For It Is Man's Number

Tuesday, 10 October 2023

The Nun II (2023)

Sometimes it is annoying to see a film that seems intent on playing out exactly as you think it will. I wasn’t a fan of The Nun, considering it a prime example of the worst content you sometimes get in modern horror movies, so I had very low expectations for The Nun II. As the end credits rolled, I tried to decide whether or not this was worse or better than the first film. Ultimately, I think it is on a par with it. That is not a good thing.

The plot is annoyingly simple. The demon nun is back, moving away from where she was supposedly defeated in the last movie, and potentially hiding in the body of some innocent pawn. Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) is tasked once again with facing off against the malevolent figure. She has a potential ally in young Debra (Storm Reid), and is also reunited with Maurice aka Frenchie (Jonus Bloquet).

Directed by Michael Chaves, who seems to be the person to go to when you want someone to helm a less-than-stellar entry into the extended Conjuring cinematic universe (having also given us The Curse Of La Llorona and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It), this is a prime example of how to mishandle atmosphere and scares. The script, written by Akela Cooper, Ian Goldberg, and Richard Naing, isn’t good, but the material is translated from page to screen with no idea of how to maximise the impact of any moments. There’s even one great potential scare, making use of magazines on a large stand, that is undermined by the mistiming of the jump scare that you know is due to come along towards the end of the sequence.

Farmiga does as well as she can, having to base her entire performance around the idea of looking worried while holding on to an inner strength, and both Reid and Bloquet just about manages to overcome the weak material given to them. Suzanne Bertish also manages to make at least some kind of impression while everyone else blends into one mass of potential victims to be terrorised by the scary nun (played once more by Bonnie Aarons, who again gives a commendable physical performance under the make-up).

While fumbled scares aren’t appreciated in a film supposedly designed to scare viewers, there’s something worse about how silly and careless the third act feels. The film becomes so ridiculous that every main beat becomes genuinely laughable when it’s supposed to be getting more intense.

I racked my brain to think of any more positives, from the production design to the score. Sadly, nothing else managed to stand out in a good way. This is lazy, unscary, and completely pointless. I am already praying that we don’t get a third.

3/10

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Monday, 9 October 2023

Mubi Monday: If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? (1971)

As a lover of the horror genre, I try to watch as many horror movies as possible all year round. So, when it comes to a whole month of seasonal viewings to maximise the cosy spookiness of October, I really try to mix things up as much as possible. Horror comes in so many different shapes and sizes that it would be a shame to limit myself to one particular type of movie. I admit, however, that this film is one that many won’t ever want to fit into their schedule.

Directed by Ron Ormond, and there has recently been some great material released that explores and contextualizes the work of the Ormond family (including yet another amazing Blu-ray boxset from Indicator), this is a lecture presented in film form. That lecture is from the writing of, and delivered by Reverend Estus W. Pirkle, and warns everyone of the peril facing Americans who turn away from Christianity and open themselves up to the threat of Communism.

There isn’t really a plot here, although viewers are shown a series of fantastical vignettes that have oppressors sneering and forcing people to join in with their sadism. A young woman (Judy Creech) listens to the sermon while pondering where her own life choices could take her.

People who know me may already know my views on organized religion. I hate it. I think it’s dangerous, and I think people in positions of power are able to manipulate and control people to a scary degree. That’s different from my view on personal faith though, which I can see as a positive force, and support, for those who manage to pick and choose the right lessons from any religious dogma. If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? is an example of why I hate organized religion. It is silly, it is fear-mongering, and it aims to control the behaviour of people who can only prove themselves to be good worshippers by putting their faith above all else. I am sure many will agree with that sentiment, but it isn’t always the best way to help make positive changes in the world around you. How many people could help to “stop the threat of Communism” if they all chose to die in the name of their lord?

Some violence and gore is depicted, albeit crudely, but I will admit that picking this as a horror movie is quite a stretch, but that is what it is trying to be. It’s a horror story designed for those wavering in their faith to be frightened into strengthening their resolve. I don’t think it works, but I am not the kind of viewer who would be receptive to this anyway, and just over half a century has passed since this was released (making the whole notion of the main lecture even more ridiculous than it may have seemed back then). Still, this is an intriguing and bonkers curio to watch if you want something a bit different from the usual horror genre fare. There’s something mesmerising about the movies from Ormond, a strange blend of amateur talent and unbound zealotry, and I find them much more interesting than hundreds of other mainstream movie choices you could choose to watch at this time of year. Bad, but strangely watchable.

3/10

Sunday, 8 October 2023

Netflix And Chill: Wendell & Wild (2022)

Another stop-motion animated movie from director Henry Selick (who also helmed such greats as The Nightmare Before Christmas, James And The Giant Peach, and Coraline, as well as Monkeybone . . . but we don't mention Monkeybone), Wendell & Wild feels a step removed from his previous features thanks to a more diverse cast and an excuse to reunite Key and Peele onscreen (even if it's only in voice form, of course). Unfortunately, it's also not as good as most of the titles I just mentioned (except Monkeybone . . . but we don't mention Monkeybone).

Kat is a troubled teen, having blamed herself for years for the death of her parents. Moving from one place to the next, with trouble often not far away, Kat finally ends up at a school very close to the small town where she used to live in happier times. Wanting nothing more than her parents brought back to life, Kat ends up being tricked by two demons, Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Jordan Peele), who want to enter the world of the living and try out their plan to raise the dead with some very powerful hair restorer. There's also a pair of schemers trying to keep their part in a deadly chapter in history hidden, which could become tougher when the dead start to rise, and Kat may find herself equally in danger from the undead and the living.

I'm not sure why this doesn't work as well as other Selick features, but it seems to lack something truly magical and impressive. The detailing is often as lovely as you'd expect, but there also seems to be no connective tissue between the land of the living and the land of the dead, with each one feeling like it stays in whatever snowglobe-like environment is required for each main scene. The tone is also disappointingly wobbly, neither macabre nor amusing enough, and it feels weird that Key and Peele are used here (Peele having also helped to write the screenplay) without making the most of their talents. Perhaps the problems come from the source material, it's based on a book by Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman, or maybe it needs more than one watch to pick up on more of the lovely production design and character developments. Maybe it needed a better score from Bruno Coulais to lend stronger support to the visuals. I would rewatch this, but it won't ever be too high on my list of priorities.

Ross is a very good lead, Key and Peele are a bit muted, but fun, and it's great to hear Angela Bassett, James Hong, Ving Rhames, David Harewood, and Maxine Peake in main roles, every one a great actor also able to deliver a great vocal performance. Sam Zelaya and Tamara Smart are also very good, playing two other teenagers important to the plot, alongside Seema Virdi and Ramona Young in supporting roles.

I cannot dismiss this as a bad film, and it's more entertaining and inventive than dozens of other movies aimed at younger viewers, but it's near the bottom of the pile when compared to similar stop-motion features presenting macabre elements in a child-friendly way.

6/10

Saturday, 7 October 2023

Shudder Saturday: V/H/S/85 (2023)

Although it has had a number of wobbles here and there, the V/H/S series has become an enduring, and largely satisfying, horror anthology series. Others may disagree, but that's my opinion and this is my space for sharing my opinions on movies. I appreciate the commitment to the aesthetic, I have loved some of the wilder tales, and some of the imagery has been up there with the weirdest and wildest in the horror genre. So I was looking forward to this latest instalment, V/H/S/85.

I'm not even sure to begin with this review. I suppose I should simply say that I REALLY disliked this. It is easily the worst in the series, taking that position previously held by V/H/S: Viral, and the worst part is that very few of the stories have that sense of glee present in the rest of the series. Although two "punchlines" worked well enough to make me smirk.

There's a wraparound tale, helmed by David Bruckner, about a life-form being observed in a lab. The first of the main tales, directed by Mike P. Nelson, then shows us a group of people fooling around by a lake. All is well and good until it isn't, and this was my favourite tale, especially when it connected and was given a proper resolution later in the film. Then it's on to Gigi Saul Guerrero's tale of people trying to escape the devastating effects of an earthquake that has caused carnage in Mexico. Natrasha Kermani then brings us a retro-tech tale that delivers some gore while also mocking pretentious performance art. We then get Nelson returning, his second segment as enjoyable as it is disappointingly brief. I would rather have had more of this than the time wasted with a couple of other tales, including the next one, a twisted serial killer gorefest directed by Scott Derrickson that has a young man being able to record dreams that prophecise the future.

As well as the directors just mentioned also writing their segments, with the exception of Bruckner and Kermani, who are given story credits, writing comes from C. Robert Cargill, Zoe Cooper, and Evan Dickson. I cannot muster the enthusiasm to specify exactly who is responsible for each segment, so everyone can share the blame and the small amount of praise in equal measure.

As for the cast, most of them do perfectly fine within the limitations of the style, although the only people who stand out are those involved in the segments helmed by Mike P. Nelson, thanks to the fact that they are given a decent amount of time to show their interactions with one another, making them more realistic and fleshed out, before things start to tilt into the crazy horror.

I don't want to give anything away, the aim of each tale is still to deliver a fun surprise at the end, and some people may find the whole thing much more satisfying than I did, but I am struggling to think of anyone who will really enjoy this. Even if you find it passable, which I didn't, then I suspect you will still find that it suffers greatlin in comparison to almost every preceding instalment in this series. I'll still watch another one if the series continues, and I still love the VHS aesthetic, but I hope it is a marked improvement after this disappointing nadir.

4/10

Friday, 6 October 2023

Annabelle: Creation (2017)

If you don’t know anything about Annabelle by now then I can only assume you have no interest in the horror genre at all. And if you have no interest in the horror genre at all then you won’t care about seeing Annabelle: Creation, a prequel to Annabelle (funnily enough) that actually turns out to be a better film than the first. In fact, one post-credits annoyance aside, in which viewers are reminded of the cinematic universe this is part of, it’s in contention to be one of the best films from that particular selection, helped in a small way by not having the Warrens popping up as righteous heroes.

Things begin with a pair of parents (Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto) experiencing a tragic loss. Some time later, the couple open up their home to a nun and a number of orphan girls. There’s one room marked as off limits, of course, which means it isn’t too long until at least one young girl is drawn to that room. And that creepy-looking doll keeps popping up to scare everyone.

Written by Gary Dauberman, who also wrote the first movie, this is an enjoyable mix of chills and sudden frights, enhanced by a cast all doing good work under the watchful eye of director David F. Sandberg. Sandberg and Dauberman know what audiences will expect, but they are able to make the most of every set-piece, using darkness and the unknown to deliver more than just cheap jump scares. There’s impressively unsettling imagery here that feels far removed from what you would expect in such a glossy and mainstream work.

As for the cast, Talitha Bateman and Lulu Wilson play the two main girls who end up in peril, and both do very good work in their roles (the former also having to portray herself as crippled, and therefore more vulnerable to any attacks from evil forces). Stephanie Sigman does well as the nun in charge of the children, although she has to spend a lot of the runtime conveniently avoiding seeing anything untoward (aka “doing a Scully”) until the finale, and both LaPaglia and Otto are good choices for their roles, lending their talents to characters who could have easily been nothing more than a mass of clichés and overcooked melodrama.

As much as people want to dismiss these movies, and there will always be some horror fans who turn their nose up at anything given a major cinema release, it’s good to see one that works even better than expected. There are so many different ways this could have gone, most of them not very good (e.g. almost every other film in this cinematic horror universe), but Sandberg, Dauberman, and co. (and I just also want to mention Benjamin Wallfisch here for his great score) have all pulled together to make something as seriously creepy and unsettling as it is entertaining and marketable.

Although it does tie in to the first movie, this could easily be viewed as a standalone piece, as long as you are aware of the infamy of the doll, and I recommend it as a solid option for those seeking a good scary movie.

8/10

Thursday, 5 October 2023

Smile (2022)

On the one hand, Smile is a solid and unnerving horror movie with some impressive imagery that was used well in a viral marketing campaign. On the other hand, it’s an all-too-familiar deadly curse tale that disappointingly had one or two key visuals revealed in the trailer. I like it, and it walks a tightrope over some very dangerous territory, but it comes very close to complete failure thanks to a number of key issues.

Sosie Bacon plays Rose Cotter, a psychiatrist who is traumatized when a patient commits suicide in from of her. That death turns out to be another in a long line of connected violent ends, with each witness to such an event then going on to take their own life within about a week. Quickly becoming paranoid and disturbed, Rose tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, helped by a friendly cop/ex-boyfriend named Joel (Kyle Gallner). Are people somehow passing along a mental health issue, or is there something more powerful at work?

Written and directed by Parker Finn, Smile is not a horror movie to choose when you want uncomplicated and fun entertainment. Considering the subject matter at the heart of it, viewers should be wary of selecting it as a viewing choice if they have recently lost someone to suicide. Finn seems to give himself an out though, an explanation for events that eventually leads us from the medical to the supernatural, but there remains an ambiguity throughout that many might not appreciate. I don’t think it’s intentional, it is the nature of the material, but some will find this much darker and more disturbing than others, for reasons not necessarily intended by Finn. Consider yourselves duly warned.

Unfortunately, having tried to carefully navigate through a foundation so fraught with danger, Finn doesn’t do nearly enough with his central concept. The few good scares, and some are really good, are spaced out through a runtime of nearly two hours, but every main sequence could have had so much more packed into it. Just think of the many ways a smile, or being told to smile, could twisted and turned into something menacing and scary. Finn isn’t interested in anything beyond one or two main ideas though, sadly, so you don’t get any extra tension or surprises.

What you also don’t get is a good lead. Bacon is okay in her role, but she doesn’t feel as watchable or compelling as at least a dozen other actresses I could make right now. That wouldn’t be so bad if the whole film didn’t rest on her shoulders, but it pretty much does. Gallner is always good to see, and does well with his fairly small amount of screentime, and the likes of Jessie T. Usher, Robin Weigert, Caitlin Stasey, Gillian Zinser, and Kal Penn are all wasted to varying degrees, many not given nearly enough time to show us more of their character than the tropes required by the script.

There ARE quite a few good moments though, and the strength of the central concept makes up for a lot. There’s also some design work in the third act that had me thinking of Junji Ito (which is never a bad thing). The good outweighs the bad, even if the film never comes close to reaching full potential, and I recommend it to horror fans who don’t mind the occasional interaction with slick mainstream fare.

7/10

Wednesday, 4 October 2023

Prime Time: An English Haunting (2020)

As far as I can tell, writer-director Charlie Steeds may be a very lovely guy. A lot of film festival patrons support his career, and he has been making a number of low-budget British horrors for quite a few years now. The big problem he has is that he isn’t actually very good, although An English Haunting is a bit better than some of his other titles.

It is the 1960s in England and a young man named Blake (David Lenik) ends up living in a large country estate with his problematic mother (Tessa Woode) while they care for his dying grandfather (Barrington De La Roche). Blake starts to see things that make him think something is amiss, and that sums up the movie for the majority of the runtime.

It’s all competently made, in general, and well done to Steeds for getting things to a polished and slick level that many other low-budget film-makers never achieve, and sometimes never try to achieve. Unfortunately, the script isn’t very good, and the cast aren’t good enough to turn that chopped liver into a more appealing main dish. Steeds has a decent location to shoot in one unoriginal idea to aim for, but nothing else. There’s no meat on the bones here, and the end result feels disappointingly close to a family play put on by some rich people who decided to throw something together for their friends to endure.

Lenik is decent in his main role, as lacking in confidence as he is filled with mother issues, but he’s almost alone, with the exception of a decent supporting turn from Emma Spurgin Hussey (who isn’t in nearly enough of the film). Woode is far too overwrought and painfully old-fashioned at all times, and De La Roche just spends most of his screentime lying in a bed and looking close to death (which he does well enough, to be fair).

I don’t think it is fair to label An English Haunting a bad film. I have seen many bad films. This isn’t one. It’s not good though. There are no effective scares, there’s a lack of atmosphere, the plot feels like it could barely fill out a short film, and it’s so serious in tone that viewed cannot even hope for random moments of fun or whackiness to punctuate the proceedings. Steeds will make more movies, I may or may not watch them, and he and his fans will be happy enough without caring about my opinion. I would, however, advise others to leave this very low on the list if you have many, or any, other horror viewing options.

4/10

Tuesday, 3 October 2023

Barbarian (2022)

Written and directed by Zach Cregger, Barbarian is an excellent horror film that may put off many viewers with a structure that almost places it in the category of anthology movie. Jumping between various points in time, and various main characters, the first viewing may leave you feeling a bit bewildered until everything starts to knit together, but stick with it and you will be rewarded with a very dark and twisted piece of work.

Things start with Tess (Georgina Campbell) turning up to stay at a house she has rented, only to find that the property has also been rented to someone else by mistake. That person is Keith (Bill Skarsgård). He seems lovely and considerate, but he also brings the baggage of being Bill Skarsgård, and this whole section has Cregger using lighting and camera angles to keep viewers as wary as Tess. Once this episode plays out, we then join AJ (Justin Long), a cocky actor who finds out that his career is about to suffer from an accusation of rape. Desperately pooling his money and resources for the legal battles ahead, AJ travels to a property that he has had an agency renting out on his behalf. Yep, it’s the house that Tess and Keith stayed in. The neighbourhood seems to have gone to pot, but AJ’s house could still have some value. One more jump back in time shows us a previous resident of the house (played by Richard Brake) and then it is time to connect everything together for an intense and entertaining final act.

Mixing a number of familiar horror movie standards into something that feels new and bang up to date, Cregger proves himself a smart and confident helmsman with Barbarian. You get tension, scares, and some great gore moments, but you also get thought-provoking commentary on gentrification, class division, abuse, and the danger in the world around us that just keeps encroaching on any lone female. None of this stuff brings the film to a halt, and the fact that it’s all woven so well through the script is testament to Cregger’s talent, although his cast also help with pitch-perfect performances.

Campbell is a very likable lead, and viewers are on her side as soon as things start to feel tense (which happens within the first few minutes). Skarsgård is also very likable here, his manner and thoughtfulness at odds with the threat we perceive in him, which is how Tess perceives him. Then you have Long, delivering a brash and unpleasant turn that has you rooting for his character to meet a sticky end. Although he isn’t a good person, he is there to provide a very interesting juxtaposition and comparison point with someone even worse (Brake, doing well with his short amount of screentime).

It’s hard to write about this while preserving the element of surprise. Those who have already seen the film will know the elephant in the room that I haven’t tried to describe. Those yet to see the film may not be convinced by my selective summary, but I hope you give it a go and enjoy a surprise or two. There are a couple of moments here that sit quite high on any list of great moments from horror movies released within the last few years, and Cregger paces everything perfectly as viewers are moved between gruelling moments of unpleasantness and more entertaining bits of horror movie “fun”. Absolutely brilliant stuff.

8/10

Monday, 2 October 2023

Mubi Monday: Halley (2012)

Using the zombie movie as the wrapping for a film musing on the very notion of life and death, and the quality of time spent in either state, isn’t anything really new. It isn’t a monthly occurrence, although you could say that every zombie movie has certain questions and contemplations underpinning the standard undead shenanigans, but there are a number of them out there that I am happy to recommend to anyone interested. Halley is a title to add to that list, and it’s quite a good one.

The story is simple. Alberto (Alberto Trujillo) is dead. You wouldn’t necessarily know that though. He has still been going through the motions of life, even turning up for shifts as a night guard, but it is getting harder to maintain an image of normality. The smell is getting a bit worse. And the bugs. As Alberto starts to develop a relationship with a woman (played by Luly Trueba), it becomes more depressing to remember that he’s handicapped by his ongoing situation aka actually being dead.

Director Sebastián Hoffman also co-wrote the screenplay for this with Julio Chavezmontes, and the two do a great job of delivering a feature debut that manages to stay focused and quiet throughout, in line with the nature of the material, where others may have been tempted to punctuate the slowly-unfolding narrative with gore gags and jump scares. There’s unpleasantness here, but it’s viewed through the eyes of a main character who is just doing what so many lead characters want to do - stay “alive” until the end credits roll.

Trujillo does well in the lead role, moving through the world with a weight on his shoulders that makes him seem ready to leave normal life even before his symptoms worsen. Trueba is fine, used in the second half to offer the potential of an unexpected happiness to our lead, but there’s an even better connection, and a real sweetness, with a character played by Hugo Albores, who almost steals the movie with his beautiful little turn.

Not one to rush to if you are after some standard horror movie fun, Halley is a film for those who feel they have exhausted the usual selection of living dead movies. Quiet, dark, and full of pain, it’s a film that serves as a reminder that we are all still dying as we try to live our best life, and that pretty much guarantees that it’s not a happy and light viewing experience. I was underwhelmed by the very end, but everything else made this a pleasant discovery that I hope at least one or two others enjoy as much as I did.

7/10

Sunday, 1 October 2023

Netflix And Chill: The Curse Of Bridge Hollow (2022)

There are a couple of ways to summarise The Curse Of Bridge Hollow. I could tell you that it's a bit like another (unoffocial) Goosebumps movie. I could tell you that it's family fun nicely in line with the atmosphere and thrills of the spooky season. Or I could tell you that I watched it last year and forgot to review it until this year. That's not intended to condemn the film, but it does hint at it feeling more like a pleasant distraction as opposed to something more substantial. I'm glad I waited a year to rewatch and review this though, because I think I actually enjoyed it more this time around.

Priah Ferguson plays Sydney Gordon, a teenager who moves into a new town with her parents (played by Marlon Wayans and Kelly Rowland). While her parents seem happy about the move, Sydney is less than pleased. At least the residents of the town seem to be having fun as they get into the spirit of Halloween, but things turn dangerous when a curse starts to bring most of the many Halloween decorations to life. It isn't long until Sydney and her father are battling against spiders, zombies, killer clowns, and more while they try to figure out how to break the curse.

Written by Todd Berger, Robert Rugan, and John R. Morey, with only Berger having a decent selection of feature screenplays already under his belt, this is easygoing entertainment that manages to keep everything weighted more towards the fun than the scares (although those killer clowns may creep out a few viewers). It's not for the very young, but most teens who aren't yet ready for the illicit thrills of higher-certificated content should get a real kick out of this once it all gets going. And it's paced well enough to get going without too much pre-amble. You get to know the characters and the town, but things don't ever really settle down once the consequences of the curse start to become clear to everyone suddenly in danger.

The cast do well to boost the material, with Wayans good fun in the role of "uptight dad" while Ferguson easily proves herself as a very capable young lead. Rowland gets a lot less to do, but she's fine, and it's a wise move to give supporting roles to John Michael Higgins, Lauren Lapkus, and Rob Riggle, all of whom are allowed to add some humour without being overused. Abi Monterey, Holly J. Barrett, and Myles Perez play three other teens who befriend/help our lead, and they also do a good job.

Jeff Wadlow directs with a steady hand, also making great use of special effects and CGI that blend together to make the all-too-lively Halloween decorations feel nicely textured and realised. Most importantly, no one thing overshadows anything else, which means that nothing feels unbalanced. That goes for the cast, the FX work, the chuckles and the chills, and the father-daughter bonding moments amidst the fight against frighteners.

If you're after some spooky family entertainment, or you just fancy watching something yourself that isn't aiming to turn you into a nervous wreck or a traumatised mess, then The Curse Of Bridge Hollow is a good choice for this time of year. I'm glad that I made time this year to rewatch it, and maybe this review will remind others that it is still tucked away on Netflix (as it is all too easy to forget when they spend so much time pushing their newer content to the top of the main page).

7/10

Saturday, 30 September 2023

Shudder Saturday: The Angry Black Girl And Her Monster (2023)

The feature debut of writer-director Bomani J. Story, The Angry Black Girl And Her Monster is a film best described as a modern take on the classic Frankenstein tale. That's not all it is though, far from it, and there are some elements here that take it further away from the tale we all know (and love). I'm not sure diverging from the inspiring source material is for the best, however, but I'll get back to that point soon enough.

Laya DeLeon Hayes is a smart young girl named Vicaria who happens to be obsessed with death. She sees it as a disease, which means it can be cured. Having lost both her mother and her brother in different circumstances, and seeing her father (Donald, played by Chad L. Coleman) struggle with drug addiction, Vicaria is determined to fight back at the presence that has overshadowed her life for many years. If she can bring back one person, her brother (Chris, played by Edem Atsu-Swanzy), then maybe she can help a lot of other people around her, people living in an area where death can snatch you away at any time, whether it's via disease, drugs, dangerous criminals, or the police.

While flawed, this is a film that gets a lot right. It's easy to see how Vicaria stays motivated, and easy to see why any scientific breakthrough could be even more immediately impactful to her, and those around her, than it would be to, for example, a privileged scientist who has spent many years motivated by his own ego. Vicaria has some brash confidence, shown in some early scenes that brilliantly show the disparity between herself and a teacher who won't engage in discussion with an exceptionally bright pupil, but there's always the feeling that she's not working to cover herself in any glory. It's an emotional thing, but also a practical one, considering the world she lives in.

Story takes the bones of the well-known genre tale and uses a great central character, and a setting far removed from how we usually see this thing done, to give it a fresh spin without making it feel as if it is working too hard to be "too cool for school". The middle section, where one or two elements are mixed in that seem to push the story more into the supernatural than the horror-tinged sci-fi of the central idea, might falter, but the beginning and end are both strong enough to make up for that. Taken on its own, a scene in which a young girl seems to speak with the voice of a very different personality is creepy and effective, but it doesn't work as part of the unfolding tale, and feels like a half-baked idea that Story couldn't bring himself to remove once he had the rest of the film comfortably locked down.

The cast are uniformly excellent, from Coleman to Denzel Whitaker, Reilly Brooke Stith to Keith Holliday, and Amani Summer to Beth Felice (who isn't in it long, but makes a very strong impression as the teacher who cannot deal with Vicaria in her classroom), but this film belongs to Hayes, who delivers the kind of performance so great that you immediately speculate on whatever good things should already be lying ahead of them. Perfectly portraying the drive and intelligence of her character, Hayes is also brilliant at showing someone constantly weighing up numerous scenarios that are equally infused by her head and her heart.

This is easily worth your time, and bodes well for the future of both the writer-director and the star. I appreciate the attempt to mix the old and new, even if it doesn't work so well in that middle section, and I think most open-minded horror fans will get something from this if they give it an hour and a half of their time.

7/10

Friday, 29 September 2023

Debt Collectors AKA The Debt Collector 2 (2020)

If I want to watch a film in which people are kicked in the face then I have some favourite people I like to see in the lead roles. There are obviously big names with big back catalogues (Chan, Yen, Li, etc), but I am less aware of people still putting out the kind of fare that used to make for a perfect weekend movie rental. Michael Jai White does a few, and does them well, but the current top dog is, in my view, Scott Adkins.

I remember quite enjoying The Debt Collector, a film that threw together Adkins and Louis Mandylor, but I didn’t love it. So I didn’t rush to watch this sequel when it first came out, and I was slightly bemused at how things would continue after the ending of the first film anyway. Thankfully, this was another solid Adkins vehicle, and I would say it is slightly better than the film preceding it.

French (Adkins) is now working as a bouncer, but he is getting in trouble for causing too much damage to the fixtures while dealing with violent drunks. One such encounter occurs on the same day that Sue (Mandylor) walks back into his life. Considering how their last “adventure” ended, French is understandably reticent to help Sue with some debts that he needs to collect within the next few days, but there’s the reward of a big payday at the end of it.

Another film directed by Jesse V. Johnson, once again writing alongside Stu Small, this is an Adkins vehicle that feels as perfectly tailored to the star as any other film he’s been in. I can’t believe there was a time when I didn’t rate Johnson as someone worth your time, but he’s been slowly and surely delivering some of the best “back to basics” action movies over the past five years. His career stretches back way beyond that, but his earlier films seem to be missing that magic Adkins ingredient.

The leads work together even better than they did in the first movie, with Adkins now happy to bash heads together and get the job done as quickly as possible while Mandylor tries to now keep his own violence in the past. Our central pairing should be all you need, considering that most people they encounter end up on the wrong end of a beating, but there are also a couple of good cameo appearances from Martina Sirtis and Vernon Wells. Everyone else, good or bad (mainly bad), plays their part convincingly enough, but the film-makers know to stay close to Adkins and Mandylor, having them be friendly and antagonistic to one another in equal measure.

The fights may not be the absolute best from this director-actor combo, but they’re well done, the pacing is good, and the 97-minute runtime is pretty perfect. All in all, this is another winner for those involved. I won’t be so tardy if they make a third one.

7/10

Thursday, 28 September 2023

Sympathy For The Devil (2023)

You are not in for a good time if you park up somewhere and end up with someone sliding into the back of your car and telling you to drive. Things would be more tense if you were due to join your wife while she was in the throes of labour. And it would really be mad if that passenger was a red-haired Nicolas Cage. Don’t worry though. You are unlikely to be put in this situation. Joel Kinnaman is though, and this film is all about his fateful encounter with an unwanted passenger who seems convinced that he is someone else entirely. Is Cage right? Is he human? Will Kinnaman survive this car ride and reunite with his family?

Directed by Yuval Adler, Sympathy For The Devil is a fun thriller that is elevated by Cage being perfectly cast in a role that allows him to deliver the kind of fun and quirky performance that fans often love. It may not be in line with the previous films helmed by Adler, from what I can surmise, but it’s certainly in line with a number of great Cage films.

Writer Luke Paradise probably couldn’t believe his luck when the leads were cast. His script is good, especially for a film-writing debut, but it’s far from perfect, and every piece of dialogue is improved by the leads delivering it. It’s just a shame that the actual destination doesn’t feel as enjoyable as the journey, making the finale a bit hard to care about, especially when it means the ultimate end of such a great and tense dynamic between the two main characters.

Cage is an absolute blast, and seems to know that this is a perfect role for him, but Kinnaman ensures that he plays off him perfectly, channeling his inner John Hawkes as he personifies a mix of nerves and apparent bad luck. Others appear onscreen occasionally, with Alexis Zollicoffer a highlight as a friendly/sassy diner waitress, but the film generally stays tightly focused on Cage and Kinnaman. Talk about playing to your strengths.

I would have like just a bit more here, wishing the film had gone even darker and possibly stayed more ambiguous in the third act, but what we get is a lot of fun. The technical side of things is all on point, and the visuals are accompanied by a perfectly complementary score from Ishai Adar, and those who see the trailer for this, or read a plot summary, and think they will like it, shouldn’t be disappointed by the end result.

8/10

Wednesday, 27 September 2023

Prime Time: The Intern (2015)

I am happy to admit it. When I saw that The Intern was written and directed by Nancy Meyers, and when I saw the poster that had Robert De Niro looking slightly awkward standing alongside Anne Hathaway, I wasn’t ever in a rush to see it. But it became a film that I kept being reminded of over the past few years, with many people commenting that it is better than you might think.

I have to agree. The Intern is better than you might think. It’s predictable and fairly safe throughout, although that helps the most risqué gag to become even more hilarious when it happens, but it’s sweet and funny, and there are a couple of good points made throughout (about the tougher treatment of successful women and the unfair dismissal of elderly citizens with a lot of life experience to share with others).

De Niro plays Ben, a widower who is a bit bored while trying to fill his days. He sees an advert for a “senior intern” vacancy with an online clothing retailer company, applies, and soon finds himself in the midst of a whole new world. Although, as becomes clear, it isn’t actually THAT new to Ben, considering his work history and the values he holds dear. It may not be the experience he hoped for though, considering the fact that company owner, Jules (Anne Hathaway), isn’t convinced that she needs an intern.

If you think you know how The Intern is going to play out from start to finish then you would be correct. Ben wants to find more from his life, although the satisfaction of doing a good job well remains high on his list of priorities. He also has to learn some new skills to be more effective in the modern workplace. Jules has to accept help from others when she needs it, and has to find a way to strengthen her resolve when others start to doubt her capabilities. There are a couple of fun surprises though, whether they take the shape of the aforementioned risqué gag or an unwelcome character development that will have you hissing at a certain someone as if they were a panto villain.

Meyers may not make movies to suit everyone, especially if you’re not into movies that seem designed more for the entertainment and amusement of women, but there’s no denying that she does what she does damn well. She knows what she is doing, and the final result is always polished and balanced between moments of fun and moments of obvious emotional manipulation. In line with her other directorial features, this is a sweet and optimistic film that feels like a good viewing choice to make during more cynical and dark times.

De Niro is great in his main role here, not having to overdo any comedy as viewers get to see his character being sharper and more capable than people assume. He’s fastidious, he presents some old-fashioned values in a way that manages to convince others of their worth, and he convinces as a valuable asset to the company. Hathaway is very good, although slightly hindered by the trials and tribulations thrown at her character throughout the second half of the film. The two leads make a great team though, complementing one another without immediately realising how well they fit. Adam Devine, Zach Pearlman, and Christina Scherer are other work colleagues (Scherer a standout as a swamped assistant who rarely gets the recognition she deserves), Rene Russo adds some romantic potential, and is always welcome in any movie role, and Anders Holm plays Matt, the “house husband” supporting his very busy wife and looking after their young daughter (a winning performance from JoJo Kushner) for most of every day.

I’ve already written far more about this than required, but this was one of the biggest surprises from my viewing choices last week. Sweet, fun, funny, and maybe even a little inspiring, I would recommend people watch The Intern if they want to spend a couple of hours in the company of a mixed bag of characters all able to make you smile for a little while.

7/10

Tuesday, 26 September 2023

No One Will Save You (2023)

A home invasion horror with a sci-fi twist, No One Will Save You is a film I have been looking forward to since I first found out about it. Okay, there wasn’t a long wait, considering I first found out about it last week, but I was still waiting enthusiastically until I could fit it into my viewing schedule.

Written and directed by Brian Duffield (who made his feature directorial debut with the very enjoyable Spontaneous, a film so good that I always forget it was his first time in the big chair), this is a largely effective blend of elements we have seen before, given a fresh burst of energy by being placed in the middle of an alien invasion movie.

Yes, I said the words “alien invasion movie”. That is what this is, whether it is the main battle between a young woman (Brynn, played by Kaitlyn Dever) and the beings trying to take her from her home or the flying saucers positioned over a small town that looks set to be overwhelmed by life from other planets. As the title suggests, things don’t look good for anyone onscreen.

Taking as much influence from the imagery and history of sci-if movies as he does from the modern horror landscape, Duffield does a fantastic job here of weaving genuine chills and thrills with a sly undercurrent of fun. The lead character is constantly in peril, and there’s some backstory to be revealed to explain why she has apparently been ostracized by her home town, but her pain and loneliness allow for the possibility of a wider range of non-traditional “happy” endings.

The excellent production design and special effects throughout (particularly in the design of the aliens) allow Duffield to deliver a number of superb set-pieces, although it must be said that nothing quite tops that first close encounter. The script is structured well, although it should be noted that there is little to no spoken dialogue throughout the entire film, and it’s fun to watch someone make the most of a fairly audacious central idea in a way that is so confident and creative.

While there are a few other actors onscreen here and there, this is largely a one-woman show. Thankfully, Dever is more than up to the task of carrying the film on her shoulders. Whether she is being terrified by night-time visitors, being determined to fight back, or being resigned to what she thinks is a no-win situation, Dever is easy to root for, even while holding on to a secret regret that is used as a crucial point in the third act.

Let’s end with the ending. That third act is where No One Will Save You will lose some people. It’s a coin toss as to whether you will like it or not. I did, but I can see why some might end up absolutely hating it. It’s certainly a bold choice, but it feels like the right one when you null everything over after the end credits have rolled.

Maybe not quite as good as it could have been (personally, having one other person alongside Dever could have allowed for some dialogue and added even more opportunities for tense encounters), No One Will Save You is a treat nonetheless. Duffield is currently two for two, and I look forward to whatever he does next.

7/10

Monday, 25 September 2023

Mubi Monday: Orphan (2016)

Not to be confused with the “killer kid” movie from some years previously, Orphan is a drama about the female experience, represented by a number of very talented actresses playing the same character at four different points in her life. Although that could seem tricky, and arguably unnecessary, viewers can take or leave the central conceit as they wish. What really matters is the time spent exploring facets of the female experience.

Director Arnaud des Pallières, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Christelle Berthevas, makes use of connective tissue to show moments in a life shaped by the actions of men, various types of oppression (whether physical, financial, or the pressure on women to have a child), and one or two bad decisions. Shown in a non-chronological way, viewers are drawn to the characters thanks to the excellent cast and the idea that we’re watching someone on sliding on an inexorably downhill trajectory.

There isn’t much point in giving a full summary here. It’s enough to say that one little girl grows into a young woman in a difficult situation, who subsequently grows into a young woman exuding an air of confidence that gives the impression of her being more in control, and some time later lives her life as a woman striving to maintain a content and normal life. The central character is portrayed, at her different ages, by Vega Cuzytek, Solène Rigot, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Adèle Haenel.

As well as everyone just mentioned, and both Exarchopoulos and Haenel are usually enough to get me to watch anything (particularly the former, one of the best actresses of the last decade, and STILL not being given the recognition she deserves), there are performances here from Gemma Arterton, Jalil Lespert, and Robert Hunger-Bühler. Each person onscreen, including the many not mentioned here, feels important for their impact on the central character, and the acting is as excellent across the board as it needs to be, and as you would expect from most of these names.

Moving between moments of calm and moments of freneticism, and often showing sex and submission in place of real care and love, as well as how those things can get mixed up and melted together in one big puddle of gooey emotions, Orphan may not cover any new ground, but it retreads a well-worn path with the aim of underlining the many small hurts and wounds that add up to damage that reverberates through an entire lifetime. The script and direction are both top notch, but it’s the acting that really makes this so rewarding.

8/10

Sunday, 24 September 2023

Netflix And Chill: El Conde (2023)

There is, in my experience, no such thing as a Pablo Larraín film. For the past two decades he has been delivering stylish and thought-provoking fare, a lot of it making use of the dark and turbulent history of Chile, the country he was born in. While people may have already checked out his more mainstream fare, and I use that term in the loosest sense, I encourage everyone to happily explore his entire filmography. There are many treats waiting for you, including one or two films that are sadly forgotten already, or overshadowed by the major releases that revolved around giant historical figures (Jackie and Spencer).

If you want to go in to El Conde completely blind then I suggest you avoid any reviews or plot summaries, including this one. I don't write spoilery reviews, but I do believe that the central conceit of this film is good enough to keep secret from those who have yet to see it. I need to mention it here though, and you have to heed this as a spoiler warning.

El Conde is a very dark comedy that looks at history through a warped viewfinder, positing the idea that a number of infamous political figures were, in fact, vampires. The main one, the one that the film revolves around, is Pinochet. Yes, THAT Pinochet (played here by Jaime Vadell). He may be coming to the end of his life, despite trying to delay that moment for a long time already, and those around him start to bicker over what they might inherit. A young woman (played by Paula Luchsinger) turns up to conduct an audit, but it's quite obvious from the start that she is there to exorcise and kill The Count.

Written by Larraín and his long-time collaborator, Guillermo Calderón, El Conde is presented in gorgeous black and white, juxtaposing the grace and power of vampirism throughout with the cowardice and greed of Pinochet. Don't worry about this trying to turn the central figure into some kind of grand icon, even comedically. The film uses the nastier aspects of vampirism to make obvious comparisons with the ways in which those with power and money can use up people they view as being far beneath them, but it also uses that same power to show how everyone should be held to account (no pun intended). It's tempting to be seduced by someone who can offer you a taste of their power, but it never wipes out the memory of everything bad they have done, and everyone they have harmed or killed, to maintain their superiority, even if they are struggling to retain their physical strength and form in their old age.

Vadell is good in the central role, helped by the fact that his performance isn't required to be comedic. The comedy all comes from the use of the vampiric trappings, and the squabbling around him. Two of those people squabbling are played wonderfully by Gloria Münchmeyer and Alfredo Castro, both portraying the kind of people who are ultimately so often forgotten while they should really be viewed with the same disdain as the employers/partners they help stay in power. Luchsinger is very enjoyable, and the fact that her character isn't always very good at maintaining her obvious facade for being in the company of these people, or these monsters, provides a few extra laughs along the way. Other notable supporting players are Catalina Guerra, Amparo Noguera, and Stella Gonet, although I have to say that I think the focus on Gonet's character in the third act, and the reveal of her identity, is a mis-step that the film would have been better without. It's an all-too-easy joke that doesn't work as well as the rest of the film, dragging things down slightly when it starts to feel a bit too much like childish "wish-fulfilment".

Despite the fun of the idea and the lovely visuals throughout, this ends up being one of the weaker films from Larraín. It's good, and may be a strangely effective way for people to reconsider and reaffirm the evil committed by Pinochet, but it just errs slightly too much on the side of caution. That's understandable, but I cannot help thinking that both Larraín and Calderón could have given us something much more disturbing and effective, without weakening the dark comedy of the premise.

6/10

Saturday, 23 September 2023

Shudder Saturday: Elevator Game (2023)

I was slightly predisposed to disliking Elevator Game before I saw it because I saw the words "based on actual events"on the poster for it. While that's true, in terms of the silly social media trend of pressing elevator buttons in a certain order in the belief that you will see some other world or summon some spirit, or both, it's a work of fiction that only uses a small amount of truth as a starting point. It happens, and has been happening for decades now, but I am still allowed to be irritated when it's such a tenuous use of the phrase.

Anyway, the very simple plot is that a group of people who make videos debunking urban legends end up being asked to record themselves taking part in the elevator game. Viewers know this may not end well, having seen one young woman face a horrible fate at the very start of the film, but there's over an hour of the film dedicated to showing us the group participating in the game and dealing with the consequences of it.

Made by the people who delivered the slightly disappointing The Creatures Were Stirring (Rebekah McKendry directing, while her husband, David Ian McKendry, is tasked with joining Travis Seppala in the writing department), BUT also gave us the pretty great Glorious, Elevator Game isn't terrible, but it's missing some care and skill to make it any good.

While the game itself seems silly to someone like me (i.e. someone not interested in jumping on to any social media trend like a lemming), that wouldn't have been a problem if the rest of the film had made up for the dubious starting point with some enjoyable set-pieces and decent characters. There are some scares here that aren't too bad, for all they feel like weak imitations of scares from much better movies, but the characters and tone are never as strong as required (especially noticeable when someone walks into a restaurant to claim as much salt as possible in order to prepare some kind of protection).

Nobody onscreen is doing bad work, and I'll take a moment here to namecheck Gino Anania, Alec Carlos, Nazariy Demkowicz, Madison MacIsaac, Verity Marks, Liam Stewart-Kanigan, and Megan Best, they're unable to develop anything beyond the weakest of characterisations. No one character really stands out until you see who is being left for the final scenes, and I suspect most viewers will struggle, as I did, to be invested in the outcome of this. Ultimately . . . it's a film about people finding out after having fucked around. Which is enough to make me enjoy the few gore gags and shrug for the rest of the runtime.

I am sure that McKendry has the ability to make another properly good horror one day, but this isn't it. In fact, it feels like a big step backward when compared to the wonderful strangeness of her previous feature.

4/10

Friday, 22 September 2023

Elemental (2023)

I was really looking forward to Elemental, despite a general sense from people that it was a bit underwhelming. I wouldn’t agree with anyone who thinks it is underwhelming. I would say that this is poor, although there are enough colours and fun characters here to easily keep younger viewers entertained.

The film is set in a world in which elements are people. Leah Lewis voices Ember, a fiery young woman who ends up crossing paths with Wade (Mamoudou Athie). Ember is busy trying to do all she can to ensure that her father’s shop remains safe and able to operate as a business, but Wade has some potential bad news for her. The two end up working together to solve a bigger problem, a watery issue that could endanger all who live in the main zone that the fire people call home, and also show that their opposite identities don’t have to keep them from developing some kind of relationship.

Here’s the good stuff about Elemental. It is cute and lively, and there are a number of little easy gags that made me smile. And I appreciate that the analogy here underlines the importance of people getting over their natural differences to show that a mix of skills and traits can effectively blend together as people complement one another in ways that can improve and enrich lives.

Unfortunately, this is never as fun or imaginative as it should be, and is probably hampered most by a world in which the rules feel half-assed. The elemental characters affect the environment around them according to their elemental core, as you would expect, but only when it suits the plotting. Unlike other Pixar movies I could point to, nothing here feels properly developed or cared for.

Three people wrote the screenplay, working on an idea hatched by director Peter Sohn (who also helmed the equally-disappointing The Good Dinosaur), and it seems as if everyone was so concerned with the lesson at the heart of the thing that they went ahead with something that was far too conceptually flawed. I am not suggesting that focusing on the heart of the movie is the wrong approach, but there’s an argument to be made for taking that heart and transplanting it into a much better body. This could have been a much better film without the use of elements. Yeah, sorry to say, the elements are the worst thing about Elemental.

The voice cast do well enough, but very few people stand out, aside from Catherine O’Hara for being so wonderfully Catherine O’Hara in her small role. Lewis and Athie are fine, and work really well together, and both Ronnie Del Carmen and Shila Ommi lend their voices to Bernie and Cinder, the parents of Ember, and both do their best with a script that doesn’t give them too much to do.

Kids will enjoy Elemental, and that is the target demographic so there’s no need to take any notice of what I have said. But I still think there are a LOT of movies out there that they will enjoy more. You may want to consider that if you’re the adult also having to sit through whatever they choose to watch.

4/10

Thursday, 21 September 2023

Torment (1990)

I was going to start this review with a comment about the notoriety and fame of director Michael J. Murphy, but then I realised I would be lying to myself, and to many others who might see this. Although he had a small fanbase throughout his career, I think many people would have gone through their lives having not heard of, or remembered, his name if it hadn’t been for a frankly bewilderingly brilliant boxset of his work released by Indicator. That is when he came to my attention, and I even did a small amount of research to help me decide on the first film to watch in the set (as a number of people warned against simply watching them in order). I encourage anyone else out there who bought the boxset without knowing much, or anything, about Murphy to do the same.

The plot is quite simple. Debbi Stevens plays a famous singer, Anna Bell, who is struggling through a difficult time in her personal life. Her manager (played by Phil Lyndon) wants to keep the money rolling in, but Anna might mess things up by sinking into a drunken and drug-fuelled haze. It doesn’t help that there’s someone who seems to have a vendetta against her, but at least she gains some pleasant company when a handyman named Matt (Rob Bartlett) comes calling. Of course, Matt is very dodgy, and this is obvious from very early on, but will something genuine develop between our two lead characters, or are they going to use one another for a short period of time?

Sometimes standard psycho-thriller stuff and sometimes meandering and dull drama, Torment is saved by good intentions and a genuinely impressive finale that allows the film to earn its title. While it’s no surprise to find out that this is the only script written by Leo Golding, there are a couple of really good ideas mixed in that surpass the clumsy dialogue.

It’s hard not to have at least some admiration and respect for Murphy, who never lets the limitations of his resources and skillset get in the way of delivering a movie with some genuine ambition. Yes, you can see a microphone or two. Yes, you can see his reflection in scenes that make use of mirrors. But he works in locations where he has to try harder to record the sound. He composes shots that make use of mirrors. Other film-makers would have gone for easier options, but not Murphy. He does everything possible to make something that feels like a film that isn’t restricted by everything working against him.

As for the cast, it would be rude to harshly criticise people who seemed to be cast more for their availability than talent, but it’s a mixed bag. Stevens and Bartlett do at least have some screen presence, and it’s possible to imagine them faring better in a film that had more time to coax better performances from them. Lyndon is enjoyably slippery and scheming, playing his part very well, and other cast members are overshadowed by the appearance of Patrick Olliver, playing a toupee-wearing, gay, dance choreographer who seems to have been sent from The Frankie Howerd School Of Subtle Camp Acting. Love or hate him, Olliver is unforgettable, and certainly helps to liven up what might have otherwise been a dull and arduous first half.

Would I recommend people rush off to watch Torment ASAP? No, of course not. Especially if you have no idea about the intriguing filmography of Murphy. I would, however, encourage people to do what I did, to learn a bit more about the director and consider this as a starting point for exploring his work. Far from the worst thing I have ever seen, and full of an admirable ambition from start to finish, I would definitely rewatch this ahead of many other, more polished, movies that are much better-known. And I am looking forward to exploring more of my Michael J. Murphy boxset when I make the time for it.

6/10