For It Is Man's Number

Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Prime Time: Hickey & Boggs (1972)

If I remember right, some technicality means that you cannot label Bill Cosby as a rapist nowadays. That didn't stop me from feeling no small amount of reservation, however, when I realised that Hickey & Boggs starred Robert Culp alongside the definitely-not-rapey Bill Cosby. I debated how to get the review done, and then I remembered that movies are chock full of people that I wouldn't necessarily want to say good things about, personally, and so I'd have to go on with business as usual. There may even be other movies I watch one day that feature the definitely-not-rapey Cosby, and I would just do the same thing. I won't use any images of him, and I won't feel great about it, but he is one of many threads woven throughout the fabric of cinema.

Culp is Frank Boggs and Cosby is Al Hickey. Both of them work together as private investigators who end up tasked with tracking down a missing woman. What begins as a simple case soon turns into something a bit more complicated, and much more dangerous. Everyone involved in the central investigation starts to die, and both of our leads eventually figure out that the missing woman is at the heart of a very sticky web.

Written by Walter Hill, this is a strange film, but I can see why it has retained a cult following throughout the decades since it was released. Things start off fairly light, and the chemistry between Culp and Cosby is as you would expect, but they soon spiral into much darker waters. The third act is about as bleak and nihilistic as can be, with the typical fight back from our heroes given no fanfare or cool edge. Yes, you get men holding their ground while also holding huge hand cannons, but it's ultimately dissatisfying when so many lives have already been ruined.

Culp does well in his role, Cosby less so. I'm not sure I can blame the leads for that though. The script doesn't quite know how to keep things consistent, and clearly lures viewers in before dragging them towards an abyss. Culp's direction is solid, if a bit flat, and there are a couple of set-pieces that struggle to impress while weighed down by that darker tone.

Elsewhere, both Rosalind Cash and Isabel Sandford get a couple of good moments, and Robert Mandan, Michael Moriarty, Vincent Gardenia, and Ed Lauter help to populate the cast with interesting and watchable characters.

While it's certainly not a bad film, Hickey & Boggs feels worse in comparison to most of the other films that have gone for a similar vibe. The mystery element never feels as intriguing as it should, the occasional moments of shocking violence are toned down by the shot choice and editing, the interplay between the two leads starts to fade away as the bodies pile up, and it all plays out like a neo-noir presented by people who aren't really all that keen on making a neo-noir. Everything is there, but none of it fully works.

6/10

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Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Noirvember: The Kid Detective (2020)

Being a kid detective is a very good thing. Or so it seems. Getting to help the local community, being underestimated by many people dealing with you, and acting wise beyond your years in a way that many view as endearing. It all becomes a bit more difficult to deal with when you're no longer a kid though, particularly when you stay in the same job, carrying around the weight of your childhood success.

Adam Brody stars here as Abe Applebaum, the kid detective who is now an adult in an apparent state of arrested development. He hasn't let go of his past, and hasn't moved beyond what many expected to just be a phase. He doesn't see why he should change though, considering his gift for detection. But his latest case, a young woman named Caroline (Sophie Nélisse) asking him to find out who murdered her boyfriend, turns into an opportunity to completely re-evaluate his past, and perhaps even allow himself to move on to the next chapter in his life.

A great mix of comedy and drama, and with a proper and well-constructed mystery at the heart of it, The Kid Detective is an excellent character study that benefits from Brody being such a great fit in the lead role. Writer-director Evan Morgan nails the tone throughout, jumping deftly between effective little gags and scenes that show the pain of someone feeling more adrift in the turbulent sea of life, and his script is full of an obvious affection for the tropes being used/subverted.

Brody carries the film on his shoulders, but does so in a way that emphasises how slim those shoulders are. He's been playing variations on this kind of role for much of his career, someone a bit emotionally-stunted and selfish, but this gives him a number of layers to work through as the plot unfolds. Nélisse is very good as the young woman who doesn't realise that the mystery she needs solving may lead to something even darker and more dangerous, and Sarah Sutherland is a lot of fun as the sullen Lucy, a woman who has somehow found herself as trapped in her role as secretary to the kid detective as he is trapped by his own history. Wendy Crewson and Jonathan Whittaker are bemused parents who expected their son to have moved on from this "phase" long before now, Peter MacNeill is the local school Principal, and Dallas Edwards plays a boy named Calvin who may be the key to unlocking the case.

Much darker than expected, but all presented in a way that stops that darkness from weighing it down too much and making it unbearable to watch, The Kid Detective is a surprisingly brilliant mix of the old and the new, making use of a fun core idea to springboard into muddy waters familiar to anyone who has watched their fare share of neo-noirs. Every individual aspect is handled with care, especially the set-ups and payoffs to gags that are used throughout to maintain the well-balanced tone throughout, and the end result is a gem of a film that should develop a strong cult following as more people discover it and recommend it to like-minded film fans.

8/10

Monday, 18 November 2024

Mubi Monday: Young Adam (2003)

One of a number of movies that fans of Ewan McGregor can add to their super-secret special files (aka Ewan gets nekkid), Young Adam is a character study wrapped in an erotic thriller that is then wrapped in a grimy exploration of work life drudgery. It's also an impressive sophomore feature from writer-director David Mackenzie (adapting the source novel by Alexander Trocchi into screenplay form).

Everything starts with a body in the water. It's the body of a dead woman found by Joe (McGregor) and Les (Peter Mullan). Joe works on a barge for Les and his wife, Ella (Tilda Swinton). He also spends some time getting lusty with Ella whenever Les is out of the picture. As the film jumps back and forth in time, we get to see a previous relationship that Joe had with a young woman named Cathie (Emily Mortimer). It's obvious that Joe has long been a selfish and fairly carefree young man, but unfolding events may force him to reckon with the consequences of his actions.

Although set in the past, and it's a time when the death sentence was still doled out here in the UK, many moments in Young Adam feel as if they could be just as easily transposed to the here and now. Working on a barge, and living with the boss/family, is just the same as the many jobs here in the UK that offer different kinds of accommodation, from a bedroom to a caravan, from a truck cab to a hotel room. And people confined to a certain type of fairly bleak existence, one without any obvious rays of sunshine in the skies ahead, tend to lean on one another more for support and move quicker to grab chances at fleeting moments of happy distraction. Mackenzie knows exactly what he is doing, balancing things nicely between the mix of characters, the morality being explored, and the twists that take place without seeming placed there as attempts to wrong-foot viewers. He also knows just how easy it is to keep this riveting with so many talented cast members involved.

McGregor is pretty much perfect in the lead role, adding just enough charm and obvious appeal to take the edge off the sharp flaws of his character. Swinton does as well as expected with her Scottish accent, considering her lineage and love of the country, and she emanates an earthy sexuality that makes it believable whenever McGregor wants to get down and dirty with her, Mullan is on top form, and Mortimer conveys a heart-breaking mix of love, sadness, hope, and hopelessness. Therese Bradley and Pauline Turner are two more potential conquests for our lead, and Ewan Stewart and Stuart McQuarrie do excellent work with their small roles.

I first saw this close to when it was first released, over two decades ago now, and I was quite underwhelmed by it. Others seemed to heap a fair bit of praise upon it, but it just felt to me like too much time spent wallowing in misery. I'm glad I revisited it though. While it will never be a favourite of mine, the cast and quality of the film-making assure that you won't regret giving it 98 minutes of your time. The music by David Byrne is also a plus for people familiar with that particular artist, the dirt and darkness is all shown clearly enough by cinematographer Giles Nuttgens, and there's no obvious weakness in the talent pool of artists and technicians all working to get Mackenzie's vision onscreen.

7/10

Sunday, 17 November 2024

Netflix And Chill: Cold Comes The Night (2013)

Alice Eve stars in this film. I like Alice Eve. Bryan Cranston also stars in this film. I like Bryan Cranston. Logan Marshall-Green makes it three for three, even if I don't like him as much as I like the other two. So I figured that I might enjoy Cold Comes The Night, despite hearing bad things about it. I became even more optimistic when I saw Osgood Perkins as one of the co-writers. That optimism quickly disappeared as the film started to play out.

Alice Eve is Chloe, a woman having a hard time of things. She's trying to keep custody of her daughter (Sophia, played by Ursula Parker), trying to run a far-from-idyllic motel, and not on best terms with her ex (a cop named Billy, played by Marshall-Green, she has had an affair with). Things go from bad to worse when someone is killed on the motel premises, and that someone was supposed to be working with a dangerous criminal named Topo (Cranston). Chloe ends up enlisted by Topo to help finish a job that has been started, but she also sees a way that she might be able to turn the situation to her advantage, especially when she realises how visually-impaired Topo is.

I've not seen anything else from director Tze Chun, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Perkins and Nick Simon, and I'm unlikely to now rush to anything else with his name on it. Cold Comes The Night is pretty awful, and it feels even worse because of how the main cast members have their talents squandered. Every character and moment feels like an inferior copy from numerous other movies. It's a VHS that has been used to record the Christmas Day TV schedule on long play for two decades, with any real detail or entertainment value now completely obscured by shadows and lots of static.

Eve tries to make things work, despite the fact that she has once again picked a dud to star in, and Marshall-Green has one or two moments that at least punctuate the tiresome awfulness of the whole thing, but Cranston overshadows both of them, and not at all for the right reasons. His accent, his physical performance, his energy in every moment just feels completely wrong, which is at odds with how well he does with better material.

I want to be angry at this, if only on behalf of the main cast members who surely thought they were signing on for something a bit better, but I can't even do that. There's nothing here to fuel my rage because, well, there's nothing here. The cinematography is unexceptional, the score is unexceptional, the editing is . . . etc, I'm sure you see what I'm getting at. I'm not even really angry at Chun. He doesn't put any stamp on the film, and I can go through my life fairly safe in the knowledge that I'll have probably forgotten his name by the time I ever, IF I ever, see another film from him.

I didn't like this very much, which I think I have made very obvious, and I'll hopefully never have to think of it again after today.

3/10

Saturday, 16 November 2024

Shudder Saturday: Black Cab (2024)

I don't think I have seen anything previously directed by Bruce Goodison. Nor am I familiar with writer Virginia Gilbert. Due to my reaction to Black Cab, however, I know that I won't be rushing to seek out anything else in their respective filmographies. This is a bad film, messy and disappointingly easy to predict when it tries to add a twist or two in the third act, and I would say that it's only the enjoyably unhinged performance from Nick Frost that saves it from being completely unwatchable.

Anne (Synnøve Karlsen) and Patrick (Luke Norris) are a fairly unhappy couple who unwittingly end a night out by getting into the wrong black cab (driven by Nick Frost). The cab driver soon reveals that he knows quite a bit about Anne, and he isn't shy about putting forward his own opinion of Patrick. So begins what I am sure would be described by the marketing team as "a nightmare journey through a dark night of the soul". But everyone knows that the scariest thing about a late-night black cab journey is watching how quickly the fare starts to mount up.

I'm sorry to be struggling so much to find something, anything, positive to say about this, but Black Cab is one of the worst modern horror movies I have seen. Goodison uses his budget and resources well, I'll give him that, which gives everything a professional polish, but the script, from plotting and dialogue to character development, is a stinking mess.

Karlsen tries her best in a role that really doesn't allow her to do much (although she's one of two people I hope to watch in other movie roles), but her and Frost doing good work highlights how one-note and weak Norris is. Yes, he's admittedly also suffering at the hands of the writer, but his poor performance ensures that there's only one cab passenger to really start worrying about as things take a turn for the worse. Frost manages to overshadow everyone though, transforming his usual harmless and cuddly demeanour into something much more menacing. The earlier moments make good use of his ability to chatter away in a way that seems innocent enough until he throws in some surprises that people listening to him need to take a minute to process.

90 minutes that feels much longer, things are further spoiled by an attempt to throw too many ingredients into the mix. It's a dark comedy at times, but then becomes a tame thriller, but then tries to add a supernatural twist to everything in the second half. None of it works, either separately or mixed together, and, much like the typical cab driver conversation, I can only hope that it's seen in the rear-view mirror as quickly as possible. Frost and Karlsen deserve much better. As do the film fans who may be tempted to check this out.

2/10

Friday, 15 November 2024

Noirvember: Stage Fright (1950)

Although I am far from an expert of Alfred Hitchcock, I always like to think that I have seen much of his filmography. I haven't. I think every film fan spends some time exploring his numerous classics, but it's easy to remember just how many films he made. Okay, the silents are easier to overlook, and perhaps less essential (although I have a nice boxset coming my way that will allow me to make up my own mind shortly), but there always seems to be one or two relatively big title that sits in a blind spot for some people. Stage Fright was one of those movies for me. I wonder if it was one I kept forgetting about because of the title being re-used a couple of times in the horror genre.

Richard Todd plays Jonathan Cooper, a man who ends up on the run when some major evidence points to him having murdered the husband of stage performer Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich). Relying on the goodwill of a friend, Eve (Jane Wyman), Jonathan tries to stay hidden while police investigate the case and try to locate him. Eve also enlists the help of her father (played by Alastair Sim), ends up in an undercover role working for Charlotte, and starts to develop a bond with Detective Inspector Wilfred O. Smith (Michael Wilding) which could complicate things further.

Adapted from Selwyn Jepson's novel (Man Running AKA Outrun The Constable AKA Killer By Proxy) by the talented Alma Reville and Whitfield Cook, this is a typically dark and delightful feature from Hitchcock, one that has an abundance of dark comedy running in between the moments of tension. In fact, almost any scene with Sim front and centre is on par with anything from an outright comedy of this time (particularly his scene with Joyce Grenfell, who spends a lot of time shouting out "lovely ducks" to encourage people to try their hand at the fairground shooting gallery).

As good as the material is, in terms of the characters and the ongoing attempt to prove the innocence of a man who keeps looking increasingly guilty, Stage Fright is as wonderfully entertaining as it is thanks to the cast. Sim is undoubtedly a highlight, but scenes that show Dietrich performing the routines that make her character such a beloved success are so mesmerising that nobody should really mind the fact that the plot comes to a standstill while we get to enjoy a couple of good songs from the blonde bombshell. Wyman is an appealing lead, but she is overshadowed by the likes of Kay Walsh (playing a housekeeper who hopes to profit from the situation) and the aforementioned Grenfell. As for the other men onscreen, Todd and Wilding are disappointingly bland, but they're essentially pawns being moved around the board until things come to a crucial point when some kind of victory can be celebrated.

In hindsight, it's actually quite easy to see why I kept forgetting to check this out. It wasn't just to do with the title. There aren't any big set-pieces here, the real star turns are mostly tucked away in the supporting roles, and it just lacks that refined Hitchcock brilliance. It still deserves to be seen though, especially if you're a fan of Dietrich, Sim, Walsh, or Grenfell. I had a lot of fun with it, but I suspect I may struggle to remember much of it in a month or two. It has certainly reminded me that I want to watch even more Hitchcock films though, as well as more films featuring the brilliant Dietrich.

7/10

Thursday, 14 November 2024

Noirvember: Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead (1995)

Director Gary Fleder has a strange, but not uninteresting, filmography. He's done a lot of TV work in recent years, and started his directorial career with a TV movie (which also paired him up for the first time with writer Scott Rosenberg), but he's also delivered a few real gems throughout the last few decades. Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead is one of them, and maybe that's as much to do with the fact that it was Fleder's first theatrical release as it is to do with the script and execution of the material. Or maybe he just does well with star-studded ensemble casts (considering that Runaway Jury is also up there with his best work).

Andy Garcia plays Jimmy "The Saint" here, and he's a man who ends up between a rock and a hard place when a big boss (The Man With The Plan, played by Christopher Walken) tells him to put a team together in order to give some young guy a fright. Jimmy ends up working with Pieces (Christopher Lloyd), Franchise (William Forsythe), Easy Wind (Bill Nunn), and Critical Bill (Treat Williams). If all goes well then the team will end up in the good graces of a very powerful individual, but the title may have already clued you in on the fact that all doesn't necessarily go well.

Read through that list of names again, but let me add to it by mentioning Gabrielle Anwar, Fairuza Balk, Steve Buscemi, Jack Warden, Bill Cobbs, Marshall Bell, Don Stark, Jenny McCarthy, Don Cheadle, Tiny Lister Jr., and Josh Charles. You may not recognise all of those names, but anyone who appreciates '90s cinema will recognise their faces as soon as they appear onscreen. Not only is that a truly stacked cast, everyone feels perfect in the role given to them. Garcia stays cool and calm for most of the runtime, Walken enjoys getting to wax lyrical in a couple of scenes, and Williams almost steals the entire film with his portrayal of someone who seems to be a real liability. While both Anwar and Balk are slightly sidelined, both get to do a bit more than may be expected, and their inclusion certainly lifts the film above the complete sausage-fest it otherwise would have been.

Fleder may not indulge himself too much, this is a straightforward tale told in a straightforward manner, he knows how to make the best of Rosenberg's screenplay, which could easily have been ruined and made more forgettable by an attempt to match the many other Tarantino-esque crime thrillers (of which this is certainly one) from this time. The dialogue feels natural to the characters, as opposed to trying too hard to be super-cool in every exchange, and the cast are allowed to give enough substance to their performances to make them feel like more than just stereotypes/archetypes.

It's easy to see why some who didn't see this back when it was first released would continue to ignore it. It's a specific type of film from a specific time that makes it a risky proposition. I would say that it exceeds any expectations, however, and the traditional approach to the material, including the score from Michael Convertino, as well as every other element, allows it to feel more timeless and enduring than many other titles that just had the idea of putting criminals at the heart of the plot and trying to give them all memorable soundbites.

9/10

Wednesday, 13 November 2024

Prime Time: The Prowler (1951)

Credited to writer Hugo Butler, but actually written by Dalton Trumbo, The Prowler may be easier to overlook than many other films from director Joseph Losey, but that doesn't necessarily make it not worth your time. In fact, it's a deliciously dark and twisted little noir that develops a growing sense of real danger and dread all the way to a fantastic finale.

Evelyn Keyes is Susan Gilvray, a woman who phones the police one evening when she suspects a prowler in her area (hence the title, but there may be more than one prowler as the movie plays out). Susan is married to a radio personality who spends most of his evenings entertaining the masses before signing off with a namecheck for his wife. That makes it easier to plan some evening-time shenanigans when Susan is given some attention from Webb Garwood (Van Heflin), one of the cops who was called about the prowler situation. Both of our main characters seem to want the same thing, but feelings can change, and that's when The Prowler starts to twist and turn as Webb plots to have Susan all for himself, as well as a bit of money that could help them to lead a comfortable life together.

Like many other wonderful film noirs from this time, The Prowler starts off with a spark between two people who should really know better than to help turn it into a crackling fire. The fact that one of the main characters is a policeman adds an interesting layer to the proceedings, as does the fact that it's the male who may well prove to be the more dangerous and manipulative character. A potential homme fatale.

Trumbo's script is more interested in the plotting than any sharp dialogue, and it's wonderful to watch everything fall into place as he builds towards a powerful third act. Nothing is left ambiguous, and it's amusing to see every step toward temptation highlighted like some tasty apple hanging from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Losey directs with the sure hand that he had on almost every film he helmed, knowing the noir elements being brought to the fore while also happily exploring the relationship and dynamic between the two main characters in ways that feel ever so slightly removed from the more entrenched ways of presenting this kind of morality play.

Both Keyes and Heflin are enjoyable in the main roles, neither one afraid to fully lean into the moments that shade their character with even more darkness. Although the supporting cast isn't expansive, it includes John Maxwell, Katherine Warren, Wheaton Chambers, and one or two others circling the core of the premise while trying not to get themselves dragged down into the developing whirlpool. Those just mentioned are highlights, but everyone onscreen does a fine job with the roles given to them.

Despite the 92-minute runtime, which I would say is a bit lengthy for this premise, the film never drags. It may be slight, but it's a viewing experience akin to being placed on the beach and allowing loved ones to cover your legs and body with lots and lots of sand until, despite the warmth and the fun of it all, you suddenly notice that you can't actually move enough to extricate yourself from what has been a happy and sun-kissed burial.

7/10

Tuesday, 12 November 2024

Noirvember: Snake Eyes (1998)

Brian De Palma is a director not really known for his subtlety, which makes it all the more surprising that he has only made the one film starring the also-notably-unsubtle Nicolas Cage. Let's not mourn the films we haven't been given though. Instead, let's celebrate what we got. Snake Eyes is quite ridiculous, but I'll argue strenuously against anybody who tries to deny that it is also a hell of a lot of fun.

Cage is Rick Santoro, a dodgy cop who ends up with a chance to become a celebrity when he's attending a boxing match that is interrupted by the assassination of a major political figure. Working alongside a friend, Commander Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise), Santoro needs to figure out what boxer Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw) has to do with the plot as he also tries to track down a mystery woman (Carla Gugino). And he does all this while being watched by some typically smooth and lively De Palma shot choices.

You know what you're in for almost as soon as Snake Eyes starts, quickly moving to a sequence that allows Cage to be as over the top and exuberant as usual while the camera seems to track through the onscreen environment with hidden edits that make it all seem like one huge tracking shot. De Palma wants viewers to have fun, but he also knows how to expertly ratchet up the tension in one or two key sequences. The screenplay by David Koepp (who developed the story with De Palma) is playful and energetic, despite the action mainly taking place in the one location, and there's a nice mix of subversion and tradition running through all of the key elements.

While he is always a divisive figure, Cage does his part to help make this as propulsive and energised as it is, delivering a typically robust turn that allows him to show a number of different facets of his character. Sinise isn't as well-rounded, but he does well with what he's given, particularly in the second half of the movie when things start to twist and turn more. Shaw convinces as a championship boxer, he certainly has the physique for it, and Gugino convinces as the kind of character who could be either a "damsel in distress" or a femme fatale. There are also moments for Kevin Dunn (a sports reporter who ends up in the middle of a big news story), Luis Guzman (the kind of guy who is forced to pay some money over to Santoro for a bit of peace), Mike Starr (working the security cameras), and John Heard (in a role that just feels like it was marked "get John Heard").

The score by Ryûichi Sakamoto, the work from D.P. Stephen H. Burum, the editing by Bill Pankow, everything comes together here to elevate a wonderfully pulpy bit of neo-noir into something eminently watchable and satisfying, from the audacious opening to a darkly comedic footnote. It might never deliver a knockout blow, and it's not quite top-tier De Palma, but Snake Eyes is a loud and dazzling spectacle for most of the 98-minute runtime.

7/10

Monday, 11 November 2024

Mubi Monday: Brother (2000)

Another Japanese gangster directed by, written by, and starring Takeshi Kitano, Brother is a decent little character study that soars when the focus stays on the two leads at the heart of it, but stumbles when it has to work through the criminal acts and violence affecting their lives.

Kitano plays Yamamoto, a Japanese gangster who escapes to Los Angeles after his boss is killed. He has some connections there, mainly Kato (Susumu Terajima), who accompanied him on his journey from Japan, and his half-brother, Ken (played by Claude Maki). Putting a new "clan" together, largely made up of friends of Ken, Yamamoto eventually proves himself to be a strong and ruthless leader, able to deal easily with most enemies trying to stop him from growing his territory and influence. He also becomes firm friends with Denny (Omar Epps), despite the fact that their first meeting didn't go well. Unfortunately, anyone looking to profit from crime in America eventually comes up against one of the biggest gangs of them all - the Mafia.

Although Kitano is a consistently interesting and enjoyable film-maker, and I wouldn't dismiss Brother as a bad film, this seems much weaker when compared to his directorial efforts before and after. The third act, in particular, feels similar to other, better, features helmed by Kitano, despite the culture clash element putting a slightly different spin on things.

There are some nice individual moments throughout, and some sharp dialogue here and there, but nothing feels fully-formed when it comes to the central narrative strand showing the growth of the gang and the effectiveness of their tactics. The editing doesn't help, nor does the strange tone, often juxtaposing threats and murder with a flippancy or humour that lessens the impact of those acts.

For all his faults in the big chair, Kitano does better in front of the camera. He's as watchable and wonderfully laconic as he has been in many other roles, and any scene involving him and Epps together proves to be a highlight, with his co-star proving to be a perfect counter-balance, and a small window through which to glimpse what could be another road through life. The supporting cast also do well, but they essentially feel like they're surplus to requirements whenever Kitano and Epps deliver the best moments.

Whatever Kitano does is worth your time, but some of his work is more worthy of your time than others. I would still recommend this to people, especially fans of either star. It's just not one I think will be remembered a few weeks down the line. And I certainly wouldn't be rushing to revisit it.

6/10

Sunday, 10 November 2024

Netflix And Chill: Femme (2023)

Expanding on a short film made a couple of years previously (that starred Harris Dickinson and Paapa Essiedu in the main roles), Femme is a fascinating and complex character study that looks at sexuality, damaging machismo, revenge, consent, and homophobia. Co-written and co-directed by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, it's a brilliantly tense and breathtaking work that marks them out as two exciting talents to keep a close eye on.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett plays Jules, a young man we first see in his drag queen persona. He looks so good that he catches the eye of Preston (George MacKay). Later on, however, Preston is with a group of friends in a small shop that Jules is using, leading to a confrontation that ends with Jules being violently attacked. Retreating further and further inside himself, Jules eventually starts to regain his confidence, and a sense of purpose, when he befriends Preston, who doesn't recognise him in his non-stage persona, and figures out that he can use sex to entrap and embarrass him.

I really wasn't sure about Femme when it started. Nothing to do with the subject matter, I just don't always respond well to MacKay in lead roles. He's a good actor, but not always the right fit for the roles he gets, and I was worried that his character here would feel like the character he played in I Came By. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. He's still not the ideal choice, especially when you think of how good Dickinson was in the first incarnation of the character, but you can't feel him struggling to maintain the accent and act this time around. It helps that he's often alongside Stewart-Jarrett, who is phenomenally good in his role (whether leaning into his drag queen persona or being forced to "pass" in the company of Preston's friends). There are a handful of others populating the screen, all doing well, but this is all about the two leads, and both have enough faith in the material to fully commit to roles that require them to be unhesitant and nakedly intimate with one another (metaphorically and, sometimes, almost literally).

Freeman and Ping know what they're doing here, and they guide viewers through these muddy waters with a very steady set of hands. There's the kind of standard narrative arc that you would expect from that plot description, but there's also much more going on around that. Both Preston and Jules fail to keep themselves within any one particular box, and both act around other people in ways that often cost themselves a chance for moments of happiness. This isn't dissimilar to how so many people act every day, although there may be very different factors involved, and everyone watching this should be able to empathise with some of the interactions depicted (particularly the peer pressure that, to a certain degree, holds both of our leads back at various times).

I can't even begin to properly pick apart all of the threads that I mentioned in the first paragraph, but just know that everything mentioned here is treated with intelligence and care as the film builds to a powerful and moving finale. The audio and visuals match the energy of each main sequence, as well as the growing intensity, and the whole thing is a perfect blend of the gripping and the thought-provoking. Highly recommended, and bonus points if you sit down to watch it in the company of any homophobes you want to start a dialogue with, or just make feel very uncomfortable.

9/10

Saturday, 9 November 2024

Shudder Saturday: The J-Horror Virus (2023)

It's always very difficult to figure out a way to review a documentary. I say this every time I review a documentary, which I don't do often, and it never gets any easier. The big positive is that when I do review a documentary it tends to be one that I have a strong reaction to. I hoped to enjoy The J-Horror Virus, which is why I bumped it to the top of my viewing schedule as soon as it was more easily available to me, and I am happy to say that it didn't let me down.

Co-directed by Sarah Appleton and Jasper Sharp, this is a well-balanced and well-shaped journey through the boom period at the turn of century that made horror fans start to take notice of the films coming from Japan (as well as China, South Korea, and Thailand). If I started to list the best films from this time then you would probably head off to watch them right now, hopefully coming back here to finish this review after you've finished your viewings, so I'll just hope that we have some common ground when it comes to a fair knowledge of the big titles.

Restricting themselves to what they quite rightly cite as the peak years of J-Horror appreciation, Appleton and Sharp also ensure that they cover the essential factors that came together to create a perfect storm: a history steeped in great ghostly legends and the ability to get great equipment and results on much lower budgets. Not only do they assemble the expected talent from behind the camera (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Shimizu, and Shin'ya Tsukamoto among them), but they also get some great tales from Rie Ino'o AKA THE Sadako from Ring and Ring 2.

As I have been at pains to point out on many other occasions, horror is a consistently important and profitable genre, helping both studios and the cinema tills through some very difficult times. The J-Horror explosion not only helped horror fans to find some modern classics, including films that established iconography and shiver-inducing moments still reverberating through the genre now, and surely for many years from now, but it also helped people to discover a greater variety of films from the likes of Takashi Miike, Takeshi Kitano, Park Chan-wook, Kim Ki-duk, and Kôji Shiraishi, as well as a few others. If you want to know the full width and breadth of titles that fans were discovering at this time then just hunt around online for a full list of the Tartan Asia Extreme DVDs that were released (a distribution company that many were sad to see disappear, although many of the titles have since been released by other boutique labels).

But I digress. J-Horror is an important part of cinema history, and Appleton and Sharp do an excellent job of contextualising and celebrating it. Like any good documentary, this reveals some wonderful bits of information you may not have previously known and it makes you keen to learn more about the central subject matter, which can easily be done by working your way through the many titles namechecked/shown. Sugoi.

8/10

Friday, 8 November 2024

Noirvember: The Last Stop In Yuma County (2024)

A man walking into a diner has been the starting point for many a thriller/neo-noir, and that's pretty much the case here. Viewers should recognise Jim Cummings as the main character, a knife salesman, and they should be ready to see how the plot revolves around him when pieces start falling into place. That's if he survives beyond the opening scenes, of course. Bad things happen to good people in the world of noir, and good people aren't always as good as they seem.

Cummings plays one part here, but there are many other characters onscreen alongside him. Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue) works in the diner. Vernon (Faizon Love) works at the nearby gas station and motel, but he cannot refuel any vehicles until the delivery arrives to replenish the empty pumps. Travis (Nicholas Logan) and Beau (Richard Brake) are a couple of patrons who seem like wrong 'uns, and not just because one of them is played by Brake. They've robbed a bank, which makes it very unlucky for everyone else that they cannot just get their car tank filled up enough to make a getaway.

This is the feature debut from writer-director Francis Galluppi, who has been honing his craft in a number of shorts and music videos helmed over the past seven years (including two early works that, from the plot summaries I read, seem to contain kernels of ideas more fully developed here). Whether it comes to fruition or not, Galluppi is currently tapped to direct one of the upcoming Evil Dead projects, which perhaps gives you an idea of the skillset he displays.

Galluppi puts everything together well, but his biggest strength is arguably self-control that stops him from having to fill every space. The 90-minute runtime is perfect for the fairly tight scenario we see playing out. Dialogue is sharp and loaded with pertinent information, but there are also moments of quiet tension that say just as much via the visuals.

It also helps that the cast are uniformly fantastic. Cummings is a great choice for his role, bringing the slight nerviness that he has done so well in a number of previous movies (including his own directorial outings), and Donahue is someone you hope to see beat the odds when it comes to surviving a snowballing situation like this one. Logan and Brake are believable, the latter particularly so (it's his gift), and Love excels in his small supporting role, as do Gene Jones, Ryan Masson, Sierra McCormick, Jon Proudstar, Michael Abbott Jr. (as the local Sheriff), and Connor Paolo (a deputy). Horror genre fans will also appreciate cameos from Barbara Crampton and Alex Essoe.

There are a couple of well-chosen songs on the soundtrack to complement what I am going to loosely refer to as set-pieces, things weave left and right on the way to a final act that eventually becomes as apparently inevitable as it is satisfying, and the whole thing is so well-constructed and entertaining that it marks Galluppi out as a hell of a talent to keep an eye on.

8/10

Thursday, 7 November 2024

Noirvember: Underworld U. S. A. (1961)

Few onscreen words reassure me more than “written, produced, and directed by Samuel Fuller”. I love Fuller’s work, and consider everything that he was involved with to be worth your time. Not every one of his films is truly great, but he has an impressively high hit rate, especially when it comes to his film noirs.

Underworld U. S. A. is a tale of crime, murder, and revenge. It introduces us to a young Tolly Devlin, a kid who is set on a dark and dangerous path through life after witnessing his father being murdered by gangsters. Tolly is in and out of trouble, and as an adult (played by Cliff Robertson) he is determined to deal with those responsible for the death of his father. He does that by getting information that allows him to gain the trust of criminals he then aims to manipulate and trick into their destruction.

As well as Robertson in the lead role, who does well as a tough anti-hero, there are enjoyable performances here from Beatrice Kay, Dolores Dorn, Robert Emhardt, and Paul Dubov, respectively portraying two women who care about our leading man and two tough gangster boss types who could be near the top of a tree that is long overdue being chopped down. Richard Rust is also enjoyably threatening as Gus, the main assassin used by the gangsters.

While not top-tier Fuller, this is a typically entertaining and sharp noir from a master. About as dark and bitter as can be, with the signs all there early on that things may not end well, this somehow manages to feel well-balanced and narratively cohesive, despite being influenced by a couple of different sources (a magazine article of the same name by Joseph F. Dinneen, and a book, “Here Is To Crime”, by Riley Cooper).

In case it wasn’t obvious from my opening words, I am primed to enjoy any Samuel Fuller movie. This is a solid crime flick, even if the 99-minute runtime makes it feel a bit saggy in places, and any fan of the sub-genre should find enough to enjoy here. There are better Fuller films to check out first though, but this is one that deserves to be somewhere on your watchlist.

7/10

Wednesday, 6 November 2024

Prime Time: City Of Industry (1997)

Writer Ken Solarz has seen a movie or two. It’s easy to remember this when he keeps throwing so much onscreen that should be familiar to even the most casual viewer of crime movies. City Of Industry is chock full of dialogue and situations that have been in hundreds of other movies, and it doesn’t manage to put a fresh spin on anything being regurgitated throughout the 97-minute runtime.

A group of guys do a robbery, one big score that could set them up for a good life ahead (of course), but things soon go wrong when someone gets greedy, leading to a betrayed individual plotting some bloody revenge.

Director John Irvin mistakenly puts his faith in others here. He has a great cast to work with, but very few of them are able to improve the material. In fact, one or two (mainly Stephen Dorff and Harvey Keitel) seem to lean into the idea that the characters were written in a way all too similar to some of their previous work.

Aside from Dorff and Keitel, although they aren’t awful (they just seem stuck in a certain lane that the script puts them in), the cast also includes Timothy Hutton, Wade Dominguez, Michael Jai White, Lucy Liu, Dana Barron, and Famke Janssen. It’s the women who do much better, maybe because they have to work harder in roles that would be completely forgettable with less capable performers.

Derivative and uninspired, this feels like exactly what it is - a 1997 crime thriller that wants to be Tarantino-esque without having any actual Tarantino talent attached. So we’re left with thin characters, laughably tired dialogue, and a plot that tries to twist and turn slightly while heading towards a very predictable third act. Not recommended, especially when I can point you towards at least a dozen other “Tarantino-lite” crime thrillers that work better than this.

3/10

Tuesday, 5 November 2024

Noirvember: The Mob (1951)

Let’s start at the end with this one. If you somehow caught the final scene of this film when it was on TV then you could be forgiven for thinking it was an episode of Police Squad. It ends on a light note that I could easily see being played out by Leslie Nielsen and company while some major perp figured out that they could escape as everyone stayed in a freeze-frame position. That’s quite a difference when compared to how it all starts, but I feel that it’s only fair to warn people who may want their film noirs to be hard-boiled from start to finish.

Based on a novel, Waterfront, by Ferguson Findley, this is the tale of a tough cop (Johnny Damico, played by Broderick Crawford) who is tasked with going undercover to gain entry to, and climb, the criminal underworld career ladder. Damico needs to get to the top man, but that might only happen if he stays alive long enough.

One of the earlier films to be directed by Robert Parrish, who wore a number of hats during his time in the movie business, The Mob is a serviceable screenplay from William Bowers that is elevated by some choice cast members doing their bit to help everything move along quickly and entertainingly enough.

Crawford may not be the best lead, but he definitely has the attitude for the role. He convinces as someone tough and fearless enough to do what he has been asked to do, and there’s never any doubt about him keeping his moral compass pointing in the right direction. A couple of the main heavies are played by Neville Brand and Ernest Borgnine, both fantastic in their roles, and the latter having the added bonus of just having that Borgnine presence (of course). Betty Buehler, Lynn Baggett, and Jean Alexander portray a variety of women who are slightly connected to a couple of the main characters, and Richard Kiley, Otto Hulett, and Matt Crowley play important roles in guiding the fate of our lead.

There are enough good moments throughout to make this worth a viewing, but the teeth of the film are filed down more when they should be getting sharper. The third act feels far too safe and tame, and also slightly rushed when the very last scenes start to play out, despite the 87-minute runtime that should be more than enough for this kind of thing.

Good enough for crime film fans, but far from essential viewing. At least you can keep your eyes peeled for that briefest appearance of a young Charles Bronson though. That’s a small bonus.

6/10

Monday, 4 November 2024

Mubi Monday: The Tsugua Diaries (2021)

Hmmm. That's about the best thing I can say about The Tsugua Diaries. Hmmm. Showing a series of days in reverse chronological order (hence the title, see how August is spelled backwards in the title, get it?), this is a fairly weak work of meta-fiction that blends lines between reality and fiction in a surprisingly uninteresting way. The fact that it is set during the 2020 pandemic is the only interesting thing about it, providing an interesting time capsule and a look at how everybody, but especially creative artists, started to think about interactions, keeping themselves safe, and being able to continue their work.

The main characters onscreen are Crista, Carloto, and João, played respectively by Crista Alfaiate, Carloto Cotta, and João Nunes Monteiro, which I think tells you everything you need to know. They're part of a group of people trying to make a movie during a situation that has taken a turn for the strange. Lockdown, new rules about masking and distancing, and general concerns make things extra tense for people, as is crystallised in a scene at about the halfway point showing someone being berated for taking himself away for some time at the beach.

Co-directed by Maureen Fazendeiro and Miguel Gomes, who also apparently co-wrote the thing with Mariana Ricardo, and all three also appear in front of the camera (of course), this is a loose and rambling examination of an unsettling reality. It's worth remembering two main things though. First of all, Hitchcock once said that drama is simply life with "the dull bits cut out", which doesn't happen here, so you have a slice of life, dullness and all. Second, lockdown was, for many people, even more dull than usual. It's when people started making lots of home-made bread, and trying out other recipes in their kitchens. Many of us found shows to binge-watch, some started to go a bit stir crazy, and news reports showed the worst of humanity when people would race against one another to stock up on rice, pasta, and huge multipacks of toilet rolls. Some people loved it, I still wish every establishment had codes for table ordering to save me from extra social interactions, but many found it intolerably dull, and not great for their mental health. So . . . here's a film allowing you to remember those days. It's not exactly the nostalgia we crave a la Stand By Me.

Some may appreciate that the film-makers still managed to get something made during very difficult times. Some may appreciate the honesty of one or two key moments. I didn't appreciate any of it. This felt a bit too self-indulgent, and also a bit too cavalier about the central subject matter (which, lest we forget, is still affecting many to this day, it just isn't deemed newsworthy right now). I didn't care about anyone onscreen, I wasn't impressed by the editing choices, and it was taking me back to a time that I would much rather see used for educational purposes than art or entertainment. It's 102 minutes, but feels longer, and I am just glad that I hope to never have to sit through it again. In summation, I detah it.

2/10

Sunday, 3 November 2024

Netflix And Chill: Anja (2020)

Sometimes you can watch a film that is ambitious enough to make you overlook a variety of flaws. It can be easy to remember that not everyone has the budget and resources to get their vision onscreen in the way they would prefer. But when the biggest flaw is the script, and it feels so sorely misjudged, then it’s hard to look beyond the weaker aspects.

Anja is essentially the tale of a lonely man named Andrej (Roberto Caccavo) and an encounter with the titular young woman (Larthia Galli Nannini) that leads him into a criminal underworld as he tries to figure out a mystery that either connects directly to Anja or connects directly to his own past.

Directors Pablo Benedetti and Paolo Martini, working from a script co-written by Martini and Giuseppe Calandriello, show a disappointing lack of experience and imagination here. They know the tropes they want to work around, they know the style they want to emulate, but they cannot do anything with the material that feels interesting or worthwhile. And the mystery at the heart of it all feels like a mishandled MacGuffin. I might be doing everyone involved a disservice, but this feels at times like a failed attempt to emulate David Lynch without really understanding his skillset.

The cast are fine, arguably better than the material deserves. Caccavo makes for a perfect male lead, slightly naive as he gets himself entangled in something that quickly spirals into a deadly predicament. Nannini looks the part, and is shown in a state of vulnerability that may or may not be accurate, but is certainly enough to motivate our “hero” anyway. Désirée Georgetti and Samuele Batistoni are two other main characters, both potentially manipulating the situation to solve a problem of their own.

I really wanted to like this, and the early scenes pointed at a film that was going to at least deliver what most would expect from this kind of thing, but it soon starts to go downhill, and keeps sliding further and further towards a final scene that it’s almost impossible to care about. The whole thing ends up being an unenjoyable mess, although there’s at least a consistency in the dark visual style used throughout that hints at better things to come from those behind the camera when they have better material to work with.

3/10

Saturday, 2 November 2024

Shudder Saturday: The Exorcism (2024)

Co-written and directed by Joshua John Miller, it's worth starting any review of The Exorcism by reminding people of who Joshua John Miller is. He's many things, including an actor, writer, and director. But, and it's most important in relation to this movie, he's also a son of Jason "Father Karras in The Exorcist" Miller. That's most important here because The Exorcism is very much in dialogue with The Exorcist. You could even consider one as an attempt to exorcise the spirits of the other, but maybe that's overthinking things.

Russell Crowe plays Anthony Miller, an actor trying to keep himself in order as he portrays a priest in a horror movie about an exorcism. The film is called The Georgetown Project, and it bears a major resemblance to the landmark horror film famously filmed in that area (although that film is namechecked, which means we're in a world in which that film already exists). Miller is trying to stay away from alcohol, trying to stay connected to his daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), and trying not to be too disorientated by the content of the film, especially while the director (Adam Goldberg) keeps pushing him to tap into uncomfortable memories of abuse and pain.

The last time I watched Russell Crowe get involved with some demon-wrestling exorcisms was when I watched The Pope’s Exorcist. That film was fun, and Crowe seemed to be having a lot of fun in the lead role. This film is the polar opposite of that. Crowe isn’t having fun, and neither are viewers.

Alongside Crowe and Simpkins are a great mix of players who all deserve better. David Hyde Pierce gets to utter dialogue that his most famous sitcom creation would justifiably ridicule, Goldberg is a cartoon depiction of an angry star director, Chloe Bailey doesn’t get enough to do, and there are irrelevant amounts of screentime for Adrian Pasdar and Sam Worthington. Simpkins probably fares the best, mainly because she’s at the heart of the drama without having to do all of the contorting and snarling that Crowe delivers.

Miller has done good work before this, and I am sure he will do something else worth my time sometime in the future, but this is truly dire. Maybe directing isn’t his strong suit, especially when you consider that this is only the second feature he has helmed in twenty five years. M. A. Fortin doesn’t help in his co-writing role either, despite being a long-term collaborator with Miller, which makes me think the biggest problem here stems from someone wrestling with a project that they cannot view with any objectivity. Miller is the reason this exists, and he is the reason that it collapses like an underbaked soufflé.

Although it’s all put together with the level of technical competence and polish that the budget allows, The Exorcism still manages to sink to the bottom of the 2024 horror movie barrel. And I can only hope that it stays there, perhaps pinned under anything else that we can send down there to ensure it doesn’t try to float back to the top.

2/10

Friday, 1 November 2024

Noirvember: 5 Against The House (1955)

Isn't it always the way. You come up with a jape that involves the perfect robbery, with a casino as your main target, and then someone thinks it's a serious idea, meaning they want to see it all played out for real. That's the basic premise of 5 Against The House, a lightweight and fun noir that props up a weak cast of males with a supporting turn from the lovely Kim Novak.

Al, Brick, Ronnie, and Roy are all university students, and all making their way through the education system after already doing their bit for Uncle Sam in the military. While having a fun time at a casino, our leads see an attempted robbery. This leads to Al (Guy Madison) thinking about how the attempt could have been successful. It's all fun and games, until Brick (Brian Keith) keeps chewing over the idea like a toothpick. Al just wants a nice life, and hopes to marry his swell gal, Kay (Novak), but the gang are about to be drawn into a criminal plan that Brick now thinks is foolproof.

Based on a story by Jack Finney, this is a surprisingly tame and sweet noir from director Phil Karlson, who has more than one or two superior gems tucked away in his lengthy filmography (including Kansas City Confidential and the excellent Scandal Sheet). The screenplay, credited to Stirling Silliphant, William Bowers, and John Barnwell, seems to make the mistake of assuming that all of the cast members are charismatic enough to carry viewers through some dull patches (sadly, that's not the case), but it is helped by the many moments that involve one or more interaction from Madison, Keith, or Novak. Alvy Moore and Kerwin Mathews are Roy and Ronnie, respectively, but they never feel like a vital part of the main group.

If you don't like the criminal plot at the heart of things then maybe you'll like the student shenanigans when our leads are trying to convincingly act like they're not too old to be getting up to such hijinks, or maybe you'll like the look at PTSD affecting one of the main characters (which is interesting to see as a main plot point, considering how long it took to really start acknowledging it as an issue). Sadly, however, you may just find that the film jumps between different tones without settling on anything that keeps you truly satisfied. I enjoyed the strange mix, but I can see many others being very disappointed.

Novak shines in a role that could otherwise have been easy to overlook, and she almost completely steals the movie away from everyone else. Keith is an enjoyable force to be reckoned with though, and makes the arc of his character more interesting and entertaining with the force of his presence, which allows Madison to impress opposite him by simply remaining calm and stoic. Moore adds some levity, Mathews adds not very much, and there's a selection of nondescript, but dependable, supporting players filling out the rest of the cast.

I'm unlikely to ever revisit this one (never say never though), and I'm not going to rush to recommend it to others seeking some darker film noir thrills, but I had a good enough time with it, there are a few decent set-pieces, and anyone already a fan of any of the leads should at least watch it once.

6/10

Thursday, 31 October 2024

The Well (2023)

I'll be repeating things already said by others while reviewing The Well, but that just shows that it has a very certain appeal to horror fans, and it succeeds in what it sets out to do. Because, as you may have already been made aware, this is a film that feels very much like a throwback to the gory Euro-horrors of the 1980s and early '90s.

Lauren LaVera plays Lisa, a young woman who ends up in a large house in the middle of nowhere as she sets about restoring a very damaged painting. Lisa encountered a group of young travellers on the way to her job, and the movie shows those people being put in peril, and grievous bodily harm, as Lisa starts to suspect that something is amiss at her place of temporary employment. Her employer, Emma (Claudia Gerini), needs Lisa to hit a very specific deadline, but Emma's daughter, Giulia (played by Linda Zampaglione), doesn't want the job finished.

Although there are enough people in the cast to keep the deadly set-pieces flowing throughout the runtime, this is based very much around our three leads and one hulking killer who seems to live to supply the titular well with fresh meat. The killer is an enjoyably horrifying menace, but everyone is given just enough to make themselves feel worth spending some time with just before a potentially grisly demise, which is a pleasant surprise when evaluating the cheesy script co-written by Stefano Masi and director Federico Zampaglione (and yes, that is his daughter cast in the role of Giulia). The dialogue might not tickle your earlobes, but there's enough done to identify people as individuals and have viewers retaining a small hope that one or two escape their predicament.

Zampaglione knows exactly what he is making, and he moves into each gory set-piece with gusto, getting in close whenever flesh is being chopped and limbs are being removed. The unfolding "mystery" is pretty obvious, but our lead character is helpfully motivated to stick around by the young girl that she ends up feeling protective of.

LaVera is an excellent lead, and already quite the horror celeb due to her role in the Terrifier movie series, and she's easy to spend time with, and root for when things start getting even more dangerous for her in the third act. Gerini is enjoyably shifty, as expected, as is Zampaglione, and both slightly overact in that way that helps the film feel more in line with the films that it is emulating than any slicker modern horrors. I'm not going to pretend that I could spot all of the other cast members in any line-up, but I stand by the opinion that they're all helped just enough by the script to make themselves feel like more than bodybags-in-waiting.

It's not interested in being clever or revolutionary, but The Well is a hell of a lot of bloody fun. Horror movie fans should have a good time with it, and it shows how you can craft something that has memorable kills AND a decent enough narrative moving between the set-pieces.

7/10

Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera 3: Revenge Of Iris (1999)

It's near the end of the road for Gamera, in terms of cinematic outings (one more main feature after this one, is it time for a revival?), and this particular outing brings together a couple of familiar characters to root for Gamera as it ends up fighting a giant creature named Iris that really isn't like a version of Mothra at all, honest.

There are more Gyaos around, dealt with by Gamera in a way that leads to major collateral damage (aka thousands dead). This leads to some once again viewing Gamera as an enemy of the people. Meanwhile, a young girl, Ayana (Ai Maeda), finds a stone egg that she looks after until hatching time, leading to the birth of Iris. Ayana and Iris have a bond with one another, and the girl is manipulated into directing her resentment and anger (her parents died during a previous kaiju incident) towards Gamera. Mayumi Ngamine (Shinobu Nakayama) knows the truth though, how things need to play out for the benefit of the human race, and she hopes that Asagi Kusanaga (Ayako Fukitani) can help Gamera to win what may be their toughest battle yet.

It's Shûsuke Kaneko in the director's chair again, and Kazunori Itô back as a co-writer, which guarantees a consistency of approach and style that helps to make this feel like a fitting third part of a trilogy. It never feels like a full ending though, with those involved perhaps hoping to make another movie that would serve as an immediate continuation of this particular cinematic chapter of Gamera (the next film, Gamera The Brave, would end up being released in 2006, with a different writer and director on the job). The special effects are very good, with Iris a particularly eye-catching creation, the pacing works well enough, and anyone who enjoyed the previous two movies in the series will enjoy this, even if it is a slight step down from the last film.

With both Nakayama and Fukitani reprising their main roles, the latter having been in all three of these movies, there's a solid through line for their character development, and it's nice to have that extra sense of familiarity, a comforting core of Gamera support while so many others view the creature as an enemy to be destroyed. Maeda is very good as the person inadvertently helping to destroy our hero, and Senri Yamasaki and Tôru Tezuka are good fun as the real villains of the piece.

Although not as memorable as I suspect it wants to be, this is another solid Gamera feature, and it does well in balancing the human element with the big fight scenes. It delivers what you would want, but doesn't quite do enough to exceed expectations. All in all, it's a good time.

7/10