Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

It’s not much of an understatement to suggest that there’s no love lost at STARBURST HQ – or, indeed, anywhere – for Skyline, 2010’s frustratingly cheap-as-chips alien invasion effort by the Brothers Strauss. Whilst the film had an interesting aesthetic when it finally got around to showing off its aliens and their intergalactic tech, the film’s lack of funds meant that the human protagonists spent much of the film in hiding or else watching the invasion on TV or by peeking through shuttered windows and gasping “Wow, oh my God!” occasionally. But there were, in fairness, a few good ideas here and there but the film was never able to let them fly because it clearly couldn’t afford to.

So the long-threatened and barely-demanded sequel finally arrives with the Brothers now credited as producers and former visual effects producer Liam O’Donnell making his debut in the director’s chair. Extraordinarily, he’s somehow managed to give Skyline the kick up the backside it so desperately needed if there was to be any point to this sequel and dragged its cast of characters out of the shadows and front and centre – and how – into the middle of the alien invasion. Mercifully set in a different location to the original film, Beyond Skyline chronicles the alien invasion – you’ll remember the glowing lights dropping from the sky and the armada of mechanical, tentacled clanking things stamping and swooping about the place – from the perspective of recovering boozehound cop Mark (Grillo) and his ne’er-do-well son Trent (Weston). No sooner has Mark bailed Trent out from a tricky encounter with his cop colleagues than it all kicks off; the aliens arrive and, in a visual image as striking here as it was in the original, humankind is lifted off its feet and drawn inexorably into the belly of the alien war machine. Mark, Trent and a few fellow survivors flee underground and for a moment we fear the worst – a rehash of Skyline’s timid, cash-strapped, it’s-all-happening-off-screen approach. Not a bit of it. A tactical nuke levels Los Angeles as the authorities fight back (although the city doesn’t look especially nuked when our heroes emerge from the darkness) and almost immediately – and quite surprisingly – half the main cast are culled and the rest are peremptorily whisked up into the spaceship where, not to put too fine a point on it, things all go a bit mental.

Beyond Skyline is a big, dumb, non-stop joyous blast. It shamefully plunders from Independence Day, Predator and Battle Los Angeles before doing an about-face halfway through and morphing into a martial arts war movie. Schizophrenic doesn’t come close to describing it – and yet there’s so much going on, so many wild ideas flung into the mix, so many staggeringly-impressive visuals (which only slightly over-reach themselves as we head towards the frantic climax) on what can’t have been a massive budget – that it’s impossible to resists being swept up in the tide of madness, action and spectacle. Scenes aboard the alien spaceship itself are visceral – there’s some nasty business going here involving the aliens ripping open people’s heads to suck out their brains – and stunningly realised and we learn more about the aliens, their origins, and their culture as the film progresses.

Clearly, this isn’t Blade Runner or Arrival or any other more cerebral sci-fi flick – but then if you’re familiar with Skyline you won’t be expecting anything too thought-provoking or challenging. But if you just want some easily-digestible, pulse-pounding, fast food fun fantasy, Beyond Skyline is immeasurably preferable to some of the stuff that’s crowded out the multiplexes this summer. Beyond Skyline, beyond belief, is beyond good.

BEYOND SKYLINE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: LIAM O’DONNELL / STARRING: FRANK GRILLO, BOJANA NOVAKOVIC, IKO UWAIS, CALLAN MURPHY, YAYAN RUHIAN, JONNY WESTON, ANTONIO FARGAS / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 8TH 2018

The House franchise began life back in 1986 with Steve Miner’s original, and 1992’s House IV: The Possession brought this cult favourite genre series to a conclusion. Returning the narrative to that of a mysterious old house – following House III’s focus on a back-from-the-dead serial killer – let’s see if The Possession is a worthy close for this franchise.

Bringing back William Katt as the original movie’s Roger Cobb, the movie opens with him and his family – wife Kelly (Terri Treas) and daughter Laurel (Melissa Clayton) – exploring their old and spooky family home. When tragedy strikes and Roger is killed in a car accident, Kelly decides to move in to the abode and make it the new home for her and her daughter. Unfortunately for her, Roger’s no-good step-brother Burke (Scott Burkholder) is desperate to seize the house as his own in order to knock it down and to make a quick buck. Of course, while this conflict is ongoing, the house itself begins to make its own thoughts clear as strange happenings begin to play out on an increasingly frequent basis.

While House III never truly felt anything like a House movie – as highlighted by the fact that it was initially developed and pegged as a standalone non-House picture, even released as one in the US – House IV is a splendid return to what we’ve come to expect from the franchise. Additionally, it’s also the only sequel that acts as a quasi follow-up to the 1986 original, as shown by the return of Katt’s Roger. Things do get a tad murky on that front, mind, for the house focussed on in the first film and this one are in vastly different locations while supposedly being one and the same. Similarly, Roger’s wife and son of the first movie have been replaced by a new wife and daughter this time out. Still, given the oft-bonkers antics at play in the House franchise, we can just about let this all of this slide.

Going back to the roots of the series, The Repossession is a fitting way to bring the House franchise to a conclusion, embracing the humour, charm and family-friendly scares that put this series on the map for genre fans in the first place.

In terms of bonus content, the audio commentary from Lewis Abernathy is a fun and fascinating chat track, but it’s the new Home Deadly Home documentary that’s easily the standout of the special features as it brings all of the movie’s key players together to look back on the film. Like the recent new Blu-ray releases of House, House II: The Second Story and House III: The Horror Show, this release of House IV: The Possession is indeed the same as the one included on this year’s House: The Complete Collection boxset, and this new standalone release is the perfect way to pick up the fitting closing chapter of the series should you have missed said boxset.

Special Features: Audio commentary / Home Deadly Home: The Making of House IV documentary / Trailer / Stills gallery

HOUSE IV: THE REPOSSESSION / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: LEWIS ABERNATHY / SCREENPLAY: DEIRDRE HIGGINS, GEOF MILLER / STARRING: TERRI TREAS, SCOTT BURKHOLDER, MELISSA CLAYTON, DENNY DILLON, WILLIAM KATT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW4

For those familiar with the famed House franchise, you’ll be well aware that each of the four entries in the series are largely unrelated bar the fact that the action of each film centres around a mysterious creepy house. Well, each of the four entries bar House III, that is. And now, that third franchise entry is getting a new Blu-ray release from the fantastic crew over at Arrow Video.

Plot-wise, House III: The Horror Show revolves around a vicious serial killer and the detective on his trail. When Brion James’ ominously-named Meat Cleaver Max is finally brought down by Lance Henriksen’s Detective McCarthy, the crazed killer doesn’t even let a small matter like death stop him from continuing his bloody rampage. Despite meeting his maker courtesy of a stint in the electric chair, Max returns from the grave intent on piling up his body count and getting some brutal revenge on McCarthy.

Initially released in the US as simply The Horror Show – free from the ties of the House franchise name – the film has now taken its place as a straight-up part of the House series. Regardless of whether it’s in or out of the franchise, there’s no escaping the fact that House III is a stinker of a movie. Lance Henriksen does his best with what he has to work with, but you could put in an Oscar-worthy performance and still not make a smidge of difference to a film like House III. As for the rest of the cast, their performances range from excessively hammy to outright awful. One huge plus point, though, is the effects work on display. With greats such as Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger working their magic with the explosive and excessively graphic scenes dotted throughout The Horror Show, it’s this SFX work that is the hands-down best part of this threequel. As the old saying goes, however, you can’t polish a turd, and no matter how great the practical make-up and effects, there’s no dressing up just how disappointing a picture this is.

When it comes down to it, House III: The Horror Show is easily the weakest entry in the House franchise and sadly seems like nothing more than a desperate attempt to draw in an audience purely based on gore and profanities. Of course, here at STARBRUST we love us some bloodshed and we swear like a sailor for the most part, but House III just seems like excessive blood ‘n’ guts and strong language simply for shock value – ultimately feeling like a cheap gimmick to compensate for a poor story. And considering that the House franchise was built on family-friendly scares with a warm, humourous charm to them, The Horror Show just feels completely out of synch with the rest of the series. So much so, you almost wish the powers-that-be stuck to their original plan of releasing The Horror Show as a standalone picture not associated with the House franchise.

As for the special features included on this release, the major highlight is The Show Must Go On; an interview with legendary stuntman and franchise mainstay Kane Hodder. And in case you were wondering, yes, this release of House III: The Horror Show is the same Blu-ray that was included earlier this year in Arrow Video’s House: The Complete Collection boxset – just now, like the rest of the franchise, the film is getting a solo Blu-ray release.

Special Features: Audio commentary / Slaughter, Inc. featurette / Two interviews / Behind-the-scenes footage / Workprint footage / Trailer / Stills gallery

HOUSE III: THE HORROR SHOW / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: JAMES ISAAC / SCREENPLAY: LESLIE BOHEM, ALLYN WARNER / STARRING: LANCE HENRIKSEN, BRION JAMES, RITA TAGGART, DEDEE PFEIFFER, ARON EISENBERG / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

With the prolific guys at Arrow Video currently releasing new Blu-ray versions of the famed House franchise, it’s now time to turn to our attention to 1987’s House II: The Second Story. While the first film became a huge favourite of many genre fans, it was decided to switch the attention to another batch of characters and another eerie house for the follow-up to the ’86 original. Still, with shocks and surprises aplenty, let’s see if The Second Story is worth a second look.

Much like the first movie saw Bill Katt’s Roger move in to his grandmother’s mysterious old house, House II centres on Arye Gross’ Jesse and the old family property where his parents were murdered years prior. While pal Charlie (Jonathan Stark) joins Jesse to explore this spacious, creepy abode, it’s the arrival of Jesse’s long-dead mummified great-great grandfather that ups the weird ante. Fear not, for this dead relative is well meaning. The zombie cowboy with a snarly grin and mean intentions, however, is not quite as friendly – particularly in his mission to claim a strange crystal skull (obviously way before Indy and his alien shenanigans).

Upon first viewing, House II: The Second Story will always be compared to its predecessor. Once you get past the fact that the two films are not interconnected in terms of ongoing narrative, you soon realise that this is a fun and warm sequel tinged with slight overtones of horror. But that’s part of the charm of the House franchise as a whole – House III notwithstanding. In the barmy, bonkers tale here, we have a whole host of genre tropes ticked off; from zombies, to cowboys, to spirits, to dinosaurs, to strange new creatures, to alternative dimensions, and plenty more.

House II doesn’t quite have anything similar to the strong performance of the original’s Bill Katt anchoring the picture, but it still has plenty to make it a worthwhile follow-up that’s definitely worth watching. And due to the way that the franchise doesn’t follow one overreaching story, The Second Story is perfect to pick up and check out as a standalone movie. Performance-wise, it’s Cheers’ John Ratzenberger who steals the show in a small but brilliant role as he devours scenery and quips wise, and writer/director Ethan Wiley deserves a lot of credit for the enjoyable dialogue and story that’s put together in general.

Like the new Blu-ray release of the original House, this release of House II is the same as the version included in House: The Complete Collection that Arrow released earlier this year. As such, the special features are plentiful and a joy to take in – particularly the brand-new It’s Getting Weirder! retrospective documentary that brings some of the film’s key players back to discuss the sequel.

House II: The Second Story is a vastly underrated follow-up to a true genre classic, and it’s a movie that’s so often overlooked by many. Ultimately, it’s not quite as good as that original ’86 film, but this new release is the perfect chance to delve back in to this sequel and to appreciate it for its own unique charms.

Special Features: Audio commentary / It’s Getting Weirder! The Making of House II: The Second Story documentary / Vintage EPK / TV Spot / Trailer / Stills gallery

HOUSE II: THE SECOND STORY / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ETHAN WILEY / STARRING: ARYE GROSS, JONATHAN STARK, ROYAL DANO, BILL MAHER, JOHN RATZENBERGER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Every now and again, an ‘art’ film is re-released and lauded as a classic to the bemused public who would have normally never gone anywhere near it. The Cremator is one such film. However, this time, the plaudits are valid and if you’re a fan of Lynch or Jarmusch, or cinema in general; if you love pitch-black comedy or prefer your horror a little more abstract, this is for you.

Set in the 1930s, we are instantly put into the world of small village cremator Karl Kopfrkingl (Hrusínský), a softly spoken, moonfaced family man, whose philosophy of death (and, indeed, his work) is influenced by the Tibetan Book of the Dead. He also influenced by a friend who has joined ‘the Party’ – not named, but clearly the Nazis and also an allegory for the impending communist invasion the Czech’s were about to face (don’t panic: the allegories are not densely veiled and even if you ‘don’t get it’, you’ll still enjoy the movie). They can put Kopfrkingl’s unique talent for body burning to a greater cause. As his mind descends into psychosis (syphilis is clearly a concern since he has regular blood tests, and hypocritically, monthly visits to a brothel and furthered from a trip around the sideshow exhibit at the fair), his closest friends and loved ones become dispensable.

Juraj Herz’s The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol) has been forgotten for many years, celebrated only by those who have sought to seek it out, and was banned in its native Czechoslovakia by the communist government until 1989. Not only is it an immensely entertaining movie, it’s a work of art that should be on the list of anyone looking to understand filmmaking and cinematography. Just as Orson Welles is heralded for his visual innovations, Herz, cinematographer Stanislav Milota, and editor Jaromír Janáček should be applauded for some of the most unique and captivating images here.

The transitions are brilliant; they disorient the viewer in the seamless way we move from scene to scene, often not knowing until a moment or two has passed that we are in a different location and timescale. These and some of the other flourishes are stunning and allow the viewer to be fully absorbed into Kopfrkingl’s descent into madness. The frequent use of fish-eye and wide angle lenses, coupled with fantastical narrative leaps depicting the protagonist’s internal thoughts and quick-cut close-ups are often breathtakingly beautiful.

Second Run’s Blu-ray shows the film at its best. Accompanied by a commentary, introduction, additional podcast, and booklet should one wish to delve deeper into the movie’s meaning and more about the director, the standout extra feature is Herz’s debut short film The Junk Shop (1965), which is another delicious black comedy.

THE CREMATOR (1969) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JURAJ HERZ / SCREENPLAY: LADISLAV FUKS, JURAJ HERZ / STARRING: RUDOLF HRUSÍNSKÝ, VLASTA CHRAMOSTOVÁ, JANA STEHNOVÁ / RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 11TH

For many longtime horror hounds, the House franchise is one that’s maybe often overlooked at times. Sure, there was no constant, unrelenting bogeyman churning out bodies consistently throughout the franchise ala Michael, Jason or Freddy, but there was still a whole host of fun and scares to be had with this series. And now, the fantastic crew over at Arrow Video have put together a new Blu-ray release of Steve Miner’s original 1986 picture.

For those of you who’ve yet to knock at House’s door, don’t be expecting an edge-of-your-seat terror-ride. Instead, House is a movie which keeps a tinge of humour to its horror. William Katt – who made a huge splash with genre fans in Brian De Palma’s Carrie – takes centre-stage as Roger, a novelist whose life has taken a major nosedive. Since the disappearance of his son, his marriage has come to an end and his creative juices have dried up. Following the suicide of his grandmother, Roger ends up moving in to her creepy old house in an effort to get his spark back and get to work on his next work: a look back at his military days hauntingly served in Vietnam. When it soon becomes clear that the mysterious house is full of plenty of things that go bump in the night, Roger sets out to prove that he’s not crazy and that there’s something sinister at play within the home’s walls and beyond.

Part haunted house story, part PTSD tale, part an examination of struggling with loss, House is a beloved favourite of many for a whole slew of reasons. With Bill Katt never less than charming and endearing at the centre of Steve Miner’s movie, you find yourself constantly engaged as Roger falls further and further in to a mystery full of twists and turns. Even better for longtime horror fans, there’s some absolutely fantastic practical effects work at play, even if one or two of them may now understandably look a tad dated by this point.

As a film, House is still as much of a warm, at times bonkers, family-friendly horror as it’s ever been. Where the release really comes in to its own, however, is with the excessive special features included here – particularly the brand-new Ding Dong, You’re Dead! all-encompassing documentary that brings all of the picture’s key players back to discuss their thoughts on the film. It’s a fascinating and hugely engaging watch, and is one of the best retrospective docs we’ve seen in a long while.

Additionally, in case you were wondering, yes, this is essentially the exact same release that was a part of House: The Complete Collection earlier this year. That release had all four House efforts together in one swanky boxset, and this new Blu-ray release of House is just the first film’s content from that boxset. That’s not particularly a bad thing, for this now gives those unwilling to splash £70 on the boxset the chance to grab the movies individually.

Complete with a 2K transfer of this 1986 effort, this new release of House is the perfect overall package for longtime fans of the film, while newcomers will never find a better opportunity to explore this genre classic.

Special Features: Audio commentary / Ding Dong, You’re Dead! The Making of House documentary / Making-of / TV spots / Trailers / Stills gallery / First draft screenplay and Fred Dekker’s original 15-page Twilight Zone-inspired story

HOUSE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: STEVE MINER / SCREENPLAY: ETHAN WILEY / STARRING: WILLIAM KATT, GEORGE WENDT, RICHARD MOLL, KAY LENZ, MARY STAVEN / RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 11TH

It probably seemed like a good idea: everyone has a smartphone, and all those icons you use to express yourself through text can feel like a little community of their own – so why not tell their story, by making a film about the private lives of those little digital impulses, that reflects the life and impulses of the person using the phone? Like a version of Tron for the pre-tweens, except – crucially – without the literal interaction between user and device.

And that’s where this breaks down, not because it lacks the humour, insight, imagination and soul that might have made it worth attempting – although it is sorely lacking in humour, insight, imagination and soul – but because nobody thought far enough beyond that initial idea to figure out how this might connect with an audience. This is a film that’s really only going to appeal to those too young to be using smartphones – our three-year-old test audience of one judged it “Not bad” – so those who understand it are going to find it puerile, and those who don’t find it puerile aren’t really going to understand what it’s doing.

Which is not to say it hasn’t found enough audience to become a success. It’s bright and colourful and fast and noisy enough to distract from its mid-range animation budget, but although the plot keeps you moving quickly from one set-piece to another, despite the brashness there’s really nothing here that’s very stimulating visually. Almost every set or action or line of dialogue feels like the substandard equivalent of something you’ve seen or heard being done better elsewhere.

Anyway, the plot. Boy meets girl, boy sends girl emoji text, emoji doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, girl leaves boy hanging, and emoji is scheduled for deletion due to its “malfunction”. The emoji – Gene (Miller) – then goes on the run inside Textopolis (the smart phone’s innards), after being accidentally rescued by Hi-5 (Corden) until eventually, the electronic circuits discover that hey, it’s okay for them to have emotional lives too.

It’s a reasonable cast and it sounds like they’re mostly having fun, although Corden for one feels considerably less interested the further in you get, and rapidly becomes irritating. There’s just no reason to care about any of them, without the collision between worlds that you got in Tron, so the whole thing ends up feeling a bit “So what?”

In fact, the best thing about the disc is the Hotel Transylvania short they’ve included that only feels like it’s there in order to make sure they sell some copies of the main feature. Now that was rather funny, and felt like it had had some thought put into it.

Extras: Hotel Transylvania short Puppy, featurettes, songs, games

THE EMOJI MOVIE / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: TONY LEONDIS / SCREENPLAY: TONY LEONDIS, ERIC SIEGEL, MIKE WHITE / STARRING: T.J. MILLER, JAMES CORDEN, ANNA FARIS, MAYA RUDOLPH, PATRICK STEWART, CHRISTINA AGUILERA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Digimon Adventure Tri: The Movie – Part 3 collects all the Digimon Adventure Tri episodes from the Confession segment of the series.

Confession is the mid-point for the series, and it shows. Much of the run time is devoted to dealing with the fallout of the way that Part 2: Determination and setting up the situation that the DigiDestined will find themselves in Part 4: Lost.

This highlights the most frustrating aspect of Digimon Adventure Tri so far: its pacing. Individually each part so far has had a reason to focus largely on the human drama of the characters, but as a whole the result is a Digimon series that doesn’t seem particularly focused on Digimon at times. This problem is particularly true of Part 3: Confession. Despite the movie ostensibly being about them, the digimon barely feature in this movie. This does not mean that this movie is lacking in action. The action scene it does get is fast paced, and well animated. There continues to be not set music for digivolutions in this series. This means that the transformations always fit the mood of the scene in which they take place.

To its credit, Part 3 does have make up for its flaws with some strong characterisation. For a long time, this iteration of Digimon has managed to be almost entirely free of genuine, negative consequence. This movie provides a welcome change to that.

The titular confession most likely refers to the problem faced by T.K. and the way that he deals with it. T.K.’s dilemma is a sympathetic one, and it exemplifies how well Digimon Adventure Tri succeeds in terms of its emotional stakes.

Furthermore, as frustrating as it is that the plot has not progressed further by this point, it does progress over the course of the movie. The problems in pacing come from the structure of each movie. Each part of Digimon Adventure Tri has the same number of episodes, and this part in particular really did not the run time it got in order to tell its story.

Each part of this series has had a little something extra when it comes to special features, and part 3 is no different. This time the special feature on offer is a recording of a Digimon Q&A panel from Anime Expo 2017. The cast of Digimon Adventure Tri are in their element for this panel. Everyone involved seems to be having a blast talking about their experiences working with the franchise, and what working on Digimon means to them.

Digimon Adventure Tri – The Movie – Part 3 takes some time to focus on questions raised by the series so far, and to show the emotional impact of its events on the main characters. If long-time fans can look past the pacing issues they will be rewarded with a worthy addition to the long running franchise. When this is combined with the energetic, heartfelt Q&A the result is an installment that is worth checking out.

Extras: Anime Expo 2017 Premiere Panel

DIGIMON ADVENTURE TRI: THE MOVIE- PART 3 / CERT: PG / DIRECTORS & SCREENPLAY: WRITERS: VARIOUS / STARRING: JOSHUA SETH, VIC MIGNOGNA, COLLEEN O’SHAUGHNESSEY, MONA MARSHALL, PHILECE SAMPLER, ROBBIE DAYMOND, JOHHNY YONG BOSCH, TARA SANDS, CRISTINA VEE / RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 26TH

It is a rare treat to encounter a period horror film which says a lot about the relationship between man and woman and man-versus-nature, whilst providing a satisfyingly eerie psychological drama.

Angelica, written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein and adapted from the novel of the same name by Arthur Phillips, was produced in 2015 and screened in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival that year. It has taken a while for the film to finally grace theatrical screens and has only just got a November 2017 release in the USA, but if you have been anticipating this release, then the delay to it getting a chance in the marketplace is well worth your time.

Set in Victorian London, Angelica tells of Constance (Jena Malone), married to Dr Joseph Barton (Ed Stoppard), a reputed doctor on the up who wants to cure the world of all diseases in the context of contemporary science. She considers herself very lucky, but after the birth of her first child, she is advised against future offspring by doctors who consider her lucky to have survived this blessed event.

However, sexual tensions and desires, as well as Constance’s curiosity to know more about her husband’s endeavours at her laboratory begins to impact on their relationship, whilst other factors in their lifestyle are starting to shape their destiny….

Having viewed a number of recent Hammer titles as part of the Studio Canal celebration of their work, Angelica not only brings home the effectiveness of a good period horror film in that vein, as well as satisfying fans who are partial to the recent works of Guillermo del Toro like The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth.

What also elevates the film above the standard horror fare is the additional depth of reflection about how man and woman relate to one another, which is not dissimilar to that which we see in many a David Cronenberg film, particularly in the post-birth sequences.

Jena Malone, who graced the screen in The Neon Demon, gives a convincing performance as a Victoria Brit with a faultless diction that belies her American roots. Stoppard holds his own as the ambitious doctor who hides a dark secret in his work. Good support comes from Janet McTeer in a pivotal role as a medium.

There is a genuinely dark and creepy allure about the film, with some great visual effects and style courtesy of cinematographer Dick Pope. Composer Zbigniew Preisner – who collaborated with Krzysztof Kieślowski on the Three Colours Trilogy and the Andy Garcia/Meg Ryan drama When a Man Loves a Woman) – provides a lush, atmospheric score.

Angelica is a fantastic example of good genre filmmaking

ANGELICA / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: MITCHELL LICHTENSTEIN / STARRING: JENA MALONE, JANET MCTEER, ED STOPPARD, TOVAH FELDSHUSH / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Adapted from Michael McDowell’s acclaimed novel Cold Moon Over Babylon, Griff Furst’s directorial feature debut Cold Moon is a mixed affair. Part supernatural horror, part psychological thriller, it is a film that would have benefitted from a clearer central vision, and never fully recovers from an over-complicated opening act.

On her way home the teenage Margaret Larkin (Bellamy) is attacked and murdered by a masked assailant. The discovery of her body sends her surviving family members Evelyn (Clark) and Jerry (Rushing) into a desperate mission to identify her murderer before they befall the same fate.

Perhaps what’s surprising, given how Cold Moon opens, is its preferential focus on the psychological element of the story. Revealing the identity of the killer early on – which we won’t do here – flips the tale on its head, but this, in turn, becomes the film’s strength; the killer suffering his own personal haunting, as the guilt of his crimes and subsequent battle with remorse threaten to overpower him. In that role, the actor in question impresses, dislikeable from the beginning and barely deserving of empathy, the character’s descent into what he sees as madness is well crafted and entirely convincing. Some slightly suspect CGI aside, the hauntings themselves are well defined, with an appropriate number of jump scares adequately, if predictably included.

It is in the peripheries of the story where Cold Moon falls short. Plot strands are begun without ever truly finding resolution. An early thread regarding an inappropriate parent-teacher relationship is never investigated, despite the film dropping some very strong nudges and winks in that direction. Christopher Lloyd is largely wasted as an eccentric patriarch, holder of the purse strings for the town’s wealthiest family, and with an odd interest in having a young woman cavort for his pleasure. All potentially interesting ideas to follow through, but ones that fade into the background once the film decides upon its preferred premise.

These frustrations aside, Cold Moon is worth watching. Furst has harnessed a Southern Gothic aesthetic and style that gives the film a sense of being a living, breathing town. The performances are good, if a little caricatured in places, and the film skips along at a decent pace. If you avoid trying to work out the rather obvious twists and turns, you can spend a pleasant 90 minutes, but sadly that’s about as long as it will live in the memory.

COLD MOON / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: GRIFF FURST / SCREENPLAY: GRIFF FURST, JACK SNYDER / STARRING: TOMMY WISEAU, CHRISTOPHER LLOYD, ROBBIE KAY, JOSH STEWART / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 22ND 2018