Recent viewings over the past busy month (a lot of these are from Netflix):
The Bay - A surprisingly good found footage film. Who'd have thought it? Various inhabitants of the titular bay become hosts for a mutant parasite and the result is seen through various video sources like investigative reports, cameraphone footage etc. It works surprisingly well and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I suppose the issue with found footage films is that they're so accessible for people to make and so the bad inevitably outweigh the good but having an experienced director like Barry Levinson behind it really makes it stand out and the found footage delivery genuinely seems like the best way of doing the film, rather than a cost-cutting exercise.
F - Average British hoodie 'slasher' film that seems to forget what to do about halfway in. Not terrible, not brilliant.
The Stepfather (remake) - glossy, shiny remake of a much better film. Ticks all the typical suspense buttons but is ultimately pointless but makes a good stab at redemption by having Amber Heard wearing swimwear for most of the film.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter - I'd never seen this before which I was surprised at. Pretty typical but enjoyable slasher sequel which does all the things you'd expect well enough.
The Glass House - A brother and sister move in with old family neighbours following the death of their parents only to find out their new guardians aren't all that they seem. A moderate, if overly-long, thriller which feels a bit like a tv movie with a bigger budget.
Retreat - Gripping triple-handed indie thriller with excellent performances and an engrossing plot. Cillian Murphy and Thandie Newton play a married couple whose cottage holiday is interrupted by Jamie Bell's solider who locks them in to save them from a fatal viral outbreak.
Pin - A curious and odd film about a boy's split personality which lives through his father's medical dummy. Kinda all over the place but quirky and eccentic enough to be worth a watch.
Side by Side - Wonderful documentary on the rise of digital cinema and its effect on celluloid's future. Keanu Reeves interviews a whole host of directors such as George Lucas, Christopher Nolan, Robert Rodriguez, David Lynch and David Fincher to examine their views on the digital vs celluiloid debate which raises a number of excellent points on both sides of the discussion. A must for anyone interested in film and the film making process
The Place Beyond the Pines - Generation-spanning tale of retribution and sins of the fathers, this is an excellently shot and gripping film. The plot about Bradley Cooper's cop uncovering corruption seems to drag a little but and the denouement seems a little rushed as a result but if you;re able to get past a certain plot contrivance it's definitely worth a watch. Excellent score by Mike Patton too
Ban The Sadist Videos! and Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape - revisited both on a double bill. The latter far more engaging than the former but both very enjoyable and ire-inducing,
Evil Dead - Far nastier than Raimi's film and severely lacking the anarchic sense of humour and fun. That said, it's well executed, shocking and full of frights and definitely one of the best remakes of classic 70's/80's horror. It was never going to replicate the DIY aesthetic of Raimi's original and is far more polished but if you have to remake classic horror films (and I'm not saying that you do) then this is the way to do it.
I Know What You Did Last Summer - Perfunctory, irony-free (surprising as it's written by Scream's Kevin Williamson) late-90's slasher devoid of gore, sleaze and, because of it's TV star cast, nudity. Very much the definition of a middle-of-the-road horror.
|