For It Is Man's Number

Thursday 17 October 2024

It (2017)

Adapting what is, for many, a formative reading experience into a movie is always a challenge. Attempting to do that after there's already been a fantastic, and beloved, TV movie adaptation that many still view as definitive and iconic would seem to be a fool's errand. It's happened before with Stephen King works though, and I have no doubt that it will happen again. I'm not sure I would mind if they all turned out as well as this.

It, and it's worth mentioning for those who may be unaware that this is the first, albeit nicely self-contained, part of an enjoyably sprawling horror story that is spread out over two movies, is all about a group of youngster who help one another survive an extremely deadly summer in Derry, Maine. They all end up being affected by a creature that can take on the shape of their fears, although it mostly catches victims while in the shape of Pennywise the clown (Bill Skarsgård, doing such a great job that he somehow manages to equal the nightmare-inducing performance given by Tim Curry in the 1990 TV movie). That's all you need to know. Seven children, a lifelong bonding experience, and a killer clown.

Having very recently rewatched this, I am sure that I was a bit harsh on It during my first viewing experience. I did praise certain elements, particularly the mix of scares and bloodshed without a reliance on either, but I also mentioned some unnecessary CGI used, a slightly weak script, and the fact that the main characters weren't really. Well . . . present me disagrees with the past me (although I still think there are one or two bits of CGI work that didn't have to be done that way, or maybe even done at all).

With Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman figuring out the best ways to turn King's major tome into a satisfying screenplay, Andy Muschietti can stay focused on direction. The screenplay is a great blend of coming-of-age episodes and well-executed scares, even if a number of them are jump scares, and Muschietti serves the material well. The film is, in many ways, a mood piece, a painting by someone who wants to depict growing pains and common anxieties in the same picture. And, in that regard, it works. In fact, it works brilliantly, constantly evoking a growing sense of nostalgia, the blossoming of dark petals of sadness, and an impressive sprinkling of dread over every main sequence.

There are no weak performances to critique, which makes it easy for me to simply namecheck all seven members of "The Loser's Club" here; Jaeden Martell (Bill, credited here as Jaeden Lieberher), Sophia Lillis (Beverly), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben), Finn Wolfhard (Richie), Chosen Jacobs (Mike), Jack Dylan Grazer (Eddie), and Wyatt Oleff (Stanley). All of these characters get enough time and space to feel like more than just a scared victim, and the cast members are all perfectly cast. Nicholas Hamilton and Owen Teague are also very good, although they are given the unenviable task of playing typical King bullies who are, and Jackson Robert Scott does well enough in the role of young Georgie to cast a suitable little shadow over the entire film. As for Skarsgård, he's a creepy and brilliant delight in ways that I cannot even begin to list here. Whether pretending to be innocent and fun or showing a hint of his true evil nature, he's always an interesting depiction of a monster never quite comfortable enough in any one form to fully convince people that there's no threat nearby.

The 135-minute runtime ticks over without any pacing issues, those responsible for the adaptation from page to screen have great instincts for what to show, what to imply, and what to completely excise, and the whole thing is just about as good as you can get, certainly in the realm of modern mainstream horror. It's still hard to watch without thinking of the novel, or thinking of that beloved TV movie, but it's easily up there with the very best King movies (and the top of that particular tree has some real classics nesting there).

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Wednesday 16 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe (1995)

A reboot of the movie series featuring everyone's favourite flying turtle-like kaiju, Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe is good fun for those already familiar with the IP.

The Gyaos are also back for this adventure, looking to cause mayhem and destruction in Japan until the arrival of Gamera. Always one to protect any children, first and foremost, Gamera this time forms a strong bong with young Asagi (Ayako Fujitani). This bond helps Asagi to inform others of what Gamera is trying to do, but that doesn't mean that everyone will view Gamera as an ally, especially when the government sees all of the damage caused by its actions.

While not on a par with the special effects of many other mid-'90s blockbusters I could mention here, this is certainly a step up from the crude charm of the earlier movies. The "lo-fi" approach feels like a decision that has been made to avoid alienating fans, but there are some nice little details and clarity added to the creatures and their wider range of actions this time around.

Writer Kazunori Itô, who had a great 1995 with his work on both this and Ghost In The Shell, does a very good job of delivering some facts for the uninitiated while also keeping things moving along for everyone eagerly awaiting some Gamera and/or Gyaos action. The same can be said for director Shûsuke Kaneko, doing more than enough to satisfy all-comers without hitting nowhere near the heights that he would reach in the years ahead (having given us even better kaiju movies, as well as the first superb live-action Death Note movie in 2006).

Cast-wise, things are also pretty good. Fujitani is likeable enough as young Asagi, and Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, and Shinobu Nakayama do well as other main characters trying to figure out how to put an end to the giant creature battles before Japan suffers too much collateral damage. You get the usual selection of authority figures (police, military personnel, and, ummmmm, civil servants), but the plotting allows for Asagi and co. to remain the clear focus while moving around in the shadows of the kaiju.

It's not quite as fun as some other instalments in the series, but this does what is required to successfully reboot everything, allowing us to get a couple of movies that are even better (well, I know the next film is a favourite of mine, but I'm being presumptuous about the as-yet-unseen Gamera 3: Revenge Of Iris). Whatever your personal preferences when it comes to individual instalments in the series, this should keep you happy enough if you've watched the other films that came before it.

7/10

Tuesday 15 October 2024

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (2023)

Based on one specific chapter from Dracula, this is an old-fashioned horror movie that makes great use of modern effects to depict, and enhance, a classic bit of text. Directed by André Øvredal, who is yet to helm a real stinker in his filmography, it's as easy to appreciate and enjoy this as it is to, sadly, see why it failed to find a big audience.

Corey Hawkins plays Clemens, a man who ends up getting himself hired as a crew member on the Demeter. Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) is a fair taskmaster, but he soon finds himself overwhelmed by numerous incidents that make everyone suspect their voyage may be cloaked in misfortune. It may well have something to do with their mysterious cargo, which won't be a surprise to anyone familiar with the source material.

Despite the inherent limitations of the source material (meaning the film takes place mainly in one location and with a fairly limited cast of characters), The Last Voyage Of The Demeter manages to come up with a number of inventive and entertaining ways to wander through very familiar territory. Writers Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz have less consistency than Øvredal, but they seem to work together well on something that approaches the trappings of the vampire movie with an impressive sense of reverence and earnestness.

While the cast are a mixed bag (I don't want to spend too much time discussing the accent work by David Dastmalchian, nor do I want to try to list those who play the more forgettable characters), the leads are excellent. Hawkins is the right person to carry this on his shoulders, especially when he can occasionally share the burden with Cunningham, Aisling Franciosi does very good work as a stowaway who knows the danger of the "cargo" being transported, and Javier Botet delivers yet another physical performance under heavy make up that puts him right alongside Doug Jones when it comes to being able to bring supernatural beings to life in solid humanoid form.

The runtime may be a touch too long, as the runtime clocks in at just under the 2-hour mark, but there's plenty to enjoy here, from start to finish. There's wonderful music from Bear McCreary, gorgeous cinematography from Tom Stern (although I did thing things a bit hard to see in a finale that sets everything in the middle of a dark and foggy area of the sea . . . but maybe that's more to do with my ageing eyes than the professionals working to create the visuals), and beautiful design work throughout every department, from sound to wardrobe, and everything in between.

It's far from perfect, especially when the screen has too many characters that aren't really memorable enough to do more than add to the bodycount, but this is an enjoyable and surprisingly bloody little film that makes good use of modern movie-making techniques to deliver something comfortably old-fashioned at heart, yet garnished with some impressive effects and bloodshed. Not recommended for the impatient, but tentatively recommended for vampire movie fans.

7/10

Monday 14 October 2024

Mubi Monday: Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2023)

Although I have often told people that a movie title tells you everything you need to know about the feature, it has rarely felt so specific. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is unlikely to be stumbled upon by people thinking that they're about to see anything other than that specific scenario, which is both good and bad. It's good to have films that aren't judged by people simply critiquing it for what it isn't, but it's bad to have titles like this consigned to a destiny of minor cult fandom.

Sara Montpetit plays Sasha, a young girl who ends up not being best-suited to the vampirism running through her family tree. She has more compassion than she should, which makes things very tricky when she's supposed to be finding victims to feed from. Things look up, however, when she meets Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard), a young man feeling suicidal, which could allow Sasha to plan a meal without being too bothered by any sense of guilt. Paul has some things to do before he faces the very end of his life though, and Sasha encourages him to make an effort to grab some satisfaction while he can.

Although we've seen many interesting, and often comedic, takes on vampirism over the past few decades, this feature debut from director Ariane Louis-Seize (working with writer Christine Doyon, also making her feature debut) is something that manages to be sweet and funny in a way that doesn't detract from the core idea of a young woman struggling to find a way to fit in with the traditions and expectations of her family. There are laughs to be had here, but it's a coming-of-age drama with some amusing moments throughout, as opposed to anything close to an outright comedy.

Nicely shot by Shawn Pavlin, this is time spent with characters living in darkness, both internally and externally, and the whole thing maintains a consistent atmosphere of a certain kind of limbo in which young people wake every day to engage in some horrible Sisyphean struggle; just getting through the hours ahead of them until they can retreat to the safety of their personal space once again.

Both Montpetit and Bénard are very good in their roles, two sensitive souls who ultimately bring out the best in one another. Both portray familiar character types without ever feeling as if they're showing us the kind of performances that we've seen many times before. Arnaud Vachon plays an irritating bully, something he does well enough to make you want to see him cross paths with the wrong "victim" eventually, and Noémie O'Farrell is very good as Sasha's cousin, Denise, someone already very inured to the idea of killing humans off for the sake of a consistent food supply.

Maybe lacking a real stand-out moment, and arguably a bit inconsequential by the time the end credits roll, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is a sweet and lovingly-handled work that deserves some more eyes on it. I'm not sure that will happen though, but that will just make it seem all the more valuable to those who enjoy it and hold it dear. And I'm happy to place myself in that camp.

8/10

Sunday 13 October 2024

Netflix And Chill: Emelie (2015)

It used to be the case that horror movies would spend a lot of time showing us a babysitter in grave danger. Now we have a decent selection of movies that show us that the call is coming from inside the house in a different way. Babysitters aren't as innocent and trustworthy as they used to be. Emelie certainly turns out to be someone that you wouldn't want to leave alone with your children.

The only feature film, so far, from director Michael Thelin, who co-wrote the story with writer Richard Raymond Harry Herbeck, this is a relatively simple tale of a babysitter who isn't who she says she is. Emelie (Sarah Bolger) turns up to look after Jacob (Joshua Rush), Sally (Carly Adams), and Christopher (Thomas Bair), and the parents (played by Chris Beetem and Randi Langdon) assume that she is the young woman they hired named Anna. They head off for a date night, happy that the children will have a responsible young woman taking care of them. Although things start off well enough, they soon take a turn for the strange when Emelie's charade is revealed.

Walking a fine line between the thrills that the movie needs and some small semblance of plausibility, Emelie is an entertaining and dark thriller that should please movie fans who are now used to seeing a twist on the standard "babysitter in peril" premise. There are enough details revealed to show the motivation, and mental state, of the main character, but everyone seems to be aware that this isn't the kind of thing that can sustain an overlong runtime (it clocks in at a judicious 82 minutes).

Bolger is very good in the titular role, revealing more and more of her real self as the evening unfolds. She's initially mischievous, but that soon turns into real malice when it looks as if things aren't going to go her way. Rush, Adams, and Bair all give fine performances as the children in her care, with Rush being allowed to get more work to do as his character starts to piece together the full extent of the danger that he and his siblings could be in. Beetem and Langdon are mostly offscreen, of course, but do get one or two surprisingly good moments as their date night comes to an end, Elizabeth Jayne is enjoyable as an "unwelcome" visitor who could scupper Emelie's plans, and Dante Hoagland is a welcome, if unnecessary addition, playing Jacob's friend, Dan.

Both Thelin and Herbeck have a good idea of just how far to take things before it all reaches a point of no return. There are no big surprises, and all of the tension comes from the simple fact that a group of innocent children have been placed in jeopardy by parents who don't realise that they've made a huge, and potentially deadly, mistake, but this is a decent little psychological thriller.

Not one to bump up your viewing list, especially if you have more highly-rated recommendations to check out, but this is worth the relatively short time investment required, if only just for the fantastic lead performance from Bolger, who seems to be having a blast portraying a character I'd love to see re-used elsewhere.

7/10

Saturday 12 October 2024

Shudder Saturday: Daddy's Head (2024)

Daddy’s Head is far from the first film to use the trappings of horror to explore grief. It’s also far from the first film to explore growing tension between a parent and child. I have to say though, considering the plot description, that I didn’t expect to be thinking of one specific film so often throughout my time viewing this. That film was The Babadook. And this is much better than that.

Young Isaac (Rupert Turnbull) is left in the care of his struggling step-mother, Laura (Julia Brown), after the sudden death of his father. It may only be a temporary situation, because Laura may barely be able to care for herself at this time, let alone a child, but maybe they can help one another through the dark tunnel of grief until they see light at the end. Or maybe an interloper will make things even more difficult for them, especially when it seems to be Isaac’s father, back from the dead in a twisted and malevolent form.

The second film from director Benjamin Barfoot, who also wrote the screenplay this time around after making his feature debut a few years ago with Double Date (a glorious horror comedy written by the lead, Danny Morgan), Daddy’s Head is much more interesting and thought-provoking than I expected it to be. Balancing out the good and the bad, as well as the straightforward drama and the standard horror movie moments, this is a mature and careful exploration of grief that many may pass over due to the title and basic plot description. The two main characters don’t necessarily mean to make things any more difficult for one another, they just aren’t able to make things any easier as they become more and more pre-occupied with managing their own pain.

Turnbull and Brown are equally excellent in roles that require them to show themselves in a very poor light. The script helps them to be problematic without making them unbearable, thanks to the strong current of grief running through the film and the well-balanced performances. There are a few good supporting cast members helping to remind viewers of the potential for outsiders to observe and judge our leads, but the others who deserve a mention are Nathaniel Martello-White, complicating things as a slightly-too-close friend of Laura, and Charles Aitken as “daddy”.

On the one hand, I’m not sure who to recommend this to. On the other hand, I would love everyone to watch this. It will be a divisive experience, especially with the way in which things play out in the very last scenes, but patient viewers should find themselves rewarded with a film that uses some pulp fiction to shine a light on a dark and vital aspect of the human experience.

8/10

Friday 11 October 2024

Salem's Lot (2024)

It's been 20 years since the last adaptation of Salem's Lot so I guess there's a chance that many people exploring the horror genre nowadays will be less familiar with the tale, first presented in a Stephen King novel that remains one of his best, before being turned into a traumatic TV movie directed by Tobe Hooper. There have also been other sojourns into, or near, the town, with A Return To Salem's Lot in the mid-1980s, and King himself expanding on the tale in separate short stories and as part of the threads winding through The Dark Tower book series. So I don't think it should ever be classed as something that cannot be revisited/reworked.

Lewis Pullman is our Ben Mears this time around, a writer who returns to the small town that he lived in for a time as a child. The town, and particularly one large house, has a certain pull to it. Ben forms a connection with Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh) while he is back in town, and befriends a schoolteacher named Matt Burke (Bill Camp). It doesn't take long for these three to notice that something strange is happening around them, with town residents disappearing or acting very odd, as a powerful vampire decides to make Jerusalem's Lot the base for his attempt to turn the USA into his own little Fangtasia.

The second film directed by Gary Dauberman, who helped to make the Annabelle series such a success, and also worked on the screenplay for both chapters of It, the biggest problem with Salem's Lot is something I wouldn't normally tend to complain about. It's far too short. Considering both of the main previous attempts to film this story have clocked in at about the 3-hour mark, this solo movie needs far more than the 114-minute runtime it gets. That becomes very obvious when scenes seem to clash against one another, allowing no time for the proper development of the bigger picture of a town being infected and turned into a ghost town (but, obviously, the ghosts are all vampires).

There are good moments here, all of the actual vampire stuff is well-handled (it's often spooky and inventive, if never actually scary), and the way in which certain scenes are reworked is often surprisingly successful, especially in the change of setting for the big final battle. It's just a shame that the pacing never feels right for most of the runtime, with the exception of a few set-pieces in the second half that you just know the rest of the movie was planned around.

Pullman is decent in the lead role, although he doesn't shine as brightly as some other potential choices (Ben Mears has never been the most memorable King character though, despite the greatness of the story). Leigh is better, with the advantage of being able to comment on a town that she's lived in all her life. Both Bill Camp and Alfre Woodard (playing Dr. Cody) are excellent, feeling quite appropriately like more experienced peers helping the younger leads to deal with a very odd situation, and there are also enjoyable performances from John Benjamin Hickey (as Father Callahan), William Sadler (Sheriff Parker Gillespie), Pilou Asbæk (as Mr. Straker), and Spencer Treat Clark (superbly unnerving as the grave-digger, Mike Ryerson). The other person to mention is Jordan Preston Carter, playing young Mark Petrie with an expected mix of wisdom, anger, and terror. Carter is very good in the role, although a couple of the best moments involving his character are slightly mis-handled, again all to do with the pacing.

Maybe we'll see the full version of this one day, and I don't doubt that there was a lot of extra work done in the editing room here. It's almost like watching a series on a streaming service and accidentally hitting the "play next episode" option twice, leaving you with a gap that you piece together as the ongoing narrative continues. There's still enough to enjoy here, and it's certainly not as bad as many other remakes I could mention. The visuals and atmosphere both have moments of brilliance, but it's clear from the opening credits and very first scenes that this is a film with much more just beyond the edges of the screen that horror fans would love to see.

6/10

Thursday 10 October 2024

Specters (1987)

A film that I had wanted to see ever since I saw the VHS cover somewhere close to Demons, it's hard to approach a film that has seemingly evaded me for almost four decades without some sense of optimism. I wasn't expecting any kind of classic, but I was hoping for some decent gore gags and good fun. Sadly, Specters has neither of those things present.

It's very standard stuff, in terms of Italian horror from the 1980s anyway. A professor of archaeology (Lasky, played by Donald Pleasence) heads up a research team as they uncover and explore an ancient tomb. It was sealed, of course, and it turns out that it was sealed with good reason. It's not long until some powerful presence is working through the group, killing them off, one by one.

While there aren't many names here that will be too familiar to film fans, one or two will stand out. Pleasence is, of course, the biggest name in front of the camera, although this isn't one of his best roles. Dardano Sacchetti, one of the writers, is arguably the main name behind the camera (having written numerous movies for Lucio Fulci, as well as Demons, and many other features). Director Marcello Avallone has about a dozen movies to his name, and he also joins Sacchetti, Andrea Puragtori, and Maurizio Tedesco in the writing department, with none of them managing to deliver a coherent and consistent narrative. Not that anyone explores horror movies from Italy in the 1980s with a yearning for coherence and consistency, but it's good when you get the feeling that whatever lunacy you are experiencing comes from the mind of someone who has some idea of their destination. That isn't the case here.

John Pepper and Trine Michelsen are the nominal leads, working in the shadow of the mighty Pleasence. They're not very good, neither one standing out enough from the crowd, and any one of the other main cast members - Massimo De Rossi, Riccardo De Torrebruna, Lavinia Grizi, Riccardo Parisio Perrotti, etc - could have been positioned in the main roles with very minor tweaks.

The music (by Lele Marchitelli and Danilo Rea) isn't bad, and there are one or two shots that make use of a decent puppet, but those are two minor positives in a film stuffed full of reasons to avoid it. The recycled sets never convince, the cast can't compensate for the weak script, the pacing makes it feel much longer than the 92-minute runtime, and the grand finale is shockingly tiresome and weak. One or two kills might impress viewers, but even they are pretty pathetic when compared to the grue and nastiness found in other films from this time and place.

You can't win 'em all, I guess, although I am sure that there are some people out there who are fans of this one. I'd love to know what won them over.

3/10

Wednesday 9 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera: Super Monster (1980)

I didn't expect much from this at all, a Gamera movie that seemed to be nothing more than a cheap "megamix" of past encounters, apparently made just to help a studio get out of some financial trouble. I am sure that many others will dismiss this, and perhaps it barely counts as a Gamera movie when considered alongside other, more original, instalments in the series (but really . . . how original is any Gamera movie after the first one?), but I ended up really enjoying it.

An alien enemy is threatening Earth, and they also hope to reveal the identity of some superheroes living here, the Spacewomen (played by Mach Fumiake, Yaeko Kojima, and Yoko Komatsu). Unable to work as effectively as they would like, especially while trying to keep themselves hidden away from the searching alien presence, the Spacewomen end up enlisting the help of a young boy, Keiichi (Koichi Maeda), who can himself enlist the help of Gamera.

Although every main kaiju battle here is lifted from previous movies, that doesn't matter so much when the film is so much fun. Gamera ends up battling Gyaos, Zigra, Viras, Jiger, Guiron, and Barugon, all familiar creatures to those who have watched the previous movies, and the end result of each fight isn't made any less enjoyable by being a foregone conclusion. The developing relationship between Keiichi and the Spacewomen is done well, and entertaining enough to keep things well-paced in between the giant battles.

Surprisingly, the main cast members work really well in what some may view as nothing more than "filler" scenes. Young Maeda is as lively and optimistic as the young children in these movies usually are, and even a bit more likeable than usual, and Fumiake is very good as Kilara, the leader of the Spacewomen.

Director Noriaki Yuasa is working again with writer Niisan Takahashi, and working again with stock footage (of course), and he does well to make this seem even occasionally like a film that has been put together with some thought and care. I'm not saying that Yuasa and Takahashi didn't bother at all about what they were doing, but they certainly had limitations on what they could stitch together. The fact that the final product is as coherent and entertaining as this is quite extraordinary.

I could see myself watching this again, ahead of some other weak Gamera movies. It has a selection of highlights, a fun sub-plot with the humanoid characters, and none of the plodding pacing issues that some of the other Gamera movies suffer from. And maybe my poor memory helps me to enjoy sequences that still feel exciting and fun, despite the fact that I've already watched them, in a slightly different context, over the past few months.

8/10

Tuesday 8 October 2024

Birth/Rebirth (2023)

A very impressive feature directorial debut from Laura Moss, who also co-wrote the script with Brendan J. O'Brien, Birth/Rebirth is a difficult watch, but one that uses a famous horror archetype to explore parenthood, pain, and grief.

Marin Ireland plays a doctor, Rose. She's a hospital pathologist who doesn't really interact well with others. She tends to stay focused on the bodies around her, and has a fascination with the biological process of pregnancy and childbirth, although dislikes the standard required conditions that usually lead to that. Judy Reyes is a maternity nurse named Celie, a woman thrown into a state of grief when her young daughter ends up dying. Things get worse when the body disappears, which leads Celie to the home of Rose, and the two start working together on a plan that Rose has to show that death doesn't need to be the end.

First things first, both Ireland and Reyes are excellent here. The former is definitely giving off an Angela Bettis/May vibe, but does it brilliantly, and shows a lot of frustration whenever it looks like things are about to go outwith her control. The latter is dropped into a situation that leads to strongly conflictiing emotions, but her parental urge is the main driving force allowing her to grit her teeth and do some unpleasant things that may help her daughter. A. J. Lister plays Lila, and she's very good in a role that requires some interesting physical work, and both Breeda Wool and Grant Harrison give excellent supporting turns, with Wool really put through some tough times, to put it mildly, as she becomes the third side of a triangle that she doesn't realise has been assembled.

The script is interestingly blunt throughout. There are no moments of philosophical poetry here, and Rose knows that there isn't much point in trying to reframe what she's trying to do. This is all about biology, for better or worse (exemplified in a scene that shows Rose getting a "semen sample" in an encounter with a fellow bar patron), and that's why things only become more complicated when Celie brings her emotion to the situation.

Moss has a good sense of discretion for what to show and what to imply, and her direction keeps things on just the right side of bearable, despite the difficult subject matter. This cannot be straightforward entertainment, not with the weight of the decisions being made and the morality being explored, but having the two leads forced to get along like unwilling co-parents means that Moss can look at things from different angles while also building up a real feeling of dread and horror on the way to a disturbing final act.

Really good stuff, the kind of film that makes you look forward to what everyone may do next (whether in front of, or behind, the camera), Birth/Rebirth has extremes of dark and light, as does every journey from birth to death, and treats some potentially schlocky material in a way that gives it some real weight and impact.

8/10

Monday 7 October 2024

Mubi Monday: The Sacrifice (1986)

The final feature from acclaimed director Andrei Tarkovsky, The Sacrifice is best described as the most Bergmanesque film not directed by Ingmar Bergman. This isn't just due to the content, but also the fact that many of the people involved had previously worked with Bergman.

The main character is Alexander (Erland Josephson), a retired actor who starts to reconsider everything in his life, and give up everything he loves, as news breaks of a potential outbreak of a third world war. His wife (Adelaide, played by Susan Fleetwood) has a nervous breakdown, which starts him on a journey to lie with another woman, perhaps make use of the gun that he takes from the bag of a visiting doctor, and destroy his possessions.

The imminent end of life has always given people time to muse on their past, to think of their place in the grand scheme of things, and to throw themselves into a boiling and roiling cauldron of regret, resentment, and an urge to try and change things that are impossible to change (unless, of course, we're in the realm of fantasy or sci-fi). The Sacrifice manages to show this process in a way that somehow manages to keep everything from being unbearably dour and dark, although it's certainly not something to watch when you want a bit of sweetness and light either.

Although it clocks in at 142 minutes, Tarkovsky manages to make this an enthralling experience, as opposed to an endurance test. His script is full of fun exchanges, and one or two memorable monologues, but it also helps that he has assembled a cast of people more than up to the task of carrying this weight upon their shoulders.

Josephson is very good, managing to remain appealing enough even as he spirals into a selfish spiral that is excused by his reasoned plea with a god who may or may not hear him. Guðrún Gísladóttir is also excellent as Maria, the woman who becomes the focus of Alexander's attention. Fleetwood is obviously sidelined when her character breaks down, but she does well in every main scene that she has, and there are solid supporting turns from Allan Edwall (a friend/postman), Sven Wollter (the visiting doctor), Filippa Franzén (Marta, Alexander's step-daughter), Valérie Mairesse (a housemaid), and Tommy Kjellqvist (Marta's young son).

I thought I was going to have to grit my teeth and get through this, considering the subject matter and the runtime, but that wasn't the case. This is both entertaining and thought-provoking, and tops everything off with a finale that is quietly stunning in how it is set up and framed (and had to be reshot after a costly error . . . look up some information on it once you have watched the film). Although feeling different from a number of other Tarkovsky films, it also somehow feels absolutely in line with them. People will know what I mean when they see it.

8/10

Sunday 6 October 2024

Netflix And Chill: Baghead (2023)

I'm not accusing anybody here of plagiarism, we all know that creative film people can have similar ideas that end up suffering when released too close to some other, superior, outing, but if I told you that Baghead is a horror movie based around the idea of people being able to talk to the dead for a very limited amount of time, as long as they follow certain rules, then you may well think of another film that was released in the past couple of years. And if you haven't seen Talk To Me yet, I recommend that ahead of this one. I recommend many films ahead of this one, but Talk To Me is the one it most closely resembles, superficially.

Based on the short film of the same name, written by Lorcan Reilly, this is the tale of Iris (Freya Allan), a young woman who ends up taking over a pub from her estranged, and no-longer-on-the-mortal-coil, father (Owen, played by Peter Mullan). She isn't supposed to be the new owner though. It contains something dark and dangerous underground, an entity that can apparently channel the spirits of the dead, becoming them for a limited time. Iris and her friend, Katie (Ruby Barker), are wary, of course, but also think there's a way to make some money when someone (Neil, played by Jeremy Irvine) offers to pay them for a chance to speak to a deceased loved one. I am sure everything will work out well, as long as people abide by the specific rules that they're told about and don't have any dark secrets to be revealed.

Directed by Alberto Corredor, his feature debut after helming the short back in 2017, this is a competent and serviceable film. It's also tiresomely dull, especially when things play out in the finale in a way that feels completely unoriginal and unsurprising. Lorcan Reilly has continued to work on short movies, which leaves the full screenplay for this in the hands of another first-timer, Christina Pamies, and Bryce McGuire (who gave us the inexorably dull Night Swim in the same year, oh dear). Pamies and McGuire are not good enough to turn the central idea into something worthwhile, which leaves the cast adrift in a cold sea of mediocrity.

Allan is a good lead, although she already has a knack for picking projects that don't make good use of her talent. She gamely struggles through this, despite the writers giving viewers very little actual character development aside from how she has been defined by the fates of her parents. Barker is also better than the material allows, and both actresses deserve much more than the slop they're served here. Mullan, only in a few scenes, is always a welcome presence, and Ned Dennehy is a good fit for the solicitor who helps the pub transition from one owner to the next. Jeremy Irvine, on the other hand, isn't very good. He struggles to play his character as required, and his discomfort as he wrestles to do good work, contributes to the weakness of a finale that everyone involved probably thought was a fantastic, clever, and satisfying ending.

I feel a bit unkind here, but maybe that is the way it has to be. While not terrible in any way, this is dull. And, as many people have said many times over, being dull is one of the worst things for a movie to be. Give me something to love, give me something to hate, but don't give me something to shrug off and forget about within a minute of the end credits rolling. That inability to make any strong impression makes the good work done by some of those involved simply redundant. Am I going to praise the score by Suvi-Eeva Äikäs, the cinematography by Cale Finot, or the production design and makeup? No . . . because they've faded away from my mind quicker than the serious and unbreakable rules faded from the minds of the main characters in this tale.

3/10

Saturday 5 October 2024

Shudder Saturday: V/H/S/Beyond (2024)

The V/H/S movie series has been going for over a decade now. There are now seven main movies in the main series, plus one or two spin-offs. Considering that it seemed destined to end back in 2014, when V/H/S: Viral seemed to garner little more than shrugs from many viewers, it's an enduring anthology format that I am happy to see endure. Maybe now is the right time to bring it to a close though.

I'm not going to run through the cast this time around, nor am I going to provide a summary of each main tale. Suffice to say that we get six stories given an oddly polished wraparound structure, with most of the individual segments revolving around dangerous encounters with alien creatures. One tale allows Kate Siegel to direct work written by her husband, Mike Flanagan. Another tale is written and directed by brothers Christian and Justin Long, the latter clearly taking inspiration from his 2014 horror collaboration with Kevin Smith.

Clocking in at just under 2 hours, the second-longest film in the series after the first, the biggest problem here is a pervading air of laziness, as well as a lack of imagination. What was once a fun aesthetic choice, using the retro feel to provide a twist on a number of well-worn horror genre tropes, now feels like it's just the result of people filming things with a filter you could find on a multitude of apps. And that's before we get to the special effects, that often feel like AI clip art, clumsily inserted into sequences that are akin to bits of silliness people could knock together with a basic bit of tech savviness and their smart phones.

As a brand name, for better or worse, the V/H/S series was a fairly easy way to allow film-makers to have some fun while perhaps pushing against the restrictions of the found-footage form. This still allows film-makers to have some fun, but there are no longer any restrictions, which leaves viewers saddled with inferior content that is supposed to be excused by the specific stylistic choice. The first main segment in this has a score pulsating beneath the visuals, for Chrissakes (something that I guess we're just supposed to acceopt because of the framing device, which just isn't good enough). Past V/H/S segments may have had the same mis-steps, whether in the audio department or in how the camera footage is edited together, but I cannot say for sure. All I can tell you is that things feel much worse here, and if we all just sit back and accept this, because it's better than nothing, then we'll be endorsing it, and encouraging them to keep making more.

Most anthology horror movies have at least one segment that works. This has one dud after another. If more care had been taken with the first main "tape" (Stork) then I would have at least mentioned that as a highlight, but it is all undone by the extra editing and soundtrack choices that undermine it.

Not one I can recommend, in case you were in any doubt, and the absolute nadir of the series . . . so far.

3/10

Friday 4 October 2024

Apartment 7A (2024)

Stop reading this review right now if you want to enjoy ANY part of this movie. Seriously, I am not aiming to spoil anything, but Apartment 7A should be much more enjoyable for those who know absolutely nothing about it until they start to piece the familiar elements together for themselves.

Consider yourself duly warned.

Julia Adams plays a young dancer named Terry. Despite a hunger for career success, Terry ends up injuring herself in a way that could possibly spell the ruination of her dream. Terry, aiming to find ways to get herself in front of the right people and grasp whatever last opportunity she might get, does have one apparent stroke of good luck. She encounters an elderly couple (played by Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally) who end up offering her somewhere to stay, as well as much more. But what do they want in return?

Directed by Natalie Erika James, who has done much better work elsewhere, and also co-written by James, Christian White, and Skylar James, this is a disappointingly unscary and predictable feature that is seriously hampered by the fact that viewers will know where things are going. If you somehow avoided the poster/marketing imagery, which clues you in on the fact that this is a prequel to what many view as a classic horror, and somehow don’t recognise the names and behaviour of the characters helping our lead, then there’s a chance that you might enjoy this a bit more. I suspect you will still find it quite dull though, and it’s a shame that none of the writers could figure out a way to make this anything more than a pale and insipid tribute to the film that birthed it.

Despite the weak material they have to work with, the cast are almost all doing very good work. Adams is a good lead, even if this isn't her best work, but a number of scenes are completely stolen by Wiest and McNally (with Wiest, in particular, reminding me of how much I miss her in major movie roles). Jim Sturgess is decent, playing the man who can make or break Terry's dancing career, and Marli Siu, playing a friend named Annie, gets to continue building a nicely varied filmography of interest to those who took notice of her about a decade ago.

There is at least one other recent horror movie that this reminded me of, and I didn't like that one either (The First Omen), BUT this is a slight improvement. Maybe it's because my memory of Rosemary's Baby is a bit hazy (yes, this is a prequel to Rosemary's Baby, I did warn you not to read further if you didn't know anything about the film before now), or maybe there were a handful of moments here that didn't feel like people just marking off a checklist. Either way, this was watchable, but who would choose to ever rewatch it when you can just revisit Rosemary's Baby?

4/10

Thursday 3 October 2024

Frightmare (1974)

British director Pete Walker is a great person for horror movie fans to check out. If you haven't yet done so, now is as good a time as any to start exploring his filmography. Often working in the genre with the writer David McGillivray, Walker would often use his horror outings to deliver both twisted darkness and some scathing commentary on aspects of British society in the 1970s (commentary that is sadly as relevant today as it was back when the movies were first released).

Frightmare is the tale of Dorothy and Edmund Yates, an elderly couple who have recently been released from a mental health facility after being sentenced for a grisly crime that included murder and cannibalism. Jackie, Edmund's daughter from a previous marriage, does her bit to help the couple re-adjust, pretending that she has been killing people to supply Dorothy with some illicit food (actually just specific animal parts passed off as bits of human), but it soon becomes apparent that Dorothy is struggling to resist her deadlier impulses. Despite having to keep up a horrible charade, Jackie is mainly a decent person with a strong sense of morals, which is more than can be said for Debbie, the daughter that Dorothy and Edmund had just before their incarceration. The family may be separated, but bonds of blood grow stronger as things move towards a disturbing third act.

Starring the fantastic Sheila Keith in the role of Dorothy (and she also collaborated with Walker more than once or twice) alongside Rupert Davies as Edmund, this is a potentially daffy tale that is lifted by those excellent central performances. Deborah Fairfax is also pretty good as Jackie, which makes up for the comparatively weak turn from the suitably-monikered Kim Butcher in the role of Debbie. Paul Greenwood, Edward Kalinski, Fiona Curzon, Leo Genn, and Gerald Flood are among the smattering of supporting players, and eagle-eyed viewers should recognise Andrew Sachs in a small role.

In case you didn't notice what was under scrutiny here, Walker and McGillivray take aim at a system unable to help those with serious mental health issues. All it can do is keep them away from the public for a while, but that's no good when they are declared ready to re-enter society and effectively ditched by the authorities without any real support or care for their rehabilitation. Perhaps I was being unfair with my criticism of Butcher, who is saddled with the least interesting parts of the screenplay, because both writer and director are very much focused on packaging their scathing critique in a Trojan horse of murder and cannibalism.

Enjoyably gruesome at times, and able to remain consistently entertaining because of these dark deeds being committed by people you would be more likely to see enjoying a quiet afternoon tea than a grisly feast of human flesh, Frightmare is a real highlight from a director who was at the height of his powers throughout this decade. I am not sure if I would pick this as my outright favourite from him, but it's always a strong contender (alongside House Of Whipcord and House Of Mortal Sin).

8/10

Wednesday 2 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)

Many people who review/critique movies for a living (or even, like myself, because of a need to keep myself mentally stable and happy with my own OCD approach to my own viewing selection) don't like to give immediate reactions. Some believe that it can take at least two viewings to fully form an opinion. Some believe that you need to let things sit with you a while before you put pen to paper (metaphorically-speaking). I don't think that way. I think that it can be good to dive into your own thoughts about a movie as soon as the credits have stopped rolling. That isn't to say that your opinion then will remain your opinion forever, but it's as good a time as any to take a snapshot of your feelings.

In saying that, however, I have to note that I ended up watching Gamera vs. Zigra twice. My first viewing wasn't great. Life threw a number of interruptions my way, and I was pretty unhappy by the time I got through to the end. I then waited too long to get my review written, which made me find time in my schedule for a second watch. I'm glad that happened, because the second watch was much more enjoyable. Maybe it was due to a lack of interruptions. Maybe I was just in a better mood.

The IMDb summary for this movie says this: "Space aliens arrive on Earth with their giant shark and intend to take over the planet but they must first destroy Gamera". I guess that's correct, but it actually doesn't do justice to the fun you can have with this one. Gamera once again pops up to remind us all that they are a friend to all children, which is handy when young Kenichi (Yasushi Sakagami) and his father, Dr. Yosuke Ishikawa (Isamu Saeki), encounter a female alien (Reiko Kasahara) who plans the aforementioned takeover of our planet. The alien has a handy spaceship that can transform into a giant monster, more like a swordfish than a shark, and the second half of the movie features a number of battles between Gamera and this dangerous creature.

Once again in the hands of director Noriaki Yuasa and writer Niisan Takahashi (credited here as Fumi Takahashi), this is a fun time for fans of Gamera. As long as you aren't a newcomer, and you know that these always tend to be more child-friendly adventures, this delivers what is expected. Gamera may seem to be offscreen for most of the first half, but they are given enough to do to ensure that presence is still felt keenly enough until it's time for the fighting to properly start.

Sakagami is fine in his role, as is Saeki, but Kasahara is a highlight, whether explaining the plans for planet domination or wandering around Japan in very little clothing as she searches for the two humans that escaped her clutches. As ever, it's all about the creatures though. While Zigra may not be the best of the opponents that Gamera has had to battle, they're well-designed and threatening enough to feel like a worthwhile creation. Zigra makes things very difficult for Gamera, as expected, and the ongoing fight leads to a final moment that is kind of hilarious and brilliant.

If you saw this film some time ago and didn't like it then I would recommend giving it another go. You may still feel the same way about it, but you may end up finding it a bit more enjoyable than you remembered. I'm glad that I ended up giving this a second chance, and it also served as a nice reminder that people should bear in mind the fluidity of personal opinions whenever browsing through the many movie reviews available here, there, and everywhere.

7/10

Tuesday 1 October 2024

The Hitcher (1986)

Sometimes I worry that my own experience with a movie is different from the way others viewed it, but sometimes it feels as if I have recently been able to talk with film fans who all have some kind of collected memory that keeps us all connected. The Hitcher is one of those collected memories. It's a film that many seemed to find on video, having come and gone from cinemas with no real fanfare, and no record-breaking box office. It's also a film that people have gone back to, or they've often recommended to others, which just helped to grow the reputation of it. A long-overdue bit of TLC has now given fans a fantastic Blu-ray/4K UHD set that should only lead to it getting even more love. I'm all for that.

The premise is quite simple. C. Thomas Howell plays Jim Halsey, a young man who is driving a car from Chicago to the new owner in San Diego. Struggling to stay awake behind the wheel, and maybe even a bit thrilled by the idea of doing something that he was always warned against, Jim picks up a hitchhiker, John Ryder (Rutger Hauer). That's when his problems begin, because Ryder claims to be a killer. It soon becomes clear that Ryder isn't lying, and Jim ends up in a game of cat and mouse with someone who claims that his main objective is to encounter someone who can stop him.

Written by Eric Red, a man who has written about half a dozen movies that I would consider well worth your time, and the three features he wrote in the 1980s are all either classics or close enough, The Hitcher is a tight and tense screenplay helped by the committed performances from the leads and the way that director Robert Harmon (hitting the high point of his directorial career with this, only his second feature) makes the most out of what is a relatively low budget. It could have been very different, especially when you consider how much more Red packed into the screenplay that he originally sent out to producers when he was putting all of his energy into getting someone to greenlight it.

Aside from the not-insignificant contributions from both Red and Harmon, I am not sure about where to start with my praise. I want to also mention the wonderful score by Mark Isham, and the new restoration really showcases the gorgeous cinematography from John Seale, whether our lead is travelling through a dark and stormy night or a hot and sweaty day. There's also some excellent work by a stunt team who are required to step up for one or two impressive set-pieces, including a finale that impressively elevates things above what you would expect to see in this kind of fairly small-scale work.

Hauer is the heart of the film though, a devil with his thumb in the air and a glint in his eye. The man has delivered a couple of iconic performances, and this easily sits alongside anything else that he's done onscreen. Yes, I said it . . . anything (and that includes a certain android who ponders the fleeting joys of life as his own death approaches). Howell has a tougher job, having to sell his fear, his confusion, and his trauma in ways that sometimes wrack his entire body with painful emotional overload. One other main character, a young woman named Nash, is played by a young Jennifer Jason Leigh (who had enjoyed working with Hauer on Flesh + Blood the previous year), and she does well to make herself into someone that you care about and believe in. Other familiar faces to look out for are Billy Greenbush, Gene Davis, Henry Darrow, and Jeffrey DeMunn, all playing various law enforcement officers who end up initially believing that our young hero is actually the villain of the piece, making his situation even more desperate and dangerous.

A perfect blend of strange surrealism and straightforward thrills, The Hitcher remains a fantastic fever-dream that, whether you end up loving or hating it, is very hard to forget. In fact, this recent rewatch has reminded me of how much it feels like a touchstone for some of the more successful mainstream thrillers that came along many years later (Se7en being the one that came to mind as I tried to remember how long was left once a major set-piece started to play out). Maybe it won't ever become popular enough to break away from that "cult favourite" label, but that's okay. And I suspect many of those other film fans who share fond memories of this will agree with me.

9/10

Monday 30 September 2024

Mubi Monday: The Assistant (2019)

A film very much stemming from, and in dialogue with, the #metoo movement of recent years, The Assistant is also a straightforward look at workplace toxicity and the attitudes that can lock individuals into miserable jobs for far too long.

Julia Garner is the assistant of the title, busy with telephone calls and appointments that all have to be figured out around the whims and moods of her boss. There are other people here, including a character played by Matthew Macfadyen, but it's Garner's character, Jane, who holds, and deserves, our attention as we're shown one typically terrible day in her job.

Written and directed by Kitty Green, who has a small, but very interesting, filmography I think is worth exploring, The Assistant feels oppressive and uncomfortably believable throughout the entire 87-minute runtime. Viewers get to see numerous assholes being placated and protected, all because of their high executive position, and because they are part of an entertainment industry that continues to have these self-contained cesspools where scumbags can have fun and thrive, as long as they keep making the right amounts of money for everyone else.

Garner is never excellent, never less than riveting in the way she uses her body language to show her constant struggle and the growing weight on her shoulders. Others who move around her also do well, and always do enough to add context and flavour to the ebb and flow of the workplace, but it's only Macfadyen who gets a chance to meet Garner at her level. His scene underlines the difficulties facing our lead, and he delivers some horrible dialogue with a calm tone and generally pleasant manner that makes it feel all the more sickening.

Some people who have experienced anything like this may be able to watch The Assistant and feel relief that they have moved on, but others may actually find the behaviour shown here quite triggering. Be warned. There may also be some people who are working, or have worked, in a place that they think is decent enough until they start to recognise some of the red flags shown here. Again . . . be warned.

Very effective stuff, and Green knows just how to pace the film and make great use of what can be inferred by viewers, this is a surprisingly gripping drama that some could easily argue stands on the very edge of horror movie territory. It's helped by that impeccable turn from Garner (who I am quickly becoming quite a fan of, having seen her in two features this week that have both benefited from giving her the lead role), as well as the fact that it reminds us all that change is still rippling through a number of industries thanks to those who started the ball rolling a few years ago.

8/10

Sunday 29 September 2024

Netflix And Chill: To Leslie (2022)

Like most people, I first heard about To Leslie when there was some minor scandal about how it started to get more notice in the run up to the 2023 Academy Awards. It was a strange affair, mainly because I assumed that all movies without a huge marketing campaign behind them would end up being noticed and discussed in the same way during awards season, but, despite no Oscar going to Andrea Riseborough for her performance here, I am thankful that I was at least made aware of the film.

I would also be aware of it nowadays from the times that Marc Maron has discussed it on his podcast. Arguably still known best for his stand-up comedy, despite putting in some great acting performances, whatever size the role, over the past decade or so, Maron has been podcasting for about 15 years now, and throughout that time he has been incredibly honest and insightful about addiction issues, which adds a sweet layer to the role he plays here.

Let's get to the actual film though. Riseborough is Leslie, a single mother who finds her life changed completely when she wins a large sum of cash in the lottery. That doesn't last as long as she thinks it will though, and some years later we see that Riseborough is destitute, can't really maintain a relatonship with her now-grown son (James, played by Owen Teague), and seems unable to drag herself out of the bottom of whatever glass or bottle full of alcohol she can get her hands on. She is given a chance to turn things around when offered a cleaning job by Sweeney (Maron), but an addict can only ever be helped if they want to change.

I can see why people were discussing the performance from Riseborough here. It's pretty great, and more than enough to make up for the fact that the screenplay (only the second one from Ryan Binaco to make it to the screen) makes a number of surprisingly safe choices throughout. There's an ugliness throughout this, and a feeling of desperation and self-esteem that has been eroded into near-non-existence, but it holds back from some of the really dark depths that many addicts find themselves in, whether that indelibly stains their character or irrevocably damages their body. Director Michael Morris has some great TV work under his belt already, but his move to film is impressive. He stays focused on the characters, knowing when to push in further and when to move back a step, and uses his cast to really lift Binaco's solid writing.

Aside from Riseborough, who somehow also keeps you on her side even as she is at her lowest and most sickeningly selfish, Maron is allowed to be wonderfully sweet and funny as the one person, maybe the only person, that she needs to be given help from. Teague makes a strong impression with his limited screentime, as do the reliable Allison Janney, Andre Royo, Stephen Root, and James Landry Hébert, who all match the intensity and authenticity of Riseborough in a variety of ways.

Not an easy watch, especially for those (like myself) who may have direct, or even indirect, experience of dealing with addiction issues. It feels very well-handled throughout though, showing that there's not necessarily a point of no return for anyone who eventually realises the damage being caused by that very strong and heavy monkey they can struggle to shake off their back.

8/10

Saturday 28 September 2024

Shudder Saturday: The Price We Pay (2023)

It's a pretty standard horror movie trope to put some bad people in a place where they end up being the lesser of two evils. The worse the people, the worse situation they can find themselves in. The Price We Pay, written by Christopher Jolley, developing a story co-created by himself and director Ryûhei Kitamura, makes use of this trope. It has a decent cast to work with, but there's nothing much else brought to the table.

Alex (Emile Hirsch), Cody (Stephen Dorff), and Shane (Tanner Zagarino) burst into a pawn shop to commit a violent robbery. At least one person is killed, and the men flee with a hostage (Grace, played by Gigi Zumbado). Making use of Grace's car, which doesn't look as if it can drive on for many more miles, they end up reaching a farm in the middle of nowhere, somewhere they figure that they can hide out for a while. And that's when things start to go off the rails.

While I have enjoyed the work of both Hirsch and Dorff in many other movies, they're unable to do anythng here that distracts from a weak and tired screenplay. Zumbado is also just as hampered, but has the benefit of not having to go through the standard crime movie grimacing and circular arguments. Zagarino makes much less of an impression, due to his role being "the wounded one" for most of his screentime, but at least viewers get a supporting role for Vernon Wells, which should be enough to make up for some of the failings elsewhere. Tyler Sanders isn't too bad as an apparently timid young farmhand named Danny, and Erika Ervin gets to have fun underneath some face-altering make up.

It's easy to see where this went wrong though, even if you like the cast as much as I do (and I appreciate that many others won't). Jolley is one of those people who has become quite prolific over the past decade, aiming for quantity over quality as he moved from gangster and hooligan movies towards more and more horror project. I can easily imagine him pitching this idea to Kitamura, probably not believing his luck when the director decided to take on the project. While he can deliver great horror fare (the last feature that I enjoyed from him was Downrange, back in 2017), he seems unable here to find a way to twist and freshen the material, leaving him at the helm of a disappointingly dull affair.

It's coherent enough, and it all seems fairly logical (for the premise), but there's nothing to really enjoy here. None of the nastiness is impressive, nor is it presented in a way that could make the gleeful sadism of some of the main characters more fun, relatively speaking, and the technical side of things is what you might call perfunctory. Thankfully, if you watch this on a streaming service, as I did, then the price to be paid for watching The Price We Pay is only the 86-minute runtime, instead of any monetary amount. That may still feel too pricey for some.

3/10

Friday 27 September 2024

Inside Out 2 (2024)

Just to be clear at the start here, I was one of many people who figured that we really didn't need a sequel to the wonderful Inside Out. The first film was another instant classic from Pixar, although it was released in between a few movies that people might argue rank as some of the weakest from them, and the story felt complete. There's a great hook here though, and a natural progression that allows the film to feel as insightful and brilliant as the first film.

Here's the simple, and simply brilliant, premise. Riley Andersen, the lead of Inside Out, is now starting her journey through her teenage years. Her emotions now also take care of her sense of self, an important area that uses her memories and experiences to help her turn into the kind of person that she wants to be. Joy (Amy Poehler) wants to keep everything positive, and get rid of all the negativity, but she ends up with a much tougher job when the core emotions are joined by some new emotions - anxiety (Maya Hawke), embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and envy (Ayo Edebiri). This extra turmoil happens inside Riley as she is heading with her friends, Bree and Grace, to a weekend ice hockey camp that she hopes will lead to her joining the team.

This isn't as good as the first movie, but the criticisms I could list here seem to work for it. The animation and plotting feel a bit messy at times, which is perfectly in line with how everything feels as a teenager. Writers Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein (developing a story idea by LeFauve and director Kelsey Mann) do a good job of further developing an internal world that perfectly correlates to the external attitude and behaviour of the main character. Mann came up through the ranks of Pixar in the standard way, and he shows that he's been taking plenty of notes while making his way up the ladder. This is so good that I am tempted to forgive both him and LeFauve for their work on The Good Dinosaur.

As expected, the voice cast all work brilliantly in their roles. Poehler remains perfect, as do Phyllis Smith (Sadness), Lewis Black (Anger), and Tony Hale (Fear). Hawke, Hauser, Edebiri, and Exarchopoulos are great additions, as is Liza Lapira (getting a couple of fun moments as Disgust), and it's also worth praising Kensington Tallman (Riley), Grace Lu (Grace), Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green (Bree), Diane Lane (Mom), Kyle MacLachlan (Dad), Lilimar, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ron Funches, James Austin Johnson, and everyone else involved in bringing this bright and surreal story to life.

If you enjoyed the first movie as much as I (and many others) did then you can be happy that people found a way to craft a sequel that feels natural and absolutely in line with the first film. It's not quite as sharp, not quite as tidy, and not quite as emotional, but teenagers rarely are. There's no need for a third instalment, but I'm very happy that we have two Inside Out movies of near-equal quality.

8/10