Friday (part 2)
Trench 11
A 'men on a mission' war movie set during WW1 which quickly morphs into a claustrophobic horror movie. A group of Allies head to a mysterious German bunker after uncovering evidence suggesting of experiments with biological warfare. Arriving at the trench they discover the bunker has been seemingly abandoned, however as they make their way into the complex they discover the infected victims are still roaming the cramped corridors.
While the film plays with ideas used in other films previously, its to this films credit that it still feels fresh and original. The infected here are genuinely creepy and whats infecting them feels like something from a Cronenberg film. The set design is terrific and the dark, cramped corridors really help create a sense of claustrophobia.
Creeper
A woman takes an Uber home. The driver takes a fancy to her so he breaks in and spends some time wandering her house, eating her food watching her sleep and then live streaming it. An utterly creept short film from Australia that feels totally invasive. Even better as it worked well with the film it was programmed with...
Freehold
A cocky, laddish Estate agent lives blissfully unaware that there's a huge Spanish bloke living in a hidden compartment in his flat. When he's out at work his uninvited houseguest crawls out and uses his toothbrush, eats his food and entertains himself with things he finds around the home. Gradually he gets more vindictive and when the estate agent's girlfriend comes to live with him he actively begins to destroy his life.
More Comedy horror than horror comedy this one is genuinely funny, while at the same time feeling incredibly invasive and gross. Javier Botet who plays the unwanted guest is probably someone you'll recognise from films like REC where he played the final giant infected. Here he's given more humanity so while you'll be genuinely creeped out by him, by the end of the film he becomes someone more tragic.
68 kill
Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler) is a hapless waste collection operative who appears to be punching WAY above his weight with his girlfriend Liza (AnnaLynn McCord). She's incredibly hot if not a little flakey and Chips work colleague warns him that pussy is going to lead him to prison. As if on cue he gets home from work to find Liz with two hanguns and a plan to rob the rich guy she's banging for rent money. Chip goes along with the plan only to discover Liza is a complete sociopath with no compunctions on killing. After they take a hostage to her serial killer brother Chip finally snaps and does a runner with the hostage and the money. However Chips weekend hasn't even begun to get messed up yet.
Possibly one of my favourites of the festival. 68 kill is a bloody road movie with some genuinely brilliant black humour to it. Gubler is a gifted actor and really delivers as Chip with some perfect timing in the delivery of his dialogue. A lot of the film hangs on his performance and he's totally spot on. AnnaLynne McCord is great as usual. She's really gone out on a limb with some of the roles she chooses and here she really steals the scenes she's in. The film really brings out some dark and twisted characters and refuses to waste any of them. Definitely recommended.
A peculiar thud.
Another short. A man wakes up in the middle of the night to discover a stranger at his door who wants to come in and won't take no as an answer. Creepy as hell, its got a great sense of space in the house as the mans night gets steadily worse and has a nice, creepy tone to it.
Better watch out.
I'm not going to say a lot about this. If possible you need to go into it knowing as little as possible. It starts out as a cliched as hell tale of a babysitter being tormented by home invaders then actually becomes something way darker. I really hope I can grab a copy of this before xmas as it's probably going to be a seasonal favourite.
Tag
A new film from Sion Sono, possibly one of my favourite Japanese directors working today. Its begins with one of the most insane openings I've seen in a film which then becomes a hyper kinetic movie that the closest comparison I could come up with was mother!.
Its really hard to sum this film up. It feels completely unhinged but it does have a purpose. My own reading of this was that it was a complete deconstruction of female roles in Japanese popular culture like anime and videogames. I pre-ordered the film after seeing it.
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