Film Reviews by CS

This was my Xmas Day choice of viewing. For me, full on OTT entertainment from the off as Japanese Cult Filmmaker Takashi Miike’ story of Yakuza vampires is a mix of hardcore Yakuza violence film, vampire horror and a surreal final sequence featuring “the world’s greatest terrorist” : yes, a guy dressed in a caricature frog suit firstly beating everyone up using martial arts then emerging like Godzilla after an earthquake. In this movie, a top yakuza , who we are introduced to in a classically violent opening sequence involving martial arts , guns, swords and a traditional slugfest, is also a vampire; who, despite decapitation, passes on the mantle to his sensitive-skinned wingman Kageyama by biting him. Kageyama struggles to come to terms with his new form and after contemplating suicide he starts snacking on various local people on his manor, but their almost instant transformation into yakuza vampires threatens the number of regular civilians who can be preyed upon both for their money and blood. “We don’t care about winning or losing; we just fucking fight!” declares one “real” yakuza while dissing these new vampire yakuza to point out the difference. The film is packed with memorable lines and scenes ( a brilliantly conceived simultaneous punch in the face duel for example ), weird characters including the yakuza boss who tries to grow civilians from seeds, Beat Takeshi style hardcore Yakuza film violence throughout with attitude and even an eerie atmosphere reminiscent of Abel Ferrara for this reviewer. At the same time there’s an interestingly surreal quality with some golden laugh out loud comedy moments. The emergence of the giant fire breathing Godzilla kung-fu frog after a hilarious fight scene involving the frog’s propulsion via a hand grenade into a slow stop motion fight moment had me laughing loud. Crammed with ideas and with its OTT violence interspersed with some great comedy moments, it’s definitely a lot of fun. Banzai!!! ????

“Forgive my impatience, but I hope you will reveal your plan for me soon. I can't shake the feeling that you must have saved me for something greater than this.”

Saint Maud (2021) explores what might occur when hardcore religion takes over your perception of the world and how completely detaching from reality can result in calamity ...

Katie (played by the immense Morfydd Clark, who manages to switch convincingly between a righteous pious carer and a deeply disturbed promiscuous misanthrope) has a life changing experience while trying to save a dying patient, converting to Roman Catholicism and changing her name to Maud. She goes to work for a private care agency and becomes responsible for Amanda (Jennifer Ehle) a retired hedonistic dancer/ choreographer who is in the latter stages of Lymphoma, needing palliative care. Amanda’s carefree and ever-hedonistic attitude, accentuated by her impending death, both fascinate and disgust Maud, who while happily peeping at Amanda entertaining her lesbian lover also feels that God has sent her to “save” Amanda’s soul so instructs the girl to leave her alone. Maud, consumed by her religion, further alienates herself from society.

Saint Maud is primarily about the dangers of feeling isolated, and the carnage that can come when an individual’s perception of reality becomes dangerously warped. The audience is left guessing at just how far Maud has gone within her own delusion, and this is the underlying theme of much of this film's tense, dark atmosphere.

Indeed, Maud is a deeply disturbed young woman who experiences transcendental spiritual moments regularly and - like all good penance-seeking Roman Catholics - indulges in self-flagellation and self-harm: burns and pins in her shoes show her devotion to God and she looks down on those who partake in the more simplistic pleasures of life. Ironically and disturbingly, Maud spends her free time as an aggressively predatory female, having one-night-stands and sexual contact with random men in the pubs she frequents because she doesn’t know an alternative way to connect, returning to her depressing flat consumed by feelings of dirtiness and disgrace.

This is director Rose Glass’ first ever feature length film, and it’s impressively handled in terms of cinematography, mixing magical realism with almost a documentary feel at times and the impressively dark score also contributes to the feelings of claustrophobia the film generates as the audience gets to know too much disturbing information about the main protagonist. The first two thirds of the film resemble an unsettling Ken Loach style kitchen sink drama, the final third builds logically towards the ultimately aptly scorching ending. I was reminded of the Polanski classic “Repulsion“ at times, which is no bad thing ...

I’m revisiting a few classics, this one from acclaimed director Lucio Fulci, City of the Living Dead, a horror movie that is the first in his Gates of Hell trilogy and one of his four zombie pictures. It features the trademark creeping “atmosphere of dread”, a fair amount of violence and gore, a simple (yet complex) plot and some dodgy acting which I happen to enjoy. Evil doings are afoot in the H.P. Lovecraft named small village of Dunwich, and the film opens with priest Father Thomas hanging himself without explanantion in the cemetery. This event is “seen” at a seance by medium Mary (Catriona MacColl), and alongside straight talking journo Peter (Christopher "The Exterminator" George), she realises that the death has indeed opened the Gates of Hell, and that the dead will rise to consume humanity on the fast approaching All Saints Day. Mary incidentally collapsed at the seance and was mistakenly pronounced dead and buried - Peter hearing her cries and pickaxe-ing open her coffin to save her. The duo decide to attempt to stop the upcoming evil event but they have trouble in first finding the village and while they are on their way all manner of unspeakable activities are going down there.

The typical Fulci schema is to have light and dark , dark and darker contrasts throughout and the film's score also adds to the tension (and relief) and the uncomfortable darkness throughout is shrouded in a misty atmosphere and interspersed with intense bouts of bloody violence and gore. These old classics, along with their pre-CGI precursor, are highly inventive in terms of camera angles and suggestion of violence before delivering the coup de grace, and the scenes are memorable , even if the gore is not quite at the standard of modern pictures: bleeding eyes, vomiting entrails, a maggot infestation are some of the treats in store. It also the way in which the film shifts suddenly into bloody and deliberately planned to shock violence: one such scene, involving a drill and a face, is infamous because it still unsettles despite the rudimentary gore by these days’ standards.

If judged only on horror atmosphere alone, it would be a masterpiece. However, the film does not quite hit the high bar that Fulci himself has set with other works. The plot is a tad manic and can be busy with too many sub-plots that can dominate and force the focus off the main story. Then we have the at times shoddy acting, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and the final defeat of evil is far more simplistic than other battles with evil you will see. This said, this is Fulci and I do love the consistency of his work in leaving some sort of artistic impression after the film, be it atmosphere, score, camera angles, imaginative gore, you won’t forget this film in a hurry

“This is intense."It is also a timeless classic of a film that predates many others you’ve liked since and you’ll notice that most films you think are ‘cool’ have borrowed from it since its release , Mr Tarantino esp. for one. No BS: it’s bizarre, entertaining and very very funny. I have been watching this now and again for getting towards 40 years FFS and it has lost nothing over the years, one of my top 5 of all time. Emilio Estevez stars as Otto, headstrong and heavy drinking sometime punk rocker. He's recruited for a driving job in the street by the excellent Harry Dean Stanton - a man who specialises in taking speed and getting into intense situations-and enjoys it especially when he realizes just how intense the life as a repo man is. Meanwhile there's a deranged J Frank Parnell driving a quite literally “hot" '64 Chevy Malib with a $20k finders’ fee. “You don't want to look in the trunk” he tells everybody when he gets into a spot of trouble now and again. Is that because there are the remains of an alien in it that melt everybody instantly when exposed to it ? Could be ... Director Alex Cox combines street smart urban ghetto realism with the bizarre and the film boasts a cool punk soundtrack and a brief cult appearance by the Circle Jerks who play a lounge number to Otto’s bitter disappointment (“I used to be into those guys “) Of the supporting cast , Sy Richardson as Lite, a black supercool repo ace, truly “out-Samuel Jacksons ” Samuel Jackson with his commentaries and words of advice for young Otto; Tracey Walter as Miller, a demented street conspiracy theorist and another repo person with attitude (Vonetta McGee ) are great . The real pull aside from the actors mentioned is in the street-set shenanigans , the sharp dialogue, and so many welI observed and subtly delivered sight gags. Great fun. Altogether now: “ I was a teenage dinosaur, stoned and obsolete .....I didn't get f***ed and I didn't get kissed ....I got so f***king dense ... using my head for an ashtray ...now I'll tell you who I am ..... I'm the repo-man !!!

Classic grim small town film I recently re-watched ... I thought David Lynch must’ve watched this too ... it included the song ‘Blue Velvet’ and the classic line ‘Don’t you look at me!’ and is full of secret shenanigans once you ‘scratch beneath the surface’ ... makes you feel good that you never lived there when growing up , even if they did have a heifer handy when on their lonesome ... moooooooo!

I watched this Japanese film last night , by writer/director/ actor Shinya “Tetsuo: The Iron Man”. Like that classic , this is also shot in grainy black and white , employing frantic at times camerawork and some montage / animation briefly . It also has a Thirlwell/ Foetus style industrial soundtrack, and again deals with themes of alienation in a mega city.

Bullet Ballet, released in 1998,starts with Goda (played by the main man Shinya Tsukamoto) as a commercials director living in Tokyo who arrives home to find his wife has shot herself – either by accident or intent – with a .38 “chief’s special” revolver. Goda suffers a breakdown of sorts and becomes obsessed with getting himself a similar piece. This leads him into contact with various underworld characters and into direct conflict with a gang of so-called street ‘teamsters’ - Japanese youths who work straight jobs but commit gang crimes at night. It is said that the idea for the film came from an actual street robbery experienced by Tsukamoto and the film mirrors his own very real feeling of complete helplessness as the gang take his money and deliver a beating without a whimper of resistance. This is just the start, and the viewer is introduced to a wide selection of criminal characters and becomes involved in a gang war triggered by the demand for an “honour” shooting to save face by gang boss Idei, played by the convincing Tatsuya Nakamura, who tells his minion to “get on with the shooting” and treat it like a dream… “In dreams you can kill and not get hurt … Tokyo is one big dream”

The gun as a motif throughout the film gives a strong focus on the finality of pulling the trigger rather than just spraying everybody in a blur of flashing muzzles and deep red, and there are several intense “ will they or won’t they “ moments. Kirana Mano stands out as Chisato, a part time sex worker addicted to speed who comes across as a complex and deliberately contradictory person. However, it is the overall the style of the film : dingy back alleys, concrete industrial backdrops and claustrophobic camera shots emphasising the brutal relationships of the main players that is the real standout. This was often my experience of Tokyo at night when I lived there when out and about, in both places I went to and the type of characters encountered. To sum up, “Bullet Ballet” delivers an element of gritty realism to a believable storyline that makes sure not one round in the clip is wasted. Great punk-style movie-making.