Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

When you get to Al Pacino’s station in life – and very few actors do – you can pretty much pick and choose which projects you work on. For the last decade or so Pacino has moved into a kind of semi-retirement, dialling back the amount of work he takes on, and while Manglehorn might seem an unlikely and inconspicuous choice of project, it is perhaps one that was on balance well made.

Pacino plays the eponymous Texan locksmith, a spinster who refuses to retire, never having moved on from the loss of his beloved Clara many years previously. Much of Manglehorn’s story is told in voiceover – narrating the letters that he still writes to her going over the events of his day – and the film focuses on four threads in that life, each working to illustrate the other three. Firstly there is his cat, off its food and thus due a visit to the vets. Then there is Gary (Harmony Korine), the fast-talking sleaze-ball who is Mangelhorn’s complete antithesis, but who he nevertheless tries to connect with to prove a point to his son, Jacob (Chris Messina), whose life has taken a contrasting path and who Manglehorn no longer feels any kinship with. Finally Holly Hunter plays Dawn, the lonely bank teller who might just be Manglehorn’s salvation.

The film takes a very structured approach to telling these stories, placing an obstacle in the path of each before eventually resolving them all one way or the other, and this is perhaps its biggest problem. There are moments when Paul Logan’s script feels a touch too deliberate, undermining the otherwise very naturalistic tone of David Gordon Green’s direction. On the other hand, the character of Manglehorn is treated in a much more rounded way than many filmmakers might have, still managing to engage with people – albeit on his own terms – when another film might have portrayed him as a complete loner. It is easy to get caught up in the life of a man who might on paper seem very off-putting, something that’s helped immeasurably by Pacino’s incomparable and considered performance.

If Manglehorn essentially comes over a little like one of the plot strands from Magnolia given an entire film to itself, then that feeling is exacerbated by the often ambient and at times transcendent score by David Wingo and Explosions of Light, and there are two moments of magic (one figurative, one literal) in the movie that elevate it beyond the simple character piece it might have been. This is a mostly successful, measured and elegiac experience, a kind of Frankie and Johnny two decades on that might have been outstanding, had it decided to concentrate just a little more on the Holly Hunter storyline.

Special Features: Short cast interview / Trailer

MANGLEHORN / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: DAVID GORDON GREEN / SCREENPLAY: PAUL LOGAN / STARRING: AL PACINO, HOLLY HUNTER, HARMONY KORINE, CHRIS MESSINA / RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 2ND

 

Back in the ‘90s, there was a pop band called Jive Bunny and The Master Mixers. It took samples of popular tunes from back in the day and remixed them into something familiar yet different. The lack of originality caused some to voice their firm dislike of the Rotherham-based DJs, but they’re still around today. Terminator Genisys does a very similar thing with the Terminator franchise; it takes all the cool ideas from the previous movies and remixes them into something different. Much like Jive Bunny, however, it fails to bring anything original to the mix and the result is decidedly forgettable.

Terminator Genisys is a reboot of the franchise of sorts. Time travelling hi-jinks have rewritten history, effectively undoing all the action from the previous movies. Instead, Sarah Connor has been raised by an ageing Terminator (played by Schwarzenegger) whom she calls ‘pops’. We get some nice scenes because of this, as it basically flips the central story of the first Terminator on its head – this is a movie were Sarah Connor saves Kyle Reese with the help of Terminator.

With the exception of Schwarzenegger, none of the actors seem into the movie at all. Matt Smith, who plays the embodiment of Skynet, might be, but who can say as he’s in the entire thing for less than a minute. Arnie knows the score by now, though the best scene in the entire movie is one where he fights a younger version of himself. It’s too short, unfortunately.

As per usual, we get short-changed on the DVD release. There’s a small feature with the actors being terribly excited by the prospect of being in a huge franchise, and not much else. Emilia Clarke is quite charming in it, but at the same time we’re reminded that she doesn’t have the same presence as Linda Hamilton (from the original movies) or Lena Headey (from the TV series). The Blu-ray has a few more pieces on the VFX and movie creation, but nothing that special. There’s also no reason why they aren’t on the DVD except to make you buy a Blu-ray player.  

Terminator Genisys is a lacklustre remix of a classic. There are some nice ideas in here, but those are mostly echoes of a much more glorious past. Be thankful that they’ve announced that they are ‘readjusting’ the franchise, because this sad remix needs someone to go back in time in order to fix it.

TERMINATOR GENISYS / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: ALAN TAYLOR / SCREENPLAY: LAETA KALOGRIDIS, PATRICK LUSSIER / STARRING: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, EMILIA CLARKE, JAI COURTNEY, JASON CLARKE, MATT SMITH / RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 2ND

 

Not a Sinister rip-off, not quite your standard haunted house movie. You’d be forgiven for looking at the title and budget of Sinister House and dismissing it on that basis – straight-to-DVD cinema is rife with cheap supernatural schlock with a badly photoshopped house on the cover, after all. Skip this one, however, and you might just be missing out on a treat.

Part female take on Shallow Grave, part (yeah, okay) supernatural horror movie with a badly photoshopped house on the cover (this is 101 Films, after all), its pace is languid, more drama than balls-out thriller. Wrong Turn 6 star Sadie Katz heads up the cast, playing one of three sisters, stealing a massive stash of drugs and holing up in their old family home. Cabin fever and demons from their past take a hold, and it’s not long before the sisterly in-fighting takes a terrifying new direction.

Its low budget and point-and-shoot style of filming won’t be to all tastes (slick Blumhouse horror this ain’t) but it offers a story that’s a little bit different and a set of characters who are engaging and memorable, even if they frequently fail to be likeable. Its three actresses do well enough with the material – particularly Katz, who should be well on her way to becoming a horror ‘name’ by now.

Not a Sinister rip-off, not quite your standard haunted house movie. Sinister House sometimes struggles to be as watchable as either of those things, but pulls it off more often than not, especially during its demented final act. Badly photoshopped house or not, what’s inside is well worth a look.

SINISTER HOUSE / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: JIM TOWNS / SCREENPLAY: JIM TOWNS, SCOTT FRAZELLE / STARRING: SADIE KATZ, HEATHER L. TYLER, CHERYL BONTY, LISMARIE COSTABILE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

It may now be no more than a hastily written cliché, but The Naked Prey is a film “of a time”. Largely ignored when released in 1965, it is today perhaps more notable for the kind of themes and contrivances that would cause moral indignation among those who still believe some films should be banned. That focus, though, detracts from a film that while occasionally tedious and often preposterous contains a raw energy that makes it worthy of attention.

An ivory hunting party are captured by an African tribe after refusing to offer gifts to the chief as payment for safe passage across his lands. The party are then subjected to various cruelties and punishments that would make Eli Roth proud, including one that involves a man being encased alive in clay and then roasted on a spit with two breathing straws fitted to ensure maximum suffering. The final entertainment for the cackling tribe is to release the leader of the group Man (never named and portrayed by Cornel Wilde, who also produced and directed) and after an appropriate head start pursue him across the plains.

Effectively an elongated chase movie, The Naked Prey switches between a blinkered Westernised view of Africa and tongue-in-cheek moments that make you wonder whether intentional or by accident. Prior to the party’s capture, there is a very open discussion about moving from the ivory business into the slave trade as it’s far more profitable, and in the later pursuit the Man easily outsmarts the dull-witted “savages” on more than one occasion. There are then scenes where he comedically pursues a “savannah chicken” and picks his teeth with a thorn after nibbling on an easier to catch snail. The balance between what are now considered abhorrent political views and almost slapstick humour isn’t entirely successful, failing as it does to generate empathy or understanding in its main protagonist. What saves the film is the conviction of Wilde as a filmmaker, misguided at times perhaps but never lacking in the conviction to make the best and most striking film he could.

Despite its subject matter, and claims from some parties to the contrary, The Naked Prey is not a racist film. While there is no message or subtext condemning the bigoted white man, although the majority do get their comeuppance, there also isn’t one condoning the controversial views. Rightly or wrongly these are just opinions that were prevalent, and however strange they might be The Naked Prey can be enjoyed simply for what it is: a bizarrely entertaining chase across a beautiful landscape.

Certainly of a time, just a time sadly not that long ago.

Special Features: New video interview with film historian Sheldon Hall / Trailer / Booklet

THE NAKED PREY / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: CORNEL WILDE / SCREENPLAY: CLINT JOHNSTON, DON PETERS / STARRING: CORNEL WILDE, GERT VAN DEN BERGH, KEN GAMPU, PATRICK MYNHARDT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

What began as a high school dating visual novel morphed into a sci-fi saga packing mecha, aliens, and an alternative world. With Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse you get a waft of both, in a bait-and-switch, switch-and-bait formula that’s more difficult to keep up with than a mech-suit hell-bent for the skyline.

Since the first curve, US test pilot Yuuya Bridges has come to grips with the duality of his heritage, no longer shirking or shaming his Japanese side. Even less surprising is how he ends up with a little harem on the go, channelling the central function of the source material. Teased from the get go, Yui Takamura was in tsundere mode when it came to Yuuya. Now she’s gurning and blushing, and all at the cost of her character. But where Yui wanes, others come to the forefront. Of the vast roster, it’s bartender Natalie that develops into an unlikely audience ally.

For a narrative steeped in alien invasion, the BETA are fairly absent, as if to say that this is the new present and everyone has grown to accept it. Where the aliens have withdrawn, the focus shifts to the political and the bureaucratic machinations behind the front lines. A point best illustrated by the fact the arrival of the BETA put the Cold War on hold, relations between the US and USSR are tenuous at best. Factor in Japan, and it’s a volatile trinity. This climate gives way for a band of terrorists (or freedom fighters) and their uprising.

Titled the Refugee Liberation Front, they fight for better treatment and conditions for the Eurasian refugees. Aside from the lashings of gore used to illustrate their point, it’s quite an interesting tangent, and looks at warfare from a humanist perspective. But because of the stark difference between reality and the more light hearted, ecchi scenes, the two don’t quite sit comfortably together.

The CG animation of the BETA prevents them from being anything but a hulking eyesore, but in the heat of combat, with the blur of mecha and alien action, it’s hard to discern or scrutinise – especially with the rolling snare drum and brass section making everything a march. As the English dub opts for the most stereotypical accents for each character’s nationality, we suggest – nay decree – that you stick to the Japanese dub.

By balancing and blending all the elements of its source material, the tonal U-turns end up giving you whiplash. An idea mirrored in the animation quality, soft edges and hard parts; the beer swilling of the local boozer couldn’t be further away from the gruesome shoot-ups. There’s a lot of interesting things at play in Muv-Luv, and a lot to get excited about, just not all at once.

Special Features: Opening / Closing / Trailers

MUV-LUV ALTERNATIVE: TOTAL ECLIPSE PART 2 / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: MASAOMI ANDO / SCREENPLAY: TAKAYUKI INAGAKI / STARRING: DAISUKE ONO, MAI NAKAHARA, HITOMI NABATAME, MAMIKO NOTO, SAKURA NOGAWA / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 19TH

 

Let’s be clear: whether you believe the events depicted in The Enfield Haunting to be real or not has no bearing. What actually matters is whether or not this drama from Kristoffer Nyholm, the acclaimed director of Danish police procedural show The Killing, is actually any good. And it happens to be very good indeed.

Based on the book by Guy Lyon Playfair (here played with wit and caddish charm by Macfadyen), this three-part series tells the amazing story of what supposedly happened to an average family in Enfield, London over a period of time beginning in August 1977. When two teenage girls, Janet (Eleanor Worthington-Cox) and Margaret (Fern Deacon), fall victim to an aggressive spirit, Maurice Grosse (Timothy Spall), an inventor with an interest in the paranormal, is sent to investigate. Assisted by Playfair, the pair become convinced of the authenticity of the girl’s claims despite pressure to the contrary from the Society for Psychical Research.

The strengths of The Enfield Haunting stem primarily from its simplicity. This is a series focussing on the characters at the centre of the haunting rather than on the haunting itself. Of course, the poltergeist is important but it is how the family and those around them behave that is most interesting. Initial terror gives way to a reluctant acceptance as what first seems extraordinary becomes wearily routine for the beleaguered family. The comings and goings of various “experts” (although notably not The Warrens, who will tackle their version of this story in the sequel to The Conjuring) offer a balanced view on the tale, with Nyholm preferring to leave the audience to decide for themselves on the true validity.

The performances throughout are exemplary, with Worthington-Cox as primary victim Janet worthy of note. Her at times uncomfortable relationship with Spall’s Grosse (think Mr. Turner with less grunting and a few smiles) provides the emotional centre of the piece; a father-daughter understanding that they both desperately need.

With little fuss and few unnecessary histrionics, The Enfield Haunting does exactly what it sets out to do. There are occasional jump scares and moments of horror cliché scattered through the episodes, but these serve to advance the narrative rather than be there simply to frighten the audience. There is real subtlety here, with discomfort and fear generated through your engagement with the characters rather than by loud bangs and crashes.

Intentionally slow paced at times, The Enfield Haunting is an intensely impressive depiction of a family haunted by a malevolent spirit. It should serve as a template for what can be achieved without the need for excessive, improbable effects and is one of the best horrors you will watch this year. Whatever you believe, Nyholm’s version is certainly credible and one that will leave you wondering.

THE ENFIELD HAUNTING / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: KRISTOFFER NYHOLM / SCREENPLAY: GUY LYON PLAYFAIR, JOSHUA ST JOHNSTON / STARRING: TIMOTHY SPALL, MATTHEW MACFADYEN, ELEANOR WORTHINGTON-COX, FERN DEACON, JULIET STEVENSON / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 19TH