Review Category: Movie

You’ve
all seen supernatural forces terrorise families in countless horror films down
the years but never quite like this. Iranian-born Babak Anvari uses the
backdrop of the 1980’s Iran/Iraq war to create a nerve-jangling, suffocating
atmosphere of political instability and terrifying apparitions.

Under the Shadow follows the story of Shideh (Narges Rashidi),
a dejected house wife who can no longer continue at medical school due to her
involvement with leftist groups during the Islamic revolution. Her husband Iraj
(Bobby Naderi), who is allowed to be a doctor, is called to the centre of the
conflict leaving Shideh and their daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) alone in their
increasingly unsafe Tehran apartment. When an unexploded missile hits their
apartment building a troubling, malevolent djinn (evil spirits that travel on
the wind) begins to victimise Shideh and Dorsa.

Although the basic premise may lead
audiences to draw comparisons with 2014 critical hit The Babadook,
Anvari’s directional début is dealing with far more than just parental anxiety.
In one scene Shideh flees from the demonic djinn haunting her apartment only to
be detained for not wearing a heard-scarf while outdoors. Shideh finds herself
trapped between the supernatural entity haunting her apartment and the
oppressive politics of war-torn Iran. These cultural pressures complete an
all-encompassing sense of dread throughout the film – there’s simply no escape
for Shiedh and her daughter. Consequently Shideh’s feelings of isolation,
marginalisation and helplessness take on an even greater potency. Maternal
indifference

As well as working on this overtly
political level Under the Shadow also functions as an
affecting family drama. Rashidi steals the show; her subtle expressions and
body language deftly capture Shideh’s escalating sense of impotency, entrapment
and maternal angst. Manshadi puts in a naturalistic performance beyond her
years and as a result her mother-daughter dynamic with Rashidi is utterly
believable and engaging. Anvari’s sharp direction of the day-to-day life of the
apartment building and the constant threats they face also helps bring these
characters vividly to life. Likewise, the spot on set design, particularly Rashidi’s
apartment with its honey coloured tiles and pale green fridge-freezer, adds an
authenticity which heightens the unnerving impact of the paranormal forces at
play.

Although Under the Shadow relies
heavily on mood, with few overt scares, the whole film is so meticulously
constructed that you’re on edge even before anything creepy actually shows up.
The superb sound design is partly to praise for creating such an atmosphere,
using the sound of breathing to chilling effect and making the sprinkling of jump
scares some of the most frightening you’ll see all year.

Under
the Shadow effectively uses historical
context and cultural issues to draw nuance and complexity from the horror
genre, while acting as an impressive calling card for Anvari. 

UNDER THE SHADOW / DIRECTOR: BABAK ANVARI /
SCREENPLAY: BABAK ANVARI / STARRING: NARGES RASHIDI, AVIN MANSHADI, BOBBY
NADERI / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 30TH

Expected Rating: 5 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

The remake or reimagining in this case of two classic films, the Seven Samurai and the original Magnificent Seven is not without its moments, but is a bad imitation to the aforementioned movies. Even the Roger Corman opus, Battle Beyond the Stars is better this.

An evil land baron who controls a mining operation for gold and his hired gunmen take over a town forcing its inhabitants to either accept his low ball pay for their land or face the consequences, which includes killing women and the husband of Emma Cullen (Bennett).

Cullen enlists the aid of bounty hunter, Sam Chisolm (Washington) who then embarks on assembling his band of crusaders to face off against 200 bad guys and a Gatling gun.

The characters are interesting, but you never really like or care about them as they are cardboard cut-outs of the original characters. There are even two lines of dialogue lifted from the 1960 version that blow the fourth wall with the audience that reminds you that you should be watching the Yul Brynner/Steve McQueen film. 

Admittedly, the cinematography is stunning, but the story is mediocre and the dialogue borderlines on corny. You pretty much know who is going to live and who will die out of the seven in the first third of the film.

The late James Horner’s music along with Simon Franglen is unmemorable. To add insult to the original film, they play Elmer Bernstein’s memorable theme over the end credits. If only the movie lived up to that one tune it would have been much better.

Overall, better to catch this on DVD or the tele.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: ANTOINE FUQUA / SCREENPLAY: RICHARD WENK, NICK PIZZOLATTO / STARRING: DENZEL WASHINGTON, CHRIS PRATT, VINCENT D’ONOFRIO, ETHAN HAWKE, BYUNG-HUN LEE, MANUEL GARCIA-RULFO, MARTIN SENSMEIER, HALEY BENNETT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

There are always some simple go-to subgenres for low budget filmmakers: zombies and vampires. Both are undead, both very commercial, and both fairly easy to film with little or no money. Making them work on a shoestring is incredibly difficult, but after several shorts, Mark Morris has plunged into feature work with a fairly decent effort.

Twenty-five years ago, a young girl helps her guardian (Beaumont) slay a vampire; just a normal child’s upbringing, then? Now in her mid-thirties, Anne (Kay) has two teenagers – both awkward in their own way – and a no-nonsense husband, Jack (writer/director/cameraman Morris), who is determined his family should lead a normal life. Anne, however, has no problem telling her children (Harding and Pooley) all about her past and the evil that lurks out in the world. Unfortunately, one night, the kids decide to find the grave of the bloodsucker their mother killed. A tragedy enables the vengeful nocturnal predator to return, leaving Anne no option to seek out the slayer who raised her, while disbelieving Jack is convinced it’s all the work of a bunch of drug addicts.

While Vampire Resurrection may not be the most original of ideas, it certainly manages to bring some different slants to the weary format. The main focus of the action is the stubborn father, really. His attitude goes beyond scepticism to be practically blinkered, and this highlights one of the other aspects that the film brings to the table: humour. OK, we’re not talking hearty belly laughs, but the approach and tone do mean the movie is particularly family-friendly. Like the TV series that so obviously influenced the tale, there is certainly lightness to the storytelling and the violence and gore are at an acceptable early-teens level. This is heightened by the often whimsical score, which also allows the father to be a figure of fun, definitely an aspect younger viewers would enjoy.

There is plenty to enjoy in the film, but it’s not without its problems. It could do with the narrative tightening up, overstaying its welcome a little as we get through the one-hour-forty running time. An impartial editor could have easily sorted this out, but sometimes the projects at this level are too much of a personal achievement that one can understand it’s hard to let go of certain aspects. Morris certainly manages to work wonders with what he has, though. Some really well composed and thought-out shots allow for some atmosphere – particularly during the night-time scenes.

Like most low budget films, some of the acting is lacking, but that’s to be expected and it’s not too distracting. Where Vampire Resurrection does succeed is bringing a family moral to the proceedings. Not as schmaltzy as Buffy, and probably a lot more relatable to a younger British audience as a result (well, apart from the undead rising with papier-mâché transformed faces). There’s potential here, and it’s certainly worth your time.

VAMPIRE RESURRECTION / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: MARK MORRIS / STARRING: MARK MORRIS, AMANDA LARA KAY, ALAN HARDING, RACHEL POOLEY, PAUL VAN BEAUMONT / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Expected Rating: 4 out of 10
Actual Rating:

 

We open at the Strode household, where a cute young babysitter is telling her doe-eyed wards a scary story before bedtime. With the little ones shipped off to bed, the babysitter begins to unwind (read: get naked). But what’s this?! Standing before her, one of the children – dressed in a clown costume. The babysitter is promptly murdered. And yet somehow, we are not watching Halloween, the Halloween remake or a Halloween sequel. Nope, this is the opening of ClownTown, which is more beholden to the slasher classic than even its own remakes or sequels.

Meanwhile, on their way to a country music gig, four pretty young things find themselves stranded in a small rural town after one of the girls loses her mobile phone. They aren’t as alone as it first seems – attacked and hunted by a gang of armed, murderous clowns, the two couples face a desperate, brutal fight for their lives. Which also happens to be the gist of Rob Zombie’s latest Hillbilly-‘em-up, 31. But we’re not watching that, either.

The Carpenter influence is strong throughout; it’s an action-based horror film that recalls the machinations of Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York. It’s unfortunate that the film’s release comes so close to that of Zombie’s 31 though, because, in spite of its flaws, it is a vastly superior film. For while 31 is very much of the Rob Zombie playbook, chock full of the director’s tics and habits, this more workmanlike effort has less baggage and is more concerned with simply being an effective horror film. Where 31’s heroes are grubby, annoying hicks, ClownTown’s are simple but likeable. Where Zombie’s clowns are too gross and dirty to look like clowns (barely a full tub of greasepaint among them), these actually look the part and, as such, are far more terrifying as a result. Authentic, inappropriately happy clowns will always be more unsettling than those actually designed to look scary. Nothing is less bleeding scary than a clown actively trying to be scary.

It seems perverse to reward ClownTown for having less of a directorial stamp than the singularly auteur-driven 31, but here we are: the action is coherent and fun, the characters clean and relatable (if irritating, in some of the most grating shrieking since Sally Hardesty in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre). The scares and gore largely work, and the clowns actually look scary, but when the action is at its peak, you’ll scarcely notice.

ClownTown is a fun, nasty, low-budget little horror romp that delivers exactly on its promise – terrifying murder clowns running amok in small town America. It doesn’t really deserve to be, but it’s the best Innocents vs Murder Clowns movie you’ll see this year.

CLOWNTOWN / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: TOM NAGEL / SCREENPLAY: JEFF MILLER / STARRING: BRIAN NAGEL, LAUREN ELISE, ANDREW STATON / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 30TH (US CINEMA), OCTOBER 4TH (VOD, DVD)

 

Twenty or so minutes into The Girl with All the Gifts and Glenn Close is thrusting scissors into the skulls of a couple of ravenous, blood-crazed ‘hungries’ (aka zombies) who have had the temerity to break into her military research facility and take a chunk out of her lab assistant. That’s not something you see every day in the movies. Six-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close, more recently on sizzling form as superbitch lawyer Patty Hewes in five seasons of TV’s Damages, taking on the living dead in post-apocalypse Britain. What’s the world coming to?

Or rather, where’s the world going? To Hell in a handcart, according to The Girl with All the Gifts, adapted by M.R. Carey from his acclaimed novel. It might seem like faint praise but this is the best British ‘zombie’ movie since 28 Days Later and, in its own way, it’s as visually arresting, disturbing and powerful as Danny Boyle’s 2002 game-changer. But in truth, TGWATG (as it shall be henceforth known) is darker, bleaker and considerably more apocalyptic than most entries into its genre. This ain’t no date night/feel good/holding hands movie, boys and girls. We’re ten years into a terrible fungus-like viral infection which has spread across the UK (and, we can only assume, the world) and humanity is sliding towards extinction. The infected have become flesh-eating savages, but a tiny military enclave in the English countryside is conducting hideous experiments on young children who carry the virus, exhibit cannibalistic tendencies and yet have sentience and intelligence. Dr. Caldwell (Close) is on the verge of synthesising a vaccine but when the facility is overrun she and a few survivors – Paddy Considine’s hard-nosed soldier Sgt. Parkes, kindly teacher Dr. Justineau (Gemma Arterton), a rather special young girl called Melanie (Sennia Nanua) amongst them – flee across hostile countryside and venture into a deserted London crumbling back into the arms of Nature in search of sanctuary and the means for Dr. Caldwell to complete her work.

Brittle and brutal and yet shot through with a knowing vein of black humour, TGWATG is a gripping and intelligent thriller in which the ‘hungries’ are the least of mankind’s problems, set against a terrifying and ingeniously crafted threat which is slowly spreading its tentacles across the face of a decaying planet. Despite its stellar adult cast, the film is really all about young newcomer Sennia Nanua, whose frankly stunning performance effortlessly captures both Melanie’s humanity and her inhumanity to the extent that we’re never sure whether we should fall in love with her fresh-faced innocence or fear the monster inside which is never far away from the surface. Gemma Arterton suffers for her art in an unflattering jumper and shapeless combat fatigues, her humanist teacher Dr. Justineau losing her dramatic imperative as the group find themselves sequestered in an overgrown London (beautifully subtle visual effects creating some hauntingly memorable images of a city long-lost to civilisation), and Paddy Considine is solidly four-square as the no-nonsense matter-of-fact soldier struggling against impossible odds to keep the group together.

TGWATG is peppered with the sort of fast-paced action sequences and moments of high drama and jeopardy we might expect from what we might lazily describe as a ‘zombie’ movie, but this is as much a cerebral, contemplative experience as it is a balls-to-the-wall end-of-the-world horror movie. This is, to roll out an all-too-familiar genre cliché, a film which asks us to think about what it means to be human and yet also what humanity really is. Director Colm McCarthy (his CV is virtually a ‘best of’ list of recent British TV drama) has crafted a mature, sophisticated, occasionally shocking but always captivating apocalyptic drama which, in the end, is both grimly, determinedly downbeat and yet oddly uplifting and optimistic. The Girl with All the Gifts tells us that life will always prevail – in one form or another. A majestic experience.

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: COLM MCCARTHY / SCREENPLAY: M.R. CAREY / STARRING: GEMMA ARTYERTON, PADDY CONSIDINE, GLENN CLOSE, SENNIA NANUA / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 23RD

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

“Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time”

Clint Eastwood once again proves what a great director he is, weaving a tension-filled, non-linear story of how Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger had to make a split decision to water-land an Airbus A320 with both engines out, saving 155 people on board.

Sully (Tom Hanks) and First Officer Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) are grilled by the NTSB (National Transportation and Safety Board) as well as being plagued by disastrous, nightmare “what if?” situations had they acted any other way.

Hanks’ Sully struggles with his newfound hero fame, with reporters abound plaguing him and his wife (Laura Linney) during the hearings. Sully knows he did the right thing, yet the NTSB has to do their job scrutinizing his actions and investigating alternative scenarios. As he’s grounded with no income until the hearings are over with, financial problems arise with the loss of his homes in jeopardy and the loss of his pension looming on the horizon. Even Sully begins to have self-doubts with his actions.

Eastwood keeps a fast pace with the ninety-minute film and every moment is fascinating. His recreation of the water landing and the rescue of the survivors from the plane is dynamic. Every actor, especially Hanks and Eckhart are outstanding.

Sully is one of this year’s best films.

SULLY / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: CLINT EASTWOOD / SCREENPLAY: TOM KOMARNIKI / STARRING: TOM HANKS, AARON ECKHART, LAURA LINNEY, ANNA GUNN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (US) DECEMBER 2ND (UK)

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:

 

We’re always on the lookout for new filmmakers here at STARBURST, and it’s regularly a joy to find some really talented home-grown people among the plethora of films that screen at festivals and online all year round.  Short films are always a great way for a filmmaker to hone their craft and learn the ropes, as it were.  It’s especially pleasing, then, to be able to report that with just her second short, Cat Davies is showing immense promise.

Dolly (Catrin Stewart, Doctor Who’s Silurian-loving Jenny) wants to be a comedienne, but at the open mic nights, she’s crippled with fear and is heckled from the stage. One day, while sitting alone, as usual, watching old movies and chomping on Pot Noodles, she sees an advert for a cute-looking hand puppet. With Connie wrapped around Dolly’s hand, she makes her way onto the stage once more. The jeers turn to cheers and laughter as Connie proceeds to roast the crowd with a series of foul-mouthed barbs. Dolly is a hit, rising up the billing on the show, and even gaining the attention of an equally shy Ollie and his puppet Hank.  As the double act become more successful, Dolly’s confidence increases and Connie decides to take matters into her own felt hands to stop her becoming redundant.

What’s great about Cat Davies’ short is that it takes a familiar premise; after all, we’ve all seen ventriloquist movies and expect a certain amount of creepiness from them and we are even treated to a few clips from the 1929 film The Great Gabbo by way of illustration. What Connie does is take the expectation of something sinister and give it a cuter, more Muppet-style face. We know what’s going to happen, but thanks to the engaging portrayal of Dolly by Stewart, it’s still a joy getting there. Telling a satisfying story in only twenty minutes can be a task, but writer/director Davies has managed to do just that. Avoiding some clichéd psycho doll moments – and without resorting to cheap horror gags – Dolly’s story is all the more relatable. Naturally, we don’t all come into possession of a sweary hand puppet that wants to control our lives, but there will be a large portion of the audience who will sympathise with Dolly’s situation, particularly how crippling anxiety can get in the way of ambition. Drive isn’t always enough; sometimes we need a ‘front’, which Connie manages to be for Dolly. But like all emotional crutches, it’s often hard to let them go.

It’s hard to stand out in a crowded market – and the short film scene certainly is that – but should you get a chance, make sure you catch Connie, as it’s a pleasant surprise and showcases a talent worth keeping an eye on.

CONNIE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: CAT DAVIES / STARRING: CATRIN STEWART, CAT DAVIES, KIM NEWMAN / RELEASE DATE: TBC