NOCEBO – Eva Green designs clothes for kids, but then something happens and she ends up with a strange, inexplicable illness. Chai Fonacier arrives unannounced from the Philippines and wants to help… the only thing is, maybe someone’s in league with the supernatural etc. The well turned-out ‘Nocebo’ intrigues with magical realist vibes and a dash of body horror, an interesting concoction that kept me in but ultimately didn’t quite ignite. Still worth checking out for lovers of giant ticks, mangey dogs and swallowable birds.
SADISTIC INTENTIONS – Someone with an apparent Crispin Glover fixation lures his mates to a house where bad stuff might happen. A strong build, full of foreshadowing with its subtle mix of social cringe comedy and the feeling of something off-key brewing in the background, doesn’t quite survive a shift into outright mayhem. But this is an interesting debut from the director of ‘The Leech’, and features a bit of charisma from Taylor Zaudtke and microhorror reliable Jeremy Gardner.
DARKLANDS – A small Welsh town is beset by pagan goings on – journo Craig Fairbrass is the geezer to sort it all out. The industrial haze of the credits promises atmosphere, but what you get resembles an episode of Taggart with interludes courtesy of STOMP. Then again, there’s an on-the-nose pulpishness driving it along, and the ritual rape of Fairbrass for the purpose of druidic impregnation was not something I thought I’d ever see. The “constant trips to the local library to research a small-town occult mystery by microfiche” was about the only other aspect I enjoyed. Takes me back to a magical time of floppy haircuts and pubs with ashtrays. The nostalgist in me says yes – the sensible part reckons probably not.
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