberberries, but it’s also worth considering just how well this manages to deal with the weight of every other main movie that preceded it while also appealing to those who might be relative newcomers to this universe. The score, cinematography, production design, costuming, etc. are ALL pretty top notch. It’s only the script being a bit too precious about the legacy that drags things down, but it never comes close to other low points in some of the more recent entries in the series. Okay, Jonsson being made to utter a very famous line is bad, but I will put up with it to move a step away from another story of Michael Fassbender creating deadly black liquid while playing some jazz flute.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: The Hypnosis (2023)

Vera (Asta Kamma August) and André (Herbert Nordrum) are about to give a pitch that they hope will secure extra funding for their new business endeavour. It's arguably the biggest day of their lives, which is why the timing seems right for Vera to try quitting smoking via hypnotherapy. Unfortunately, that session leaves her in a state far removed from what has often been viewed as her normal self, which could be disastrous for the pitch presentation. Or maybe it will work in their favour.

Very reminiscent of the much-celebrated Toni Erdmann, this is a film that works best when showing people struggling with someone in their midst who is quite obviously not acting how society has trained everyone to act, and the first half of The Hypnosis has some moments of absolute brilliance, mainly thanks to André being so unprepared to deal with an honest Vera who looks as if she may be about to self-sabotage what they have been planning for a very long time. The third act gets a lot trickier though, and director Ernst De Geer, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Mads Stegger, cannot quite keep a handle on something so slippery and delicate.

This is the debut feature from De Geer and Stegger, although both have worked together on numerous shorts and some TV work over the past five years, and it's easy to see how they have prepared themselves well here. Although the script doesn't hold water for the duration, it's good enough to make the best bits far easier to remember than the weaker moments. There's also an excellent pair of leads heading up a talented cast of people who are all consistently believable as things around them become harder to comprehend.

August gets the better of the two roles, able to have more fun in the scenes that have her surprising people with her lack of care for any social etiquette, but Nordrum has a great way of looking almost permanently dazed while he considers the best way to approach any situation, before going on to so often make the wrong choice. David Fukamachi Regnfors brilliantly epitomises the kind of smug leader who pretends to be open to collaborations and conversations until they veer too far away from wherever he can keep everything under his control, and Andrea Edwards and Moa Niklasson are very good as event attendees looking to have their own success, but also trying to act more confident and friendly as everyone jostles with one another to be noticed and given some praise.

Fun when it is being, well, fun, it’s a shame that things become more uncomfortable and unsettling when things start to feel like an illustration of a major mental health episode. There are a number of other films that deal with this kind of idea in a better way, a way that keeps the playfulness more clearly delineated from the serious implications, and I would recommend you check out those films first. But I would still also recommend this. It is good, but falls quite short of being great.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: Vengeance (2022)

I heard some good things about Vengeance when it came and went a couple of years ago, because it isn't really the kind of film destined to rule the box office for weeks and months, or even days, but I never made it a priority in my overstuffed viewing schedule. I wasn't sure if it would be a film I could actually enjoy, and I don't consider myself a very big fan of writer-director-star B. J. Novak. Thank goodness streaming services often offer you too many options to bamboozle you into making an unexpected choice, which was the case here. I ended up liking this film. A lot.

Novak plays a New York City writer, Ben Manalowitz, who is living so deep in the surreal silliness of modern "culture" that he cannot step back and see himself for the walking parody that he's become. Not that others would notice either, because everyone in the same bubble is busy being ironic and using their phone screens to swipe their way through love, life, and constant content. Things change for Ben, however, when he is invited to the funeral of a young woman, Abilene, by family members who believe that the two were in a serious relationship (although they were just hooking up). That funeral is in West Texas. Abilene's brother, Ty (Boyd Holbrook), believes that her death was a murder, and believes that everything ties to some of the major criminal names in the area, which gives Ben a chance to overcome the creative block he has been experiencing recently. He sees a family in mourning, he sees people seeking connections and explanations where there may not be any, and he sees an opportunity to create a gripping and successful podcast.

I can see people being irritated by the first act of Vengeance. It is exactly what you expect it to be, and the main character is as annoying to spend time with as you may also expect. Things change quite quickly though, and this becomes clear when the plot truly starts to play out. Novak is surprisingly honest, to a degree, with the people around him, and he explains some of his podcast idea and his need to record conversations and get details that will fill in a full story for listeners. Some take fully to the idea, others view it with suspicion while figuring out a way to make the most of the situation. Novak is smart enough to aim at a number of targets, but he's also smart enough to hit a lot of them. The fact that he does it in a way that keeps everything based in a recognisable reality, after the opening exaggerated observations on modern life, makes it all easier to appreciate. It becomes smart while discarding that initial smugness, becomes sweet without ever being maudlin, and allows the lead character a shot at redemption without needing to turn him into an anointed hero.

While the direction is pretty unspectacular, Novak helps the movie immensely by writing such a great script. He then further helps it all by casting a great mix of actors who all feel well-suited to their roles. Holbrook continues to build an impressive filmography, even if he gradually becomes a less important figure here as the plot unfolds, and the always wonderful Lio Tipton portrays Abilene in the fleeting flashbacks that show us snippets of her life. J. Smith-Cameron is Abilene's mother, and she imbues her character with a grace and comforting presence that ensures she is never the butt of any jokes, while  Isabella Amara, Dove Cameron, and Eli Bickel are very good as the other siblings figuring out how to navigate around the Abilene-shaped void in their lives. Issa Rae is superb as the podcast producer, Eloise, giving Ben notes on how to best shape his story, and Ashton Kutcher feels like a very good fit for his character, Quentin Sellers, a record producer who seems to over-use poetry in a way that might be distracting from whatever soundbites Ben is trying to get from him.

This could have easily been stuffed with the laziest observations and character development, but Novak tries hard to pull a number of threads together into a satisfyingly thick narrative rope. He doesn't entirely succeed, there are one or two scenes that feel out of place because of wanting to underline the reversal of Ben's mindset as he learns more about this Texan town and the people he is growing to like, but he does a lot more than others might have done with similar material. Maybe I'll just have to start looking more closely at projects he has been involved with over the years.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: Tales That Witness Madness (1973)

If you can't settle on what one movie to watch at any time then you may as well pick an anthology movie. That is my motto . . . that I just made up for the sake of starting this review with some kind of justification for my choice here. But there's some truth to it. I always tend to enjoy anthology horrors whenever I stumble across one that I have yet to see, and the format allows me to remain optimistic even if one segment isn't working for me. Not every anthology is a winner though, and Tales That Witness Madness is one of the bad ones, which perhaps explains why I never made time for it before now.

The framing device may sound familiar to those who are fans of a certain other, much more celebrated, anthology horror film from the mighty Amicus (and it should be noted that this is decidedly NOT an Amicus film, despite sharing certain qualities). A psychiatrist (Donald Pleasence) is guiding a new colleague (Jack Hawkins) around the Asylum he is due to work in, and tales are told that show a number of key patients being housed there after incidents that would appear to feature the supernatural.

Although I was unfamiliar with writer Jennifer Jayne (credited here as Jay Fairbank), I was very familiar with director Freddie Francis, a legendary figure in British cinema who worked well as a director on films of highly varying quality, but who is also celebrated for his cinematography in films he didn't helm (perhaps most notably on The Elephant Man). Francis did some of his best work throughout the 1960s, especially when working with Hammer or Amicus, and initially seemed as if he was going to do just as well throughout the 1970s, but 1973 feels like the starting point for a downward slide. This may have been due to a lack of the right material, or it may have been the case that Francis was floundering, alongside many colleagues from the big British studios that he worked with, as great changes in the tastes and limits of acceptability rippled throughout the average horror movie viewers.

Aside from Jayne and Francis, this suffers from having a cast that just doesn't have enough star power to make up for the quartet of weak tales. Hawkins and Pleasence are very good, but sadly not onscreen enough, and other positives are Suzy Kendall, Joan Collins (hampered by the fact that she's in what is surely one of the most bonkers horror anthology segments ever), Kim Novak, and Leon Lissek. I am not saying everyone else is awful, although one or two are, but they're generally just there, unable to do anything to distract from the poor writing.

I was hoping that I would watch this and then be able to recommend it as a bit of a forgotten gem, but that was not to be. This is dire, although the first tale did remind me of a short story by Ray Bradbury, which gave me a glimmer of hope that was soon dashed, and the third tale (that one featuring Collins) is memorable for the hilarious lunacy of the central concept. Nothing here is really worth witnessing, sadly.

3/10

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All Monsters Attack (1969)

I knew that this wasn't going to be as good as Destroy All Monsters, I definitely knew that, but there was still a part of me hoping that it would be. Every kaiju movie viewing is a chance to discover a new favourite, whether darker or lighter in tone (and this is very much in the latter camp). I'm not going to "bury the lead" here though, this is certainly not as good as the movie I just watched last week, but I still had a lot of fun with it.

The story concerns a young boy named Ichiro (Tomonori Yazaki), who visits Monster Island in his dreams, witnessing some Godzilla battles and becoming friends with Minilla AKA Son Of Godzilla. Ichiro doesn't often have his parents at home, both are very busy workers, and he has a problem with bullies tormenting him. He might also have a problem when he explores an empty factory that is being used by a couple of bank robbers.

Although once again going down the route of recycling some footage from other movies in order to keep costs down, this is another feature from director Ishirô Honda and writer Shin'ichi Sekizawa. Although you cannot say that every film from this duo is a guaranteed winner, they did more for Big G and co. in this era than anyone else, whether presenting Godzilla as a dark and terrifying force of nature or, as became more common, a temperamental ally to humans whenever they were being threatened by other strange creatures.

Honda and Sekizawa know what people want, even if they have to fit the better stuff around a plot that gives younger viewers someone to more easily identify with. There are decent action moments here, mainly in the first act, but the film is also helped by the ongoing hardships affecting Ichiro, which often play out a lot better than the scenes that have him talking with Minilla in moments that feel like odd PSAs aimed at schoolchildren.

Yazaki is fine in the main role, and Sachio Sakai and Kazuo Suzuki do well enough as the bank robbers, but it's unsurprising to find that, yet again, this is all about the monsters. The human characters work better than some of the past assembled casts, benefiting from the fact that we don't need a large selection of scientists, military personnel, doctors, and so on, but nobody can ever be the main attraction when in a movie with Godzilla.

Despite it being a bit childish and silly, I still enjoyed this a lot. It's a playful fantasy for younger viewers, but delivers just enough kaiju action to placate those who may not enjoy the grounded content not set on Monster Island.

7/10

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Wind River (2017)

When the corpse of a young woman is found on a Wyoming Native American reservation, a young FBI agent, Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen), is tasked with figuring out exactly what happened. She is helped by a wildlife officer, Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), and accompanied during her investigation by a tribal police chief, Ben (Graham Greene). Banner runs into a lot of resistance as she tries to solve the case, from the Native Americans who distrust her to the local medical examiner who refuses to class the death as a homicide, despite it seeming fairly obvious. There's also the crowd of men who work on a nearby drilling site to deal with, especially when it comes to light that the victim was apparently dating one of them.

This is a film written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, and it's worth noting here that there's a lot to discuss and pick apart when it comes to Sheridan's decisions here, both behind the camera and while discussing his film as it pertains to the horrible statistics that show just how many Indigenous women are abused, raped, and/or murdered in comparison to other ethnic demographics (and I know I should grasp some better, more humane, wording, but I am navigating this paragraph as best I can). I'm not going to dig too deep into Sheridan's psyche, but I will say that others with greater insight than myself have praised some of his intentions while also criticizing him for some of his casting and his contribution to the common pattern of "dying Indians" presented throughout cinema.

With that said, let's get back to the standard film review. Wind River is, for the most part, an enjoyable and interesting thriller that, for me, mixes in some really worthwhile explorations of the Native American way of life, whether that is tied to how they are viewed/misunderstood by others, and how they shouldn't have to tolerate those wandering into their lives and culture with no knowledge of either, or whether it's trying to convey how they process different types of grief. Although it speaks more to my own blind spots than anything else, I didn't consider the troublesome elements (e.g. the aforementioned "dying Indian" trope, the casting) while everything was playing out. Would the film have been better with someone else cast in the role played by Renner? Yes, but I could say that about almost any film that has Renner in it. I do think his casting probably helped to fund/sell the film, and I think his position as an outsider who managed to integrate into the community does offer an extra angle to everything that ultimately makes it a good decision.

It's useful that the film casts such a fantastic ensemble around Renner nonetheless, and almost every other main performer delivers something better than the "big name". Olsen is allowed to act unsure and awkward without ever seeming incapable, and she does a great job with a role that could have easily been sorely mishandled. Greene is always a welcome screen presence, and he's dependably fantastic here, as are Gil Birmingham, Kelsey Asbille, Julia Jones, Jon Bernthal, and James Jordan, all namechecked here because they each have at least one or two moments that allow them to prove how good they can be.

You could argue at length about who would be a better choice to tell this story, as well as what could have been improved, but I am going to simply appreciate what we have here. That doesn't stop me from seeking out other cinematic voices, and I encourage everyone to do just that at every opportunity, but I definitely think that this works brilliantly as a crime thriller, as a look at a problem that more people should be reminded or made aware of, and as a springboard for conversation. There's also a lot to appreciate on a purely technical level, including some crisp and beautiful cinematography from Ben Richardson and a score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

Very much worth your time, as long as you can stomach the more disturbing scenes, and very much worth discussing, even if you end up completely disagreeing with my own opinion of it.

8/10

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Prime Time: Bikini Bloodbath Car Wash (2008)

Although the second film in a series of slasher comedies, I somehow felt that I would be okay just diving straight into Bikini Bloodbath Car Wash without having any previous knowledge of the ongoing Bikini Bloodbath Cinematic Universe (or BBCU, if you like). I was quite right, although there are perhaps some more little nods and gags here that may prompt a smile or small chuckle from viewers of the previous film.

It would be downright rude of me to spend too much time trying to bulk out a plot description of this. There are some young women who sometimes wear bikinis, of course. There's a sequence that has them washing cars. Debbie Rochon has fun in an amusing supporting role. Oh, and there's a killer looking to spoil the fun for everyone. 

Written and directed by Jonathan Gorman and Thomas Edward Seymour, this cheap and clumsy horror comedy won't appeal to those who want slick production values and star names in their entertainment, but it somehow manages to be good fun for those who have seen their fair share of independent movies over the years. The comedy throughout may not be the most clever, or even the funniest, but the film-makers get points for trying to load up every scene with enough gags to ensure that one or two hit the mark. And one or two do hit the mark. The gore gags, on the other hand, are more of a miss, but there are a couple of attempts to deliver a decent amount of blood and guts.

The technical side of things may be a bit "rough 'n' ready", to put it kindly, and I think a lot of the crew here have more enthusiasm and multi-tasking ability than natural talent and finesse, but I've seen movies that have been a lot worse than this when it comes to the audio and viaul quality. That may be damning the film with faint praise, and I certainly wouldn't pick out any real highlights, but it was a pleasant surprise to see that everyone involved wanted to keep things visible while allowing you to actually hear the dialogue. Neither of those things are a given when it comes to independent movies, especially those with even one toe dipping in the waters of the horror genre.

You get the usual weaker elements in the cast, but you also get Rochon being as wonderful as she so often can be. Rachael Robbins is very good too, playing the lovely Jenny, and I take my hat off to Natalie Williams, playing Sharon, for her willingness to go along with the running joke of everyone sneeringly mocking her for being fat (not my word, that's the description used often in the script), despite the fact that she clearly isn't.

The women act a bit silly, and are quick to disrobe, while the guys are oversexed jerks, and everyone is just waiting around until the killer gets to them. That's the kind of film that this is. It could have better kills, and it could have had even more jokes shoehorned in, but I was pleasantly surprised by how fitfully amused I was while watching it. Will I watch it again? I doubt it, but I'll probably watch the other instalments in the BBCU. My rather generous rating reflects the good intentions, as opposed to the overall execution of the material, but it still makes this better than some of the much bigger titles I have watched this year.

5/10

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Kill (2024)

When I first saw the trailer for Kill I have to say that I was immediately impressed. As were many other action movie fans. It looked brutal and inventive, and a step removed from what many mainstream movie fans might think of when they are told to imagine a a Hindi-language film from India. Of course, those who have spent more time exploring the cinema of India will know that there is just as much variety in the films from that region as you can find in the films of any other region, but sometimes people just don't explore enough. And please, rest assured, I say this as someone who is no expert. I have enjoyed some Indian cinema over the years, but nowhere near enough to feel comfortable in any wide-ranging conversation about their film landscape and key industry names (although I will happily direct you to one or two people who know a LOT more than me).

Let's get back to this particular movie though. While the trailer made it look brutal and inventive, we all know that trailers often oversell whatever is being advertised. But not this time. Kill IS brutal and inventive, and it's a real treat for action movie fans who don't mind reading some subtitles in between moments of violence and carnage.

Laksyha plays Amrit Rathod, a NSG commando who is in love with the beautiful Tulika (Tanya Maniktala). Unfortunately, Tulika is engaged to be married to someone else, but she knows that Amrit will somehow sort everything out before that wedding happens. Even as she is boarding a train with her family, she knows all will work out well. Amrit gets on the same train, a reassuring presence as he works on a solution to the looming nuptials, and he is accompanied by a good friend, Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan). Things start to get messy, however, when the train is talen over by knife-wielding bandits, headed up by the dastardly Fani (Raghav Juyal).

I don't know anything about writer-director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, aside from the fact that he has about half a dozen features to his name by now, and I know even less about co-writer Ayesha Syed. I hope I can remember their names after this though, because both of them have worked together to create a fantastic and relentless tapestry of violence. Not that they did it alone, of course, and there should be equal amounts of praise heaped upon everyone here, from the musicians to the director of photography, from the artists and designers to the daring stunt performers. And the main cast members, of course.

Lakshya cuts a fine and imposing figure as the potential hero of the piece, but Juyal is an excellent opposite number, doing his best to outsmart someone he quickly understands could cause him a major headache, to put it mildly. Maniktala is suitably sweet and alarmed by the situation that unfolds around her, while Chauhan delivers a wonderfully determined "ride or die" turn supporting Lakshya. Ashish Vidyarthi is also fantastic as Beni, a man constantly trying to calculate whether the potential rewards could outnumber the lives that could be lost, and Pratap Verma, Harsh Chhaya, and Adrija Sinha are central characters who have varying degress of importance depending on whether or not they are selected to live or die as things get more and more heated on the train.

Although it doesn't quite hit the dizzying heights of one or two other films it has been compared to, Kill shows just how much can be done with the right performers trapped in one vehicle for most of the runtime. It's incredible, occasionally audacious, and not for the faint of heart. Action movie fans should have seen it already, but if it has somehow passed you by . . . correct that oversight immediately.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Alice (1988)

Having been a huge fan of the source material it is based on, and also a fan of the clips I have seen elsewhere of Jan Svankmajer's work, I am surprised that it took me this long to finally get around to watching Alice. But it did, and here we are.

Kristýna Kohoutová plays Alice, a young girl who ends up going on an adventure that will be quite familiar to those who have read the most famous tale from Lewis Carroll. Quite familiar, but not overly familiar, because this is the tale filtered through the alternately dreamy and nightmarish vision of Svankmajer.

While not for everyone, which is a phrase I consider redundant every time I use it (but cannot think of a decent replacement), Alice is certainly worth the time and attention of those who know what kind of vision Svankmajer wants to deliver. It's a strange and decaying world, one in which most of the creations are barely held together, but that actually feels nicely in line with the text being adapted to the screen. What is Alice if not this strange and curious lifeforce upending and alarming the citizens of a wonderland always on the very edge of collapsing in on itself?

The stop-motion work may be the highlight of the film, and everything is informed by it, but Kohoutová does well to perform in the middle of such a strange and surreal selection of set-pieces. She feels as if she's performing, but that, once again, feels true to the spirit of the story. Alice is a character who is very imaginative, and her way of speaking, both to herself and to those around her, is often in a performative manner. She is either trying to convince herself of what she is seeing around her, or she is trying to convince others of her relative wisdom.

While this may not be the Alice's Adventures In Wonderland that comes to mind when you think of the story, it is a surprisingly faithful and brilliant interpretation. Every frame feels as if it was carefully considered and crafted with a monumental effort, which is both a positive and a negative (because the Carroll tale feels somehow easy and effortless), and I would certainly put this near the very top of any list ranking the movie adaptations of this timeless classic. 

Drink the potion, eat the snacks, nibble on both sides of the mushroom, and spend time with the characters who don't seem to make sense until you figure out the context of the conversations. Many films try to show you Alice in Wonderland. Svankmajer comes very close to actually taking the viewer all the way down the rabbit hole.

9/10

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