Goldbeater

I would dare to say that this thriller is almost at a Hitchcock level, including all that comes with it. And there’s a surprising conclusion at the end. Nothing is as it seems at first sight. The suspense and the bright resolution work perfectly. I highly enjoyed the accurate cast, even though practically all names except Hammer veteran Christopher Lee are quite unknown – which is not a bad thing. Taste of Fear (or, in the USA, Scream of Fear) is, compared to other Hammer productions, an unusually flawless-ish feat that no single horror fan should miss. Strongly recommended.

I’ve been greatly impressed by the enchanting island convent environment, candle-filled corridors and secret rooms. It all results in a superb gothic atmosphere. The structure of Dark Waters brings to mind the good old Italian school; as I was watching, I remembered a few times mainly Argento’s Suspiria, but most specifically, in the ending, The Sentinel by Michael Winner – one can notice a lot of similarities with the latter. In other words, Dark Waters is no innovation in the realm of horror, but rather a synthesis of everything we have already seen. Nevertheless, the filming is well done and the flick doesn’t fail to entertain.

As a big fan, Shane Meadows retraces the comeback of Manchester rock band The Stone Roses in 2011 (he reveals in the documentary that if he couldn’t direct it himself, he would commit suicide). However, he certainly doesn’t embellish anything and his documentary is perfectly objective – he shows us the band sometimes under a very harsh light (messed up concert in Amsterdam). At the same time, he builds an atmosphere of uncertainty for the neophyte, who doesn’t know until the last moment if this documentary is about the successful rebirth of The Stone Roses or, on the contrary, about their repeated disintegration. A must see for all TSR fans. [KVIFF 2013]

I wanted to see this film after I read from some reviews that as a continuation to The Poseidon Adventure, this flop was just grossly feeding on the commercial success of the original, but that as a separate piece of film-making, it was fine. No, ladies and gentlemen, it is not fine! Beyond the Poseidon Adventure fails at all levels. The script is terrible – if I was to write down all its illogical and stupid elements that come to mind right now, I would need few A4 pages. The characters are grotesque caricatures and the dialogues between them are painful as hell (Sally Field probably inherited the dumbest role). Irwin Allen’s direction is awful. This guy always needed a peer director who keeps the story on the right track (for The Poseidon Adventure, it was Ronald Neame; for The Towering Inferno, John Guillermin), but, as soon as Allen tried to go solo, it was a total disaster (e.g. The Swarm). The way he leads the actors is crazy – when one of the characters speaks, the other ones in the frame don’t know what to do, so they lose their gazes on the side somewhat, while waiting for their turn. Looking at everyone starring, it’s so obvious they’re trying their best survive the shooting so that they can receive a fat paycheck. And there’s a rumour that most of the budget was spent on the cast, because special effects in this flick only consist of original footage from The Poseidon Adventure (and used again and again by Allen, up to exhaustion) and of one unfounded explosion at the end, which serves as the final blow to the viewer who may have been foolish enough to expect the sequel to be a piece of film-making as sophisticated as part one.

It’s too comical for a horror film, but, conversely, there’s too much of dry humour for a comedy. I can totally see why many viewers won’t appreciate this flick. I myself, on the contrary, had low expectations, but in the end, properly enjoyed it. Alan Trezza is not the best of screenwriters – rather, he’s obviously a great fan of the genre and, together with Joe Dante, they created an entertaining tribute to horror flicks. Not only does the whole film carry all sorts of references to pop culture, but also, in almost every scene, we can see a cinema poster on the wall or a black-and-white horror playing on the TV. Anton Yelchin’s performance as a whipped man is good, Alexandra Daddario is pleasing to the eye, and it wouldn’t be a genuine Joe Dante picture without B film veteran Dick Miller. It perfectly reminded me of the 1980s.

Trapped Ashes is a somewhat inconsistent horror anthology, gathering a couple of great names of the genre. However, Dennis Bartok’s run-of-the-mill script is just a motley bunch of episodes, most of which have mediocre endings and end before they even start going anywhere. I will try to give you a feel of the individual parts: Wraparound (Joe Dante): A story framing the whole anthology about a group of people who go for a trip to Hollywood movie studios and stay locked in a haunted house. In order to find their way out, each of them has to tell a scary anecdote from their lives. Unfortunately, this part only serves as cement between the other segments and doesn’t give Dante much space for artistic expression, so his only strong asset in this tale is the casting of Henry Gibson and Dick Miller – 50%. The Girl With Golden Breasts (Ken Russell): An unsuccessful actress undergoes plastic surgery, after which her breasts turn into bloodthirsty monsters. This is definitely the most ‘B-film’ of all episodes and, even though it’s just incredibly silly, it’s also a lot of fun. Ken Russell himself appears in an awkward role – 60%. Jibaku (Sean S. Cunningham): A coquettish American lady is seduced by the spirit of a Buddhist monk in Japan… This says it all. In this story, Cunningham uses anime-style passages to save money on special effects – 30%. Stanley’s Girlfriend (Monte Hellman): An ageing actor/screenwriter recalls how he once got involved with the witchy girlfriend of his friend/director – which strikingly brings Stanley Kubrick to mind. This one is, along with the previous one, the weakest part of the anthology. It’s more of a mystically tainted film noir than a horror one – 40%. My Twin, The Worm (John Gaeta): A pregnant woman figures out that, in addition to her child, there’s a parasitic worm growing in her womb. Since this tale is the only film ever directed by special effects creator John Gaeta (e.g. The Matrix), it was expected to be the most interesting, visually speaking. What I didn’t expect, though, was that it would also be the best and the most horrific chunk of all. A surprisingly pleasant ending and a story that I wouldn’t mind seeing developed into a feature-length flick – 70%. To conclude, it’s weak as such. But as a B film interlude, it works quite well.

In my view, the biggest downside of this film is that it seems fake – as if you were looking at a beautiful white orchid, but when getting closer, you realised it was made of plastic. The storyline culminates in a surprising twist that aptly covers up the fact that the rest of the story doesn’t make much sense. What’s missing in terms of plot could, at least, have been compensated by captivating visuals, as one would expect from a modern neo-noir production. Unfortunately, the digital camera is definitely not adding any value and to my eyes, the cameraman did a lousy job in this film. Regarding the cast, I would say everything relies on actress Olivia Thirlby’s performance, which left me totally unimpressed. Her facial expressions are really unconvincing (she basically presents the same face all the time), and I’m wondering if she was the appropriate choice for the main role. The flick is barely maintained above surface level thanks to the charismatic John Carroll Lynch – except there’s not much for him to play. The only thing his character ever does is to appear briefly and say something ominous, adding a pinch of suspense to a story that otherwise lacks any of it. Too bad. [NFF 2018]

A beautiful audiovisual adventure, even though you’d need a magnifying glass in order to find any traces of a story. And that’s precisely what will discourage most people from watching Beyond the Black Rainbow. And the remaining ones might regret having spent nearly two hours on it once they see the ending. Fortunately, I was able to immerse myself in the film without having big expectations. Jeremy Schmidt’s electronic music is pleasant to listen to and Panos Cosmatos is starting – also thanks to his following piece, Mandy – to profile himself as a kind of visual magician, whose next feat I’m eager to discover. This piece of film-making, however, would surely deserve a more viewer-friendly version.

In this comedy, all the humour is based on people ramming into stuff in high speed or falling on their face. The film could tap more into the potential of the chasing theme – there’s actually more talking than touch and go. If, at least, the dialogues were worth it, but there’s just a noticeable lack of gags and the whole thing drowns with the scenaristic inability to create something original and entertaining. The fact that the storyline is just some necessary sauce to accompany the intended topic of a gang of lads playing a kids game is totally obvious. Don’t expect any added value. The only starring actor with a gift for comedy is Jake Johnson; the others just fake their faces (especially Ed Helms who has recently started to irritate me with his vain attempts to be funny). Centred around a similar theme and despite also being a comedy to unplug your brain, the recent Game Night is, at least, matter for laughter.

What most attracted me to The Osterman Weekend was the extremely cool American poster and I had no idea what to expect. Also, I understand why Sam Peckinpah's last movie is seen to be so inconsistent. I knew a little about the confusion concerning the chaotic production which accompanied the shooting, but I still liked it. The screenplay and development of the storyline work well, the soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin is enjoyable, and it has a very interesting cast - John Hurt surpasses himself, Craig T. Nelson puts in a surprising performance and the otherwise eccentric Dennis Hopper is unusually in the role of a very timid man here. In addition, as soon as Peckinpah's typical slow-motion action started, I could not take my eyes off it, and it clearly reminded me of Michael Mann's style. Of course, The Osterman Weekend could have been an even better movie (we can only imagine what it would have been like if the director had not been fired before the final edit), but in my opinion, this movie is an interesting thriller that deserves more attention. For this final work of a great director, there is no disgrace.