Mubi Monday: Medusa Deluxe (2023)

Whether it only seems that way, or whether it has actually been filmed that way, the one-take movie has become a very popular format in recent years. It's a technical challenge that allows everyone involved to show off their skillset, and it can increase the tension of any subject matter. You still need other elements in place though, like an engaging script and interesting characters, but the maker of Medusa Deluxe seems to have forgotten that.

The setting is a hairdressing contest. There's been a death, and the dead man was scalped. The various hairdressers, as well as their models, have to wait around for their time to be interviewed by the police. While everyone starts to speculate about who might be a murderer, secrets and simmering resentments start to increase the possibility of someone else ending up dead by the end of the day.

The feature debut from writer-director Thomas Hardiman, Medusa Deluxe is a gimmick movie without anything else going for it. That isn't to dismiss the talent of the cast, who all do a good job of playing their characters while also hitting the marks needed to maintain that one-take magic, but they deserve much better material to work with. Hardiman seems so intent in the setting and style of the movie that he forgets to craft a better "murder mystery" at the heart of it. I defy anyone to watch this and care about the victim, or to even care about 90% of the conversations. It's dull, despite the roving camera and the mix of characters used to prove that a one-take movie doesn't have to feel locked down and "safe". The problem is that many movie viewers will already know this, especially if they have seen better films like Victoria and Boiling Point.

Standouts from the cast include Clare Perkins, Harriet Webb, Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Heider Ali, and Darrell D'Silva, although nobody embarrasses themselves. It's just a shame that I didn't really warm to anyone here, which meant that I wasn't invested in however everything might be resolved, whether it's a safe and cosy finale or one that adds another dead body to the plot. People stand where they are supposed to stand, in relation to the lighting and framing, and they deliver their dialogue, but there's always a palpable sense of them working in service of the technique, rather than the technique feeling more organic alongside their performances.

I've seen/heard a lot of praise for this, some people appreciate this as an astonishing and dazzling achievement, but I'm with the people who disliked it. It's undeniably a hell of a way to make your first feature, and kudos to Hardiman for a number of the choices made here, but it's not actually enjoyable or interesting enough in the many ways that it should be.

3/10

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The Apparition (2012)

There are a few bells and whistles on this movie in an attempt to supplement the supernatural stuff with some pseudo-science, but viewers won't be fooled for a second. This is a simple ghost flick, and it's a simple ghost flick that never does enough to raise it above the level of average. That's a great shame, because it has the potential to be something really good on a number of occasions.

Ashley Greene and Sebastian Stan star as Kelly and Ben, a young couple moving into their new home. It's not long until things start to go bump in the night. The couple seem to be perplexed by just what is going on, but Ben may know a bit more than he's letting in, especially considering the frantic messages that he's been receiving from Patrick (Tom Felton), an old friend that he doesn't seem to want to speak to any more.

With its familiar structure - opening scares, calm introduction to main characters, building of tension, standard third act stuff complete with twist that can be seen coming a mile away - and the fact that it's covering some well-worn territory, it's no surprise that The Apparition fails to stand out from so many other modern horror movies. Writer-director Todd Lincoln has a few good ideas, and creates some great moments of quiet unease in the first half of the movie, but it soon becomes apparent that he can't sustain that quality for the entire movie. When things start to unravel, it's fast and unpleasant, dragging the film down and never recovering.

Greene is a decent actress (she's an actress that I really like, at any rate) and she does a perfectly adequate job here, as does Sebastian Stan. Felton is . . . . . . . . another matter entirely. I want to like Felton, I really do, but he seems intent on filling up his post-Potter career with either bad movies (like the godawful 13 Hrs) or mediocre-to-poor performances in good movies (Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes). He breaks the pattern ever so slightly here by giving a mediocre performance in a mediocre movie.

This isn't a painful viewing experience, it's relatively short at about 82 minutes, but it's not one that I can imagine anyone revisiting. It's not good enough for horror fans, and I doubt that it's even good enough for the more casual horror viewer.

5/10

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