Review Category: Movie

MOVIE REVIEW: ANNABELLE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JOHN R. LEONETTI / SCREENPLAY: GARY DAUBERMAN / STARRING: ANNABELLE WALLIS, WARD HORTON, ALFRE WOODARD, TONY AMENDOLA / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 10th

The Conjuring was such a success that a sequel/prequel/spin-off was inevitable, but rather than taking another page from the casebook of supernatural investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the producers have decided to leave out Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga altogether and instead focus on the malevolent doll first glimpsed in The Conjuring‘s prologue.

Introducing the doll via the same scenes from The Conjuring, this prequel jumps to a year before, and expectant couple, John and Mia, as John presents Mia with the doll to join her collection. Despite Ed Warren’s assumption in the previous film that “there’s no such thing as Annabelle and there never was“, a nasty run-in with the neighbouring Higgins family’s wayward daughter (who is also definitely not seven!) soon convinces otherwise, but John, Mia and the doll survive, if a little traumatised.

From this point, it’s only a matter of time before the doll goes on the rampage but a Chucky movie this is not. Annabelle has a lot more in common with Rosemary’s Baby than Brad Dourif’s homicidal toy, with Mia frequently left on her own as strange things happen around her; left with little to do but question her post-trauma, and later post-partum, sanity.

With all fairness to director Leonetti, director of photography on The Conjuring, the film keeps things mostly scary, and manages to avoid many of tropes of horror movies that leave the audience screaming at the dumb characters on screen. The doll itself is not overly used, even though it’s horrid to look at even before it becomes possessed (the real life Annabelle was a much less threatening Raggedy Ann doll).

There’s some very effective tension built up with a sewing machine, and the film makes excellent use of the modern horror beats of something scary happening in the background while a character looks elsewhere in the foreground. There’s also some nicely creepy gags with a swinging door and a creepy lift; but all of this is letdown by the films uneven pacing. While John and Mia are no slouches when it comes to movie devices – wisely moving homes after the traumatic event and ditching the nasty doll the first chance they get – much of the film is spent following Mia around at a languid pace while things threaten to happen. Once the tension has built to near breaking point and the supernatural threat has been clearly shown on screen, the film makes the mistake of shifting down a gear, losing much of its momentum.

This continues through to a lacklustre ending, the film veering towards two possible conclusions that would have haunted audiences leaving the cinema and instead delivers an ending that comes off as far safer, and much more forgettable.

Despite all of this, the film fails to answer the one burning question raised about Annabelle in The Conjuring: “Why would ANYONE find these horrifying dolls CUTE!??“

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10

Actual Rating:

MOVIE REVIEW: SUBURBAN GOTHIC / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: RICHARD BATES JR. / SCREENPLAY: RICHARD BATES JR., MARK BRUNER / STARRING: MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER, KAT DENNINGS, RAY WISE, SALLY KIRKLAND / RELEASE DATE: TBC

With his debut feature, Excision, writer/director Bates created a superbly twisted, disturbing but darkly comic tale of a teenage girl with delusional aspirations. While that film was ultimately completely devastating, his follow up, Suburban Gothic has a much lighter feel. Which is not to say it’s without its dark side.

Raymond (Gubler), just out of law school but unable to find a job, has moved back home to his parents. His father (Wise) is a racist high school football coach and his mother (Barbara Niven) still treats him like a child (spit-combing his wayward hair at any opportunity). As a child, Raymond was prone to seeing ghosts, though. And those visions return with terrifying regularity when a group of Mexican workers dig up a child’s decomposed remains in their front garden. With the help of sympathetic and equally kooky barmaid Becca (Dennings), Raymond tries to settle the spirit haunted the house.

This film is certainly going to divide audiences. Some will love the off-the-wall humour and quirky style of Gubler – indeed, those who love his genius/autistic-like Spencer Reid in TV’s Criminal Minds will certainly get a kick out of his turn as the sardonic yet troubled Raymond – which bounces gloriously off the straight-faced delivery of the ever-brilliant Wise. Others, however, will just think the whole thing very forced and lacking in direction. They will be wrong of course, but each to their own. Laugh out loud funny when it needs to be, and, likewise, actually efficiently scary at times, something which is occasionally at risk of being overshadowed by the one-liners and visual gags, but they just about get away with it.

Like in Excision, we’re treated to a handful of genre cameos, including Jeffrey Combs and a repeat turn from the Pope of Trash himself, John Waters. Indeed, Bates’ style is very reminiscent of Waters (with a sprinkling of David Lynch). Not in a derivative way – he doesn’t particularly go out to shock – but in the portrayal of family and social interactions. One could also expect Excision‘s Pauline to live one town down; such is the similar feel to this environment.

The supernatural aspect is a parallel to the lead’s own life. Trapped and struggling to find peace, Raymond is haunted by his childhood (he was an overweight kid) and has no matter how hard he tried, he can’t escape the demons of his past, particularly since his life has brought him back to his roots.

Although the effects are not at the highest standard, it’s still a low budget indie film after all, they are not so bad as to throw you completely out of the action.

As said, it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but for those who like it offbeat, it’s well worth a look.

Expected Rating 7 out of 10

Actual Rating

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MAN IN THE ORANGE JACKET (M. O. Zh.) / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: AIK KARAPETIAN / SCREENPLAY: AIK KARAPETIAN / STARRING: MAXIM LAZAREV, ANTA AIZUPE, ARIS ROZENTALS / RELEASE DATE: TBC

In terms of doing what it says on the tin, The Man in the Orange Jacket certainly offers at least one human male in the rather fetching attire of the title. In terms of putting Latvia on the map as a new home of cinematic horror, this is unfortunately not the film for that job.

When a wealthy industrialist leaves (in his own words) ‘some hundred families penniless’ by selling off one of his harbours, one former worker refuses to be laid off without a fight. Within the first fifteen minutes of this very short film, the titular man in the orange jacket has broken in to the aging capitalist’s house, engaged in a quick and brutal bit of stalk and slash and set himself up as the new owner of the luxury mansion. However, after disposing of the bodies of the old man and his much younger wife, our brightly coloured revolutionary slasher is haunted by paranoia as he attempts to enjoy the comforts of his newfound prosperity.

While The Man in the Orange Jacket starts out bleak and chilly, all autumnal colours and moody compositions, it soon descends into doppelganger daftness. Divided into four chapters, its pace is often glacial even though the film only runs to 71 minutes. It starts out promisingly, wasting no time in getting to some thrills in the pre-credits sequence, but it then settles in to watch the decomposition of its anti-hero’s mental state as he lounges around the doomed and gloomy mansion, watching television, eating fancy cuisine and ordering in a pair of prostitutes for company.

In its study of isolation and madness, it recalls The Shining at times, particularly when director Karapetian’s camera glides around the huge house with nothing but silence on the soundtrack. With little dialogue and only brief bursts of sudden violence, there is not a lot in the way of character development or action. Reality and fantasy collide, as the man in the orange jacket gets more comfortable in the suits, the seats, the car, and the swimming pool of the rich man from whom he has stolen it. His violent fantasies play out to opera and his nightmares become more dark and out of focus as his orange jacketed doppelganger stops watching from afar and starts to lurk ever closer to the mansion.

The economic context of all this is obvious. The sight of its working class anti-hero, hat pulled down over his face and orange jacket making him light up a like a dreaded beacon, is as terrifyingly iconic as Switchblade Romance’s similarly attired slasher. However, once he has dispatched his bourgeois foes, the menacing mood is tainted and impossible to sustain even for the short running time.

Technically, The Man in the Orange Jacket is an impressive debut from director Aik Karapetian. Story wise, it’s a shame there isn’t much more going on than that very literal title.
Expected Rating: 7 out of 10
Actual Rating:

MOVIE REVIEW: THE EQUALIZER / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ANTOINE FUQUA / SCREENPLAY: RICHARD WENK / STARRING: DENZEL WASHINGTON, MARTON CSOKAS, CHLOË GRACE MORETZ, DAVID HARBOUR, BILL PULLMAN, MELISSA LEO / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 26th

Denzel Washington is on fire again. With him cast opposite a little girl, strutting smoothly away from mammoth explosions and taking down bad guys in all sorts of brutal ways, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a belated sequel to Man on Fire. Only this time, Dakota Fanning has been replaced by a considerably older and worryingly sexualised Chloë Grace Moretz, all proper grown up now since those Kick-Ass flicks and now playing a Jodie Foster-alike teen prostitute who needs protection from Russian pimps.

The Equalizer sees Washington play the titular vigilante in an update of the ‘80s TV show. Washington’s Robert McCall is now considerably more vicious than Edward Woodward ever was, playing one of those typical ex-military guys who wakes before his alarm, keeps his hair rigorously cropped and polishes his shoes with a toothbrush each morning. He can’t sleep (probably due to his morally dubious past) so he reads in an all-night diner, where he meets Moretz’s troubled teen Teri. Dressed to impress her punters, she has dreams of becoming a singer but is stuck in a nasty situation with violent customers and an even nastier Russian pimp named Slavi. When Teri is beaten so badly that she ends up in intensive care, McCall refuses to sit by any longer and begins to use his severe skills to start exacting retribution on those he feels need help equalling the score.

Aptly for a reboot, the character and the story feel like absolutely nothing new here. The only surprises come a short way into the film when Moretz disappears after giving a mesmerising performance in the early scenes, and then Washington appears to dispatch all the bad guys at the end of the first act. Of course, there are bigger fish to fry for McCall, and Moretz’s untimely bow from the film is the catalyst for the rest of Washington’s rampage of revenge. Washington does this kind of cool, calm character while sleepwalking now and despite the odd spouting of clichés, both Washington and Moretz soar in their few emotive scenes together.

However, The Equalizer is, unsurprisingly, not really about emotion. Director Antoine Fuqua’s previous film Olympus Has Fallen was unfairly slated by many but had a joyous mix of brutal bloodletting and black humour. The Equalizer follows suit with some truly nasty villains; all tattooed dead-eyed psychopathic Russians with plenty of money but absolutely no heart. It’s lucky Denzel’s around with some seriously impressive skills to see to these pesky Russkies. And see to them he does. Fuqua relishes the violence with every kill gloriously brutal and satisfyingly gory. When you see the way these bad guys treat women, you will be lusting for the cathartic take downs that McCall delivers to his victims. Most excitingly, it all leads up to a hardcore version of Home Alone in a hardware store which gives a whole new meaning to the phrase DIY.

While Fuqua goes a little heavy on the Washington worship, (watch in awe as he walks away from an explosion or drips menacingly under some sprinklers) The Equalizer is undoubtedly a thrilling character to watch. With his impressive skill set, he never really appears to be in danger so it is unfortunately left to all the female characters (read: prostitutes) to suffer at the hands of the villains. Hit Girl gets hit and then gets her ass seriously kicked, and the fate of any other prostitutes in the movie becomes despairingly inevitable. Washington has fun with his charismatic vigilante but the brooding score, and frequent literary references (McCall is a big reader) attempt to make you take The Equalizer more seriously than your average action thriller. After taking on corrupt cops and seemingly the entire Russian mob without seeming to break much of a sweat, it will be interesting to see if a sequel can find a villain who will truly be the equal of Washington’s Equalizer.

Expected rating: 6 out of 10

Actual Rating:

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MAZE RUNNER / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: WES BALL / SCREENPLAY: NOAH OPPENHEIM, GRANT PIERCE MYERS, T.S. NOWLIN / STARRING: DYLAN O’BRIEN, AML AMEEN, KI HONG LEE, BLAKE COOPER, THOMAS BRODIE-SANGSTER, WILL POULTER / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 10TH

The latest aspirant to the Young Adult throne currently occupied by The Hunger Games, (after Twilight‘s abdication), the film adaptation of James Dashner’s The Maze Runner ditches the now seemingly obligatory love triangle and replaces it with a heavy dose of mystery, focusing on a group of boys trapped in an agrarian glade at the heart of a harsh and inhospitable maze. The film closely follows Thomas (Teen Wolf‘s Dylan O’Brien), the latest amnesiac arrival in the community, who like the other boys remembers only his name, as he and the audience are thrust into a new and confusing world. As he acclimatises to his situation, the rules are slowly explained: the glade has received fresh recruits and some minor supplies once a month for the past three years; no one is permitted to enter the maze except the “Runners”; the runners map the maze, trying to find a way out; the maze is different every day, reconfiguring itself at night; the runners must return by sundown each day before the door to the maze closes; there is something (or many somethings) in the maze at night; no one has ever survived a night in the maze. But as Thomas gets used to his surroundings and its inhabitants, he discovers that even within the glade, all is not as it seems.

The Maze Runner manages to move along at a fair pace, never spending too long dwelling on its secrets before introducing an unexpected action scene or building up its cast of characters, a mix of relatively unknown actors alongside some familiar faces such as Poulter (Lee Carter from Son of Rambow) and Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed in Game of Thrones).

Unlike many other films based around a central mystery, the final reveal is interesting enough that it doesn’t come as an anticlimax, and the hints handed out along the way should ensure that the audience’s own theories will be in the right area. The film is, however, let down by a strange reluctance to deal with the grittier elements of its premise and is ultimately derailed by a final act that concentrates far too much on setting up potential sequels.

One of the strengths of The Hunger Games was that it dealt honestly with the brutality of its core concept, horrifically slaughtering cherubic children in the opening seconds of the first Games portrayed in the series. The Maze Runner, on the other hand, tends to shy away from such moments. Yes, the boys do have to handle one of their own gone rogue, but it’s dealt with in a way that absolves them of any real responsibility. Apart from a minor scene where Thomas is sent to get “fertiliser”, there’s also no acknowledgement of how hard it would be for a community made up of teen and pre-teen boys to survive on their own. Food and shelter seems plentiful. Hard times are mentioned, but never really elaborated on. Even the “The Pit”, the boys’ version of solitary confinement, looks rather cosy.

Whatever character conflicts do occur, they are nothing along the lines of the Lord of the Flies tribalism that you would expect from a bunch of stranded young men. All the most interesting character interactions seems to have occurred before Thomas’ arrival, helpfully freeing him up to nose around and upset the status quo, but at the cost of leaving the other actors with little to do. Overall, The Hunger Games need not worry too much about watching its back.

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10

Actual Rating:

MOVIE REVIEW: THE SIGNAL / CERT:15 / DIRECTOR: WILLIAM EUBANK / SCREENPLAY: CARLYLE EUBANK, WILLIAM EUBANK, DAVID FRIGERIO / STARRING: BRENTON THWAITES, OLIVIA COOKE, BEAU KNAPP, LAURENCE FISHBURNE, LIN SHAYE / RELEASE DATE: TBA

While escorting his girlfriend Haley (Cooke) cross country to Caltech, Nic (Thwaites), along with his friend Jonah (Knapp), decide to track down a pesky hacker, Nomad, who has been bothering them of late – even managing to seize control of Haley’s webcam. Once they reach the hacker’s supposed lair however, things take a turn into Blair Witch territory, with the film switching from a realistic tone to an eerie mix of night vision and hand-held shots to freak out the audience before various incomprehensible things occur. Nic awakens in what seems to be a government facility and struggles to find out what happened to him, where his friends are, why everyone is wearing biohazard suits and what’s with the oddly monotonous mannerisms of Laurence Fishburne, who keeps asking where Nic first encountered “The Signal”?

What follows next is a gradual build of interrogations, secret plotting and slow burn reveals as Nic tries to locate his friends, escape the facility and find out what the hell is going on.

Despite its initial lo-fi vibe, The Signal nicely sustains suspense and tension, skipping genres from buddy road trip to romantic drama to horror/sci-fi spookiness, all the while brewing up some central mysteries for our smart, MIT-attending protagonist to figure out. Once what has happened is finally divulged (but not why it was done or by whom), the film changes gear and stages some impressive slo-mo scenes that artfully convey jeopardy without turning the film into an out and out action/adventure film.

Unfortunately, the final reveal falls somewhat flat; it’s not that the explanation for everything that has gone before is a disappointment, more that the way it is handled is slightly underwhelming, failing to leave the audience with some memorable imagery to reflect on, or to prime them for a bigger budget sequel. For this reason, The Signal doesn’t quite live up to its Twilight Zone pretensions – it’s more akin to a middling Outer Limits episode.

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:

MOVIE REVIEW: AS ABOVE, SO BELOW / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JOHN ERICK DOWDLE / SCREENPLAY: DREW DOWDLE, JOHN ERICK DOWDLE / STARRING: PERDITA WEEKS, BEN FELDMAN, EDWIN HODGE, FRANÇOIS CIVIL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

As Above, So Below takes us deep below the cosmopolitan streets of Paris, down to the mysterious, shadowy network of caverns and catacombs which crisscross beneath the city, home to the bony remains of six million luckless souls. Brainbox alchemy student Scarlett Marlowe (Weeks) leads a team of fearless (and fearful) explorers down into the tombs in search of the mythical ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ which can turn base metal into gold and grant eternal life. Inevitably, they find themselves trapped and lost in the subterranean tunnels and, just to make matters worse, things start to get a bit supernatural. Luckily, they have fantastic HD cameras set into their head-torches so they can record everything that happens in pinpoint graphic detail…

Yes, we’re in ‘found footage’ territory again – although for once there’s no flimsy narrative conceit attempting to convince us that what we’re watching is ‘based on  real events’ and all that’s left of our brave heroes is their cameras and the footage they’ve all been assiduously recording. As Above, So Below is a cut above many straight-to-DVD ‘found footage’ efforts purely by virtue of the fact that it is, at least, trying to do something a little bit different. In places it manages to evoke an uncomfortable sense of claustrophobia as Scarlett and her gang squeeze through tight rock crevasses, wade through narrow water-logged tunnels and find themselves apparently trapped in sealed chambers. Quick, someone open a window…

But where the film manages to play on our fear of confined spaces and airless rooms it’s less successful in generating horror heebeegeebees. Frantic shaky cam makes it hard to work out who’s who and what’s what and the concept of the catacombs recreating terrors and traumas from the gang’s past doesn’t amount to much more than a ringing telephone and a clunking piano. Desperate to up the scare factor, the last act turns into a fairground haunted house runaround. Scarlett and co are dashing through the tunnels which suddenly go mental; white-faced robed figures wander by, faces loom out of the walls and the air is suddenly full of disembodied wailing voices chorusing ‘woooooh’. We wouldn’t have been too surprised to see a couple of extras with white sheets draped over them loom out of the shadows as a plastic spider hanging on a wire drops from the ceiling. A quick cameo from Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster would have rounded things off nicely…

In truth As Above isn’t that bad but it does go wildly off the rails in its rush for the exit. There are some good ideas here and there in amongst the hokum but the needs of the ‘found footage’ gimmick inevitably leads to too much unfocused running about and screaming at nothing very frightening and not enough time spent generating any real tension or full-blooded scares.

Expected rating: 6 out of 10

Actual rating: