Mubi Monday: Prince Avalanche (2012)

Written and directed by David Gordon Green, based on an earlier film by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigur∂sson (and, yes, it took me a good ten minutes to figure out how to type that out on my standard keyboard), Prince Avalanche is very much in line with a number of his other low-key comedy dramas, especially his earlier works.

Paul Rudd is Alvin, a road worker who is painting yellow lines and placing roadside posts with Lance (Emile Hirsch), a young man who is also the brother of his girlfriend. These two individuals in the middle of nowhere find the isolation affecting them in different ways. Alvin likes the peace, Lance misses some of the relative hustle and bustle of small-town life. Their time is occasionally interrupted by a local truck driver (Lance LeGault), and Alvin also has an encounter with a woman (Joyce Payne) who shares a sad tale of loss that helps to underline what is worth holding dear in life.

Your enjoyment of Prince Avalanche will depend on a couple of main factors. First of all, how you feel about Rudd and Hirsch in the lead roles. I don't know of anyone who dislikes Rudd (and if anyone reading this hates the man then I just don't understand how you go through life with such darkness in your soul), but Hirsch has definitely lost a bit of goodwill over the years. I've always liked him onscreen though, even if he's rarely the best choice for any role, and he works well here, often annoying Rudd by doing nothing more than being a standard "kid" who struggles with what could be meditative time in nature.

The other main factor here is the direction from Green. After three comedies that were more brash and broad than his usual style, Prince Avalanche feels very much like an attempt to ground himself once more, to prove that he could go back to the quieter, more naturalistic, style of film-making that brought him to the attention of film fans at the turn of the century. It works, but I am sure it would be a bit disappointing to anyone hoping that they would be getting more stoner gags and silliness.

All of the main performances are very good, with the bulk of the runtime seeing the film carried by Rudd and Hirsch. LeGault and Payne may not have much screentime, but the script, and their performances, allows them to provide another angle of reflection for the leads. The same goes for the main work being done, the painting of the yellow lines and the other work making a quiet road into a safer route to travel. It's monotonous, quite thankless, and ultimately quite important to those who will get the benefit of it. Much like many other tasks in life.

Although the characters spend some time walking around, journeying through the quiet landscape around them, this could easily have been a stage play, and that's perhaps the best way to view it. It's a two-hander, for the most part, with a background of trees, quiet road, and lives temporarily left behind that will need to be faced up to again in the near future.

7/10

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Prime Time: Nightmare Beach (1989)

Nightmare Beach starts with an execution, the execution of a biker named Diablo. He claims to have been set up, and also vows revenge. Skipping forward a year, it's Spring Break time in Miami. Two friends (Nicolas de Toth and Rawley Valverde) join in with the drinking and partying, but soon find their fun being spoiled by a number of inconvenient deaths. Yes, a mysterious biker is picking off a number of revellers, often killing them with a fatal dose of electicity. It's eventually up to Skip (De Toth) and a young woman named Gail (Sarah Buxton) to uncover the identity of the biker, and try to put an end to his killing spree.

Released in 1989, Nightmare Beach feels every bit like a film made much earlier in that decade. It has a bit more of a sheen to it, perhaps, but the pacing and characterisations already feel quite archaic (especially most of the moments involving Valverde, the kind of guy who enjoys telling a woman that smiling more would make her much prettier). Perhaps that didn't seem so obvious back when it was released, and there are a number of films from the end of the decade, and even the start of the '90s, that feel almost designed as quintessential slices of '80s cheese. It makes the film impossible to take seriously now, however, but also helps to make it a hugely entertaining experience.

With direction credited to Umberto Lenzi, although it seems to have actually been helmed by writer Harry Kirkpatrick (AKA James Justice), with Lenzi servind in an advisory capacity, this is a real bag of mixed treats. People looking for a quality classic horror can skip it just now and look for something else, but those of us in the mood for entertaining trash? This is a perfect pick.

De Toth, Valverde, and Buxton are a mixed trio of central performers. None are really memorable, but they're fine. Genre fans will have more fun with the "old guard" onscreen here. You have a small role for Michael Parks, and fun turns from Lance LeGault, as a reverend, and John Saxon, playing a tough cop who may or may not have something to hide. Luis Valderrama is a biker spoiling for a fight, and Yamilet Hidalgo makes quite an impression as his fiery girlfriend.

Despite the attempted mystery element, it's hard to care about the identity of the biker. What matters here are the death scenes, all of them surprisingly impressive and somehow managing to feel different from one another while often managing to use the same method of murder. The pacing is perfect, with deaths interspersed by moments of humour and gratuitous sequences like a wet t-shirt competition (hey, it's Spring Break), and there are enough enjoyable random diversions (e.g. the plot strand with the thief that plays out and then just... ends) that will soon lead you to realise that this is not a film concerned with a cohesive narrative that makes complete sense.

It's a fun time by the beach, that's all. Watch it when you're in the mood for sand, sex, and senseless murders committed by a vengeful biker.

7/10

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