Review Category: Movie

THE BLOODHOUND

Fans of Edgar Allan Poe are being spoilt with another movie adaptation of “The Fall of the House of Usher”. As we await a release date for George Adams’ Lady Usher, first-time feature writer-director Patrick Picard offers his take on the famed gothic story with The Bloodhound.

This austere and haunting modern-day adaptation opens with a text message from Jean Paul (Joe Adler, The Maze Runner) to his old friend Francis (Liam Aiken, A Series of Unfortunate Events) telling him he’s “not well and could use a little help.” It soon becomes clear that the two had been out of touch for a while, but Francis’ current living situation means he eagerly accepts J.P.’s invitation to join him and his twin sister Vivian (a mostly unused Annalise Basso, Snowpiercer) at their secluded home.

Strange events unfold within the increasingly alienating interior, from J.P. forbidding Francis speak to Vivian, to the two men’s uneasy and unbalanced dynamic, and the suggestion of the Bloodhound (Chad Kotz) crawling through the house, face completely obscured. It is never clear whether this creature is real, an allegory, or just a stylistic choice. Either way, The Bloodhound relies greatly on an atmosphere of suffocating menace, which makes this psychodrama a draining watch – even at just 72 minutes.

And while the movie’s slow burn works for the most part, the narrative itself ultimately feels too thin to leave its audience with any lasting impression. The characters’ lack of backstory or personal depth means there are no emotional or intellectual stakes in their fate (the closing act falls completely flat as a result); meanwhile, the mystery of the Bloodhound fails to be compelling enough to demand answers.

The Bloodhound is undoubtedly best appreciated as an exercise in style. The aesthetic, score, dialogue, and acting choices work well to keep the audience off-kilter throughout the film’s run time, and just curious enough to keep viewers watching until the end credits. It’s also enough to keep us intrigued as to what Picard might do next.

Out now on Arrow Video.

THE LAST BLOCKBUSTER

“We got to see a corporation built up in our lifetime. We also got to see a corporation die.” – Kevin Smith.

Who would’ve believed only a few years ago that the iconic blue carpet and yellow walls of the familiar Blockbuster rental stores would be a fondly-remembered relic of a bygone era, along with the nearly extinct notion of a video rental industry? Yet, here we are. The Last Blockbuster is a documentary about the rise and fall of the company that one boasted 9000 U.S. outlets in 2004, and dwindled to only one in the present day. At its height, there was a new Blockbuster store opening somewhere in the world every seventeen hours. Yet, it all came crumbling down.

The last bastion of this once mighty juggernaut of corporate muscle is in the town of Bend, Oregon and is run by Sandi Harding. And this fascinating and engaging documentary both charts the rise and fall of the company with a kind of reality TV episode about the day to day running of this remaining branch. It tells a story that is at once a warm look back at a time when renting a video for the weekend was practically a rite of passage for a generation, and on the other hand a depressing account of sheer corporate greed and lousy decision making. All punctuated with comments from celebrities including Kevin Smith, Adam Brody, Jamie Kennedy, and Lloyd Kaufman.

We are gently reminded of fading fond memories, including the “staff picks” shelves, the “be kind, rewind” stickers on the tape cases and of course the ever-present threat of the dreaded late fees. A time long gone unless you live in Bend, Orgon where Friday and Saturday nights are still busy, and Monday morning sees the “returns” bin overflowing. As the film reveals, Blockbuster had an opportunity to buy Netflix at one point but declined, the irony of this film only being available on streaming services becomes even more crushingly apparent.

DEATH TRIP

Four friends, an isolated cottage, and a host of sinister locals. When a dismembered body is found in the woods, Kelly (Kelly Kay) and her friends face a desperate fight for survival in the bitter Canadian wilderness. Or do they? With Kelly suffering terrible nightmares and hallucinations, can she separate fantasy and reality for long enough to lead her friends to safety? It’s your typical cabin-in-the-woods horror film, but this time: Canada.

If a little novelty goes a long way, director James Watts’s micro budget Indie makes the most of its chilly winter environment. For a film of this budget and scale, Death Trip looks great, like a really cheap Fargo. It sounds solid too, with a suitably jangly and discomforting soundtrack setting an effective mood. Even the cast are a cut above the usual super low-budget lot, making this death trip a more tolerable experience than most.

Still, its limitations are there, and most noticeable in the languid pacing, overly talky script and lengthy runtime. Watts disguises the fact that not much happens for the first hour with nightmare sequences, a house party and the odd creepy non-sequitur, but it’s not enough. Most of it is just the friends – and their extra friends – either talking in circles or running around in circles. At 100 minutes, it’s kind of a slog. In this respect, Death Trip perfectly encapsulates the experience of being stuck at a tiresome house party, just wanting to leave.

BENNY LOVES YOU

Jack (writer/director Karl Holt) is a 35-year-old who hasn’t grown up. When his parents die on his birthday, his lack of life skills mean he’s ill-equipped to deal with the real world. His long-time companion, Benny, a stuffed toy that his mother said would protect him forever. The trouble is, his idea of protection is slaughtering anyone who proves a threat to him, but then also anyone who comes near Jack.

Comedy horror is something that can be hard to pull off. Fortunately, Holt has created a likeable loser in Jack, both in the characterisation and performance. The story doesn’t fall into the trap of Benny’s murders making Jack’s life go the right way, quite the opposite in fact. What we do get, though, is plenty of glorious gory kills as the teddy becomes jealous of any attention Jack might get. Imagine Child’s Play but with Chucky protecting Andy rather than trying to kill him and you’ll get the idea. No one is spared, be it kids or pets, in the stuffed toy’s rampage. A major plus is that the effects are impressive, both in the gore and the toys – especially during a toy-on-toy fight in the climax.

References to Prince either mean the story is set in the early 2000s or it betrays the length of time the film took to make, since the Purple One died in 2016. It’s not something that gets in the way, though, as it’s a fun romp packed with some fun, gory kills.

Benny Loves You is destined to be a beloved cult favourite and is not to be missed.

THE LITTLE THINGS

When it comes to hunting down serial killers, we all know the little things can be the most important, but in writer/director John Lee Hancock’s new neo-noir crime drama/thriller, those little things speak not only to the crime but the lingering effects of investigation.

The Little Things stars Denzel Washington as deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon, who is called back to the department he used to work for in LA to collect evidence related to a murder case. However, he soon finds himself being called in to aid with a twisted murder investigation that has rocked the department, and put to use his old skills to help crack it. The murder soon forms frightening parallels with a case he investigated years prior, which led to his relocation, so he joins forces with driven young LA detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), to put to bed this case and the demons it created once and for all.

The influence of David Fincher’s Seven is felt in many entries in this genre but The Little Things in particular seems to draw inspiration from it, the finale in particular even has an aesthetic similarity. And while this film will probably not knock veteran crime fans for six (or should that be seven?) in quite the same way, this atmospheric offering still ought to satisfy, thanks to a the efforts of an exceptional cast who keep things as compulsively watchable as a true crime documentary series.

Denzel Washington and Rami Malek make for a brilliant lead duo at the head of the film, convincing entirely as the likeable but afflicted and battle hardened veteran, and the dedicated and unshakable younger detective respectively. Though it is Jared Leto’s creeping support that probably lingers most strongly here. His performance has deservingly earned him awards attention of late and, as Albert Sparma, he chills the bloodstream with his fixated stare, as he makes you squirm with his uncomfortably enigmatic presence and curiously wisecracking lines. Bringing to mind the kind of show stealing performance Aaron Taylor-Johnson unleashed in Nocturnal Animals. There is also some brilliant supporting turns dotted throughout by many familiar faces, the best of which being the warm and moral turn by Michael Hyatt as Flo.

The Little Things is an old school procedural thriller, one that allows its grim atmosphere and slowly unfolding story to take centre stage, complete with growled dialogue and bleak twists. Some dialogue and certain sub-plots do occasionally get lost in the case files but what really makes this True Detective-style story take hold, other than the aforementioned roster and great acting talent, is Hancock’s emotional intent with the story. Hancock captures the destructive power that past faults can hold over us, and the obsession that comes with pressure, inconclusiveness and unresolved emotions. And in a conclusion (that has proved a tad divisive but feels right at home considering the tone of the film) that subverts the big revelation expectations, we get left with the crushing feeling of just what weight is carried by such feelings, and whether the truth can actually be crueller and more evil than a lie.

The little things indeed can make the biggest difference sometimes, but those little things can also leave the largest scar, a scar not easily healed.

PVT CHAT

Cam girl addict, slacker and online Blackjack bro Jack (Peter Vack) thinks all of his dreams have come true when he spots his favourite web dominatrix in the wild. When he’s not trying to scrape together rent money by playing cards online, Jack spends his days slurping instant noodles from a cup and jerking off to aloof cam girls. Of them all, his favourite is Scarlet (Julia Fox), a dominatrix and would-be artist who Jack spots in real life, at the local convenience store. Voyeurism is all well and good, until you find yourself following a real-life woman down dark alleyways late at night.

But Ben Hozie’s psycho-sexual drama is more than just another sleazy horror film about an obsessive white man and his prey. PVT Chat is a chaotic, bare-all (literally, when it comes to full-frontal male nudity) character study with more in common with Uncut Gems than, say, Open Windows. The film even shares a leading lady with the Safdie Brothers’ celebrated NYC-’em-up, in the magnetic Julia Fox.

What this meandering, rambling film lacks in urgency and pace, it makes up for with considerable atmosphere and commitment to the bit. Both Fox and Vack put in admirable performances as Jack and Scarlet; this tragic, deluded little man as pitiable as he is creepy. It’s Uncut Gems meets Daniel Goldhaber’s Cam. It’s kind of gross, but you won’t be able to take your eyes off of it.

WILLY’S WONDERLAND

After being stranded in a small Texas town, a drifter takes on a janitorial job at a theme restaurant to pay for his car repairs. Spending the night at Willy’s Wonderland, the Janitor (Nicolas Cage) quickly discovers that he’s not alone – ritual sacrifice to the restaurant’s murderous animatronic mascots. But this time, Willy Weasel may have bitten off more than he can chew, as the Janitor is more than capable of holding his own. Who, the film asks, is trapped in the restaurant with whom?

Cage is great value as the energy-drink swilling, break-taking badass, following up his Mom and Dad, Mandy and Color out of Space with yet another tremendous genre role. The Janitor may not speak, but Cage delivers a spirited performance nonetheless, reminding audiences that Nicolas Cage is more than just weird line deliveries and a history of swear words. In its tale of a solitary badass holding his own against a small army of demonic enemies, Willy’s Wonderland recalls Evil Dead 2; both in tone and frantic energy.

So effective is the film’s hero that it barely needs a supporting cast. But they’re here anyway, giving director Kevin Lewis his cannon fodder to splatter all over the place. They’re let down by the writing, which struggles to maintain any sense of logic or internal consistency, but well-served by the terrifically gory action sequences. The animatronic monsters look great, each bringing their own unique sensibility and threat level to the fight. Where the titular creatures of The Banana Splits Movie were disappointingly clunky, Lewis’s animatronic nightmares move slick and fast; a plaisible, terrifying threat. It’s Five Nights at Freddy’s meets From Dusk Till Dawn.

Were it solely Nicolas Cage battling animatronic demons in a vacum, Willy’s Wonderland could be the year’s finest action-horror hybrid (I know it’s only February, but c’mon). Sadly, it’s hampered by sloppy writing, idiot characters and embarrassing performances from the younger cast. Is there a message to be garnered from Willy’s Wonderland? If so, it’s one that the filmmakers should have heeded themselves – get out of the way and let Nicolas Cage do his thing.

BREEDER

The pursuit of everlasting youth is something some people will go to great lengths for. In Dutch film Breeder, a biochemical company may have found something that works.

Thomas (Anders Heinrichsen) is an investment banker who has pumped money into the venture, but it’s scientist Dr Isabel Ruben (Signe Egholm Olsen) who is calling the shots, including some rather nasty research techniques. After an encounter leaves their neighbour’s au pair shaken and branded on the arm, Thomas promises to take her to the hospital. Only it’s his makeshift laboratory instead, a run-down factory with very few clinical areas. His wife, Mia (Sara Hjort Ditlevsen), is concerned when she can’t reach the woman at the hospital and checks his iPhone location, so goes to find out what’s going on. Unfortunately, she discovers the truth about the operation and is caged with other women.

Directed by Jens Dahl, Breeder is a grim, nasty tale that compares the caging and abuse of animals to the captive women in Ruben’s lab. (The clue of their use is in the name, but we don’t want to reveal too many spoilers). It also has much to say about the relationship of the sexes, and various kinks or perversions that might come with it. Mia, for example, is desperate to try for a baby but Thomas can’t perform. She is seen sorting herself out while digging in her buttock with a riding spur. Later, it’s revealed that Thomas has his own leanings in the bedroom department, yet they don’t have a healthy enough relationship to discuss their wants. It also shines a light on the use and abuse of women – even by their own sex – and even the dehumanisation of the hired thugs, named only The Dog and The Pig.

While Breeder isn’t an easy watch by any means, it’s proficiently made and Sissel Dalsgaard Thomsen’s script manages to highlight many issues, not least the ethics – or lack of – of the beauty industry.

Release Date: February 15th

HAPPY TIMES

We’ve all had family gatherings that have gone slightly awry. Whether it’s a punch-up between cousins who are after the same girl or Aunty Maud who says too much after too many sherries. They all pale into insignificance compared to the Shabbat dinner put on by the Israeli family in Michael Mayer’s Happy Times.

The party in question is being held in the luxurious LA mansion of Sigal (Liraz Chamami) and Yosi (Ido Mor). They’ve invited an assortment of friends and relatives, but the first to cause some eyebrow raising is wannabe actor Michael (Michael Aloni) and his girlfriend Aliyah (Stéfi Celma), who happenes to be black. As the evening progresses and too much alcohol is consumed, things get heated, with prejudice, passion, and egos leading to an outburst of violence that puts the night on a different trajectory.

Directed and co-written (with Guy Ayal) by Michael Mayer, Happy Times takes a while to get into its mojo. We are given enough space to get to know the lay of the land when it comes to the relationships between the characters. When everything explodes into an unpredictable bloodbath, Mayer’s pacing pays off as the building tension within the group reaches boiling point. The single location is used perfectly, as scenes take place in almost every room of the sprawling house. Each character is fleshed out wonderfully by the actors in the first half of the movie so that when things go west, and we get to see another side to them, it’s both shocking and triumphant.

The humour is as dark as it comes throughout (this certainly isn’t Friday Night Dinner), and gets even darker in the second half of the film. This comedic edge is what keeps things entertaining rather than disturbing, particularly when it comes to the appearance of the Rabbi. Mayer and Ayal’s script weighs into cultural stereotypes and double standards wonderfully – the film plays out in a mix of Hebrew and English and could easily have worked merely as a family-based comedy-drama. The fact things take the sinister, gory turn is just the perfect coffee and dessert the evening needed.

Release Date: February 9th (US)

FINGERS

Young office supervisor Amanda suffers from an exceptional type of body dysmorphia. While she does scrutinise her own appearance for perceived flaws, it’s physical ‘imperfections’ and ‘abnormalities’ in other people that she’s repulsed by. When a key worker in her team arrives with a hand wrapped in a bloodied bandage and clearly missing a finger, Amanda cannot contain her revulsion. But her determination to confront her fears and phobias leads her to an unorthodox psychiatrist and a very proactive type of aversion therapy.

Coming across a film like Fingers is one of the joys of the regular indie-flick watcher. This is a movie determined to avoid the regular, familiar notes of the off-beat thriller. Laced with dark humour, unexpected twists, and moments of up-close violence, the storyline of Fingers revels in confounding viewers’ expectations. Perspectives change, audience allegiances shift, and turning points in the plot lead to unpredictable outcomes.

Whether the influences are conscious or not, writer-director Juan Ortiz has made a movie the atmosphere of which will be recognised by fans of Hal Hartley and the Coen brothers. Fingers has the off-kilter, lengthy one-on-one dialogues that are the hallmarks of Hartley’s films like the sublime Trust and Simple Men; and that sense of danger teetering-on-the-edge of exploding that runs through the Coen’s cinematic canon.

Fingers is a film that arrives at an endpoint impossible to guess from its everyday opening scene, set in a nondescript donut shop (which quickly turns weird). The storylines of separate groups of characters are revealed as the movie progresses. The fate of all of these protagonists pivots, in one way or another, around the horror of amputated pinkies. Amanda’s psychological issues lead her through a series of increasingly questionable decisions as a final showdown looms. At times, it’s left open to the viewer to decide if they’re watching these events as they happen or instead are observers of Amanda’s distorted perception of reality.

The performances in Fingers are uniformly strong, and it’s difficult to pick out individual actors in the ensemble cast for praise. That said, there’s standout work from Sabina Friedman-Seitz as the intense and unsettled Amanda, from Stan Madray as the bewildered, digit-challenged Walter, and from Michael St. Michaels as the gruff and ruthless crime boss Fox.

It’s the inventiveness and commitment to crafting something different that makes this thriller stand out from so many of its genre contemporaries. This is a thoroughly entertaining watch that revels in delivering an unpredictable story, which manages to continually surprise without those redirects feeling arbitrary. If you’re after a clever crime caper with an unusually strong narrative grip, you’d be well advised to get your hands on Fingers.