Review Category: Movie

To say that Sir Christopher Lee was an interesting man is to undersell the very interesting life of Sir Christopher Lee. Former SAS Nazi hunter, Hammer horror icon, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings villain and heavy metal singer, Christopher Lee is one of cinema’s most, well, fascinating figures, and far more than just the guy who played Dracula.

This documentary by writer and director Jon Spira explores the life (and, yes, screen deaths) of Christopher Lee in the actor’s own words… kind of. Utilising slick animation and a charming greyscale marionette, the mighty man (voiced by Peter Serafinowicz in a fine impression) guides audiences through a tour of his prolific career. Illustrated with clips from his work and interviews with those who knew and loved him (including Harriet Walter, Peter Jackson, and Joe Dante) it’s a vibrant, original exploration of the life and work of one of cinema’s all-time greatest. Like the presence of John Landis, its irreverence may occasionally grate, but it’s a novelty way of unpacking the legacy of a screen icon and a joyful celebration of his life.

Along the way, a portrait of a conflicted, highly sensitive man emerges. Lee’s disdain at being known as the Dracula guy is well recorded, but this documentary also explores the actor’s lack of self-confidence (convincing himself he was going to be fired from Lord of the Rings, for example), his insecurities and his abiding passion for filmmaking. With a career which spanned over sixty years, there’s a lot to get through, and much of his work with Hammer goes mostly glossed over (aside from his delightful friendship with Vincent Price and Peter Cushing) – a move which would likely please the actor if he were still around to see it, but a glaring omission to those with a love of his horror films.

Unlike swathes of his horror output, Lee’s surprising sense of fragility isn’t overlooked, and the film takes a bittersweet turn as it enters his later years. With it, the sense that impostor syndrome may have haunted this great man to the end of his life. But what a life it was.

THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE premiered at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on August 25th, 2024.

Your place or mine? After meeting and hitting it off with the mysterious Daniel (Billy Postlethwaite), Lana (Emma McDonald) gets to know her new man by taking a literal tour of his past. See, Daniel keeps a collection of keys to all the places he’s ever lived, and the temptation to get steamy in other people’s homes is an irresistibly illicit thrill.

But, as Lana learns more about Daniel, it becomes clear that the past (specifically his) is a dangerous place. What begins as a kinky fantasy takes a darker turn as skeletons from both of their closets emerge from behind locked doors.

This dark thriller by Joy Wilkinson hooks on to a juicy concept (Cronenberg or De Palma would have directed the hell of it in the 80s), and the pair’s games are initially fraught with eroticism and tension. McDonald and Postlethwaite (yes, son of Pete) don’t have the greatest chemistry, but their scenes together simmer with intensity, and McDonald is particularly strong as the foolhardy yet vulnerable Lara.

It’s with a sense of inevitability that the film descends into a more traditional kind of stalk-and-slash, losing much of that delicious tension on the way out of the door. 7 Keys is a deviously dark British thriller with an irresistible premise, but doesn’t quite have the ending locked down.

7 KEYS premiered at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on August 24th, 2024.

“Are you a serial killer?”

Bleeding, terrified and tearful, a woman (Willa Fitzgerald) flees through the woods. Behind her, a shotgun-wielding maniac (Kyle Gallner) is in relentless pursuit, determined to bring down his prey at any cost. Over the course of six chapters, Strange Darling explores who these people are and how a steamy hookup turned into the fight of one woman’s life.

Writer and director JT Mollner manipulates the rules of the game throughout this propulsive thriller, presenting its chapters out of order and subverting what has been learned every time. Stars Fitzgerald and Gallner are magnetic as The Lady and The Demon, with the former delivering a shocking performance which constantly evolves along with viewers’ perception of the character. Together, their chemistry is exhilerating, and Mollner uses the jumbled-up storytelling to toy with his audience, teasing Gallner’s turn from charming hookup to murderous cokehead through a devious ‘first’ chapter.

‘Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women will kill them,’ goes the expression. The film plays on what has already been seen and what we know men are capable of when no-one is looking, heightening the tension as a kinky one-night stand takes a darker turn. The song Love Hurts is pointedly employed, and only becomes more relevant with time.

As a two-hander between predator and prey, it’s magnificently balanced, but also features colourful supporting performances from Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey as a pair of mountain people (shout-out to Begley Jr’s scene-stealing breakfast). Breaking Bad’s Steven Michael Quezada continues to not catch a break in law enforcement.

Shot on 35mm film by director of photography Giovanni Ribisi (yes, that one), its use of colour is as purposeful as the shuffled-up storytelling and bouts of explosive violence. Fitzgerald pops from the screen in bright red scrubs and, earlier (or later) a deep red wig. Around her, the rural American landscape is lushly shot, her motel room with The Demon both erotically charged and throbbing with a sense of deep unease.

Once the mask drops, the seams do become visible, and the film turns into something less unpredictable but even more vicious. Its purpose served, the storytelling device is reigned back in, the credits rolling where they are supposed to be. Its themes are difficult, some of its implications unpalatable, and it will stick with you long after that haunting final shot.

Ferocious, disorienting, difficult, electric, dangerous; all hold true of Strange Darling, assemble as you will.

STRANGE DARLING premiered at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on August 24th and will be released in UK cinemas on September 20th. 

An ancient artefact that is said to contain the demon Volpaazu is opened by Hank (Shaun O’Brien), unleashing terrible consequences for his young family. He’s already been warned that Volpaazu preys on children, but greed and curiosity get the better of him. Unfortunately, his eldest daughter, Abigail (Rebekah Kennedy), is already living through hell as Hank abuses her nightly (“it’s just our little secret…”), but on this occasion, the demon is passed onto her. Abigail runs away from home to escape her ordeal, but the pain she carries means the worst is yet to come.

While some moments are deliberately hard to watch, director Pierre Tsigaridis’ film lives up to its title as being a rollercoaster of disturbing moments. Tsigaridis uses familiar horror tropes in a truly harrowing way as a vehicle to process the trauma of abuse, and possession is the perfect metaphor for the mental anguish survivors suffer.

Told in a non-linear fashion, the first half of the movie has the story place out traditionally, while there’s a shift mid-way, with the narrative moving to the form of a tabloid interview show hosted by Jennifer Novak (Susan Gayle Watts), in which Abigail’s now-grown-up sister, Alice (Emily Goss), talks about surviving the ‘Pasadena murders’, credited to Abigail.

The mood and tension throughout is palpable, particularly when it comes to the sequence early on in which a sheriff (AJ Bowen) searches a seemingly deserted house. It’s devoid of a score for the most part, which helps to ramp up the tension. The cinematography is completely involving, mixing beautiful shots with the truly horrific. This, alongside the impressive soundscape, makes Traumatika an unsettling and compelling watch that will stick with you for quite a while.

TRAUMATIKA screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest.

 

While the world is moving more towards streaming services than ever, the amount of specialist physical labels has increased. Focusing on niche tastes, they have become a haven for cult and genre favourites, forgotten, obscure, and downright odd movies.

Director Ryan Levey has assembled a collection of talking heads from the video industry, such as Severin’s David Gregory, Vinegar Syndrome’s Oscar Becher, and Something Weird’s Lisa Petrucci, as well as filmmakers/fans like Chris Alexander (Blood for Irina, former Fangoria editor) and critic Samm Deighan. Each of them raves about the wealth of titles that would have likely been lost to time without the wonderful work done by cult movie distributors. From the early days of Criterion’s laserdisc releases to the eclectic catalogues of the growing array of labels that are springing up worldwide, the documentary celebrates the strange, the obscure, and the downright bad – everything we love about cinema outside the mainstream.

In a time when every charity shop and car boot sale is heaving with mainstream titles people don’t want, it’s refreshing to see some companies prepared to go out on a limb to release titles with a limited but rabid appeal. Levey’s documentary gives those good folk a welcome round of applause from all us.

BOUTIQUE: TO PRESERVE AND COLLECT screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest.

 

Adapting just one solitary chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, André Øvredal’s infamously delayed Gothic horror film tracks the Count’s fateful journey from Transylvania to England. After almost twenty years in development hell and a year since its Stateside release, the Demeter is finally here.

Set aboard the ill-fated Russian schooner, its story (first mooted in the early 2000s) follows the crew of the Demeter as they attempt to survive not only the treacherous Black Sea but also the needs of their bloodthirsty stowaway (Javier Botet) – who has awakened in a particularly peckish mood.

The fate of the Demeter is well-recorded, but Øvredal and screenwriters Zak Olkewicz and Bragi F. Schut load the boat with enough plucky personalities that one can’t help but wonder whether the crew might beat the odds. A well-cast Liam Cunningham captains the good ship Demeter, with quartermaster Wojcheck (David Dastalmachian, always welcome) and new hire Clemens (Corey Hawkins) among the strong ensemble. Also aboard are young Toby (Woody Norman) and stowaway Anna (Aisling Franciosi). Between them surely someone can give Dracula a run for his money?

Certainly they try, and this battle of good versus evil is sufficiently savage, with Øvredal bringing a surprising level of brutality to the action. Unfortunately Botet’s Dracula, while grotesque, is devoid of personality, and the slow build-up is frustrating given that the audience is already well ahead of the characters; not just chapters ahead, a whole book. Still, the director has some surprises up his sleeve, and isn’t so beholden to the source material that we can’t have fun with it.

If the outcome is a foregone conclusion, no-one told the characters, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter commits itself admirably to being the standalone version of this story; like a ship in a bottle, it’s neatly constructed and corked in. That the crew’s battle feels hopeless works in the film’s favour, turning their fight into a heated battle against the inevitability of death, an all-consuming darkness which would relegate them to one measly chapter of a much bigger book.

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER premiered at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on August 24th, 2024.

Elliott Léon’s film is an odd one. Filmed as though it was made at the dawn of cinema, it’s a bold and ambitious venture that doesn’t fully succeed. That said, like Ryland Brickson Cole Tews’ Lake Michigan Monster, it’s rewarding enough for those who enjoy low-budget indie cinema.

A group of four medical students are chosen to spend some time at the private island of Dr Reed Wakefield (Gordon Lawson). What they think will be a relaxing weekend turns into something much more sinister when Wakefield reveals how he has been experimenting and they are to be guinea pigs.

There’s an am-dram feel to the acting, which fortunately matches the aged aesthetic. While it certainly won’t be for everyone, there’s a camp enjoyment to be gained for those in the right frame of mind. There are some nightmarish visuals on offer, some surprisingly gory. Fortunately, the oversaturated look covers a multitude of shortcomings in the production. It also adds a surrealist aura that adds to its charm. The film is clearly a labour of love, however, and Léon should be applauded for getting the film made in the first place, let alone premiering at FrightFest.

THE FREAKS OF FANCY screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest.

There have been countless documentaries made about The Wicker Man. The film and subject have fascinated fans for years since its 1973 release. Children of the Wicker Man is a very different beast from the other docs. It follows the sons of director Robin Hardy as they try to piece together what this project meant to their father and how it affected their childhood.

By going through Hardy Snr’s personal correspondence and notes, director Justin Hardy and his half-brother Dominic experience an emotional rollercoaster as they come to terms with the film that Justin sees as breaking his family apart and reconciling their feelings with it and their father.

As well as visiting locations and talking to people involved in the film’s inception (those who are still with us), including producer Peter Snell and actor Lesley Mackie (who played Daisy, the cruel schoolgirl with the beetle on a string). As well as the oft-told stories, there are plenty of new, revealing insights that will make this of interest to die-hard fans of the movie.

Where the documentary shines, however, is in its human element. There are times when you can relate to the Hardy brothers’ frustration and anger at both the film and their father. Hearing the other side of the story gives a fresh perspective to the venture (and Robin’s belated sequel, The Wicker Tree, which we feel would have been a much better film as Cowboys for Christ and had he not been forced to lean into the ‘wicker’ aspect as much) and how much the film cost – not only financially but emotionally.

You might not think you’ll shed a tear when watching a documentary about (perhaps) your favourite film, but there’s a good chance you will with Children of the Wicker Man.

CHILDREN OF THE WICKER MAN screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest.

Alter (a duo role played by Amélie Daure and Anne-Sophie Charron) suffering from depression and schizophrenia, is seeing a cave-dwelling, mystical hypnotist in an attempt to unlock the hidden trauma that has paralysed her life. When she meets Chris (played by director Aurélia Mengin), a punkish woman working late nights at a petrol station convenience store, the pair have an affair that’s both passionate yet distant. All while she deals with her overbearing mother (Patricia Barzyk).

Mengin’s film is full of oblique camera angles, surreal imagery, and awash with vivid, Mario Bava-esque colours. Add the swirling soundscape, and Scarlet Blue takes us to a familiar yet alien world. It’s an off-kilter place where David Lynch or Peter Greenaway would no doubt play. Daure’s tortured portrayal of Alter is instantly compelling, as is her otherworldly gaze (represented by Charron) both optically and through the photographs she takes as part of her therapy. We head on a nightmarish journey into Alter’s repressed past that’s never anything less than visually sumptuous no matter how traumatic the subject.

SCARLET BLUE screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest.