Review Category: Movie

STALKER

What if you were stuck in a lift with someone who had been watching you for a while and may have sinister motives? What if that situation was planned from the beginning? It would be terrifying no doubt. Steve Johnson (Convergence), directing from a script by Chris Watt, puts actor Rose (Outlander’s Sophie Skelton) and B-roll cameraman Daniel (Stuart Brennan) in that situation.

Despite seeming strangers, when trapped in a service elevator in a three-star hotel during a violent storm, Rose and Daniel are working on the same film. Rose is the lead and shy and creepy Daniel has footage of a fight Rose had with the director (a cameo from wrestling legend Bret Hart). With no one around to get them out, they start to talk, leading to more revelations.

Utilising mainly one location (although the opening shots of the rain-soaked surrounds are exquisitely shot), namely a rather spacious service lift, is clearly a sign of a film having a low budget. However, Johnson’s film has a secret weapon vital for any film to succeed: great actors. Skelton and Brennan are believable in their roles. Brennan provides the right amount of anxiety and eeriness to Daniel and it’s easy to feel Rose’s discomfort.

Johnson ramps the tension, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that builds to a dramatic conclusion. Try to avoid the trailer if you don’t want any surprises spoiled, however.

Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment presents Stalker on DVD and Digital from 10th October.

Read our interview with the star, director, and writer here.

BLONDE

This quasi-fictional adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’s book is not so much a biopic but more a Lynchian horror. Here, a tortured Marilyn Monroe (Ana de Armas giving it her all) may as well be Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks or Betty Elms in Mulholland Drive.

At nearly three hours long, the film shows the rise and fall of Monroe in an avalanche of traumatic experiences documenting some of her most famous films and relationships. Surviving an unstable mother, an absent father, selfish friends, and an industry and society unwilling to look beyond her blonde hair or sex appeal, Monroe is portrayed as a woman torn between the Norma-Jeane who wants to settle down and start a family and the invented Marilyn who is destined for stardom at any price.

At times the film can be a bit over the top as the melodrama is unflinchingly rammed down our throats, and many scenes need to be viewed with a pinch of salt as they simply may never have happened. However, Blonde does give a refreshing, darker take on Monroe’s Hollywood dream as well as boldly showing the nastier side of American ‘heroes’ such as Joe DiMaggio and JFK. While touched upon, we do not get a full exploration of Monroe’s more questionable decisions and therefore we can only view her as the consistent victim of her own story.

BLONDE is out now, exclusive to Netflix

FUNNY PAGES

This wonderfully bizarre coming-of-age black comedy gives us some of the most unique oddball characters seen in cinema for some time. Written and directed by Owen Kline (son of Kevin and Phoebe Cates if that kind of thing interests you), Funny Pages follows teenage cartoonist Robert (Daniel Zolghadri) as he naively tries to make it as a comic book artist.

In doing so, Robert reluctantly navigates through – and wilfully rejects – a middle-class suburban existence, high school and friendship with the admiring Miles (Miles Emanuel). A tragic accident involving his teacher and mentor Mr. Katano (Stephen Adly Guirgis) kickstarts this sequence of events, leading him to work for legal aid Cheryl (Marcia DeBonis) and sharing an overheated basement with the eccentric Barry (Michael Townsend Wright) and Steven (Cleveland Thomas Jr). Through work he meets comic book colourist Wallace (superbly played by Matthew Maher), who despite obvious anger management and emotional problems is idolised by Robert. In a movie full of lovable weirdos, Wallace takes the crown. The intertwining relationships between these characters produce plenty of crude humour as we’re treated to a real-life version of the works of Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Chester Brown, Joe Matt, or Harvey Pekar.

Despite only being produced by them, the chaotic nature of the film hints at the Safdie Brothers’ involvement, although this is a solid directorial debut from Kline. Yet another leftfield hit from A24 and quite possibly one of the movies of the year.

SOMETHING IN THE WOODS

Something in the Woods’ opening instils in you interest and intrigue for what might come. Title cards inform us that 600,000 people go missing in the United States each year, and that 89-92% are recovered, albeit some are no longer alive. For those poor souls that remain lost no-one is tracking the how’s or why’s of their disappearance. An intriguing premise, but one that writer Deanna Gomez and director Alexander T. Hwang do their best to undermine with a framing story built around a revenge-fuelled woman (Vienna Hayden) kidnapping the reporter (Nicole Cinaglia) who she believes is responsible for her family’s downfall and the loss of her inheritance. And she takes her out into the woods. Where there happens to be a monster.

From beginnings reminiscent of an X-Files episode Something in the Woods spends a lot of time and effort on a revenge story which is both leaden and tiresome. Odd tonal shifts and erratic plotting lead to a confused narrative that only comes to life when the creature emerges from the undergrowth. While the CGI may be a little unconvincing at times the design at least is interesting – think a toothier version of Gollum – and there are moments of genuine jeopardy. But then we’re returned to the dull dynamic between the two women and any momentum is squandered.

While this is ambitious filmmaking on limited resources the poor acting and uninspiring direction largely detract from any positives. Something in the Woods is a 30-minute short film extended to – barely – feature length and there is nowhere near enough interest in the character’s plight to carry the story.

SMILE

CERT: 18 / PLATFORMS: CINEMA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

In an already fantastic year for big screen horror on scales and budgets grander (The Black Phone, Nope) and smaller (Dashcam, X) alike, we have a winner that’s a grinner to add to what is the most healthy genre out there. Writer/director Parker Finn, in his directorial debut Smile adapted from his own 2020 short Laura Hasn’t Slept, takes his simple but shudderingly effective concept and runs wildly with it.

Smile centres on therapist worker Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), who is left shaken when a patient kills herself in a session, after talking of being stalked by a presence only she can see, which appears in the guise of various people with a devious and unnerving grin. Then, things begin happening as Rose sees visions of this very entity, and must uncover what it is, what is real and how to stop it, by looking back into the past (and her own) for answers.

Smile is a boldly nasty and even more boldly cruel horror picture. A genuinely frightening film that picks up on a very universal uncomfortable fear most of us have of being watched or stared at and weaponises it in the shape of a truly original hellish horror monster befitting Dante’s Inferno by the end, in what could prove to be one of the breakout horrors of the 2020s.

Utilising the inescapable prowling concept of fate to great means, Smile is very much like a It Follows or The Ring style story. Finn makes expert use of traditional horror techniques and storytelling, while infusing some deviously dark twists here and there, as he relays a brutal story of the stigmatisation, isolation and hopelessness that comes with mental health, going all out in a particularly brutally honest climax.

Any cliches put to work, are done so to urge viewers to participate, before cutting them down with the levels the film is actually prepared to go to. While also infusing some things with a wicked sense of parody and demented joyfulness, befitting of this mostly concealed smiling tormentor. While the oft inverted camerawork by Charlie Sarroff’s cinematography and Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s fluctuating pulsating score likewise carry this same level of dark taunting. Finn orchestrates everything well, using jump scares as skilfully as subtle ones, while the story of inevitability and its effective lore is well established.

Sosie Bacon is utterly captivating in the lead role, and her performance not only meshes so well with the themes of the movie but she captures the shattering hopelessness that comes with being trapped and attacked by trauma and internal mental pain.

The more you think about Smile, and some of its memorably horrifying scenes, the more it tunnels inescapably into your head. As its almost cynical narrative dissects the realities and Final Destination-esque force of suffering that can come with undressed trauma and mental health and attitudes towards it.

Putting it bluntly this will shit up a fair few viewers I’d wager…who may just have to try and grin and bear it. Still, it’s worth putting on a brave face for! 😃

SECTION 8

If you saw Netflix’s recent uber-budgeted Russo-directed action blockbuster The Gray Man on Netflix then Section 8 may well ring a few bells. Knocked out for just 5 million dollars Section 8 does a decent enough job of telling much the same story by roping in a couple of ageing 1980s action stars and throwing them up against some younger faces – cult martial arts star Scott Adkins and former True Blood star Ryan Kwanten, his career in resurgence after the recent Glorious and last year’s disturbing Them TV mini-series. Kwanten’s the one to watch here, agreeably convincing as a ruthless two-fisted, gun-toting former special forces soldier who has “nothing to lose” and is enlisted by a covert organisation to do the dirty work it would prefer to keep secret.

Five years after an operation in Afghanistan wiped out most of his unit, Jake Atheron (Kwanten) crosses a line when he sets about a gang of thugs threatening his garage-owning “Uncle” Earl (Mickey Rourke who now seems to be melting from the top of his head down) for protection money. The recriminations are devastating and Jake finds himself serving a lifetime prison sentence…until he’s sprung by the mysterious Sam Ramsey (Dermot Mulroney) who persuades him to join his shadowy government Black Ops squad called Section 8. Jake quickly becomes suspicious of the organisation’s operations and realises that he has become nothing more than an assassin and he goes rogue. Section 8 ain’t happy and set about trying to wipe him out even as he tries to hang on to what’s left of his humanity.

The result is 90-odd minutes of fairly standard action move stuff – kinetic fistfights, shoot-outs, car chases – that will best find favour with fairly undemanding action movie afficionados and people who haven’t seen The Gray Man. But in fairness it’s directed with a flair that belies its budgetary limitations – stock shots suggest a range of locations that the production clearly didn’t actually visit – and the endless action scenes, the film’s raison d’etre, are adrenalized and punishing. Unashamedly and proudly a throwback to the era of straight-to-DVD action thrillers, Section 8 really has nothing new to say and is just a slick, modern spin on every routine action movie cliché imaginable. It does, however, deliver a brief respite from the sensitive touchy-feeliness of so much modern anxious-to-please cinema and its utter disposability is in many ways part of its primal appeal.

Section 8 is out now in the US

CONFESS, FLETCH

Adapting Fletch for a modern audience is a unique challenge. The wacky arrogance the character personifies is called out within Confess, Fletch as white male privilege, but it is intentionally employed to make Fletch the subject of the joke. Fletch films start with the character as high status, top of the world wise-cracking jerk, then bring him down to befuddled dope, only for the final act to reveal he never did lose his place steps ahead. That’s a delicate balance, but, impressively, the talented Jon Hamm fills out and modernizes his character for the 2020s with the confidence of Fletch himself.

The rest of the charming power of Confess, Fletch relies on the kind of movie the viewer was hoping for. Fans of the Chevy Chase films Fletch and Fletch Lives will be pleased to find that not much has changed. Sure, the digital cinematography grays out every shot into the Marvel-like cement paste we’ve come to expect. But essentially, Confess, Fletch is a throwback to old school slob-vs-snobs comedies that didn’t feel the need to make up for bad jokes by calling so much importance to themselves via credits stacked with improv stars. However, that means this movie is left with not much to distinguish it from your typical quirky detective series like Psych, Monk, or whatever the USA network happens to be cooking up this week.

The film is a bland but functional watch with the humorous highlights coming from scenes introducing the quirky supporting cast. While he gets a few great zingers off, the comedy of Fletch himself has been transferred to them, robbing him of the disguise-as-character antics for which he’s known. Perhaps it is a shame that Fletch didn’t become a series on the USA network; we hear that there, characters are welcome.

Confess Fletch is out now in the US

INU-OH

In the 14th century, an unlikely friendship is formed between a blind biwa player and a disfigured son of the leader of a Noh troupe in legendary anime filmmaker Masaaki Yuasa’s latest film, the epic rock opera; Inu-oh.

The story, based upon the novel Tales of the Heike: Inu-Oh by Hideo Furukawa, follows Tomona, a biwa player who becomes blind from a supernatural sword as a youngster, who meets Inu-oh, the son of a power-hungry Noh troupe leader suffering from a disfiguration that causes estrangement from his father, including a gourd mask to hide his face and a snake-like arm – together, the pair transform the art of storytelling, bringing their flair and vibe to the mastery of the Noh artform with Heike tribe tales. Tomona absolutely shreds whilst Inu-oh brings the stories to life with their incredible dancing and performance that brings vibrant fantasy-like qualities for the audience to enjoy.

What always stands out in a Yuasa-san project is how he has such a trademark style whilst also managing to make every single film or tv project feel truly unique. The art style manages to invoke the 14th century setting that couples beautifully with modern music and fantastical set-pieces – some of said set pieces especially reach the dizzy heights of being as epic as the likes of Queen’s Live-Aid performance and The Rolling Stones, with the audience in the narrative being a true extension of the audience watching in the real world. The music, co-written by Yuasa-san and Avu-chan (who voices Inu-oh) is enchanting and catchy – we can guarantee you will have the soundtrack on repeat after watching.

Inu-oh is a beautiful film that speaks deep about acceptance, seeing the world in a new light and the art of storytelling and is quintessential Yuasa. A unique retelling of a forgotten age of Japanese culture and history, that blends classical and modern elements seamlessly and is captivating viewing.

Inu-oh is in UK cinemas from 28th September 2022.

DON’T WORRY DARLING

Seriously, how did we get here? In a year of highs, lows and bloody silliness, how did Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling become more catty and dramatic than a season finale of Dynasty? You just never can predict this stuff sometimes. Anyway, cutting through Warner Brothers’ PR suicide of late, the festival spitting allegations, on-set fallouts and screaming matches and, erm, TikTok mockery, how is the actual movie? Well, we wish we could give you a straight answer, but we can’t.

Set in a 1950s utopian suburban setting in a new experimental desert community, Don’t Worry Darling shows us a family and community living the dream. Friends are all around, the cocktails keep on pouring and the wives and husbands go about their respective duties in perfect harmony. But when Alice (Florence Pugh) starts noticing a few things that seem off, she starts questioning just what her husband Jack (Harry Styles) and all the others exactly do in their job everyday, and whether this town called Victory is as glamorous as it really seems on the surface.

We are genuinely unsure of how to even begin to unpick Don’t Worry Darling. On one hand, it is not the disaster the ludicrously non-stop drama behind the scenes would suggest it may become, and yet neither is anywhere near a cult classic in the making either. In fact, all told, it’s disappointingly forgettable once you are out of the cinematorium.

Treading further into sci-fi/psychological horror drama as it proceeds, with its utopia-turned-dystopia story, Don’t Worry Darling dips its feet into the psychedelic sci-fi genre output of the ‘70s but doesn’t quite get it right. Lacking the shock and darkness to linger. Wilde’s film is undeniably interesting but inescapably flawed, conjuring some arresting imagery but landing at a “that’s your lot” finish with a great big indifferent thud.

It is all a bit like Darren Aronofsky’s Mother (the film not Mrs Arronofsky that is!), albeit nowhere near as teeth-grindingly pretentious, in that it tells a purposely slow and frustrating story to illustrate a point, although you will have to be the judge on whether the journey was one worth taking.

It is a Stepford Wives-laced offering, which has some strong moments but also feels as though the destination alluded to is kind of guessable in a sense but still under-delivered, leaving major plot holes along the way, not to mention a lot of unresolved and rather important questions (many presented as crucial). The setups are there but Katie Silberman’s screenplay never really brings it together, while Wild certainly has an artistic eye but often dwells on that aesthetic rather than moving things compellingly to a richly realised final act. To be honest, we have seen this kind of thing done better before too. Which doesn’t help.

Thankfully, Florence Pugh ensures the film has class, in her fantastic all-in performance that never wavers. She really does carry the film entirely on her shoulders, so much so that her co-star Harry Styles cannot hope to possibly keep up and feels a touch miscast in the role, especially towards the end, with a forced performance and an accent that bounces all over the British isles. Though Chris Pine stands out with a sinister supporting role, so it is unfortunate his mysterious character does not go anywhere impactful at all.

Overall, this is a strange studio movie, that could be stranger, could be better and also could be worse. A curious, controversial and curiously controversial misstep.

BODIES BODIES BODIES

As the slasher is undergoing an exciting resurgence of late, with a number of films acting as legacy sequels to classics, rejuvenations or homage to previous films/formulas, or a fresh new twist on tropes altogether, Instinct director Halina Reijn unleashes a slasher purpose-built for a new generation.

The film sees Sophie (Amanda Stenberg) and her shy girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova) heading to a “hurricane party” at the mansion home of Sophie’s childhood friend David (Pete Davidson), however, when a party game called “Bodies Bodies Bodies” among the group gets out of hand, the storm raging outside is nothing compared to the murderous game going on inside. But who is the one doing the killing?

Bodies Bodies Bodies is a satirical Gen Z (or zoomer) slasher that is an absolute hoot. A film that accurately depicts the social media influencer-led world and shows it up as the shallow, empty, false echo chamber that it is. Halina Reijn’s film and Sarah DeLappe’s brutally honest screenplay is funny, cutting and vicious. As the film well and truly lets loose on the current climate and the smiley face-wielding “we love everyone” crowd, showing them to be little more than untrustworthy vipers behind an emoji, every bit as deranged as the opposite end of the spectrum they purportedly oppose.

It may take a little time to get going but once it does, there’s no holding back. Although the uncomfortably appropriate finale will surely divide. The spirit of Wes Craven’s Scream is obviously visible, as is the mischievousness of unsung slashers like Fred Walton’s April Fools Day, all through the ultra-modern torch light of the latest iPhone! This really is a timely takedown of the top trend hot take notice me culture, where important issues are hurled around playing cards in order to gain followers and get Tiktok views!

The cast are great, perhaps a little too great for some (who may recognise some of the toxic characters being displayed here all too well), with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm breakout star Maria Bakalova on incredible form as Bee. Meanwhile, the likes of Amandla Stenberg, Myha’la Herrold, and Rachel Sennott really stand out among an ensemble that doesn’t have any weak link, which really helps enliven the whodunnit murder slasher fun… especially on a stormy night’s cinema viewing.

In short: Yerrr Bodies Bodies Bodies bouta drop some facts, it’s lit and deserves your bread. A major W. It’s Valid. Did that make sense or are we showing our age again?