Review Category: Movie

The modern audience is obsessed with, and fearful of, psychopaths and sociopaths. Popular works like We Need to Talk About Kevin, NBC’s Hannibal– not to mention tragedies like Columbine- have helped build a culture of fear and fascination around the murderous loner. Billy O’Brien’s I Am Not a Serial Killer is an ambitious peek behind the curtain of adolescent angst and damaged psyche, which zones in on the nature of murder and monsters.

Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are) plays John Wayne Cleaver, a misfit who works with his mum (Laura Fraser) at the town morgue and is being treated by a psychiatrist (Karl Geary) for murderous fantasies. When bodies start turning up, John begins to investigate for himself, slowly stepping closer to his own dangerous desires and the potential secrets of his neighbour (Christopher Lloyd).

If you haven’t read Dan Wells’ novel, there’s a whopper of a twist that would be criminal to expose, suffice to say I Am Not a Serial Killer isn’t simply a nifty killer-thriller. Focusing on the characters, O’Brien, with writer Christopher Hyde, play this out as a genre-savvy character study with some big questions on its mind.

It’s a smart move, to turn murder into a kind of character death we really don’t want to see, and it’s a credit to Records’ sparky, emotionally-damaged but loving, loner that we get so involved. Its also a credit to the writers that things never get too ridiculous, even when the humour and last act seem to draw subtly from ‘80s silliness. Here is a film that is successfully equal parts tense, horrifying, surprising, and heartfelt.

Where O’Brien’s Scintilla failed on cohesiveness and intrigue, I Am Not a Serial Killer steps its game up. It’s a hunt-the-killer film which transforms as soon as it starts to wear thin, but it’s also a monster movie with elements of home invasion and psychological drama; a Stephen King adaptation crossed with We Need to Talk about Kevin, peppered with the black comedy tone of Fargo. Essentially then, it’s a cluster-fuck of character study and genre ideas, which has miraculously been delivered in the form of a quiet snowy thriller. Even the look of the film feels loaded with genre significance: Halloween-inspired POV shots give Records’ and Geary’s screen-relationship a Loomis/Myers vibe, whilst the Phantasm-tinged soundtrack helps nail the ‘80s B-Movie feel.

Sure, O’Brien is a bit scattershot with the dialogue by the finale, but it’s an engrossing feature which grants Christopher Lloyd one of his best roles in years, whilst letting Max Records flaunt his undeniable talents as a sympathetic lead. Horror fans will really enjoy this fresh examination of the nature of monsters.

I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: BILLY O’BRIEN / SCREENPLAY: BILLY O’BRIEN, CHRISTOPHER HYDE / STARRING: MAX RECORDS, CHRISTOPHER LLOYD, KARL GEARY, LAURA FRASIER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (LIMITED RELEASES/VOD); 12TH OCTOBER (LONDON FILM FESTIVAL); 9TH DECEMBER (OFFICIAL UK RELEASE)

Expected Rating: 4/10

Actual Rating:

Dialogue-free, traditionally animated and stranding its protagonist alone on an island in the first few minutes, The Red Turtle is worth sticking through despite its stately pace. Its quivering animation may beguile you from the beginning, but for others the repetition and lack of narrative conflict might take a little more to get on board with.

Washing up on the beach, the protagonist spends much of the first half of the film exploring the island and making repeated escape attempts by building a raft and heading for freedom. But each time he sets sail, a mysterious underwater creature that at first takes the form of a giant red turtle, destroys the raft sending him swimming back to shore to start over again.

This curious collaboration of Michael Dudok de Wit and Studio Ghibli is clearly a labour of love. Every landscape dwarves the few characters on screen, with nature filling the frame and the narrative unfolding at an extremely unhurried pace.  Though limited to the single island location, there is enough differentiation in the settings and plenty of critters to help the time pass. From the titular turtle to crabs and birds, the film celebrates the natural world before adding any more human characters. And the lonely man’s little posse of friendly crabs almost steal the show. 

But it’s with the introduction of first a woman and then a child that The Red Turtle not only takes a turn for the surreal, but also changes dramatically in pace. So much of the running time is spent without rushing through the days, that when the narrative suddenly skips forward years, it’s as quietly heartbreaking as one particularly shocking scene is loud and crushing. The Red Turtle becomes a film about family, about responsibility and about growing old. In that sense, it touches a few of the same emotional notes as the much-celebrated opening montage of Pixar’s Up, but less concisely. In a few of its most memorable moments, it packs a punch, but there is the sense that this story could have been wrapped up far more succinctly.

And while the lack of dialogue makes sense in the opening scenes as well as forcing the viewer to focus on the visuals, it seems like a strange decision to keep this technique going when there are eventually other inhabitants on the island.

There’s no doubt that The Red Turtle is charming and enchanting, but it’s muted tone, leisurely pace and jarring lack of dialogue in the last half make for a less emotive conclusion than the simple story could have earned.

THE RED TURTLE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL DUDOK DE WIT / SCREENPLAY: N/A / STARRING: N/A / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

This might not be the film called Wild that you are looking for. There’s no Reese Witherspoon hiking an enormous trail across America in this German curio about a woman who gets back to nature in her very own exotic manner. Witherspooon’s Wild was a worthy Oscar-winner that bagged her a Best Actress Academy Award. It’s safe to say that this new Wild will not be bagging actress Lilith Stangenberg anything more than a head examination. With a hospitalised grandfather and downright rude boss, Stangenberg plays Ania, a woman who is feeling rather distant from the world when she comes across a wolf in the wild near her home.

Ania quickly becomes obsessed with the beautiful, but potentially dangerous beast, stalking it and then finally deciding to capture it and make it her own. While the wolf refuses to be tamed, Ania finds her own inner beast coming out as she begins a sometimes icky, often surreal and even slightly sexual relationship with her new ‘pet’.

Wild certainly lives up to its title as it progresses. Ania’s hair grows shaggier, her apartment becomes messier and soon the film delivers on-screen menstrual blood, cum, piss and shit. It sounds wild, and there’s definitely a shocking element but whether it’s all supposed to be as laughable as it is, is debatable. By the time love songs are being played over one bedroom scene, followed by an amusingly lengthy demonstration of self-satisfaction involving a stair banister, Wild will probably leave you questioning the tone, and just how deliberately ridiculous it all is.

As Ania loses her inhibitions, Wild loses the plot. If Fight Club’s answer to the emasculation of modern man was bare knuckle brawling, Wild’s answer to contemporary society’s repressed women is to let a wolf into your pants… quite literally. It’s yet another film that draws some kind of strange connection between wolves and women, but doesn’t really have anything much to say about it like some decent horror films have attempted like Ginger Snaps.

There’s no doubt that some scenes in Wild are supposed to be funny, but writer/director Nicolette Krebitz juggles these with an overall more serious tone. Throw in some splashes of pretty shocking images featuring the aforementioned bodily fluids, and Wild adds up to something undoubtedly unique and out-there, but also a film that lacks a great deal of narrative sense. So while it’s definitely not a tame film, Wild could certainly have done with being a little more controlled.

WILD / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: NICOLETTE KREBITZ / STARRING: LILITH STANGENBERG, GEORG FRIEDRICH, SILKE BODENBENDER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating: 5 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

There’s been a murder at a specialised, super-secret correctional facility that houses the most dangerous men in America. With a point to prove, FBI agent Griff Krenshaw (Speight Jr.) is sent to investigate but it’s clear from the outset there’s much more going on here than he realises. Firstly, the facility is doubling as a high tech research centre where scientists have identified a rare genetic defect: The Evil Gene. Secondly, there seems to be darker forces at work in the shadows, forces closer to Griff than he could possibly have imagined.

Sounds cheesy doesn’t it? Well, it is, and not a good way.

The premise at the heart of Kathryn F. Taylor’s debut feature is a decent, if familiar, one. Setting a horror film in a prison / hospital / research facility populated by all kinds of ne’er-do-wells presents a creepy and claustrophobic environment. Giving the film something of a supernatural frisson is also tried and tested, but the problems within The Evil Gene arise very quickly from the banal plotting. Twists that should add to the mystery are as readable as they are tiresome. There are also too many holes, too many convoluted contrivances that prevent the audience from engaging with the story on any level. Reveals, when they do come, will more likely be greeted with a derisory snort rather than a surprised gasp, as each thread plays out exactly as you would expect. And if you can’t see where Agent Krenshaw’s future lies, then you really aren’t paying enough attention – which given the film’s tentative pacing would likely be forgivable.

Locations are atmospheric if also limited, presumably due to budgetary constraints, which does give the film a feeling of being on a very small scale, when the central theme is considerably wider reaching.

The disappointing thing is that you really get the impression everyone involved is trying really, really hard. The effects, while understandably a little basic, are effective enough and the performances are pretty good, although the dialogue is a little too on the nose in places. Despite the issues the filmmakers should be applauded. The Evil Gene does have the odd creepy moment, and is effectively if basically put together. You just can’t help thinking that slightly more tempered ambition would have resulted in a more successful result.

THE EVIL GENE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: KATHRYN F. TAYLOR / STARRING: RICHARD SPEIGHT JR., CAMERON RICHARDSON, LINDSEY GINTER / RELEASE DATE: TBA

18-year-old conjoined-twin sisters face exploitation at the hands of their selfish family in Indivisible. But when one of the pair realises that she can be removed from the other, will their love for each other keep them together or will they elect to be torn apart?

Viola and Daisy share everything; the capillaries and tissue that connect them below the hip make it easy for one to feel literally exactly what the other feels. When one drinks alcohol, they can both get drunk. Though blessed with beautiful voices and successful in their home-town of Caserta as singers, their domineering father has been keeping the financial gains tucked away, apparently for the sisters. But when Viola hears that a doctor could separate the pair and their father refuses to help financially, she drags Daisy away from the family in order to make the operation happen, whether Daisy likes it or not.

Angela and Marianna Fontana may not actually be Siamese twins in real life, but you’ll completely believe they have been joined together since birth within the first five minutes of watching Indivisible. The pair walk, run, roll around in the sand and even swim so much like they are fused at the hips, that you won’t question their condition for a second. But it’s not just in the convincing conjoining of the pair that their acting shines. Both young women deliver astounding performances in their feature debut, plumbing depths of despair when needed, but also easily demonstrating the overwhelming love the sisters have for each other, even if one does want to be removed from the other causing much friction.

It’s a pair of performances that dominate the film, but they are backed up by an assortment of creeps and oddballs that surround them and invest Indivisible with a mostly authentic and at times quite menacing tone. It’s clear that every adult wants to exploit the sisters, whether it’s the priest that calls them blessed, or the ‘manager’ that suggests he can make them famous. Ultimately, it’s lucky the pair have each other.

Indivisible could be depressing, and it certainly has moments of melodrama, but it is also life-affirming, hopeful and above all a touching story of sisterhood under strain. There is an element of inevitability to many of the plot points robbing the film of some of the potentially more suspenseful moments. However, what could have been unendingly bleak is lifted out of its grim surroundings by the wonderful performances of its two stars and the spirited characters they play.

INDIVISIBLE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: EDOARDO DE ANGELIS / SCREENPLAY: NICOLA GUAGLIANONE, BARBARA PETRONIO, EDOARDO DE ANGELIS / STARRING: ANGELA FONTANA, MARIANNA FONTANA, ANTONIA TRUPPPO / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Expected Rating: 5 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

Wait, why are they still filming all of this? Because a vicious serial killer has broken in and installed hidden cameras all around the house, of course. And with that fell swoop, Hangman sidesteps a sticking point that has dulled the impact of many a found footage film throughout the years. It’s an ingenious, bafflingly underutilised idea too – found footage from the perspective of the villain. Well here it is, and the results are every bit as creepy as one might hope. Or fear, as the case may be.

It helps that the would-be victims of the piece are Jeremy Sisto and Kate Ashfield, so likeable in their respective output thus far. Such films usually tend to skew towards unknown actors, but our familiarity with Sisto and Ashfield (plus the fact they can actually act) only makes us more sympathetic to their plight. It’s like a Paranormal Activity version of the Tooth Fairy murders in Red Dragon (or Manhunter, from which it borrows a genuinely unsettling atmosphere).

Like so many films of its ilk, most of what it does is in setup for the final five minutes, but oh, what  a waiting game it is. The ratcheting of the tension is agonising, from the moment our hidden psychopaths strips off his boots and socks in anticipation of what is to come onwards. There are few surprises to be had here, only a depressing sense of inevitability as the final confrontation beckons. Some may call it predictable, but it’s agonising watching this very real home invasion movie play out, and disturbing in a manner we haven’t seen since the original Paranormal Activity (that’s a compliment, honest).

With The Den, Unfriended and Open Windows, there’s a sense that found footage is a subgenre evolving. While that’s largely for the best, Hangman proves that the traditional format can still work given the right story and mechanics. The fact that this one will stick with you for days afterwards should testify to the fact that Hangman most certainly does have these things. This one will leave you terrified of your own home, jumping at every creak of the floorboard or bump in the night. And God help you if you happen to live in a house with an attic.

CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: ADAM MASON / SCREENPLAY: SIMON BOYES, ADAM MASON / STARRING: JEREMY SISTO, KATE ASHFIELD, RYAN SIMPKINS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

First thing’s first, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children isn’t Tim Burton’s next classic. By no means does it hit the depths of Dark Shadows but neither does it reach the lofty heights of Edward Scissorhands and his other superior early work. The film is as visually sumptuous as we’ve come to expect from Burton, but a messy, overstuffed narrative, which provides nothing more than a mildly entertaining encounter, taints it.

When his oddball grandfather (Terence Stamp) passes away in mysterious circumstances, Californian introvert Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield) travels to Wales for answers. Soon enough, Jake discovers an extraordinary orphanage his grandfather had claimed to have lived in via a time loop, which transports him from 2016 to 1943. There, he befriends the specially gifted children of the orphanage and their guardian Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). Miss Peregrine is an ‘Ymbryne’, a rare type of peculiar who has the ability to transform into a bird as well as create time loops. These loops keep the children safe in a single continually repeating day. However, the children’s safe haven is under threat by the shape-shifting Mr Barron (Samuel L Jackson) and his entourage of faceless, tentacled, long-limbed hollowgasts, who have an unquenchable hunger for peculiars’ eyeballs.

The film is based on a novel by Ransom Riggs which seems perfectly suited to Burton’s eccentric style but instead his trademark oddity feels surprisingly dialled down and restricted by a surplus of exposition. Screenwriter Jane Goldman attempts to cram a lot of ideas and details into the narrative but the film is frequently bogged down by hefty moments of exposition dumping and by an uncertain, meandering storyline. Consequently, the story never quite connects and it’s hard to feel properly engaged. This is exacerbated by a confused handling of the time loops which makes it difficult to keep up with exactly what the hell is going on.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is at its best when focusing on the intriguing, unique children and the exchanges between them. Each is vividly brought to life, from a young girl with hidden gnashers at the back of her head to a girl lighter than air who wears weighted boots to stop her floating away. They’re a suitably kooky, uncanny bunch that unfortunately cause Jake to appear as a rather bland hero, despite the best efforts of Butterfield. Green emerges as the real star of the show, putting in an impressively quirky, absorbing and layered performance as the children’s crossbow-wielding guardian. Jackson also has a blast as the deliciously wicked, eyeball-devouring villain and together the pair deliver enough alluring character moments to keep the film afloat.

Unsurprisingly, this fantastical world is brought to life with marvellous wonder and aplomb. The hollowgasts’ design is particularly effective with their genuinely unsettling facelessness and terrifying tentacled mouths. Altogether, it’s very much a stop and go affair in which Burton has successfully crafted some interesting characters and memorable images, but fails to place them into the coherent, concise narrative they deserve.

MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN / CERRT: 12A / DIRECTOR: TIM BURTON / SCREENPLAY: JANE GOLDMAN / STARRING: EVA GREEN, ASA BUTTERFIELD, CHRIS O’DOWD, JUDI DENCH, SAMUEL L. JACKSON / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating – 7/10

Actual Rating

Lured by the promise of a reunion with his lost girlfriend Rachel, psychic drifter Zack is taken to the institute of the ambitious Dr Slovak, where he is told his powers will be studied. After discovering the place is more like a prison, he and Rachel stage an escape, only to be hunted by the mad doctor and his thuggish guards.

It’s clear after only a few minutes that Scanners is a significant touchstone for everything about The Mind’s Eye, but despite such lofty inspiration it unfortunately doesn’t come close to even touching David Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror classic.

When a film has a sparse and simple plot this is usually compensated by using its time to instead focus on the characters, but no such luck here. Other than being in the unenviable position of being targeted by a power-hungry madman, Zack and Rachel give little reason to be sympathetic towards their plight as we learn almost nothing about who they are, and are subsequently given little reason to truly care about them.

To counter this and ensure you know where sympathy is supposed to lie, Slovak’s henchmen are an assortment anonymous sadists distinguishable only by their physical appearance (Beard, Long Hair, Eyepatch) and do little other than growl profanity-laden threats and overtly macho pronouncements, before being killed in increasingly horrific psychokinetically induced ways. The volume of this gore goes far beyond the intensity where shock and disgust make way for humour, but as the violence isn’t played for laughs the liberally sprayed viscera instead becomes a distraction rather than providing the brutal impact it intends. Which is a shame, as the quality of the practical effects is one of the few things the film has to recommend it.

To signify when anyone engages their powers some rather cool sound mixing is employed to create a warping echo, which really have been enough by itself, so it’s a shame that it was felt necessary to also provide a visual component. The greater the intensity of powers used, the more the telekinetic’s eyes bulge like they just sat on an upturned plug, while their faces are reddened by the kind of intense straining that puts you more in mind of trying to overcome an intense bout of constipation than blunt force psychic duelling.

Although The Mind’s Eye has high aspirations, it’s let down by a vaguely defined premise, a thin plot and boring characters. And for one final point of disappointment, at no point in the story does mental imagery play any part, meaning that the film’s very title makes no sense.

THE MIND’S EYE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JOE BEGOS / STARRING: GRAHAM SKIPPER, LAUREN ASHLEY CARTER, JOHN SPEREDAKOS, LARRY FESSENDEN, NOAH SEGAN / RELEASE DATE: TBC
 

Breaking news: it turns out you probably
shouldn’t believe everything Nigel Farage tells you. Far from the foreigner-free
utopia that Britain’s own mini-Trump implies Australia has become because they’ve
adopted the perfect solution of the points-based immigration system, Down Under
paints a very different, far uglier picture. Beginning with shocking real
footage of the 2005 Sydney race riots, it quickly zooms in on two conflicting
groups – one white, one Arab – as they head towards a violent showdown on the Crunolla
beach of Sydney’s area known as ‘The
Shire’.

There are two cars, each carrying four men.
In one, Nick drags along his reluctant best friend Hassim who just wants to
find his missing brother. In the other Jason ropes in his stoner mate Shit-Stick
who just wants to watch Lord of the Rings with his high functioning Down
syndrome cousin Evan. After the violence of the night before, the whites are
itching to go ‘Lebanese-bashing’, while the Arabs are keen to stand their
ground and show the Aussie locals that they won’t be pushed around and off the
beach. Both cars are loaded with an assortment of weapons and enough ignorance
to fuel a potentially explosive finale.

With its opening shots of real riots, 24-hour
spanning narrative and warring races at each other’s throats, Down Under sounds
like an Antipodean La Haine or a Do the Right Thing Down Under edition. But writer/director
Abe Forsythe are rarely interested in the drama inherent in the situation. Down
Under is topsy-turvy turning what should be a politically charged tragedy into
a ludicrous, hysterical farce. Almost every character is an idiot and every
confrontation, every attempt at violence ends in acts of hilarious
incompetence.

From the guy with a bandaged face to protect
his recently tattooed face, to the white trash couple who endlessly swear at
their kids and let them watch horrific Aussie horror Wolf Creek, to the
numbskulls that hold up a Middle Eastern fast food joint just to get a kebab,
Down Under is full of laughable grotesques. It’s a film that ruthlessly mocks
the little people; the idiots that get involved in these petty race wars for
often insignificant reasons. In that sense, it is a tragedy, but Down Under
barely lets up from providing belly laughs for enough time to care about any of
the characters.

Any seriousness is almost immediately
punctured wether by hilarious pop song choices from The Vengaboys to Natalie
Imbruglia, or by the utter stupidity of the characters delivering the lines. But
Down Under’s best ploy is to just about keep you caring as the two cars
eventually collide. In each car, there is an innocent, someone with a few brain
cells to rub together with the potential to rise above the pit of hatred,
aggression, xenophobia, homophobia and sexism that they find themselves living in.
With one car also packed with enough canisters of petrol to blow all of the men
sky high, Down Under still manages to keep you gripped even as it blares
Christmas songs over the most inappropriate moments of tension.

Most of all, let Down Under be a warning.
All is clearly not well in Australia and if this film is anything to go by,
they are living with exactly the same racial tensions and dealing with the same
level of ignorance as we are. But it’s a lot bloody easier to laugh about it
when it’s 10,000 miles away.

DOWN UNDER / DIRECTOR & SCREENWRITER:
ABE FORSYTHE / STARRING: LINCOLN YOUNES, RAHEL ROMAHN, MICHAEL DENKHA, FAYSSAL
BAZZI, ALEXANDER ENGLAND, RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 6TH

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating