Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Henry Dawles (Apostolides) has been hired to appraise an old remote rural estate by an old, infirm but kindly gentleman, Remiel (Amico). As he sets about his business of listing everything, he begins to experience some strange and unsettling feelings. He is troubled by flashes of visions and an irritating scar on his stomach. He also has to avoid calls from a girl he has apparently had a fling with while pining for his wife. They are brought to a head when he finds the decaying body of a man hanging in one of the outer buildings. Remiel tells him it must have been a ‘stowaway’, the lodge being an easy place for transients and escaped prisoners. He offers Henry a large bonus to stay and finish his job. As he discovers more about the place, he is drawn into a terrifying world of tortured souls, regret, and internal conflict.

On face value, The Suffering appears to be just another low budget shocker, utilising remote locations and dark attics to create cheap thrills, but investigate further into its creepy surroundings and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how gripping and out of the ordinary it is.

Although the cast are relatively unknown and unproven, there’s an assured quality to the performances, particularly the benevolent estate owner played by Phil Amico. The character’s soothing presence perfectly wrong-foots us (and the lead) into a sense of security and comfort in the situation, allowing us to be still shocked by later events, even though we know something’s amiss.

The pace of the film may not be to everyone’s taste, particularly as the story develops with a slow burn, revealing even more twisted elements as it goes along. Fans of more measured, psychological horror will be in their element for the first half of the film, though. The shocks do come later on and are all the more effective for the build-up.

Seasoned viewers will probably work out what’s going on mid-way through the film, but that doesn’t necessarily spoil the enjoyment of the denouement. The Suffering is incredibly well acted, beautifully shot (making great use of the locations) and manages to build up an eerie atmosphere from the very start. There are times when it wanders from the purely psychological to more tangible threats, and it comes under threat of losing its way, but thankfully, it doesn’t stray too far into the predictable and when it’s not throwing monsters into the mix, it’s a fascinating and absorbing thriller.

THE SUFFERING / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ROBERT HAMILTON / SCREENPLAY: MARCO V. SCOLA, ROBERT HAMILTON / STARRING: PHIL AMICO, NICK APOSTOLIDES, LIZ CHRISTMAS, ELIZABETH DAWLES / RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 26TH

 

Sean is a young American kid dealing with the usual array of teen problems: does the girl of his dreams (Mizky) like him? Will he ever learn to kick ass in martial arts class? How will he control the ultimate alien bio-suit that has invaded his body? These questions and more sit firmly on the back boiler of this insane love letter to early ‘90s special effects and latex-covered animatronic hilarity.

Story-wise there’s not much to chew on. After Sean’s true love, Mizky discovers that her father has been murdered, the two unwittingly become a part of the evil Kronos Corporation’s search for the Guyver – a much-feared alien bio-armour capable of destroying the evil Zoanoids. During a fight with some thugs, Sean essentially trips over and absorbs the sought-after suit, becoming the ultra-cool looking titular hero and finally kicking ass in the process. From then on out it’s a cat and mouse chase involving plenty of insanely creative creature designs, cartoonish violence and questionable acting abilities aplenty.

Oh, and Mark Hamill plays a cop.

Originally titled Mutronix in the UK, this first entry in the shortlived Guyver film series is as appallingly terrible as it is blissfully enjoyable. Taking its comedy cues from the then successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action movies and its action from similarly popular Power Rangers TV show, The Guyver tries to please all demographics at once. At the time it failed in its mission, limping its way to VHS and a modest cult following. But while a much better and all-together more fulfilling sequel later emerged, this first outing still stands tall as a testament to ingenuity behind the camera and mind-blowing insanity in front of it.

All of the good stuff that pulsates through The Guyver is down to its ultra-talented joint directors, special effects gurus Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang. What they lack in directorial ability, they more than make up for in on-screen ingenuity thanks to some superb creature designs and envelope-pushing effects work. Admittedly, in retrospect that’s something that’s easily overlooked, but the sheer workmanship that went into every one of the incredible Zoanoid creatures, as well as the Guyver suit itself, deserves commendation. There’s plenty there for the fanboys too (even if the concept itself does kind of undersell its manga roots) with the inclusion of turns from Michael Berryman, Mark Hamill and the Reanimator two-for David Gale and Jeffrey Combs (as Doctor East – geddit?)

If there’s a consummate definition of ‘so bad its good’ then The Guyver is it.

Added features include a video interview with producer Brian Yuzna, US and German Trailers and a Photo Gallery.

THE GUYVER (1991) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: SCREAMING MAD GEORGE, STEVE WANG / SCREENPLAY: JON PURDY / STARRING: GREG JOUNG PAIK, JIMMIE WALKER, PETER SPELLOS, MICHAEL BERRYMAN, MARK HAMMILY / RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 19TH

 

After the mayor of small town Louisburg dies during a driving-sex-drugs mishap, it opens up the need for his inevitably vacated office to be filled. Bret (played by Being Human US and Superman Returns alumni Sam Huntington) quickly puts himself forward as a candidate and so, after some thought, does Amanda (Collette Wolfe, Interstellar). The race, therefore, becomes about man versus woman as much as (or indeed more than) anything else. Don’t worry, though, this isn’t the first in a line of grim spins on the 2016 US presidential election to no doubt come but instead, a comedy that seeks to comment on gender roles, stereotyping and how men and women interact.

Bret and Amanda have grown up in the town and work together but each has different lives. While Amanda works on staying healthy and self-improvement, Bret is…well, Bret is pretty much your average clueless no-reason-to-know-better male pig. The set-up is Amanda is frustrated with the patriarchy that has restricted her throughout her life (and the lives of other women around her) and negotiates casual and more insidious sexism on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Bret has probably never had any level of deep thought his entire life, because he’s a man and he doesn’t need to, and in this world, most things come easy to him. Amanda wants to be mayor to make a difference, Bret wants to be mayor just because.

The obvious route would be for these two opposed characters to swap bodies, but instead, the device used is a magic mirror that reverses the roles of men and women entirely. In this new world instead of Honkers, there’s a restaurant called Peckers and the men wear make-up.

Amanda is quick to twig something isn’t right, and Bret slowly follows suit. Now they have to work together to figure out if they can put things back to the way they were, all while negotiating the rules of their new world. As you might imagine, this is not exactly delicate stuff. It’s broad strokes role switching: men worry about being judged by their looks but the women don’t wash their hands after using the toilet. Women have been responsible for much of the progress in history (but men did burn their jockstraps during the ‘masculism’ movement…).

Though unlikely to make legions of chauvinists regret their ways, and probably preaching to the converted in those that seek it out, it has plus points. Huntington and Wolfe do well as for her the understandably initially-quite-enjoying-it-actually Amanda and for him, the douchebaggy Bret and the film benefits from their timing and performances.

Second Nature is pretty slight and plays more like a TV pilot for a series that never was. As noted it’s generally sledgehammer subtle where the jokes are concerned but that isn’t to say some of them don’t hit the mark. Overall, a reasonable go at using comedy to say something about the world and trying to entertain while doing it.  Even if the results are not particularly substantial it’s hard to dislike the attempt.

SECOND NATURE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL CROSS / SCREENPLAY: EDI ZANIDACHE, J.C. FORD, MICHAEL CROSS / STARRING: COLLETTE WOLFE, SAM HUNTINGTON, CAROLLANI SANDBERG, CAROLYN COX / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Richard Kelly is a director with a questionable back catalogue; Donne Darko was a film that brought of attention towards Kelly, and ever since its release, he written many screenplays over the following years. However, time has shown how much of a one-trick-pony he was. At one point, he was commissioned to write the script for the adaptation of the children’s book, Holes, but he ended up delivering something that was the equivalent of a sci-fi fantasy (uncovered corpses from a nuclear holocaust) and was completely detached from what the story was supposed to be about, so it was no surprise he was booted off the film in favour of the original author. He also wrote Domino, which (kind of) was about the life of Domino Harvey and ended up being an uninspired mess. But, his crowing achievement of failure was in the form of Southland Tales, a confusing, convoluted, messed-up piece of garbage that is best left forgotten and never spoke of again. Despite the growing rise of travesties that have followed, none of that changes the fact that Donnie Darko is still a compelling, surreal and tragic movie about existentialism and spirituality.

This is the type of movie that is so multi-faceted and complex that it promotes hard thinking and even harder re-thinking. After the film ends, it’s hard to keep yourself from thinking of all the different ways you could interpret such a film like this. It is surreal and can be quite quirky, yet it’s also darkly foreboding as it slowly builds towards the inevitable event that happens right at the end of the film, and that ending sequence is still one of the greatest moments in cinema history. This can make sense on one level, makes no sense on another, yet finally making perfect sense by the time it all finishes. Just a shame that the Director’s Cut loses that sense of ambiguity and intrigue; like with the Redux version of Apocalypse Now, this also suffers from the issue of a director going back and messing up his own movie even though it was almost perfect the first time round, and in a scary way, predicted the kind of messed up style of filmmaking we came to expect from Kelly after this.

Even though at the time, Kelly himself was fresh off from film school, he managed the get himself a solid cast that help cemented the film’s enduring legacy. For starters, it made Jake Gyllenhaal a talent to watch out for, and it’s thanks to his emotionally-charged and nuanced performance in this that he went off to land great roles in movies like Nightcrawler and Source Code. Whilst there was solid support from the likes of Katharine Ross, Mary McDonnell and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Jake’s real-life sister), the real standout has to be Jena Malone (who conquered big this year thanks to The Neon Demon) whose performance is very quiet and mercurial, yet full of vulnerability and pathos.

Despite the fact that Richard Kelly’s filmmaking career ended up becoming something of a downward spiral, all that doesn’t overshadow the legacy Donnie Darko has endured. Kelly did create an instant cult classic by being extremely well written with compelling characterisation and surreal iconography that will long stay with audiences (the demonic bunny suit). Granted, this film is not for everyone, but this is highly recommended if you’re the kind of person that enjoys putting the pieces of the puzzle together long after the film has ended over and over again. Plus, with the film recently restored in high-quality 4K, now is the perfect time to reconnect with this complex gem of a film.

DONNIE DARKO 15th Anniversary 4K Restoration will screen at the BFI from December 17th and in cinemas nationwide from December 23rd. BFI Tickets are on sale now: http://bit.ly/2eww8r3

DONNIE DARKO (2001) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: RICHARD KELLY / STARRING: JAKE GYLLENHAAL, HOLMES OSBORNE, MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, DAVEIGH CHASE, PATRICK SWAYZE / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 9TH

 

The vast and ongoing world of film releases is populated, for the most part, with a considerable amount of examples that have great ideas and potential at their heart, but which ultimately never quite hit the heights and blockbuster success that they do, relegated if they are lucky to no more than cult status.

Eric Red certainly is one such screenwriting talent who – in his heydey in the late 1980s – had no fewer than three cult hits, The Hitcher (1986), Near Dark (1987), and Blue Steel (1989).

The three examples above all had a great atmosphere, particularly the original version of The Hitcher, in which C. Thomas Howell’s long-distance car driver was up against the memorably psychotic John Ryder, played by Rutger Hauer. Near Dark and Blue Steel gave Kathryn Bigelow a great foothold in the business, both competently directed films. 

Given his potential in the screenwriting arena, there was bound to be an air of anticipation for a fourth Red release, his directorial debut from his own script, Cohen and Tate.

With Roy Scheider and Full Metal Jacket‘s Adam Baldwin (‘Animal Mother’) in the lead, the film focuses on a pair of hit-men, the titular Cohen and Tate (Scheider and Baldwin respectively), who are assigned to bring a child, 9-year-old Travis Knight (Harley Cross), who witnessed a mob killing and have tracked him down to a safe-house where they kill his parents and abduct the child so he can be returned to mobsters in Houston to be spoken to. However, as the trip to Houston develops, the relationships and objectives start to cloud, as well as the trust amongst men…

Cohen and Tate certainly has an intriguing premise. Apparently, the story is based on O. Henry’s short story The Ransom of Red Chief, which isn’t a well-known piece of literature. As a thriller, if this was put in the competent and talented hands of the Coen Brothers or Denis Villeneuve, it would have come over pretty well.

Unfortunately, Red doesn’t realise the heart and dynamic at the centre of his story could lay the foundation for a deep analysis in a core genre piece. As a result, the feeling at the end of the film is one of dissatisfaction and frustration, particularly in light of the fact that the film lacks a solid third act.

The through-line of the story isn’t quite clear and part of the problem, in this case is that the boy is the main protagonist, as befits the neat caption which opens the film. Key characters are left hanging in the narrative, in particular, Travis’ father (played by The Funhouse‘s Cooper Huckabee) who features in the grippingly staged opening segment when Cohen and Tate arrive at the safe house where the boy is kept.

The second problem is the characterization of Cohen and Tate, which is another underdeveloped strand of the film. Scheider’s bravura acting talent shines through just about and his past filmography manages to keep our focus on him. Baldwin comes across as nothing more than a spoiled brat of a hit-man with little subtext and heart underneath. More the pity, really, as a re-write or two could have yielded a memorably dark noir film thriller like The Getaway.

Overall, Cohen and Tate will garner some attention as part of Arrow Film’s ongoing commitment to releasing quality cult product. As with 52 Pick-Up, fans of the late, great Roy Scheider will have some reason to cheer, but the very thing that relegated it to an also-ran in the release schedule back in 1989 will rear its weakened head and heart once again. It has some neat moments of suspense and has retained the atmosphere of The Hitcher during the mid-section (a road block sequence holds the attention), but won’t hit the mark the way Hauer and Howell did.

COHEN AND TATE (1988) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ERIC RED / STARRING: ROY SCHEIDER, ADAM BALDWIN, HARLEY CROSS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Following a car crash, recently released con Nicky (Mandylor) takes refuge in an abandoned hotel with his henchman Jimmy (Dobson), previously estranged daughter Eliza (Luca), and the latter’s boyfriend/pimp Bogdan (Marhodin). Unluckily, the hotel is the domain of a ‘family’ of feral humans whose primary pleasure is the torture and consumption of any errant strangers who wander into their territory.

Aiming somewhere between The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hotel Of The Damned succeeds only in making you wish you were watching one of those films instead. The set up itself is deeply contrived. The filmmakers clearly decided that a hotel was the perfect location for their horror movie, and having found the ideal spot, all they had to do was engineer a situation that would bring our hapless road trippers to it. Cue some spectacular parking as the car spins, tumbles down a hill and lands just outside the main entrance.

Once in the hotel, and their predicament becomes clear, the four run up and down a lot, from the upper floors to the basement without ever heading straight for the front door. As such, instead of a claustrophobic hide-and-seek thriller we are left with a tedious chase movie that for much of its runtime seems set on a continuous loop.

The problem is that there is a gory history of horror films set in abandoned buildings of one form or another. From superior found footage terror REC to The Shining, an enclosed environment has often been as much a character as a location. But this only works if an exit route is unclear or unavailable. With Hotel Of The Damned, you sense Nicky and co. could check out (apologies) any time they like; they just choose not to. Even when Jimmy selflessly sacrifices himself so others can escape, upon reaching the main door they decide to go back and save him. Brave and loyal perhaps, but it kind of stomps all over Jimmy’s one big moment.

There are, however, glimpses of the film this could have been scattered throughout. The bad guys are reasonably well designed, although their leader does stride around dressed more like blood spattered Neo from The Matrix rather than the head of a cannibal clan. The hotel itself is interesting, although is never shown at its best through several rather dull locations being visited repeatedly. Glimpses then, but sadly, Hotel Of The Damned gives the impression of being a decent idea not fully thought through, and having gone into production without being fully prepared.

Perhaps the slated sequel will work better. Perhaps.

HOTEL OF THE DAMNED / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: BOBBY BARBACIORU / SCREENPLAY: LUCA BERCOVICI, PAUL PETCU / STARRING: LOUIS MANDYLOR, PETER DOBSON, MANUELA HARABOR, FLORIN KEVORKIAN / RELEASE DATE: TBC

 

Orion is a bit of an odd movie. At times art, at time horror, the only thing it is consistent about is that it’s rather dull in the most horrid sort of way.

Post-apocalyptic fantasy only really works when we have some sort of investment in the world itself. The tale of mankind struggling to survive in a world gone wrong is a powerful one indeed, but the viewer typically needs to understand how the Earth became so broken, either through visual clues or a strong narrative.

To be entirely harsh, the only reason Asiel Norton’s movie Orion is post-apocalyptic is for budget reasons. It seems covering his leads in grime makes for a cheaper movie.  The plot is an absurdly overly thought out tale of a prophecy, the stars not being in the right alignment and the coming of a saviour, the titular Orion.

The performances are a mixed bag. David Arquette appears slightly lost as the Hunter (who may or may not be our saviour), and Lily Cole seems at times either disinterested or distressed as the Virgin. Her character is apparently part of some sort of world-changing event, though honestly, it’s hard to tell.

When the characters stop warbling on about how awful everything is,  the movie decides to remind us that this is a world gone wrong with some heavily graphic scene, typically involving stylised gore and some sort of abominable crime, such as infanticide or flaying.

The fundamental problem is here is an utter lack of storytelling. Orion is a series of set-pieces strung together haphazardly. The viewer does not care about the world or the characters. It’s almost as If it’s designed for the audience to sit with the fast forward button at hand, waiting for the next piece of violence or nudity. Neither of which are presented in an interesting fashion.

Despite an interesting premise and rather intriguing cast, Orion goes nowhere and does nothing. Avoid.

ORION / CERT: TBC DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ASIEL NORTON / STARS: DAVID ARQUETTE, LILY COLE, GORAN KOSTIC / RELEASE DATE: TBC

The horror anthology movie is making a slow return to our screens, thanks to the rise in small budget indie horror movies. Part of the reason for this, of course, is money, but it also allows for a single theme to be explored in lots of different ways.

Tales of Poe brings together three adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic creepy stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and Dreams, all of which could easily be described as some of his better-known tales.

Each of these is a re-imaging of the original story. This works surprisingly well; after all it’s more fun if you don’t know what to expect and Tales of Poe is one of those movies that delights in hoodwinking the viewer. The Tell-Tale Heart, for example, is filled with buckets of gore, a delicious amount of scenery chewing from the leads and some interesting choices when it comes to casting. We doubt that Poe had any of this in mind when he penned the story this is based on, but it’s delightfully gory and quite fun.

The Cask of Amontillado is perhaps the weakest of the three. In an attempt to shock the viewer, it strays into the realms of high camp. The entire thing feels predictable throughout and the gore is just a little bit too much in all the wrong ways. Neither fun nor scary, just a little bit bland.

Our final tale is Dreams, a surreal and often times self-indulgent affair. Filled to the brim with strong performances and a fascinating narrative, Dreams feels odd in that it’s neither dramatic nor gory. It’s just odd and nicely creepy.  It’s also very pretty in parts, which is unusual for a low budget horror.

Tales of Poe is an interesting mix of stories and styles. The differences between each segment is often jarring and the performances are hardly smooth. The whole thing is a bit of curate’s egg; plenty for any horror fan to get stuck into, but not enough of any one element to be truly satisfying.

TALES OF POE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: BART MASTRONARDI, ALAN ROWE KELLY / SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL VARRATI, ALAN ROWE KELLY, BART MASTRONARDI / STARRING: CAROLINE WILLIAMS, DEBBIE ROCHON, ADRIENNE KING, AMY STEEL / RELEASE DATE: TBC