Oct 28, 2014
Exclusive Review: MINDSCAPE, aka ANNA (2014) {0}
There are numerous mysteries to be explored in Spanish director Jorge Dorado’s feature debut, released in the UK under its original title Mindscape. Mysteries such as: why was the film retitled with the more prosaic monicker Anna in the US? (Not that there’s anything wrong with that: after all, the film’s star, Mark Strong, was born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia.) Why does the DVD cover say “From the director of Orphan” when Orphan director Jaume Collet-Serra serves as a producer on Dorado’s film? Why does Strong (who was born in London from Austro-Italian stock) affect a disastrous Ameeeerrrrican accent? (British co-stars Brian Cox and Saskia Reeves are similarly saddled, but Cox is better at it – although “Jaaahn” gets old real fast – and Reeves doesn’t have many lines.) Where on Earth is the film supposed to be set? (It was shot in Spain and Montréal, Canada, but nobody bothered to put license plates on any of the cars, so the entire film has a bizarre statelessness that isn’t helped by the protagonist’s accentual affectations.)
Oct 28, 2014
Exclusive Review: THE INVOKING (2013) {0}
There used to be a TV show with a theme song that went like this:
“You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have: The Facts of Life.”
One could easily remove the word “life” from the end of that lyric and replace it with “world of micro-budget horror cinema.” In other words, when it comes to super-low-budget cinema, it pays to forgive the rough spots, focus on the strong points, and give the filmmakers a little extra leeway here and there.
Oct 28, 2014
Exclusive Review: BENEATH (2014) {0}
Most horror movies tell you what you’re in store for right off the bat: it’s a zombie movie, or it’s a haunted house story, or it’s collection of creepy short films, or… you get the point. Good horror films will often offer a literal vs. metaphorical angle to their story. (For example: is that woman going insane… or is she completely sane and her house is actually haunted?) Then there are the thrillers that really want to hold their cards close to the vest for as long as possible, and that’s what makes Ben Ketai’s subterranean chiller Beneath so periodically amusing: the viewer simply doesn’t know if it’s dealing with threats of an otherworldly or literal nature.
Oct 28, 2014
Review: REEL ZOMBIES (2008) {0}
Canadian filmmakers David J. Francis and Mike Masters reunited for this 2008 mockumentary charting the ten-day production of the third in their ‘commercially unsuccessful’ zombie trilogy. Playing themselves, albeit slightly exaggerated versions, Francis and Masters put together a cast and crew, most of whom worked on the first two films, and set about making a movie in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, about a zombie apocalypse.
Oct 28, 2014
Exclusive Review: THE PURGE: ANARCHY (2014) {0}
Anarchy in the USA
Despite having a good time with 2012’s The Purge and finding it a bit more satirically compelling than most studio horror flicks, my main “gripe” about the film was simple: why introduce such a clever concept – that all crime is legal in America for 12 hours – and then stick your entire story inside of one house? What started as a novel piece of dark sci-fi turned into an entertaining but pretty familiar story of “lock the doors, bolt the windows, and fend of all invaders.”
Oct 28, 2014
Retro Review: DEVIL IN THE WOODS (2012) {0}
Darren Bousman loves to take the hard road. The energetic writer/director hit the horror geek jackpot when he was chosen to direct Saw II, and it’s safe to say that he helped keep that franchise focused (and very profitable) through Part 3 and Part 4. A young filmmaker coming off three big hits has some options, but Bousman went with something called… Repo! The Genetic Opera, and then a remake of the sleazy Mother’s Day, an occult thriller (11-11-11) that went nowhere, and another crazy Repo-esque horror musical called The Devil’s Carnival. Say what you will about the man’s movies, but I respect Bousman for not taking the easy road with studio-backed remakes or mindless 3D crap. I like the guy’s commitment to low-budget scrappiness, which is why some will see his latest, Devil in the Woods (aka The Barrens), as a boring walk through the forest, but I chose to enjoy it as a mash-up between “psychological thriller” and “monster movie.”
Oct 28, 2014
Review: SOULMATE (2014) {0}
First-time feature writer/director Axelle Carolyn is certainly no stranger to dark fiction. In addition to her literary career (which includes columns at Fangoria and a book on modern horror cinema called It Lives Again!) to a trio of short films (The Last Post, Hooked, and The Halloween Kid) and a handful of acting gigs in between (check out her enthusiastically nasty performance in Centurion) – this is a woman who knows how to read, write, and appreciate the horror genre. Clearly I’m a friend as well as a fan, so perhaps there’s a small sliver of bias when I assert that Ms. Carolyn’s debut feature is pretty darn impressive.
Oct 28, 2014
Review: FOR ELISA (2013) {0}
Lots of horror movies start with a young woman accepting a mysterious offer and living to regret it in seriously unpleasant ways, and here’s an interesting new one from Spain known as For Elisa (aka Para Elisa and For Elise). Not many of the components offered here are all that unique or remarkable on their own (more on those in a minute), but it’s the combination of story points, suspense moments, and slightly familiar themes that make For Elisa such a strangely amusing horror import.
