Review Category: Movie

John Wick (2014) was a lethal cocktail of modern kinetic thrills and 1970s action cinema influences, its wry script packed with deliciously evil villains, quotable dialogue and outrageously inventive situations. In other words, it was the sort of film Quentin Tarantino would be making now if he wasn’t more interested in seeing how many times he can foster Oscar-baiting dross like The Hateful Eight on us. With Keanu Reeves instantly owning a new signature role after so long in the wilderness, of course, we wanted to see more of this modern-day One Man and His Dog minus the sheep dips. So, does the sequel deliver another premium dose of adrenalised neo-noir?

You sense the answer is going to fall solidly in the affirmative from the get-go.  The action picks up almost immediately after the first film ended, with Wick attempting to brutally muscle back his beloved 1969 Boss Mustang. We’re plunged into a frantic, neon-lit car-chase that channels Diamonds Are Forever by way of Walter Hill’s The Driver. It’s a gloriously effective opening, particularly if your senses have been blunted by the unending, CG-enhanced car-foolery of the Fast and Furious series. If that’s the case, you need to watch this bludgeoning demonstration of the real thing on repeat until your brain eventually re-wires itself. Put The Blues Brothers on as well, while you’re about it.

Mission seemingly accomplished, Wick has hardly finished re-cementing his guns under the floor when he gets a visit from Italian crime boss Santino, played with exquisite slipperiness by Riccardo Scamarcio. You can’t go wrong with a name like that, can you? Turns out Wick owes this sharp-suited Mafiosi a rather big assassination-shaped favour – a promise indelibly sealed by an old blood oath between the two men. Never a good idea, blood oaths. And so it proves; in a wonderfully witty sequence, Wick reluctantly suits up and goes back to ‘work’ at the Continental Hotel, scruffy new hound dog by his side. In these deceptively genteel surroundings, he replenishes his armoury with an exquisite selection from the hotel’s gun ‘menu’ before embarking on a mission to sort out Santino’s family feud and to take down an army of hitmen hell-bent on ending his legend. Turns out that’s the easy bit.

Keeping the core creative team from the first film proves a wise move. The original’s gunfights and hand-to-hand throwdowns were astonishing, but returning director Chad Stahelski ups his game to ensure Wick delivers an even bigger blizzard of devastation on those who cross him. Meanwhile, script writer Derek Kolstad elegantly extends his original, neatly-framed revenge scenario across a much wider canvas. The more operatic scale is well and truly Toscared by the relocation to Rome for the requisite disco-gun apocalypse, this time mounted in the grounds and catacombs of a Roman Coliseum. This 007-flavoured middle act, with Wick spiralling down a mouse hole of impossible odds, may well be the best-directed and choreographed piece of action cinema you’ll witness all year. It also looks stunning; rarely has ultraviolence been this beautifully photographed.

Keanu Reeves is magnificent as Wick, that trademark hangdog charisma making evermore sense as he moves through middle-age. He gets great support from a rogue’s gallery of pitch-perfect friends and enemies led by Scamarcio and the returning Ian McShane as ‘hotel’ boss Winston. Has Ian McShane ever played anyone other than Ian McShane? Long may he continue to do so. The only slightly rusty cog in an otherwise ruthlessly well-oiled machine is the casting of Laurence Fishburne as a benevolent all-knowing guru who helps Neo, sorry, John out of a right old pickle once the action returns to New York. Talk about meta. When these two men first meet and eye each other with nudge-nudge familiarity, you fear the walls of their reality will suddenly collapse into a mass of green digits to reveal everything has been a gigantic Matrix in-joke, as opposed to the merely very big Matrix in-joke we actually get.

But we’re quibbling; here is a textbook sequel-done-right. Everything that worked the first time is honed, the scale has become epic and the ante is upped and upped again to a pulsating climax that’ll leave you wanting Chapter 3 by next Tuesday at the latest. With insane action, a script that packs a gut-punch of laughs and Wick himself just about the most haunted soul to pull a trigger this side of Harry Callahan, John Wick: Chapter 2 is one righteous MOFO of a movie.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: CHAD STAHELSKI / SCREENPLAY: DEREK KOLSTAD / STARRING: RUBY ROSE, KEANU REEVES, BRIDGET MOYNAHAN, IAN MCSHANE, LAURENCE FISHBURNE / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 17TH

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10
Actual Rating:

Written and directed by Ben Cresciman, Sun Choke centres on Janie (Sarah Hagan), who is recovering from a violent psychotic breakdown and is subjected to a bizarre daily health regime by her lifelong “nanny” Irma (Barbara Crampton). Once Irma decides that Janie is well enough to leave the house, Janie instantly becomes obsessed with Savannah (Sara Malakul Lane), seeing her almost as a fantasied projection of herself. It’s through this, that Janie’s grip on reality fades away, and insanity and violence begins to consume her. This is all there is to the actual story as this is one of those unique and different kind of films that is hugely open to interpretation and analysis. However, this is perhaps one of the most unnerving, unsettling and disturbing horror movies currently out there.

 

Sun Choke is really a psychological arthouse horror movie where the plot takes second place to the acting, atmosphere and visuals, and while this approach would normally make it a classic case of being “all style and no substance”, this is one of those rare times in which that direction kind of works well in execution. This delves into themes of repression, sexuality, identity, and self-control over one’s sanity and sense of reality. This a film about the psychological descent of a mentally warped mind, which, when you get past all of that, there is pretty much the bare bones of a plot, and while the film is set up to be intentionally ambiguous and obscure, it’s somewhat too obscure and this’ll probably frustrate and divide audiences who are more appreciative of a narrative-heavy movie.

 

The film centres around an unreliable narrator in Janie, and this can make you feel unconnected to the characters since you are following this woman’s actions, and by the end, you’ll be most likely be feeling confused about what’s reality and what’s fantasy. The film is also unapologetically bleak and disturbing in its approach towards sanity/insanity, sex and violence, which produces something of an uncomfortable experience (especially to this reviewer!). Whether you’ll be able to cope through with this, whether you’ll just be unsettled or if it’ll leave you feeling appalled or outraged is really up to the casual viewer, but this is, without a doubt, a chilling experience in almost the same vein as films like Faults or Martha Marcy May Marlene.

 

Visually, the film is a triumph, and the way in which light and colour is used throughout results in some gorgeous shots that will linger deep in your mind. Performance wise, the three main leads all do a phenomenal job and deserve heaps of praise considering the content involved with this film. Sarah Hagan, in particular, is absolutely captivating, nailing all the various stages of emotions and situations Janie is going through, and as a result, you do feel like you are watching someone checking out of reality. Sara Malakul Lane does a remarkably brave job at being the perfect foil to measure against Janie, offering real, genuine vulnerability and pathos when the grisly events transpire later on. However, the most chilling performance is delivered by genre-veteran Barbara Crampton, whose portrayal of Irma is well judged, effective, and unsettling.

 

Overall, Sun Choke is an arthouse horror that delves into the realms of psychosis, sex and violence in a manner that is provocative and exciting, yet unnerving and chilling at the same time. The cinematography is fantastic and the performances by the three main leads are flawless. This will probably not be to everyone’s tastes considering the film’s uncomfortable nature and the lack of clarity within the narrative, but this film offers a unique experience that’ll leave you surprised and intrigued.

 

SUN CHOKE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: BEN CRESCIMAN / STARRING: SARAH HAGAN, BARBARA CRAMPTON, SARA MALAKUL LANE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Drifter is a curious film. Its references are numerous from The Hills Have Eyes to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with an aesthetic similar to the Mad Max universe. Some scenes are even lifted directly from those films, giving you an overwhelming sense of the familiar, and yet Drifter is nothing like what you will have seen before. If it could be categorised it would stand alone in the very specific Neo-Western, Southern Gothic, psycho-cannibal, hyper-surreal post-apocalyptic sub-genre. We’ll try and explain.

 

On a mission of vengeance two brothers stumble into a deserted town somewhere in what we presume to be a mid-American wasteland. Dominic (Drew Harwood) is the alpha of the pair, looking after his “slow” brother Miles (Aria Emory) while desperately trying to toughen him up. Finding themselves stranded, their situation goes from bad to worse very quickly when they encounter a group of unusual locals.

 

From the intensity of an opening shoot-out to the crazed, bloody finale, Drifter never allows you chance to take a breath, as director Chris von Hoffmann maintains a level of insanity that is utterly absorbing. Characters so extreme as to be barely conceivable litter the screen as the brothers, who are no angels themselves, become playthings in the physical and psychological games of their hosts. Everyone appears afflicted with some mutation but von Hoffmann makes no attempt to offer an explanation, preferring instead to leave much of the story’s background to the viewer’s imagination.

 

What is clear is the violence, which is regular, brutal and utterly terrifying. The camera leaves you in no doubt to the horror of what is happening as the brothers are put through an ordeal as savage as anything you will see in a horror film this year. At times this makes Drifter difficult to watch, but so engaging are the characters and setting that it soon becomes equally as intoxicating.

 

Completing the experience is a sublimely eerie score that gives Drifter the sensibility of a macabre musical, with specific moments highlighted as if being crazily choreographed by composer Nao Sato. The heightened visual palette reflects this further, adding to the surreal imagery and rendering Drifter a ninety-minute assault on the senses, albeit a rewarding one.

 

While not necessarily a film you will revisit time and time again, Drifter is one you will certainly remember. Surreal stylings and extreme violence backed by a perfect score lead you on a gory dance, with von Hoffman as the conductor.

 

DRIFTER / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: CHRIS VON HOFFMANN / SCREENPLAY: CHRIS VON HOFFMAN, ARIA EMORY / STARRING: DREW HARWOOD, ARIA EMORY, MONIQUE ROSARIO / RELEASE DATE: 24th FEBRUARY; UK RELEASE DATE TBA

 

Rings is the not-at-all-awaited follow-up to 2003 horror The Ring, which putting aside the debatable justification for the plethora of American remakes of Asian ghost stories, was actually a pretty decent film, and its sequel, which wasn’t. Short version of the relevant details: there exists a cursed video created by the psychic projection death throes of a creepy little girl named Samara that kills you seven days after you watch it, unless you copy it and show it to someone else, who must then do the same in turn, and so on.

Rings follows young woman Julia who, after several events that are ultimately incidental, views a copied video to save her boyfriend, and thereafter begins investigating the origin of Samara in the hope of saving herself.

If that sounds faintly similar to the original film, it’s because it is. Part of what made The Ring so compelling was the gradual uncovering of the mystery behind the video’s existence, learning the rules of Samara’s curse along the way. In an attempt to recapture its eerie tone Rings replicates the structure (woman views weird video, sets out to learn more, is led by cryptic visuals to uncover piecemeal the truth behind a tragedy), but only gives us an artificial expansion of the mythos that merely answers questions that the film itself puts into place. Part of Samara’s intrigue was finding out just enough about her to tell a complete story, and this attempt to reveal more only dilutes her mystique, while the frankly meaningless details uncovered make the exercise a double failure.

Even though everyone already knows the story of the tape and how to beat the curse, it still takes about half an hour before Julia learns all the details the audience already knows, and what little original story there actually is can begin. While this allows for anyone unfamiliar with the series to get up to speed, it moves the plot at a frustratingly sluggish pace, especially as there are two initial scenes before Julia’s story even gets underway.

There is at least some attempt to update the core concept; instead of a VHS cassette requiring physical duplication, the ‘tape’ now exists as a digital video file that can be copied in seconds with a couple of mouse clicks. This adds an extra element to the video’s propagation as it can be watched on any number of devices, while the subculture of fate-tempting thrill seekers that has grown around the video’s urban legend can share it with concerning simplicity. You can easily imagine some malicious troll uploading it to YouTube, the Pirate Bay or any one of dozens of social media sites.

Surprisingly, the final revelation driving the story actually harks back (in a roundabout way) to the original novels, but the ham-fisted foreshadowing is nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is, resulting in an unsatisfying payoff. As a horror Rings is disappointingly tame, as a mystery it’s as ponderous as it is simplistic, and as a revival of a once-popular franchise it’s a wasted opportunity, and no amount of prophetic visions, surreal imagery or portentous drivel can convince otherwise.

RINGS / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: F JAVIER GUTIÉRREZ / SCREENPLAY: DAVID LOUCKA, JACOB ESTES, AKIVA GOLDSMAN / STARRING: MATILDA LUTZ, ALEX ROE, JOHNNY GALECKI, VINCENT D’ONOFRIO, AIMEE TEEGARDEN, BONNIE MORGAN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10
Actual Rating: 
 

The opening for Resident Evil: The Final Chapter begins where Retribution left off. We find our heroine, Alice, alone in a ruined Washington, D.C. and it’s revealed that Wesker had been lying about everything from the previous film; he had not left Umbrella and the White House was a trap, it was not the last human outpost, and it has always been Umbrella who was trying to wipe out the human race, not the Red Queen. We are told by the Red Queen that Wesker betrayed everyone at the White House fortress, decimating the city, leaving Alice as the only apparent survivor. The Red Queen convinces Alice she has changed allegiance after it being revealed that the T-Virus was released into the world on purpose by Umbrella and sends Alice after Wesker, who has taken refuge in the Hive in Racoon City, where the saga began. She has 48 hours to stop Wesker and Umbrella from destroying humanity for good this time and release an airborne antidote to stop the T-Virus once and for all.

The Resident Evil franchise is known for its plot holes, and as expected many are revealed in this latest instalment. Without going into spoiler territory, this time there is confusion over the creator of the T-Virus, the ownership of the Umbrella Corporation, and the mystery of what actually happened in Washington in-between the two films. We are given no explanation for these discrepancies and without reading the novelisation of the series that tackles some of this issues, the film proves to be a contradiction to its predecessors. Previously, the series has answered inconsistencies with the use of clones of key characters, which may be the resolution to some of the newest conflicts, and is actually referenced in this film when Alice comes face-to-face with Dr Issacs, whom she believed she had killed in Apocalypse. But this negligence to continuity is something that easily takes away value from the franchise and causes confusion when watching.

But despite these inconsistencies, The Final Chapter proves to be an entertaining spectacle. Taking the film out of the context of the series, which to some extent we are encouraged to do with the recap Alice gives us at the start of every sequel, it fulfils audience genre expectations. Opening with a couple of sharp jump scares, and a fight between Alice, a mutated zombie and a flying creature, it provides the attention-grabbing action expected from the start. As teased in the trailer, there are plenty of these sequences, which are a spectacle to watch, and we are also able to revisit where it all began in the Hive. This gives us throwbacks to the first film, using original footage, sets, monsters, and, of course, the iconic phrase “you’re all going to die down here”. If fans are able to get by the narrative questions created by The Final Chapter, then it is a gratifying spectacle that, as the previous films have proven, may ironically turn out not to be the final chapter.

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: PAUL W. S. ANDERSON / STARRING: MILLA JOVOVICH, IAIN GLEN, ALI LARTER, SHAWN ROBERTS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating: 5 out of 10
Actual Rating:
 

When Warners and LEGO joined forces to conquer cinemas in 2014, they did more than make a giant pile of cash, they made a really great film. By tickling the zeitgeist’s armpit the way that Pixar used to do, they also comprehensively cleaned up in film theory classes and at the sort of chattering dinner parties STARBURST wouldn’t be seen dead at (even if we got invited to them). The LEGO Movie artfully nipped the many hands that fed it but particularly Warner’s own Batman franchise, which made Batman a solo shoe-in for the next outing. Good call: The LEGO Batman Movie hones the strengths of the first film into a sharp, sassy and eye-popping instrument of mirth…

Not that Batman himself gets an easy ride. Gotham City authorities have grown weary of his all-singing all-dancing entrances and exits, his ludicrous show-off vehicles and showboating speeches. Little do they realise how tormented he’s become, his Citizen Kane-style melancholy amplified by the gigantic hollowed-out island he now calls home. Meanwhile, the Joker seems to have formed an unhealthy emotional attachment to him and a there’s this kid called Dick who wants to get himself Bat-adopted. Then the true darkness descends: every time he tries to fire up his favourite Tom Cruise scene in his giant private movie theatre, he can’t remember which HDMI input to select…

The LEGO Batman Movie grasps the bat rope of affectionate silliness and swings with it. It certainly has plenty of raw material to work with; Warner’s frequent re-booting of the live action franchise under different teams has left a legacy as schizophrenic as any Arkham inmate. From the opening seconds when we hear Will Arnett’s spot-on growling tones narrating the importance of those multiple moody production company logos, we know what we’re in for. If anyone needs to duck the hardest to avoid the flying barbs that follow it’s probably Christopher Nolan whose up-itself era gets a jovial kicking at every opportunity, such as the early assurance that this movie will ‘definitely be better than the one with the two boats’.

Scripter Seth Grahame-Smith might not whack every DC sacred cow in the time available but certainly gives it his best shot. Suicide Squad? Absurd concept. Justice League? Just an excuse for a giant cosplay party. You get the idea, but this is no hatchet job, more like affectionate roasting by a creative team who clearly love these characters and the immense heritage of the DC universe

For LEGO master builders, there’s a renewed commitment to stretching the possibilities of construction as far as possible and then a bit beyond; attempts at depicting fire in CGI LEGO, for example, just look like the image is over-pixelating.  But most of the time you’ll be applauding the ambition of sequences like the traditional Bat-fight enacted with the cartoon ‘ZAP!’ and ‘POW!’ captions lovingly rendered in ye olde Danish brickage.

It’s not a complete glory run; the decision to inject a giant dose of schmaltz into the final act feels tacked on and derails the fun in much the same way Will Ferrell’s ‘Glue Dad’ did to the first movie and the Joker’s psychological hang-ups are milked to decreasing comic effect. Nor is there a musical moment as joyfully memorable as the first movie’s ‘Everything is Awesome!’ sequence but, as no small compensation, fans of John Williams’ Superman score will feel appropriate chills when we visit the Fortress of Solitude.

As with the first film, it’s the little details and character moments that stay with you. Scenes of Batman alone in his giant super-cave, hunched in front of his microwave and eating dinner alone on a little Rosebud Bat Boat unexpectedly move you in ways LEGO mini figures really shouldn’t. When the Joker’s face collapses in the pain of rejection at one key point, your heart will truly go out to the little plastic bastard. Director Chris McKay’s layering of these delightful character beats amid the frantic action is a balancing act that pays off in spades and will have you watching this on rewind.

No surprises then: another slam dunk for that LEGO lot.

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: CHRIS MCKAY / SCREENPLAY: SETH GRAHAME-SMITH, CHRIS MCKENNA, ERIK SOMMERS / STARRING: WILL ARNETT, JENNY SLATE, RALPH FIENNES, ZACH GALIFIANAKIS, MICHAEL CERA, ROSARIO DAWSON, BILLY DEE WILLIAMS / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 10TH

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10
Actual Rating: 
 

Blimey… If you’ve heard of pre-baby blues symptoms, then you ain’t seen nothing yet when comes to Prevenge, the twisted, slasher, pregnancy romp hatched from the creatively subversive mind of actress and writer Alice Lowe, who also makes her directorial debut here. Lowe stars as Ruth, a heavily pregnant mother-to-be, who recently lost her partner, and starts hearing the voices of her unborn child that is urging her to kill. Sure enough, she becomes a serial killer and goes on a killing spree, and the more people she kills, the more we learn about her, and as a result, she begins checking out of the realms of reality and sanity. Like Ben Wheatley, Lowe takes a rose-tinted view on a particular subject matter that inspires joy (in this case: pregnancy) and completely turns it on its head whilst splattering it with blood and carnage. This clearly has echoes of Wheatley’s Sightseers (which Lowe also starred in and wrote for), which in itself was a twisted, deranged spin on caravanning in the Lake District.

 

While it’s easy to compare this with Sightseers, this is less comedic than that film and a bit more melancholic and nihilistic, as signified by Ruth and her actions. Her victims are mostly comprised of people who seem to shun the notions of parenthood and favour hobbies that are alien to her, which is why she offers no ounce of sympathy for her victims’ selfishness. However, it’s over the course of the film we discover these little hints and clues as to why she’s behaving the way she is, what happened to her husband and what her true motivations are. Along the way, questions are being raised to which you may not quite know the answers. Is she targeting misogynists? Does she have this deep-rooted rage driving her? Is it really the baby talking to her or she developing a split personality? This is a film that is so vague, it allows for some intriguing story developments, and plaudits to Lowe for maintaining that level of intrigue and mystery.

 

Despite the carnage and mayhem that’ll surely leave audiences aghast, there is some genuine humanity behind it all. Most of which comes during Ruth’s conversations with her midwife, who really acts like Ruth’s emotional anchor and sort of her beacon of sanity in what she thinks is a messed up world. Throughout the film, we see Ruth continuously recalling the Three Furies sequence from the 1934 drama Crime Without Passion, which symbolises Ruth almost becoming one herself to act against sinners. There are also shades of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, which was also a film about a woman who is both fascinated and terrified in equal measure by the thought of growing a complete and utter stranger inside her own body. Ryan Eddleston’s cinematography is very atmospheric and haunting, which is also reflected in Toydrum’s electronically eerie score.

 

Prevenge is a surreal, messed-up thrill ride that walks that very fine line of jet-black comedy and melancholic horror with its bloody nature guaranteed to leave you genuinely shocked and surprised. Granted this film isn’t going to appeal to everyone’s tastes and it’s a film that is rough around the edges, but what Alice Lowe has achieved is something to be marvelled at, despite how twisted and demented it can get. Lowe’s performance is flawless, and this film demonstrates that she’s a real subversive talent that’s always exciting to watch, even when she submerges herself into the dark side of comedy and life.

 

REVENGE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ALICE LOWE / STARRING: ALICE LOWE, GEMMA WHELAN, KATE DICKIE / RELEASE DATE: 10TH FEBRUARY

 

Expected rating: 7/10

 

Final Rating:

After over a decade of being stuck in a rut of abject failure (The Last Airbender, The Happening) and dull misfires (Lady in the Water), the director once proclaimed as the next Spielberg, M. Night Shyamalan seemed to be growing more and more distant from his early The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable (which many call his best film) promise. Until in 2015 a glimmer of hope arrived in the flawed but improved low budget offering The Visit but can Shyamalan truly get back on form with his interesting new Horror/Thriller Split, which seems blessed by a potential-filled concept.

Friends Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) are kidnapped from a car park by a man called Kevin (James McAvoy). They all soon wake in an undisclosed room and fear the worst, however their fears cannot prepare them for what comes next, as Kevin has an extreme case of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and the girls will have to circumnavigate Kevin’s 23 personalities if they are to survive but as all these personalities talk of the arrival of a 24th called ‘The Beast’, things could get worse…

 

As premises go, this is a great one but Shyamalan’s recent struggles suggest that, like Kevin, this film could go any way, thankfully it emerges as his best film in over a decade. The strength of the film, which has vibes of 10 Cloverfield Lane and Psycho about it, cannot be put down to just one aspect, as this is an ambitious work that touches on many intriguing ideas. Split is really a story about how the abused can be transformed by their past into something dangerous and disturbed and while some may well be thrown by how the film comes to venture into full on Horror at the end, not to mention the exaggerated approach, this is an entertaining and occasionally unsettling (see a particular flashback for Casey) experience.

 

The cast are great, with Taylor-Joy being a refreshingly more switched on and intelligent “victim” than often portrayed in this kind of film and Betty Buckley being a wonderful character as Kevin’s understanding therapist Dr. Karen Fletcher. However, this is James McAvoy’s film and he is show stealing, portraying so many personalities (from a 9 year old to a stern middle aged woman) with subtle nuances and perfect personal touches, that you eventually notice who has taken over Kevin’s body before they even speak. McAvoy is awards worthy here and elevates the film from a fun ‘70s Horror throwback or B-Movie into something psychologically deep drilling and rather affecting (as Kevin comes to have a touch of The Fly’s Seth Brundle about him).

 

It is not perfect – Claire and Marcia are forgettable and some ideas are not fleshed out as well as they could be – but Split is a true return to form for Shyamalan, who delivers the kind of film here, we craved from him the last few years. Complete with a lead performance so compelling and ingenious that even the odd pole vault from realism to dark fantasy is made tangible. Not to mention that closing moment, which suggests that Shyamalan is well and truly delving back into the kind of work many cite is his best. Welcome back!

 

SPLIT / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN / STARRING: JAMES MCAVOY, ANYA TAYLOR-JOY, BETTY BUCKLEY, HALEY LU RICHARDSON, JESSICA SULA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating: 5/10

Actual Rating:

It was inevitable really. With their own franchises bled dry of anything still resembling interest, let alone originality, a mash up between two of modern horrors’ most iconic characters was always going to happen. And audiences do love to see franchises match up, whether it’s Freddy vs. Jason, Batman vs. Superman or Alien vs. Predator. As is so often the case, however, what starts out as an interesting idea invariably descends into a convoluted, contrived, overly-complicated mess – we’re looking at you Zack Snyder.

 

The thing is, with Sadako vs. Kayako director Kōji Shiraishi understands that this is a preposterous idea and works hard to instil some fun into proceedings. As well as the obvious victims of the urban curses, there is a mad professor who is so desperate to meet the malevolent Sadako that he will risk his own life for the “honour”. We have a team of exorcists who, through some fancy hand waving and random leaps in knowledge, conspire to pit the two spirits against each other, as clearly that is the only way to save everyone. There is even an opening act that pokes fun at the idea of a cursed VHS tape as no-one has video recorders anymore so how could the curse still exist?

 

If there is a central problem with the film, it is that Kayako is given far too little screen time. Until the eccentric exorcists turn up, Shiraishi’s film is firmly split into two narratives. The Sadako story is more prominent, as the students who stumble upon the tape desperately seek a “cure” for their curse, and while well-made, it is narratively routine for anyone who has seen even one of the Ringu films. The Kayako plotline is more interesting, but she is held back until the end, with most of the creepy heavy lifting being left to the young Toshio, who feline-like stalks his unwary victims. In fairness, many of the scares come from Toshio’s appearances, and it is a likely indictment of the cultural impact of the two main characters that we have become somewhat immune to their presence.

 

While seeming to damn it with faint praise, it’s difficult to imagine how Sadako vs. Kayako could have turned out any better. Shiraishi has ticked all the necessary boxes and made a valiant attempt at providing passable justification as to why these two characters should meet up in the first place. There are some good scares, and the direction and performances are all fine, but the film never rises above the average. And the finale is just a spooky step too far.

 

SADAKO V KAYAKO / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: KŌJI SHIRAISHI / STARRING: MIZUKI YAMAMOTO, TINA TAMASHIRO, AIMI SATSUKAWA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (JAPAN); UK RELEASE DATE TBA