Film Reviews by LC

There is a decent idea at the heart of this movie: this time, the terrorized townsfolk of Haddonfield are going to turn the tables, and Michael Myers is going to be the victim. It's different enough to keep this installment watchable (though I do feel the could have pushed the idea a little further), and it's a generally well-shot and good looking film. On the flip side, the characters frequently make pretty dumb decisions that lead to their deaths, (and oddly fail to communicate with each other - do none of them have mobile phones?) but this is a failing of many horror films. More tricky is the fact that we all know Michael is unkillable, and never more so than in what is clearly the middle film in this latest trilogy. It's tough generating any suspense when we know the bad guy is going to survive whatever is thrown at him, but give those narrative contrainsts this is about as good as one could expect - it's nothing special, but its decent enough to keep the wheels spinning until the next installment. [3.5 put of 5]

Elvira looks amazing, but that's about the only positive here. The script is lame, the direction pedestrian, and the performances are wooden. I get that it's supposed to be camp nonsense, but there just didn't seem to be enough of a sparkle here, and the sub-Carry On humour (most of which revolved around people wanting to get their hands on Elvira's breasts) didn't make me laugh once. Yes, they are amazing to look at, but it's tough to sustain an entire movie on boob jokes alone.

The central concept is decent enough - it's obviously designed for an extremely low budget by just reusing the same set with different lighting, but films like 'Saw' have shown how a claustrophobic setting can work. Unfortunately the dialogue is poor, and the acting from most of the cast is even worse - in fact I can confidently say this film contains the worst acting I have ever seen. A shame.

There is one nice narrative twist midway through the film, which I won't spoil, but other than that this film falls short. The villains are such over-the-top comicbook grotesques that it's impossible to take them seriosuly (especially as zero backstory is given for them). The film also relies heavily on the technique of jumpscares - every few minutes something flashes on screen accompanied by a blast of sound - which gets tiresome after a while. There is an interesting idea at the heart of this film, but the decision to ramp the melodrama up to 10 ends up backfiring - instead of getting drawn into the story and characters, all I could see were the filmmaker's desperate attemtps to try to scare/shock the audience.

I've seen my share of goofy horror films over the years, but in terms of sheer ludicrousness, this one is hard to top. The opening scene plays out like a parody, and from then on things get worse. I won't spoil the big twist (which is suspiciously close to the concept a certain Stephen King novel), but once this element kicks in, the storyline gets so ridiculous it's difficult to credit what you are watching on screen. With a few jokes, this might have reached 'so bad it's good' territory, but the filmmakers seem to be taking it all completely seriously. It is undeniably slickly directed however, so I'll bump it up a star for that.

This is a nicely effective and moody horror chiller, and whilst clearly low budget appears to be well directed, in a similar vein to the earlier films of George Romero. Unfortunately the picture quality on the DVD currently available to rent here is appalling, and gets so bad during some of the darker scenes it's almost impossible to see what's occuring on screen. Should this ever get a remaster or blu ray update I'd strongly recommend checking it out, but until then it's going to take a determined viewer to get through.

The first episode makes this look as though it's going to be a deconstruction of role playing games, as a bunch of generic Dungeons & Dragons style adventurers find themselves way out of their depth. Unfortunately the rest of the series never really follows up the premise - there's a touch more blood than usual, and some mild female nudity (always with nipples strategically hidden), but otherwise this seems content to follow standard fantasy genre tropes. It's pleasant enough, and the characters grow on you over the course of the series, but it lacks any real subversion or wildly original ideas. Fun, but a bit hollow.

The decision to tell the same story three times over from different viewpoints is intruiging, although it does result in a rather bloated running time. The film also hammers its message home without much subtelty, with title cards highlighting both male character's stories as flawed, whilst only the female lead tells the 'real' truth. It works, but it feels slightly preachy, and I can't help but think it might have been more complex and interesting if all three leads were unreliable narrators, and let the audience make up its own mind. Acting is mostly fine, though the mishmash of English and American accents (in a film set in France) takes a bit of getting used to. Ridley Scott has thrown millions at the screen, so it look great, but I'm not sure the film needed it - other than the final duel, this feels like it could have played out as a minimalist stageplay. There's still enough here to recommend a watch, but on the whole i found this a slightly leaden experience. (3.5 out of 5)

Essentially a melodramatic family drama played out against a backdrop of a dystopian sci-fi horror, where organ trading is the hottest commodity. For some reason everyone is dressed in goth outfits and sings, relentlessly. The music isn't particularly memorable, and after an hour the endless singing does start to wear thin, but it does add to the overall bizarre feel, which is the film's strongest selling point. I'm not sure I'd ever want to watch this again, but I have to admire it's willingness to go full-on bonkers, and for that alone it's entertaining enough.

I was expecting a straightforward murder mystery, but this is a much stranger, more artsy film. The whole movie is very stylishly shot, and a great snapshot of swinging 60's London. The central character of David Hemming's photographer is certainly no hero, but much more flawed and interesting, flipping between jaded boredom and manic energy, whilst the sexual politics of his interactions with women will probably often feel uncomfortable to modern audience. The murder mystery plot is there, but it doesn't play out in expected fashion, and seems to exist more to throw a light on the central character - does he treat what's in front of him as real, or just material for his art? Just how much of what we see in the film is real? This film asks some intriguing questions, then lets the audience make up their own mind.

This is a solid thriller - it's well shot, looks great, and the acting is decent, but it just doesn't have quite enough thrills to take it to the next level. It all works, but quite frankly I could have done with a little more actual rollercoater carnage - as it is, this is a bit like a Jaws film in which the shark only makes a couple of attacks.

PS - For those renting the blu ray, Disc 2 contains the uncut version of the film, so you might as well just skip the first disc and go to this one.

Appearing to be about an equal mix of historical fact and wild flights of fancy, the director's trademark retro black and white noir visuals merge seamlessly with found footage for an intriguing whole. The narration adds to the hypnotic, dreamlike feel, and whilst it does slightly run out of steam towards the end, this is still stylish and unique enough to be highly recommended for those looking for something a bit different.

The plot here is a bog-standard revenge thriller, and nothing to get too excited about. Where this film entertains is in how ridiculously over the top it is, with the screen literally gushing blood from a series of inventive kills. Characters are similarly ludicrous - as well as the titular machine-gun for an arm heroine, we also have a villain with a rotating metal bra that acts as a deadly drill - that's the kind of lunatic film this is, and after a while it's impossible not to laugh and enjoy the silliness. The only real downside here is the picture quality, which even on blu ray looks pretty cheap and nasty. Close-ups are fine, but any background detail is lost in a blur of pixilation - I'm guessing due to budget this was filmed on the equivalent of cheap digital camcorders. A shame, but if you can overlook that, there is some good, bloody fun to be had here.

There's plenty to enjoy in this 'Psycho'-style horror - it's well shot, the performances are fine, and it's heavy on moody atmosphere. At the same time, it has to be said that the pace is rather slow, and the climax is ultimately underwhelming. A lot of good build up, but this ultimately a film that slightly fizzles out.

Bit of an odd one this - clearly it's not meant to be taken seriously, but aside from a few gags there's not much in the way of laugh-out-loud humorous dialogue either. The whole thing is so over the top it's ridiculous, and almost feels like a spoof of the action-movie genre, but maybe that's the point. Some fun visuals and fight scenes, but ultimately it's all style and very little substance. Fun if you're in the right mood, just don't expect a serious thriller.