Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

Posted on May 20, 2013 by

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Italian horror films from the 70s had a style that was unique and unlike no other. Specifically the “giallo” genre. Berberian Sound Studio’s story takes place during the height of that era.

Gilderoy is a British sound engineer hired to work on an Italian horror film. This job was extremely vital back then, due to the fact that these films relied so heavily on post-production sound design. You get to see Gilderoy use everything possible in order to make certain sound effects. Plenty of fresh produce such as, water melons, cabbage and other various items were used to make the sounds for the violent film being worked on.

Gilderoy is a character that clearly felt out of his element at first, having previously only worked on more wholesome type of programming back home. He’s also depicted as being a momma’s boy.

As the film progresses there’s a certain surreal quality that really comes through, which I believe will really split most audiences’ opinions. I can imagine people who have never been exposed to, or aren’t fans of Italian style 70s film making, will be put off and not appreciate much about it, but for hardcore fans of the genre, Berberian Sound Studio has some elements which are a real treat.

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This is a very different kind of film; one which I don’t think I have ever seen the likes of previously. As fresh as it is, there is a very slow pace to it. This could prove to be a hinderance for horror fans who generally are not in the mood for these more artsy, fartsy type of films.

The ending made me sort of shrug my shoulders. After investing so much attention into something that is not necessarily easy to sit through, I kind of wish the pay off would have been better.

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Truly, this film will largely be appreciated by fans of Italian 70s cinema. There are plenty of nods to films of that era made by maestros such as Argento, Fulci, Bava and Soavi.

Berberian Sound Studio took me back to those days convincingly enough and I liked that about it. However, the pacing feels off and it wouldn’t have hurt to be able to see more actual footage of the film they were working on. It’s clear what the director was going for and I’d say overall he succeeded.

-JP

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Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

Posted on May 19, 2013 by

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The story begins with the titled young siblings being inexplicably abandoned by their father in the middle of a forest somewhere where they encounter a nasty witch yet manage to team up and defeat her despite being little wee ones.

Later on as adults, Hansel and Gretel, are witch hunters for hire. At this point the film shows some images of the siblings witch hunters as they grow up slaying different witches. It might have been more fun if they had actually filmed scenes showing them growing up and murdering witches.

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I’m not gonna kid you here, there’s a lot of hoky-ness going on here with some of the dialogue, which I had a tough time believing for the period of time the story takes place — and also some of the weapons used seemed out of place. No, I’m not going to research how well the weaponry in the film matches the actual time period of this re imagined fairy tale; however, something about it just screamed of cheese to me.

There was plenty here to enjoy. The special effects and makeup were very well done, especially the main evil witch, Muriel, played by the superbly talented, Famke Janssen.

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Also, I really liked the Troll creature in this named ‘Edward’. Not enough time was spent with this entertaining character, but man, does he ever kick some ass and flat out gore some people in this…which brings me to something else that was well done–the gore effects and violence. Much of it happens too fast but for those of us who appreciate this sort of thing on film, it wad surprising, yet enjoyable to watch.

I’m not sure if they plan on coming out with a sequel to this, but personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing where else they go with it. Maybe there will be some direct-to-video release to continue this story…probably not. I think hollywood is already getting tired of these sort of adaptations and re imagining.

Overall, I didn’t feel like it was a waste of time, and it kept me interested. If you’re looking for a thoughtless, popcorn movie with some action and surprising gore with great special effects, you could do worse.

-JP

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Quite a Conundrum (2012)

Posted on May 19, 2013 by

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Mimi and Tabitha plan a small party which gets flipped upside down when the fat guy with an eye patch shows up. He was a married man Mimi had been sleeping with but was unceremoniously dumped by Mimi for his lackluster lovemaking skills and inability to keep up with the much younger Mimi. Fat guy with eye patch comes back and shoots himself in the head, causing the night of fun to take a turn for the worse.

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Quite a Conundrum isn’t so much horror as it is a dark comedy. Unfortunately, not one scene or line of dialogue made me chuckle. The characters were annoying and the dialogue was mostly tacky.

I have to give the film maker credit for attempting something clever and different but this just didn’t work for me. The film’s final section is better than the first hour or so but this isn’t saying much. A lot of time was wasted on trying to develop characters with little to no personality, and who were annoying as hell — especially the opening scenes with Mimi and Tabitha, included some real groan inducing dialogue.

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When the action truly begins it’s too little, too late, as the film had already completely lost me. As the story became more grim it also became more engaging, but only slightly, and the minor thrills were just that — minor at best. Things for the characters – facing one odd conundrun after another could have been something that was a lot of fun to watch, but the execution and detail just wasn’t there. I’m sure it was largely due to a micro-budget.

But still…I cannot recommend this.

-JP

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Dark Skies (2013)

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

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This film is directed by Scott Stewart, the same man that helmed both Legion and Priest. Thankfully this film is a lot better than those two lackluster films…well, it’s watchable at least.

Dark Skies is an alien abduction tale centered around a young suburban family experiencing several strange occurrences in their home, some of which were actually quite creepy. The aliens in Dark Skies were well utilized and creepy to the point where I think it is fair to throw the word “horror” into the sci-fi/thriller category this movie probably gets thrown into by other people.

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I mean, having Aliens harrassing your family and trying to abduct one of its members is a horrifying thing, ain’t it?

There are not a lot of fresh and original ideas here. Clearly there are borrowed elements from other films such as Signs and Paranormal Activity. Surely this is no coincidence considering that the production team involved also worked on Insidious and Paranormal Activity, although there wasn’t too much of Insidious in this besides the family’s legit concern about their little boy.

Some scenes were truly tense, weird and even a touch scary at times, depending on your tastes and how much interest you have with Aliens and such. The problem for me was that the middle section of this film nearly put me to sleep and it wasn’t even that late and I wasn’t even tired when I watched it.

The actors, including Miss Felicity herself, Keri Russel, gave solid performances with what they had to work with.

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Dark Skies is not a bad film and its best moments ought to be commended, but I just wish there would have been more depth to it, and the influence and borrowing of tid bits from other films were too obvious to ignore. Sometimes – heck- a lot of times, horror films borrow from others, but this one was just too in your face to ignore.

The ending also left a lot to be desired and the “twist” was less than inspiring.

Dark Skies is still a well made film with plenty to like, but its negatives are too hard to look away from(or close your eyes from having it put you to sleep with boredom). To me it seems like it would have been better off as some one hour TV special on alien abduction rather than a full length feature.

-JP

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The Tent, by Kealan Patrick Burke

Posted on May 5, 2013 by

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The Tent is a fast paced novella-length story about a family camping trip that quickly transforms into a nightmare. Mike takes his wife and son on this “adventure”, thinking it will bring his family closer. When a nasty storm hits, the nightmare begins…

The thing that stood out and to me that is probably most memorable about this story, is the way the characters are written and how their dire situation brings out the truth in their relationships. The author does a fabulous job writing the troubled husband and wife, and the agony of their troubles extend far beyond the terrible situation they found themselves in.

The creatures were vividly described and entertaining to read. Burke expertly crafted the action and scenes, which made this read blisteringly fast.

It’s not a cheesy romp in the forest type of camping horror story. It goes much deeper than that.

This would be a great story to see realized on screen. I’d pay to watch it.

All in all, I do recommend The Tent and will be definitely reading Burke’s other books in the near future.

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The Captured Bird (2012)

Posted on May 2, 2013 by

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This short film is directed by former Rue Morgue Magazine editor Jovanka Vuckovic. I was always a big fan of the Toronto-based horror magazine and the work Jovanka did for it was outstanding. When I found out she would be getting into film making, I was intrigued and looked forward to seeing her vision on screen.

This atmospheric tale involves a young girl drawing with chalk on a cement playground, when some strange black liquid forms from the cracks leading her to an enormous, creepy looking building. The scope and cinematography here at this point is beautiful to look at, it made me want to pause the disc and just stare at the screen for a while. The setting inside the massive building uses some amazing sound design and a colour pallette that reminded me a bit of some of Dario Argento’s earlier works, and to a large extent, Guillermo del Toro’s, The Devil’s Backbone. I could be way off on that, but that’s just what came to mind when watching.

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Although very short in length, the unbridled passion and love for this film came across loud and clear.

Clearly Vuckovic had a lot of influential and successful people in the business involved with this project from the get-go. Guillermo del Toro is one of the names involved amongst an all around talented team. Not surprising because knowing the type of work Vuckovic has done in the past, she doesn’t half ass anything and would use all the best resources available at her disposal.

I firmly believe this director is a force to be reckoned with in the genre and can’t wait to see what else she has in store for us.

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-JP

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American Mary (2012)

Posted on April 21, 2013 by

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Mary Mason is a medical student studying to be a surgeon. She’s a bright and crafty young woman struggling to make ends meet, and ends up taking drastic measures to fix her problems.

Mary’s fate changes after being invited to a party of fellow surgeons. The outcome catapults Mary, and the audience to some of the craziness that would ensue.

Katherine Isabelle stars as Mary and all in all does a good job. She is a great fit to play this character and fans of her other films – Ginger Snaps in particular – will not be disappointed by her performance. It doesn’t hurt that she is a good looking woman, to put it mildly.

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They should have called this film, Canadian Mary, since Katherine is a Canadian actress and this was filmed in Canada, but I digress.

Another performance that sticks out is the doll-faced, Betty Boop cartoon lookalike character named Beatrice. She with the creepy face, and squeaky mouse voice. This character was important in many ways and was the closest thing Mary has as a friend in this story.

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American Mary has an undeniable indy quality to it, but never did it feel cheap. The sets and locations used were effective. Overall, the acting was sub par, but there has been far worse in this genre.

The world and culture of extreme body modification is explored in this, but something tells me in real life the people entrenched in that culture might have some gripes with this film. I don’t know a thing about it, it’s just a feeling I have. It would be interesting to hear from people in that world who have seen this movie.

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I’m a fan of films like; May, Excision, Lovely Ones, Audition, and Ginger Snaps. American Mary almost fits right in with that group but falls just short. The first half was very strong but there was a point near the second half that seemed to drag just a little. The end also seemed sort of abrupt but was fairly satisfying overall.

If you, like I, are a fan of some of the movies mentioned above, you should get some enjoyment from American Mary despite some wonky acting and plot holes within. And if you enjoy watching Katherine Isabelle in action,  you will not be disappointed.

-J.P.

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