A strange one, the animation isn't quite as fluid as you might hope and yet it's weirdly captivating. Great swelling landscapes and odd disconnected sounds come together to create a bizarre feeling, even if it often feels lacking or sub-par in one way or another, theres a curious attraction to it all.
It's a film that is driven by its plot, it's not content to allow for the visuals to do all of the legwork. And that might be its…
Taking a slightly different direction to the previous two films, into murdering and serial killing. Also a different approach to tone and style than the first films, largely due to James Wan not directing. Conjuring 1 & 2 both feature a non-stop barrage of cliches and conventions, which by and large were all handled efficiently and made for a somewhat enjoyable experience. However, here it feels far less considered , much cheaper. It doesn't really know what it is, what it's…
A film that often manages to look and feel impressive and poignant, but somehow still feels muddled, lost and lacking in clarity. A sort of pseudo/spiritual sequel to The Exorcist, toying with similar themes of faith and religion and science, but doing so with a deliberate degree of ambiguity. As well as balancing such weighty ideas it also seems to fluctuate between genres, taking a pinch of ambience from horror, the suspense of a thriller or even the absurdity of…
The same formula as the original film - a clattering ghost train tearing through every cliche and convention you can imagine with giddy excitement. It's never dull, but it's never surprising nor is it particularly frightening. Everything feels like an impression of something that came before, the ghosts, the bumps in the night, the voices and US-friendly depiction of London. It leans so hard on these foundations that it ultimately feels totally safe, we've seen these characters in these situations…
A pointed and tangled analysis of horror films and how they echo out into the real world. We watch a film that focuses on people watching a film, our reactions and thoughts mirroring those that are watching within the film. It establishes barriers and walls between audience and subject, and then deconstructs them.
Whilst following the action and characters of the 'in-the-film-film' it becomes apparent that we are also sharing the viewing experience with a theatre full of cinema-goers, who…
A swarm of characters and plots and affairs, wrapped up in their own world and passions, blind to the hardship that exists around them. There is comedy and romance flowing through the film but it never detracts, if anything it supports, the films core ideas. Themes of aristocracy and the damages thereof, told in a way that still feels somewhat daring. Not centring itself on one main character but skitting over an entire network of people, delivering a cutting impression…
The rise of the antihero. A bad guy trying to be good, but continuously pulled back into the shadowy depths of immorality. A tale of recovery for characters not quite equipped to deal with change. Told with simplicity and subtlety, ideas of a better life are illustrated through sprawling vistas and imposing landscapes which are contrasted against the complexity of urban living. It's this clash of modernity with a want for a simple life, that runs through the film.
Whilst…
A proto-noirish Bonnie & Clyde. Focusing in on bad, or morally vague, behaviour and an intimacy with firearms. A darker tone and interest in societal behaviours inside of a setting that feels both foreign and familiar, the intricate angles and movements of the film-noir genre yet without the waves of shadows and depression - it mostly takes place in outdoor - brightly lit - spaces. A post-war aversion to guns and violence that seems to almost foreshadow opinions that would surface…
An unashamed tribute/rip-off/homage to the original Evil Dead film. As splatter-happy as you would expect, but unfortunately it is also often quiet, muted and dull. Whereas Evil Dead has the charismatic Bruce Campbell and the acrobatic camerawork and visual flair of Sam Raimi to guide us through moments that weren't soaked in gore, here those interconnecting moments between the bloodshed just linger and flatten any and all excitement.
But obviously a film called 'Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell' isn't…
For a film released at the foot-end of the decade, it encapsulates many of the tones and themes that would come to dominate the next ten years. Consumerism, wealth and the championing of the individual. The film does a choice impression of high society lifestyles, depicting them as glamorous and excessive yet ultimately empty. Which is perhaps the biggest fault of the film, that it never really knows what it is it wants to say, as it loses itself in…
A bloodstained and sunburnt agony, a shrieking 80 minutes bucketing into horrible corners of humanity offering nothing close to sympathy for either character or spectator. It's candid dread and despair that teases catharsis, only to blindside you with yet more anxiety and more scarring. A perfect combination of pounding spectacle and a pointed application of cinematic language. The barrier between spectator and character being pushed to its limit, its not that you observe the film, you encounter and experience it.…
Arriving at the tail end of a decade that didn't really excel in horror filmmaking (with a few notable exceptions). Mainstream audiences seemed tired of the splatter-happy excess of the 80s, studios frequently tried to pair up horror with comedy or with action, but it rarely worked. Big studios tended to steer away from anything too graphic and seemed compelled to justify why someone/something was bad. There was little in the way of mystery or suspense. Then there is the…