Review Category: Movie

Review: Stitches / Cert: 18 / Director: Conor McMahon / Screenplay: Conor McMahon, David O’Brien / Starring: Ross Noble, Tommy Knight, Gemma-Leah Devereux, John McDonnell / Release Date: October 27th

Stitches, the gruesome cinematic debut for popular TV comic Ross Noble is undeniably extremely funny and at its best when he’s on screen, either as the sleazy sex-crazed, grubby clown of the title or else his resurrected murderous cadaver (and we’re never really sure if the reanimated Stitches is a ghost or a zombie or some unholy combination of both).

We meet Richard ‘Stitches’ Grindle running late for Tommy’s tenth birthday party. Stitches is scruffy, unkempt and largely incompetent – think Psychoville‘s Mr Jelly and then some.  The kids at the party ruthlessly torment him and when his shoelaces are tied together he loses his balance, topples back into the kitchen and impales himself – twice – on a very large kitchen knife. Fast-forward six years and young Tommy is now a gangly teenager, bullied at school by cockier kids and tormented at night by dreams of Stitches who, unfortunately, has been buried in a graveyard right outside his bedroom window. Tommy throws an unsupervised sixteenth birthday party which has slightly more mature entertainment in store – including a dead clown brought back to life and determined to avenge himself on those who were responsible for his premature death. Stitches executes his revenge with grisly relish – some of the deaths here verge on the deeply unpleasant and any laughter generated by seeing a teenager’s head inflated until it explodes or another boy’s head opened up with a tin-opener and the brains scooped out is of the distinctly uncomfortable variety.

When beyond-the-grave vengeance flicks work it’s because you can’t help feeling that the victims are really getting what they deserve. But the kids in Stitches aren’t especially malicious and the clown’s death is really just a tragic, comic accident. As teenagers they’re a (stereo) typically grim bunch but we’re really not sure they deserve to be massacred with such bloody relish. Stitches himself is more fun when he’s alive – resurrected he’s just a wisecracking murderer – and the film would be stronger with a more confident lead character. The Sarah Jane Adventures’ Tommy Knight looks a little out of his depth here as teenage Tommy but far more successful are his colourful, larger-than-life contemporaries who are just a bunch of excitable hormonal teens rather than a group of secret killers who get what’s coming to them.

If you can set aside any concerns about the morality of the story and just go with the flow, you’ll most likely find that Stitches is gloriously gruesome and often uproariously funny. Tonal misgivings notwithstanding, it’s undoubtedly the new clown prince of horror comedy.

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10 

Actual Rating:

Review: Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan / Cert: TBC / Director: Gilles Penso / Screenplay: Gilles Penso / Starring: Ray Harryhausen, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Terry Gilliam, Steven Spielberg, John Landis / Release Date: November 9th

In an age of hi-tech digital technology where the most outlandish special effects are created by anonymous button-pushers and a bunch of supercomputers, it’s sad to reflect that it’s likely that no-one in the cinema industry is ever likely to leave the sort of legacy and make films with the sort of passion and dedication demonstrated by the legendary Ray Harryhausen. Although he retired from film-making in the early 1980s in the wake of the original Clash of the Titans his influence in the field of special effects lives on in the work of some of the world’s greatest modern film-makers, many of whom contribute enthusiastically to this detailed and fascinating documentary which chronicles the life and times of one of the great cinematic visionaries of the 20th century.

Ray Harryhausen, in case you don’t know (and shame on you if you really don’t) was the creator of the iconic form of stop-motion animation which he called ‘Dynamation’ – dynamic animation. Inspired by Willis O’Brien’s work in the iconic King Kong (1933) Harryhausen set about creating his own animated shorts full of prehistoric monsters and primeval landscapes. Before long he was making short features for George Pal’s Puppetoons and after the Second World War he found himself in Hollywood and by 1948 he was assistant to O’Brien who was animating Mighty Joe Young, a sort of junior King Kong. Harryhausen ended up creating most of the animation himself and in the 1950s he was riding the crest of the science-fiction wave and providing still-stunning visuals for titles like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, 20 Million Miles to Earth and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.

Everyone of a certain age has a favourite Harryhausen movie and a favourite Harryhausen sequence, from the giant living statue Talos and the fighting skeletons of Jason and the Argonauts, the dinosaur-lassoing cowboys of the underrated Valley of Gwangi or the attack of the hideous Cyclops from The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. These classic moments – and many more – are celebrated in this affectionate tribute to the tireless creator of some of the most magical and thrilling scenes in cinema history along with rare archive and behind-the-scenes footage and a look at many of Harryhausen’s wonderfully-preserved model creatures. The luminaries featured here have nothing but praise for his inspirational body of work – even where the scripts and the acting were iffy, Harryhausen’s beautiful animation was never less than astonishing. Now in his ‘90s (Peter Jackson leads the birthday celebrations in footage which closes the film) Harryhausen still speaks with authority and fondness for a wonderful body of work which will remain timeless for fans of good movies for generations to come. Special Effects Titan will enjoy a limited cinema release in November and lovers of classic cinema really won’t want to miss out.

Picture courtesy of Mark Mawston/Harryhausen Foundation

Review: Chained / Director: Jennifer Lynch / Screenplay: Damian O’Donnell, Jennifer Lynch / Starring: Vincent D’Onofrio, Eamon Farren, Evan Bird, Jake Weber, Julia Ormond / UK Release Date: TBC / US Release Date: October 22nd (DVD/Blu-ray)

Chained is an unsettling horror picture that, with the dark shape of the world we’re in, could be the headline story of tomorrow’s news.

We start out with the Fitters, a happy family where the father, Brad (Weber), is a hard working man putting food on the table and a roof over his wife Sarah (Ormond) and their young son Tim’s (Bird) heads. Mom decides to take Tim to the movies to see an animated film, but 9-year-old Tim persuades her to see a horror/slasher flick instead. A foreshadowing of things to come. Afterwards, they catch a ride home with a taxi driver named Bob (D’Onofrio), and it’s here the real horror begins.

Taken to an isolated home in the middle of nowhere, Sarah is beaten and killed off screen as Tim shudders helplessly in utter terror. A bloodied Bob comes back into the room and tells him, “She’s never coming back. Get used to it.”

Tim is rechristened Rabbit and becomes Bob’s manservant/slave to do his bidding. His first job is to dispose of his mother’s remains. A feeble attempt at escape earns young Rabbit a chain around his leg where he is imprisoned in the house for the next few years. As Bob continues his murder spree collecting newspaper clippings of the missing women, their driver’s licenses and cash as trophies, Rabbit is forced to do all the dirty clean up work. Any protests or mistakes; he’s given a beating.

Bob becomes a demented, evil surrogate father to an emaciated, older Tim/Rabbit (Australian actor Eamon Farron) who has been only allowed to eat what leftovers Bob hasn’t finished. His schooling consists only of books on the human anatomy and the psychology of people he’s been given to by Bob.

A serial killer in training via brainwashing.

Now in his late teens, Rabbit has gained Bob’s trust, unshackling him hoping to take over his “father’s business” as he begins to ride along beside Bob in the taxi picking up unsuspecting fares.  It’s here Rabbit must make the choice to either end up like Bob or to break free.

Jennifer Lynch has made an unsettling horror film that stays with you well after its viewing has shattered the boundaries of one’s comfort zone. Her use of on and off screen violence impacts the viewer with raw emotion. An uneasy, claustrophobic look credited to DP Shane Daly highlights the film’s images and an excellent sound crew adds momentum to the uneasy tension.

Co-written by Lynch and Damian O’Donnell, the tale is intricately weaved with layers and an unexpected O.Henry ending. But, it’s the interaction between the brilliantly creepy D’Onofrio and Farror that really sticks with you. Farror’s silent reactions through his eyes to D’Onofrio’s menacing vocal teachings are powerful. They’re a dynamic force of Yin and Yang together that light up the screen. See this film, but don’t see it alone.

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10

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Movie Review: Below Zero / Cert: TBC / Director: Justin Thomas Ostensen/ Screenplay: Signe Olynyk / Starring: Edward Furlong, Michael Berryman, Kristin Booth / US Release Date: Out Now (DVD) / UK Release Date: TBC (one off screening at Grimmfest, October 7th)

Jack (Furlong, Terminator 2) is a screenwriter at his wit’s end; a bad case of writer’s block has forced his agent to drastic measures. He is sent to an isolated Canadian town to meet Penny (Booth) who will then lock him in a large meat locker until he comes up with the perfect screenplay for a new horror film about a man trapped in a freezer. This ‘method writing’ is not just a gimmick for Jack, as he finds out that if he fails to come up with the goods in five days, his career is toast. Almost as soon as the door is slammed on him he regrets the decision, and as he begins to write, he visualises the film – and this is what we see, film within a film style. His main character, Frank (also Furlong) is involved in a car accident and stumbles upon not only a slaughterhouse, but a menacing butcher, Gunnar (the ever distinctive and wonderful Berryman, The Hills Have Eyes) chopping up a body. A girl is hanging from a hook in the freezer (Booth, again) and Frank tries to get them both to safety.

As the film slips between each narrative, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur, and Jack (and the viewer) cannot be sure what will happen next, nor what is real or fiction.

Meta cinema is becoming quite commonplace, and on paper this could sound like just another run of the mill slasher horror, but there’s enough interesting touches here to keep it both fresh and surprising. Furlong is better than he has ever been, especially when the character becomes more and more unhinged. Booth has all the best lines, especially early on, and is very likeable. The story within a story elements have a grindhouse feel, complete with film scratches and over saturated colours. This contrasts well to the coldness of the ‘reality’ scenes, and eases you into the split narrative. Apparently, Signe Olynyk was herself locked in a meat freezer while writing the screenplay. You don’t get much more meta than that. The end result is almost ‘Adaptation Death Trap Massacre’, although don’t expect it to be too visceral, as it’s quite restrained in the gore stakes. It’s more about the creation and mutation of the standard tropes than a straightforward run through, and is all the more enjoyable for it. It takes a more subtle approach to subverting the genre than the likes of Scream, and director Ostensen gets the perfect look for the horror film sections, and it certainly doesn’t have a low budget feel to it. It just may be a little too ‘out there’ for mainstream audiences, but genre fans should enjoy.

Below Zero will be having it’s UK première at Manchester’s Grimmfest on Sunday 7th October, with, it is hoped, a Q&A and talk from writer Olynyk and producer Bob Shultz.

Expected Rating: 5 out of 10

Actual Rating:

Review: Some Guy Who Kills People / Cert: 15 / Director: Jack Perez / Screenplay: Ryan A Levin / Starring: Kevin Corrigan, Barry Bostwick, Lucy Davis, Karen Black / Release Date: October 5th (Limited Release) / DVD Release: October 15th

You’d be forgiven for being a bit apprehensive about the prospects for Some Guy Who Kills People, given that its director Jack Perez has achieved a certain notoriety courtesy of previous offerings such as cheesy stop-motion TV movie Monster Island (starring 1960’s TV Batman Adam West as one Dr Harryhausen) and the cult classic Mega-Shark Vs Giant Octopus. So prepare to have your preconceptions and your low expectations blown out of the water; Some Guy is a dazzling, brilliant and oddly heart-warming lo-fi indie movie which crosses genres with a dizzying confidence, leaping from comedy to charming life-affirming character study via a few – but not too many – grisly set pieces involving graphic decapitation and lovingly-filmed throat-slashing.

Jack Perez has described Some Guy Who Kills People as “exactly the film I had been searching to make for many years” and it’s not hard to see the attraction. Levin’s script is a gift for any director. Meet Ken Boyd (Corrigan), small-town loner, loser, comic-book geek working at an ice-cream parlour and fresh out of “the loony bin” (the film’s words, not ours) after going off the rails following terrifying torture ordeals he suffered from high school jocks. He’s   now living with his mother with whom he endures a love/hate relationship. Ken is forced to confront himself – and his past – when his estranged eleven year-old daughter Amy (a charming performance from one-to-watch Ariel Grade) seeks him out and he drifts into an awkward, stumbling relationship with disenfranchised Brit Stephanie (Davis). Life’s on the up… until the meatheads who ruined Ken’s life start turning up dead, slaughtered in gruesome and spectacular style.

Oddly enough it’s not the killing or the violence that makes Some Guy so beguiling – in some ways the murder mystery gets in the way of our genuine fascination with Ken’s slow rehabilitation, his lack of faith in himself and the journey he accidentally finds himself undertaking. The script is subtle and naturalistic; Perez’s direction just lets the story tell itself with no need for artifice or gimmickry. Corrigan, reminiscent of a younger Paul Giamatti, makes Ken a ‘hero’ to root for, a guy we want to see come good; we want to see his triumph over not inconsiderable adversity. His mother (Black) clearly loves him even though she undermines and demeans him to shake him from his torpor and Barry Bostwick owns the screen every time he turns up as the sardonic, laid back but ultimately razor-sharp Sheriff Fuller.

With its intriguing, twisty storyline, and a script full of characters the audience can really invest and believe in, Some Guy is at best borderline ‘genre’ material but it’s another cherishable triumph for the low budget indie sector and it gives yet another bloody nose to Hollywood as it demonstrates how it’s possible to tell a good – no, make that great – story without filling the screen with hours of sound and fury.

Movie Review: Grabbers / Cert: 15 / Director: Jon Wright / Screenplay: Kevin Lehane / Starring: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Russell Tovey, Lalor Roddy / Release Date: TBC, Screening at Grimmfest, Manchester October 5th

From the opening attack on a fishing boat out in the Irish Sea to the siege during a lock in at the village pub, this sci-fi/horror/comedy’s pace never lets up. The Irish have long held the stereotype of being drunken fecks. In Grabbers, this may well be their salvation.

Local boozy Garda (copper to you and I) Ciarán O’Shea (Coyle, Moffat’s Coupling) is less than impressed when a pretty young and enthusiastic Garda, Lisa (Bradley) arrives to stand in for the chief. She is not the only visitor to the isles, however as a tentacled alien and it’s offspring begin to pick off the local whales and fishermen. Enthusiastic English scientist Adam Smith (Tovey) is keen to learn more about them when Paddy (Lalor Roddy) brings a small specimen to him which attacked him. Smith finds out that all the creature needs to exist is water and blood, and deduce by the fact perma-drunk Paddy has survived the attack that the alien can’t imbibe alcohol. The only logical thing to save the village during the oncoming rainstorm is to get them all steaming drunk.

Grabbers is a fantastic film. Almost non-stop laugh out loud funny, scary and tense when it needs to be, with special effects that would not look out of place in a film with ten times the budget. The leads, Coyle and Bradley, are a likeable pair, as are the rest of the cast, who are all more than just alien food, and Tovey is always a welcome sight. There are plenty of moments that bring to mind other films; the ‘Erin Island Welcomes You’ sign is reminiscent of the one greeting those in Amity, and the mix of monsters and fun is on par with (if not better than) Tremors, but at no time does the film resort to parody nor slapstick, the humour instead coming from the Irish whimsy (Paddy asks, after finding what he calls a grabber “Can I put it on the Ebay?”) and the natural banter between the characters. While Attack the Block alienated (sorry) some audiences with its unsympathetic youth ‘heroes’, Grabbers is populated by average Joes and affable drunks. What could easily have been a B-movie homage is elevated to something greater thanks to the brilliant cinematography by Trevor Forrest, who had previously worked with director Jon Wright on Tormented (2009), which makes the most out of the stunning Irish scenery and a complementary score by Christian Henson (Storage 24).

A cult film if ever there was one, but deserves Shaun of the Dead type success. Catch Grabbers at Grimmfest in Manchester on Friday 5th October.

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10

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Review: The Brass Teapot / Cert: TBC / Director: Ramaa Mosley / Screenplay: Tim Macy / Starring: Alexis Bledel, Juno Temple, Alia Shawkat, Michael Angarano / UK Release Date: August 5th

Director Ramaa Mosley presents a comedy commenting on consumerism, the recession and shifting values all wrapped up in a style aiming for the magic of Spielberg or Dante’s films where fantasy plays out in an everyday American setting. There is an absolute ‘80s feel to the proceedings throughout with eastern mythology, obligatory montage scene and a Back to the Future influenced bully. Based on a short story by Tim Macy (which is soon to be released as an online comic book) it tells a modern, mystical fairy-tale of the challenges faced by the current generation.

Alice (Temple) and John (Angarano) are a poor young couple who discover a magic teapot that dispenses cash whenever they feel pain. Mosley paints a bloody and occasionally darkly funny look at the lengths the couple will go to for money. Starting off with some toe stubbing the couple engage in hand hammering, dentist visits without the anaesthetic and body modification until they discover the teapot works just as well when they hurt one another’s feelings.  Earning cash off pain proves to be fruitful allowing them to move into a new neighbourhood and become the very thing they despise. Mosley references Lord of the Rings through the geeky, good hearted John and as the mystical money giving teapot possesses the couples soul and forces them to commit horrible acts against others for their precious it is clear their journey will be a long struggle to do the right thing.

Mosely has a background in making music videos and a little of this has rubbed off in her debut with a party scene that is merely there to show off past skills and some slow motion dance moves that look cool but feel out of place. Temple is wonderful in her transformation from ambitious, caring wife to bitter entitled bitch. Angarano plays the doting and torn husband role well and he gets some funny one liners. The 2000 years of history encapsulated in the teapot along with the ever changing rules it presents to the couple allow it to become a dark, interesting character in itself.

A promising debut that suffers from a weird tone; though it goes to dark places it feels a little too light-hearted at times considering the themes it is tackling. It’s accessible and though its message is clear it feels a little oversimplified for the more discerning viewer. Though Mosley never reaches the same greatness as those directors she is emulating the heart of the film is in the right place and is a fun addition to the fantasy film genre.

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10

Actual Rating:

Review: Here Comes the Devil / Cert: TBC / Director: Adrian Garcia Bogliano / Screenplay: Adrian Garcia Bogliano / Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Laura Caro, Alan Martinez / UK Release Date: TBC

Missing children, mad curses, sexual hysteria and blood curdling cries of anguish play out disturbingly well in this chilling, atmospheric horror. Here Comes the Devil is an homage to Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock and in the same vein as other influential 1970s mystery horror such as Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now with hints of Jodorowsky in appearance, setting and excessiveness. Spanish Director, Adrian Garcia Bogliano has set this story in Tijuana – a place that takes superstition and stories about el diablo seriously – and he uses the setting to great effect. The desolate hills full of mysterious caves hiding dark secrets make for an eerie playground to explore and get lost in.

On a family trip to the hills two children Sara (Michele Garcia) and Aldofo (Alan Martinez) go off walking on their own and disappear. Their parents Felix (Francisco Barreiro) and Sol (Laura Caro) spend a night worrying for their safety but they return unharmed a day later. When their behaviour changes and they start to develop strange habits their parents begin to question what exactly happened that fearful night in the hills. Who else was there that night and what did they do to their innocent children?

As Felix and Sol try to get to the truth they point the finger at an easy target, a local delivery man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Bob from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. But as they search for a monster they themselves turn into something terrible. Increasingly weird moments play out inducing frenzy in the characters and forcing them to commit terrible acts.

A film that has to be taken on the merit of what it is trying to achieve, which is confusion and an unsettling atmosphere, all accomplished with unusual camera work, piercing sound effects and loud music. Dramatic zooms and extreme close-up shots of faces are interweaved with quieter moments to create an air of mystery and suspense. The opening scene sets an uneasy and startling tone straight away. An intense lesbian sex scene and a machete laden mad man on the search for fingers  open up the lunacy that is about to unfold on the screen extremely well. Shifting between calm and distressing in tone, there is actually method in the madness as it builds psychological tension.

Bogliano uses techniques to unsettle and unnerve the audience in this investigation into human behaviour and the many faces of evil and he reaches palpable heights. Disorientating, disturbing viewing that will set your heart racing and envelop you in its warped hysteria.

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10

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Review: Painless / Cert: TBC / Director: Juan Carlos Medina / Screenplay: Juan Carlos Medina, Luiso Berdejo / Starring: Irene Montala, Derek de Lint, Felix Gomez, Tomas Lemarquis, Juan Diego / UK Release Date: TBC

Director Juan Carlos Medina’s debut feature film (co-written with one of the writers Luiso Berdejo) is a haunting, visceral allegorical horror exploring the Spanish conscience in the aftermath of the civil war. When a group of children are diagnosed with the affliction of feeling no pain (a real condition called congenital analgesia) they are snatched away from their family, forced into straitjackets, tattooed with a letter and hidden away from the rest of the world in a sanatorium where they are experimented upon. Living without pain should be a sought after superpower but it turns out to be a curse. Cries of “what monster did this to them?” are screamed angrily and Medina looks to the past for the answer.

Two stories play out simultaneously; one beginning in 1931, spanning over a decade and telling the sad tale of these diseased children, the other set in the present day following neurosurgeon, David Martel (Alex Brendemuhl). David is involved in a terrible car accident from which he strangely emerges unscathed only to be told he is suffering from Lymphoma. This leads him back to his family in search of a bone marrow donor, but things take a dark turn as the past rears its ugly head and some shocking secrets are revealed.

Tension and mystery mounts well as David searches the past and his heritage. Both stories mesh together without becoming confusing thanks to slick editing and an intriguing, well-paced narrative. The backdrop of the Spanish civil war and the isolated hospital set atop a hill, where the children live a strange existence, create an imposing and engrossing landscape and it plays out like a dark fairy-tale. Images of children setting themselves on fire, biting chunks out of their arms, slicing up cantankerous nurses and peeling their fingernails off will set your teeth on edge. Pools of blood adorn the screen after brutal acts are committed as a metaphor for the measures taken for eradication of communism after the civil war.

The idea of what it means to be evil is searched and embodied in the character of Berkano played by the striking Tomas Lemarquis who appears emblazoned with scars all over his body. Just like Frankenstein’s monster he is misunderstood, feared and full of despair.

Medina looks at physical pain but this is also a philosophical look at the power of evil and conflict that is still affecting the present generation. Stolen childhoods, heinous deeds and a painful past are exposed in this visually original and extremely well thought out and impressive debut.

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10

Actual Rating:

Review: Santa Sangre / Cert: 18 / Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky / Screenplay: Roberto Leoni, Claudio Argento, Alejandro Jodorowsky / Starring: Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Guy Stockwell, Thelma Tixou, Sabrina Dennison / Release Date: September 21st (limited theatres)

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1970 film, El Topo is often credited as kick starting the ‘midnight movie’ scene and while the director has not been particularly prolific film wise (he was originally going to film Dune in the mid-70s), his CV includes acting, writing (including a stint on comic books) and spiritual guru. This 1989 film was a cult hit when it was first released, and looks set to have that reputation affirmed when it hits the screens again later this month thanks to offbeat world cinema distributors Mr Bongo Films.

Fenix (Axel Jodorowsky, one of four of the director’s sons appearing in the film) is in a sanatorium, struggling to communicate with the doctors, and the other patients; most of whom are Down syndrome sufferers. Having grown up working in the family business, a travelling circus where he was a young magician, his father Orgo (Stockwell), an overweight, drunken knife thrower with designs on his assistant, the tattooed lady (Tixou) much to the irritation of deeply religious (albeit a very off beat religion) mother, Concha (Guerra). His only friends are the assorted clowns, dwarfs and Alma (Dennison), the deaf mute daughter of the tattooed lady. When Concha catches Orgo in flagrante delicto, she tips a pot of acid on his crown jewels, sending him into a rage in which he cuts both her arms off and then promptly slits his own throat. Young Fenix has witnessed all this and will never be the same again.

Things take an upward turn for the troubled Fenix when his mother later turns up at the institute and he escapes. The pair set up in showbiz again, this time retelling religious tales on stage, Fenix gesturing with his arms thrust through the sleeves of her dresses, as she sensually tells the stories. Soon, his arms would be carrying out more sinister deeds for his domineering mother.

While not as baffling, analogical or surreal as El Topo, Santa Sangre is still full of symbolism, hallucinations, gore and general insanity. The basic narrative is pure slasher horror, but there is much more to enjoy, and read into, in a tale which covers family values, religious fanatism and personal identity amongst other things, but at no time in an exploitative way. Even Jodorwsky’s use of real Down’s Syndrome teens and circus performers is handled well. This is the sort of world David Lynch and Federico Fellini would take us to. Rather than revelling in the weirdness, it becomes completely natural. For every uneasy or unsettling moment there is a darkly humourous one. During an elaborate and emotional funeral procession for the circus’ elephant the clowns squirt tears like a soda syphon, the animal’s oversized coffin is dropped into a rubbish dump, only for it to be pounced upon and torn apart by starving scavengers.

While it’s not especially easy viewing, and unquestionably not for all tastes, Santa Sangre is exhilarating, challenging, enigmatic and distressing, but entirely rewarding and entertaining.

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating: