Review Category: Movie

MEDUSA

by Vicky Lawrence

Medusa is an incredibly modern take on the Medusa allegory that makes commentaries on religion, gender stereotypes and life in Brazil, with nods to classics like A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Without a Face and inspiration taken from Argento and Lynch. Medusa is a fresh insight into the monstrous feminine. Filled with religious iconography, deep colour theory, a stellar soundtrack, and a mind-bending plot, it has everything a cult film fan wants.

The entire film plays on incredibly interesting ideas, mainly focussing on this idea of the monstrous feminine – where if a woman is seen as sexually liberated, worldly, and goes against the words of men, then they are classed as a sinner and, in turn, monstrous. They are depicted as creatures, morbid and evil (something the actual Medusa was depicted as). It’s a theme that has been played around with through the likes of Ginger Snaps and Jennifer’s Body. The title and premise of the film solidify the Medusa allegory, giving it a fresh face and bringing to light not just the injustice against women but the reality of violence against women both in Brazil and globally. There is also a huge focus on gender stereotypes, where women are there to be looked at and glamorised, and the men are there to protect when in reality, it is the other way round. The feminine rage throughout this film is incredible, culminating in a fantastic final scene that makes you want to join in.

The film is full of religious iconography relating to the cult (their logo) that continuously flashes up to keep it at the forefront of your mind (almost in an attempt to brainwash the audience like the members of the cult). However, we also see a huge amount of serpent-like imagery, such as Biblical iconography of the serpent and the apple, too, in a sense, subvert the religious imagery of the cult; it hammers in the idea of giving into the temptation of the world but also solidifies the medusa allegory of the abuse these and those women not in the sect endure throughout their lives.

Medusa is beautifully shot from start to finish; it has these gorgeous colour palettes that aren’t dissimilar to Argento’s Suspiria, camera angles that are reminiscent of Brandon Cronenberg’s work and the most incredible synth-wave soundtrack. It was a treat to watch this film from start to finish; it felt like an out-of-body experience that felt so familiar. Its Lynchian plot gave you so much to think about but quickly subverted it into the unexpected – in a sense, you expected the story to go one way, and instead, it flipped it on its head and took you somewhere else. The dread and rage that Anita Rocha da Silveira has conjured in this film is something this writer has never experienced before and is worth mentioning; I either had a cold chill down my spine or wanted to scream in solidarity with my sisters.

In my opinion, Medusa is a worthy entry into the category of the Monstrous Feminine, with the parable of sexually liberated and worldly women seen as deviant and monstrous. It has a great in-depth look at how women are expected to keep up with appearances, obey their male counterparts and devout themselves to God. The rage behind the women featured is a feeling that will resonate with most; it will make your blood boil, but you will have a laugh at times. It has everything you want in a film, a twisty plot, a great soundtrack that serves the finest synth-wave, feminine rage, and it’s shot beautifully. This is a must-watch for anyone interested in the monstrous feminine.

Medusa is on at selected cinemas in the UK now.

A KIND OF KIDNAPPING

by Paul Mount

He’s best known for his stand-up comedy and as a writer/actor (the cult BBC3 sitcom How Not To Live Your Life), but Dan Clarke’s first feature film as writer and director is a brittle, sharply-observed post-Brexit comedy thriller that could really only exist right now. The film reflects the grim reality of a Britain that seems to have lost its way and left its population with no choice but to make its own choices just to keep its head above water in a world that wants it to drown. This is a film about a trio of people thwarted by life and the hand that fate has dealt them – they’re all frustrated and disappointed by their lives – who find themselves in an extraordinary situation that ultimately seems to offer them all a way to a better life. But things never seem to go quite the way they hope…

Maggie (a kinetic performance from Kelly Wenham) is a struggling actress who just can’t get a break. Her boyfriend Brian (Jack Parry-Jones, simmering and understated) is a tech head working on the taxis until he can afford to enrol on a computer course. Hardy (the always-brilliant Patrick Baladi) is an underachieving politician who has fallen down the Parliamentary cracks. With eviction and poverty looming, Maggie and Brian leap at the chance to change their circumstances by kidnapping Hardy, holing up at a remote air B&B and demanding a ransom from Hardy’s wife. But, surprisingly, Hardy has been a bad boy, and his wife doesn’t want him back. Like the best/worst politicians, Hardy seizes the chance to slyly and deviously manipulate the situation to his advantage whilst driving a wedge between Maggie and Brian as they struggle to keep control of a chain of events that they’re entirely unequipped to deal with.

A Kind of Kidnapping is a sharp, biting and at times downright hilarious caper, leanly and economically directed, balancing drama and humour as it adroitly develops its characters and their dilemmas by the skilful use of flashbacks, toying with narrative structure in a way reminiscent of early Tarantino. It’s a device that can annoy or frustrate audiences, but here, Clarke cleverly initially gives us just enough about the lives of his dramatis personae to make us invest in them and genuinely care about how they found themselves in this unenviable position so that when events threaten to spiral out of control – and of course they do – we care about them all (even the odious Hardy) even when they do seriously terrible things.

A Kind of Kidnapping is a vital, urgent slice of modern British cinema, rude and crude (too crude perhaps for sniffier critics) but powerful, compelling and utterly contemporary. The performances are all terrific; Wenham and Parry-Jones sizzle, and Baladi is clearly having a great time playing against type as Hardy and Dan Clarke fans will enjoy the cheeky cameo from How Not To Live Your Life’s Leila Hoffman. This is a film that’s likely to sail under the radar, particularly in the white heat of the summer blockbuster season, but Clarke has crafted an intelligent, engrossing, fiercely funny, and surprisingly dark movie that defies its undoubtedly tiny budget, and you need to track it down and check it out as a matter of some urgency.

A Kind of Kidnappingis screening at selected UK cinemas now and is available digitally on July 24th.

THE BLACK DEMON

by Jack Bottomley

It is always nice to give a killer shark movie a try. Nicer still, one that swims its way onto the cinema schedule. Nicest of all, one that doesn’t populate the screen with spring breaker characters you can’t actually wait to see get brutally maimed. The Black Demon may look like The Meg with a smaller budget and a lead with hair, but despite starring a mighty fearsome Megalodon, it is a far different and surprisingly more thoughtful beast altogether.

Inspired by the real Mexican legend of El Demonio Negro, a supposed 50-foot shark that swims the waters of the Gulf of California, The Black Demon is actually a nature attacks concoction of Deepwater Horizon, Jaws, and Tobe Hooper’s Crocodile.

The film centres on Paul Sturges (Josh Lucas), who travels with his family to inspect an oil rig in Baja, only to find that not only is the small community around the rig in ruin but that something deadly is patrolling the murky waters below the beaten up rig, a monster with an eye on vengeance.

Far from just being another big shark movie, The Black Demon is a breath of fresh air in the genre, which tells an environmentally active story of mother nature out for revenge and mankind’s lies and greed poisoning the earth and oceans. The monster of the movie is the shark by definition, but thematically it is a far different story that uses its central predator as a metaphor for the wrath of the gods. In this case, Tlãloc, the god of rain, as the film links its oil-laden water-dwelling Megalodon to ancient Mexican heritage and beliefs, really quite admirably. In fact, there is set to be a tie-in comic series exploring the mythos behind the legend depicted here.

The Black Demon could so easily have settled for loads of crap CGI and silly action to make a quick buck, but Rambo: Last Blood director Adrian Grunberg, and writers Carlos Cisco and Boise Esquerra, take a risk and actually keep their deep sea terror very concealed by the black waters of man-made disaster (which gives the title a whole new meaning). Relying instead on story-driven thrill, the characters are trapped in the claustrophobic crumbling rig setting, with no help from a betrayed outside world to rely on and the shark waiting below.

True, some lines of dialogue are a bit hamfisted, and some plot elements don’t hang together neatly, but this film does so much right that you can forgive some of its missteps. The effects also sometimes show up, but Grunberg knows when to go for a money shot and when instead to rely on swift movements and Antonio Riestra’s cinematography that balances the dark with the light. A trick many could learn from in this field (or should that be pool?).

Lucas gives Paul a flawed humanity in the lead role, and the character develops well across the run time, while his wife Ines is played passionately by Fernanda Urrejola, and Julio Cesar Cedillo stands out among the supporting cast as the enlightened rig worker Chato. Bonus points, too, for giving dog lovers a breather in little survivor Toro!

The Black Demon is an entertaining and timely shark thriller with lots of meat on the bone… and plenty of teeth to chew it!

THE BLACK DEMON drops on DVD and Blu-ray July 17th from Signature Entertainment

THE TUNNEL TO SUMMER, THE EXIT OF GOODBYES

by James Perkins

Adapted from a light novel of the same name, The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes is the latest anime to hit Western shores courtesy of our friends at Anime Limited.

In this adolescent tale, Karou is at his lowest point after the accidental death of his sister and his parent’s divorce. One day, he hears a rumour about the Urashima Tunnel, where your wishes will be granted at the cost of time passing at a different rate. He has a chance bonding experience with classmate Anzu, and when they discover that it’s the tunnel is real, the two learn not only a lot about each other but also about themselves and must decide whether their ‘wishes’ are worth the sacrifice.

What makes this particular sci-fi romance stand out amongst its peers is that although it may seem pretty basic on the surface, it really fleshes out the ideas that it has with a lot of relatable and real core moments and characteristics. We’ve all had trouble dealing with grief in some fashion, and the thought of wishing something or someone back has definitely crossed our minds, regardless of the cost. This film also approaches these topics in a sensitive manner and an outcome that really makes you think – although loss is tough to live with, we must move on and make those moments we had with someone count for as much as possible.

The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes is a beautiful tale of love, grief and positive thinking that will lift spirits and prove that although moving on is difficult, it is a part of life that makes us stronger. With gorgeous visuals and music, it’s a film that must be seen on the big screen.

The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes is out now in select UK cinemas.

WHAT THE WATERS LEFT BEHIND: SCARS

by Joel Harley

Released in 2017, Nicolás and Lucas Onetti’s backwoods slasher film What The Waters Left Behind stood out from its fellow Texas Chainsaw Massacre rip-offs (note the lack of space between ‘chain’ and ‘saw’) through an intriguing setting, competent cinematography and an astounding commitment to cruelty.

Returning to the forgotten ruins of Epecuén, Scars follows a touring rock band as they encounter those that the waters left behind… namely a family of vicious rapist cannibals. Now riding solo, director Nicolás Onetti serves up more of the same – more of the same What The Waters Left Behind and more of the same Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There’s even another dinner table sequence, the most egregious of all Texas Chainsaw rips.

What Onetti and writer Camilo Zaffora do bring to the party is a slightly more equitable approach to screen brutality. While the film remains chock-full of gore and sexual violence, this is distributed somewhat more evenly between the film’s male and female characters as though to fend off accusations about their treatment of the women. Misogyny? What The Waters Left Behind hates all of its characters equally (but especially the women).

At the same time, Scars doesn’t go quite as hard as its predecessor, spending less time terrorising its bound and gagged victims… while still spending quite a lot of time terrorising its bound and gagged victims. Confused? Think the difference between a leg doused in acid as opposed to a leg mutilated, chopped off and minced.

This would be more upsetting if Onetti and Zaffora gave us any room to care about their characters, but as it is, they’re screaming cattle, given little to do but die slowly and painfully, chewing on their tiny little gags while the villains bicker and blather. Once again, the setting is wasted, the cinematography surprisingly solid.

Extreme horror fans worry not; this sequel is still a repulsive and objectionable prospect – but Scars is a diluted version of repulsive and objectionable; the same film as they made in 2017, but with just a little bit of its edge eroded.

What The Waters Left Behind: Scars is out in the USA on Digital, DVD, and Blu-ray on July 18th.

QUICKSAND

by Joel Harley

Married couple Sofia (Carolina Gaitan) and Josh (Allan Hawco) are in a rough patch, both metaphorically and literally. Already on the brink of divorce, the bickering husband and wife find themselves in mortal danger when hiking through remote Columbian woodland. They stumble into a patch of quicksand. Alone and miles away from civilisation, a desperate battle for survival is afoot as the pair attempt to stay afloat.

Directed by Andres Beltran, Quicksand is the latest in a busy subgenre of people getting stuck in stupid places (see also Frozen, 127 Hours. Fall). In its structure and story, Quicksand resembles Open Water 2: Adrift – a survival horror film about people having arguments while stranded and floating in the middle of nowhere.

The insufferable Sofia and Josh wear out their welcome rather quickly, but Beltran and screenwriter Matt Pitts throw plenty at the couple to keep them – and the audience – occupied, including ants, alcoholism and a giant snake. At a brief 86 minutes, it doesn’t wear out its welcome either – a relief, given that much of it is centred on two not-very-interesting floating heads looking increasingly miserable in a puddle of mud.

While most of us would simply not go wandering around a forest that looks like something out of 2013’s Evil Dead remake, Quicksand engages in a base ‘What Would You Do?’ kind of way. Shallow but grimly entertaining, nevertheless.

Quicksand is streaming on Shudder in the UK and Ireland from July 14th.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE

by Jonathan Anderson

The seventh instalment in Tom Cruise trying to kill himself on camera the Mission Impossible franchise, the first of two parts, is out now, and it’s just as bonkers as you’d expect.

27 years (!) ago, some of you may remember the first MI film, which had at least some focus on espionage, much like the Fast and Furious franchise was once about racing cars. However, the CIA infiltration and the infamous train chase were signs of things to come, and we’ve since had motorbike duels, helicopter duels, cliffhangers, plane-hangers, and the Burj Khalifa.

Dead Reckoning’s predecessor, Fallout, was arguably one of the greatest action movies of all time, so this had big shoes to fill. Unfortunately, the film has veered deep into absurdist territory, with Hunt and sidekicks Luther and Benji (Rhames and Pegg) now facing off against a self-aware, evolving, powerful AI entity we’ll call The Thingamajig.

The Thingamajig holds the key to world domination and can only be controlled through a literal key which can access its source code. This has entangled a merry band of rogues trying to find it, including thief Grace (Atwell), MI6 agent Ilsa (Ferguson), black-market arms dealer Alanna (Kirby) and a terrorist from Hunt’s past (Morales). All play their parts with great charisma, but the ominous shots of ‘the entity’ occasionally spoil the fun.

The staples are there – the crew, the masks, the much-talked-about pivotal stunt (riding a motorbike off a mountain), and the beautiful, intelligent women who somehow end up worse than their stupider male counterparts. At times it’s like watching a kitsch 1970s Bond movie, and at others, a haunting film noir. The action definitely delivers – be it desert shoot-outs or more train shenanigans – but the plot doesn’t make up for it. This won’t disappoint hardcore Tom Cruise and action fans, and part two is still to come…

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is in cinemas now.

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SMOKING CAUSES COUGHING

by Martin Unsworth

Writer/director Quentin Dupieux is known as a quirky filmmaker, having the likes of Rubber (2010), Mandibles (2020), and Incredible but True (2022) under his belt. Smoking Causes Coughing continues that trend but proves Dupieux can deliver a memorable and fun ride too.

Tobacco Force is a group of costumed superheroes, much in the style of the Power Rangers, who protect the world from giant creatures and promote the dangers of smoking to the general public. We’re thrown right in the midst of the action as the team is fighting Tortusse, an evil turtle. The group’s strength is when they work together, combining their individual powers – Benzène, Méthanol, Nicotine, Mercury, and Ammonia – to blast the creature with deadly cancer, causing it to explode in a gloriously gory fashion. Despite this success, their boss, Chief Didier (a ragged, drooling puppet that resembles Roland Rat on crack) demands that they work on their team spirit and send them to a remote retreat. There, they hang out and tell each other scary stories, but there’s a deadly peril threatening Earth that demands an extreme solution.

Working as a splatter-filled spoof of Super Sentai-type shows, the film takes a skewed look at bonding while also being an absurd anthology of sorts. There are a couple of creepy tales to make up for little else happening, but they are superb and a lot of fun. It also lets us hone in on some of the characters that make up Tobacco Force. Obviously, with a running time of around 75mins, you’re not going to get an in-depth study, but we get to see what makes a few of the team tick. This includes finding out which members have a ‘thing’ for their Meet the Feebles-esque chief (let’s not forget, this is the guy who brought us Flat Eric, so this fella’s not out of place!) and how some deal with their family life back home and struggle to be heard in a group situation. There’s an understated tone to the humour, and it comes from some quite surprising places.

In lesser hands, this could have been a mess of ideas, but Dupieux uses the surreal aspect to allow it to be gloriously irreverent but strangely keep its cohesiveness. The director’s main flaw is his failure to stick the landing, as it were. The climax may leave you wanting more, but what we have is an incredibly fun ride that will make you wish all superhero films were like this.

Smoking Causes Coughing is in UK cinemas from July 7th.

THE LAIR

by JD Gillam

For most of us, Neil Marshall created two of the best British horror films of the last 20 years or so in Dog Soldiers and The Descent. The fact remains that fans of the werewolf classic are still waiting on a sequel. Well, wait no more.

Kind of…

In spirit, The Lair is a sibling production in that it shares quite a lot in common with the 2002 film. A small group of wisecracking soldiers? Check. A female character that becomes part of the group? Check. An uber-vicious pack of monsters that are hunting the group down and ripping them to shreds? Check.

When Royal Air Force pilot, Lt. Kate Sinclair (Charlotte Kirk), is shot down over enemy territory in Afghanistan, she’s pretty sure her only concern is staying alive when the insurgents who took her plane out start chasing her down. Fortunately, she stumbles across an abandoned bunker hidden away and slips inside. Climbing down a ladder into the darkness, she finds an old Russian experimental lab that’s full of pods that appear to be holding humanoid creatures in stasis. Just when she is about to be captured by the insurgents, one creature is accidentally released and goes on a rampage. Barely escaping with her life yet again, Kate is rescued by the wash-outs and deadbeats of a rag-tag army outpost. Although they initially ignore her warnings, when the camp is set upon at night, they soon change their tune. Knowing that evacuation is not an option, they travel back to the bunker to put an end to the experimental monsters once and for all.

Sure, it hits all the cliches you’d expect, but Marshall always manages to get you rooting for the main characters. The lead actress is sometimes difficult to believe as a pilot in the RAF, but everyone is pretty likeable. There are some nice kills, too – special gore effects are liberally littered around, and there are enough bullets spent to keep the NRA in business for a while yet.

For fans of Marshall’s past genre releases or anyone that enjoys a good monster action film, then this is worth seeing. It may not offer a large amount of originality, but it’s got enough pep to help you enjoy what’s going on. The Blu-ray is a poor release, however, with only a sub-seven-minute making-of featurette to be found.

THE LAIR is released on Blu-ray and DVD July 17th

PAREIDOLIA (Short Film)

by Martin Unsworth

If you’re not familiar with pareidolia, it’s when we see familiar shapes in unusual objects, such as faces in trees or animals in clouds. In Aaron Truss and Stuart Morriss’ new short, it poses a deadly risk to Sinead (genre legend Diane Franklin, Amityville II: The Possession), a lecturer who is studying the phenomena. She begins to see faces in buildings and then even stranger things happening around the house. Meanwhile, a priest, Father Cavanagh (Graham Cole, best known as PC Tony Stamp,) has been called to a mortuary as a body has been brought in that seems to have had a bizarre death. However, Cavanagh appears to know more about what’s going on than anyone else.

Best known so far for the documentaries Cult of VHS and (K)nox: The Rob Knox Story, Truss shows he has an adept hand at handling narrative horror. Look beyond the familiar faces in the cast, and there’s a solid story that genuinely gets under your skin. Not a bad achievement in only 13 minutes. Many horror shorts ultimately play heavily on humour or build to a twist ending; Pareidolia doesn’t cop out and leaves you wanting more.

It’s great to see Franklin get her teeth into the character, and she’s ably supported by Cole, who is always a reassuring presence in any drama. Another former member of The Bill, Carolyn Pickles, appears as Sinead’s confidant. Halloween fans will get a kick out of a radio cameo from Judith Myers herself, Sandy Johnson. It’s all more than gimmick casting, though, as it’s the story that keeps the interest and the cast sell that well.

Written by the director’s father, Aiden Truss, Pareidolia is an effectively creepy short that deserves to be expanded to feature length. Catch it at a film festival later this year.