THE UGLIEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD - Eccentric Spanish production has a lot going for it - a bit of sci-fi detective drama, a touch of Pythonesque Giallo (formerly ugly person wants to wipe out beauty pageant queens), weirdly Cronenbergian elements - but somehow for me never takes hold. Maybe the problem lies in the 'bit' of sci-fi detective drama, which should actually read 'too much' sci-fi det...etc..etc. Despite the drag factor which set my mind wandering through its less evocative passages, there are still plenty of interesting ideas and striking sequences and scenes - enough to make it a shame that it wasn't great. Still, it's definitely worth a watch.
RETRIBUTION - Pure eighties textures abound in a movie which seems to encompass and concentrate the essence of VHS horror from roughly 1983-1990. I really enjoyed watching this, and frankly would take it over the likes of 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' or any of the 'dream-horror' 'originals' it seems to derive from any day. Some bits are clunky, but so 100% right - a dwarf flips a record at a party, and the whole scene changes - perfection! I'm sure that's a reference to something I'm too cine-illiterate to grasp. And who couldn't love a movie which features an Easter Island Head whose eyes gush blood? Not to mention an immaculately inconsequential appearance from 'Dr Rasta', who seemed like he might be more of a pivotal character at first. A bit of minor treasure rescued from the video graveyard - highly recommended.
 |