Film Reviews by LC

A mix of documentary and drama, with about an even split between narrated sections and dramatic recreations. A generally solid effort, if obviously constrained by budget (any battle scene has to rely on cutaways of a few screaming faces), this manages to provide an informative overview of the time period. Clearly originally intended for TV broadcast however, which means that every 15 minutes we get mini-climaxes, teases for the future and reprises - obviously there were originally ad breaks, and these were designed to keep the viewers attention, but they really should have been edited out for this compilation, as it just adds needless repetition.

A good, solid adaptation of Lovecraft's classic horror story, without quite reaching the status of 'classic'. The main issue any visual adaptation is going to have is that the colour in the original is something so alien it cannot even be described, whereas here they've gone for a shade of purply-pink, so it's never going to feel quite as unnerving as the source material. Other than updating to the present day, the film pretty much follows the beats of the original story, and largely successfully so. In many ways this feels like a throwback to such 80's rubbery horror films as 'From Beyond' and Carpenter's 'The Thing', which is no bad thing. Slight in terms of plot, this is all about build up and atmosphere, before descending into full blown madness at the end. It may well feel slightly derivative to modern audiences unfamiliar with the original 1927 story, but that's really just an indication of how many people have tapped into that infected well of ideas since.

I was slightly worried this was going to be 110 minutes of improvised idiocy, but it actually turned out to be a much better structured piece of storytelling than I was expecting. The central premise of faking mental illness for fun is pretty shocking and taboo, an issue the film doesn't shy away from confronting head on, but it does also raise some interesting notions regarding 'polite society', and people's varying reactions to the disabled. The grainy home-movie style cinematography doesn't make this pleasant to look at (certainly compared to Von Trier's other films), but it probably helps to keep the film feeling it bit more real than a more polished product might. We get a good glimpse of an enclosed society, its internal power struggles, and some quite moving storylines for some of the characters - if I have one major criticism, it's that not all of them are fully explored to an equal level, so sometimes it can be hard keeping track of who's who. Obviously a film that will only appeal to arty-farty types, but well worth a watch if you want something different and interesting.

This film shares a lot of surface similarities with 'Spring Breakers', again focusing on crass hedonistic party people in sun-drenched Florida, but ultimately it's nowhere near as successful. Matthew McConaughey is on good watchable form as a constantly wasted alcoholic who stumbles through a series of misadventures, yet always seems to emerge smelling of roses. The storyline is incredibly slight however, and the film concentrates so much on the title character (who is in practically every scene), that hardly any of the supporting cast get much development. It looks nice, and there are some mildly amusing sequences throughout, but the content is so thin that even at a brisk 87 minutes it starts to drag a bit after a while.

I have dim memories of watching this as a child in the 80's on CBBC, so thought I'd see what it's like all these years later. Sometimes nostalgia doesn't stand up to modern-day scrutiny, but this cartoon has held up very well. A science fiction twist on ancient Greek myths, some episodes are more simplistic than others, but there's enough going on to hold the attention of an adult viewer. The picture isn't as sharp as modern viewers might expect, but the animation is still impressive, and there are loads of great spaceship and monster designs. Only one real criticism - this series features possibly the greatest theme song of any 80's kids TV show, yet for some bizarre reason the opening titles have been edited down to half their actual length, cutting the song in half - madness, but at least it's still on youtube!

The good news is that this series is a massive improvement on the largely godawful Series 11. We get an ongoing story arc that builds to a cracking finale, and rather than being a one-note smiley mum, Jodie Whittaker's Doctor gets some moments of darkness and - gasp - actual drama and conflict with the other members of the TARDIS team. The central storyline also manages to both deepen our knowledge of the Doctor's past whilst adding yet more layers of mystery, which is always a good thing.

It's not all perfect however. There still isn't enough for three companions to do, and the series is perhaps too reliant on shock returning monsters and other elements from the past (opener 'Spyfall' is a good example - it's full of furious action and leans heavily on a returning villain, but contains some very messy storytelling). And whilst the central spine of this series is good (all the Cyberman/Timeless Child stuff), the entirely original episodes tends towards dullness ('Orphan 55', 'Praxeus', 'Can You Hear Me?'). The best of the entirely original episodes is probably 'Nikola Tesla's Night of Terrors', but even that is let down by some laughable monsters that seem to have been lifted directly from 'The Runaway Bride'. Chibanll's era just cannot seem to produce any interesting or memorable monsters, at all.

But uneven as it is, the overall trend is definitely upwards. After watching Series 11, I was so depressed I couldn't even bring myself to watch Series 12 on first broadcast. Having finally seen it, I am now excited for the future again - so that's a big turnaround. Roll on Series 13.

Knowing this was a late-period Carpenter movie, I went into this with some trepidation, but it turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting. This is a goofy, gory and ultimately very silly action/horror film - no scares here, but plenty of demented entertainment. It's not an outright comedy, but definitely has its tongue in its cheek and is aware of how ridiculous it is, so it's tonally closer to something like 'Evil Dead 2' than a serious horror movie. Unlike a lot of knowingly cheesy B-movies however, this one actually looks to have a decent budget, and features some well directed action and gore scenes. James Woods has great fun hamming his way through the lead role (in a role that looks as though it was written for Kurt Russell) - the only slight disappointment is that Sheryl Lee doesn't get more to do. Certainly not a 'classic', but highly entertaining goofy fun.

Of all the film genre, the revenge drama is probably the most predictable: a group of evildoers commits a terrible crime against the hero (or their loved ones) - the hero then spends the rest of the movie tracking them down and exacting bloody justice. That said, whilst 'The Nightingale' doesn't really subvert the genre, it's one of the better examples of the form, with a good cast and interesting setting. The addition of a second 'wronged person' in the form of the native guide also adds a nice wrinkle, allowing the film to examine racial as well as sexual prejudices, and adding another layer to the story.

This steamy melodrama regarding a girl forced into prostitution is certainly a little rough around the edges, and the central dichotomy of the heroine as either abused hooker or loving wife is somewhat simplistic, but there is still plenty to enjoy. Diana Dors not only looks great but has a well-rounded role, and Herbert Lom is great value as the bad guy. If there is a main issue, it's that these two are far more interesting than the slightly blander main leads, but everyone gets a decent amount of running time. Add in a couple of notable cameos for Joan Sims and Michael Caine ( the latter a real 'blink at you'll miss it' one, admittedly), and a hilariously bizarre drug-induced dream sequence, and there's more than enough to keep this watchable.

This is a decent enough murder mystery, very much in the Agatha Christie style, only without taking itself too seriously. The plot is suitably twisty, and keeps the viewer on their toes throughout, and there is a sprinking of current political debate in the illegal immigration subtext. As solid as it is however, I can't help but feel that it perhaps could have been something slightly more. Had it pushes a little harder, this could have done for the murder mystery genre what 'Scream' did for horror, but it just doesn't have that impact. Despite a great cast, only Daniel Craig is particularly memorable (thanks largely to a ridiculous but amusing accent), whilst most of the other characters don't end up making much of an impression - and ultimatly it doesn't come across as particularly filmic. Solid, enjoyable, and worth a watch - but ultimately no more so than a superior episode of 'Murder She Wrote', or several hundred other TV whodunits. (3.5 out of 5)

Not entirely without moments of charm, the main problem with this romcom is that it's so predictable - not just in its romantic plot, but in it's caricatures of evil LA music moguls. It also struggles to comprehend that the Beatle's success wasn't just down to the quality of the songs, but the band as performers, and the charisma-free lead character fails to convince entirely on that level. There also seems to be a worryling toxic message at the film's heart, which seems to be that if you want the girl, then a guy has to sacrifice his artistic dreams and career for her. Be normal, is what the film ultimately tells us - which just doesn't seem quite right.

The idea of an evil Superman playing out as a horror film is a decent one, and a nice twist on the current glut of superhero movies. Unfortunately, something about it just doesn't work in the execution. As seriously as the actors take this, the whole thing just ends up feeling incredibly silly rather than scary, and the plot and characters are so thin it never really develops beyond the initial premise.

Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser' is a classic, and I enjoyed the 'Cabal' novel on which this film was based - unfortuantely 'Nightbreed' is a bit of a mess, and has dated badly. This fantasy/horror mix works on the page, but Barker clearly didn't have the money, actors or budget to make it work on screen. The lead actor has all the charisma of a piece of wood, and most of the cast are just as inept (only David Cronenberg comes out with his dignity intact), though none of them are helped by the crass dialogue. It's ambitious in scope, but ultimately comes across as a very silly monster movie. That said, it can be reasonably entertaining in a ludicrous 'so bad it's good' kind of way, especially when the local police suddenly turn into a gung-ho military outfit and start blowing people up for no good reason. With armies of rubbery monsters, cheesy dialogue, and enough 80's hairspray to rip a hole in the ozone layer, this is closer to the ludicrous 'Rawhead Rex' than 'Hellraiser', and is best enjoyed in the same spirit.

[NB - I have only seen the 'Directors Cut' of this film - maybe the Theatrical Cut is a vast improvement, though I kinda doubt it. ]

'Midsommar' clearly owes a huge debt to 'The Wicker Man', only this time it's wierd goings on involving an isolated pagan community in Sweden, rather than the Scottish isles. However, where that movie was anchored by an interesting hook of the investigation into a missing child, this feels almost devoid of any plot, and as a result feels slightly aimless at times. It looks great, has nice cinematography and performances, but the storyline is highly predictable - as soon as the group of American teenagers arrive in the community we all know what's going to happen to them - it's just a case of waiting to see exactly how it plays out. Still, this is an improvement on 'Hereditary', in that it doesn't fall to pieces in the final act. Ari Aster clearly is a talented director - it would just be nice to see him teamed up with a more inventive scriptwriter. 3.5 / 5

The only thing of note in this film are the huge number of big-name character actors - how they agreed to do this project, God only knows, as the script is a boring mess. For the first half of the film, I was willing to forgive the pace as a slow-burn build up, but even when the zombie apocalypse breaks out in full, everything remains sedate. The two main characters drift through events as though sedated on tranquilisers, raising a mildly ironic eyebrow at the events that occur around them, so thre's no real drama here. The postmodern idea that the characters are aware that they are in a film seems potentially interesting, but, like much else in this film, it doesn't really go anywhere. Characters are introduced, and then discarded in flat and uninteresting zombie attacks, or off-screen in some cases (and what was the point with the strand of kids in the detention facility? The storyline literally goes nowhere). There is no new slant on the zombie genre (the final tacked on linking of zombies with consumerism is lifted straight out of Romero's 'Dawn of the Dead'), and the cheap CGI effects mean there isn't any entertaining gore either.

None of this would matter if the script was funny, or clever, but it isn't - and all the great actors in the world can't help that. Stick to 'Shaun of the Dead', or 'Zombieland', and avoid this mess.