Film Reviews by NP

Jonah (Sharlto Copley) wakes up in a pit full of corpses. Stumbling into a nearby isolated house, he finds three testosterone-filled men and two women. There’s clearly some shared confusion here – the men determined to outstare each other, the women tense. And they all have piercing blue eyes – all except the oriental woman (played by Josie Ho), who is also mute.

The film seems to be attempting to be a mood-piece and succeeds to an extent. The cinematography, moments of gore and subtle use of incidental music do everything they can to convince us that something is very wrong. I think my initial problem with this is that the characters are all carved from the same wood – all intense, at the end of their tether. No-one is sure who they are or how they got here, and so form an uneasy alliance.

And yet I warmed to them due to the fact that events seem to be spiralling out of their control. Rather than clearing up the mystery of how they came to be here, and the reason for the scattering of stringed up corpses in the woodland around, things seem to be deteriorating, and the pressure seems to be having a psychological effect on them. Or is it something else …?

This begins with an intriguing premise and slowly builds upon it. The cast, especially Erin Richards as Sharon and Thomas Kretschmann as Lucas, are very good and convey the nerve-shredding frustration they share – as Jonah, Copley is excellent as (what could possibly be) the truth begins to dawn on him. And yet there is more than one truth they have to cope with. Filmed in Hungary and directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego, ‘Open Grave’ is rewarding viewing, if you are prepared to stick with it.

An adaption of one of Stephen King’s lesser-known books, ‘Cell’ wastes no time in getting things moving. Within minutes, the normal, rational, aggravating general public quickly become slavering, rabid killers. John Cusack, all Botox and hair-dye, stars alongside un-augmented Samuel L. Jackson as Clay and Tom, two bland but well-played people thrown together by the conflagration.

I haven’t read the book on which this is based, but I notice King is the screenplay’s co-writer. The reason for the mass transformation into zombie-types (they revert into twitching human-looking killers rather than the more impressive, rotting cadaver variety – Cusack’s plastic surgery makes him look a good deal less natural than the aggressors) is something to do with their cell-phones: hence the title.

To me, this is what it is: a fairly ambiguous thing to say, I admit. It’s just another zombie film, really. It boasts a decent budget, some effective set-pieces, some unconvincing effects and creatures that rely far too much on hordes of actors gurning than any particularly frightening make-up. It also gets deathly dull very quickly, I’m sorry to say. Little in the way of humour, and despite the lengthy bouts of dialogue, there’s no real character development. It’s all a bit strange and far from satisfying, as if despite King’s involvement, no-one knew what kind of film they wanted to make.

I was tempted to give up on this a number of times, but persevered in order to see if there was any kind of pay-off at the end. There wasn’t.

Will Ash is excellent as Zakes Abbot, a young man whose evening turns out to be worse than anything he has ever known. His girlfriend Beth (Christine Bottomley) spends most of the time yelling at him, and everyone he meets is pretty unpleasant. The man who drives the truck that crosses his path this particular rainy night is the worst of all, and some of the contrivances Abbott resorts to in order to escape his clutches threaten to topple into farce.

The details and motives of the faceless villain are kept deliberately vague, but through Abbot, we see enough evidence to know it is all pretty appalling, and the pace is kept nice and tight and full of tension. There is a degree of repetition, though, with the efforts made to evade Abbot’s ever-present threat of capture, but it all moves quickly and dramatically enough for us not to have to dwell on that unduly.

Director Mark Tonderai maintains the solid pace throughout with the speed of events engaging enough for us not to dwell on the fact that this is basically 90 minutes of Abbot escaping one life-threatening situation, only to topple headlong into another.

There is no waiting around in this refreshing gothic horror offering, for moments of horror are on display very effectively as soon as the 93 minute running time begins. The visuals are also stunning from the offset – I am put in mind of the faux-European feel of Hammer films, but with a massively increased budget.

A priest is sent by the Vatican to investigate the suicide of a young Nun from a Romanian abbey, and uncovers a demonic power. The power has some connections with ‘The Conjuring (2013)’ and its burgeoning franchise. Luckily, however, you don’t have to be familiar with that series of films to understand much of what goes on here.

I would say that the film as a whole is solid rather than spectacular, interesting rather than essential. It does, however, contain some memorable set-pieces (including a very uncomfortable scene of someone being buried alive), some nicely shot moments and a good air of unholy evil courtesy of Director Corin Hardy.

Demián Bichir plays Father Burke, Taissa Farmiga is Sister Irene, Jonas Bloquet is Maurice "Frenchie" Theriault and Bonnie Aarons is The Nun – the acting is uniformly impressive and is never reduced to second place behind the myriad of horror effects.

This is the story of a nice girl who enters into a nasty town and a dark business: of course, her modelling career is superficially bright white and pink neon. But when Jesse (Ellie Fanning) wanders into a studio photo-shoot, all fairy-tale dress and golden locks, and the Neanderthal photographer Jack (Desmond Harrington) tells her to take off her clothes, the awkwardness is all consuming. She is 16 years old, has been told to tell anyone who asks that she is 19.

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn takes his time with the atmospherics and gives us plenty of reason to feel for naïve Jesse. Cliff Martinez’s music is very Eighties, very electronic. But where is all this going, I wonder as I watch?

Smiling turns to sneering as other models become increasingly jealous of Jesse’s natural beauty and un-cynical personality. This is a cut-throat, production-line, cattle market catwalk trade. With that leisurely established, events are free to become more and ever more disturbing, gory and surreal. Previously dependable characters reveal themselves to have strange depths and perversions that border on unreality.

This film ultimately could be many things: a comment on the fashion world, the vagaries and obsessions with beauty and perfection, or simply the superficial silliness of human beings. What started as a fairly coherent story slides sideways into weird set pieces rather than going forward in any traditional way. The lack of depth to the characters and plot could be said to mirror the superficial business about which events revolve, or it could be attributed to a project that is more style over substance. It is not easy to categorise, nor is it meant to be, I suspect, but I quite enjoyed it as a horror film along the lines of David Lynch or JG Ballard. It doesn’t need to take so long to tell its story, I think, but the acting is first rate. Keanu Reeves, never a huge favourite of mine, is great as the deeply unpleasant landlord Hank, and Fanning excels as the burgeoning central character.

Anthology films are few and far between recently. This project uses the structure as a way of showcasing nine often very short vignettes independently created by a different team and shown as a collection of unsavoury tales collected on a videotape. The tape falls into the hands, or rather is left at the door, of a young woman (Andrea Monia). The purpose of the videotape forms the enveloping story-line.

I won’t go into details about the instalments, because their originality is very satisfying and it would be a shame to spoil that. Sometimes, instead of any detailed story, they are simply moments, like in a dream, of surreal occurrences which are nevertheless detailed and grounded enough to satisfy on their own merits. There are moments that had me turning away due to the graphic special effects, but this is far from drenched in gore. Rather, each weird tale builds up an ambience that is deliberately uneven and unpredictable.

This is a sequel to the original ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ (2013), which was directed and produced by a different team. According to some reviews, the original was superior to this. This excites me, because I haven’t seen it, and for the most part, I found this refreshingly original and generally well made.

The idea of a malevolent scarecrow is such an appealing one, it’s a constant surprise to me that every film based on that premise I have seen is so mixed. This, sadly, is no exception. I have no problem with a low budget. Some of my favourite films are chronically under-funded. Stilted acting is not a huge issue for me. Sound problems synonymous with such projects is a minor irritant. Yet these things, alongside listless characters (with a strange collection of mangled accents), repetitive dialogue, a thin story-line with no originality, a running time that seems to last a lot longer than it actually does, ensure things become very dull very quickly.

Years ago, June’s parents were murdered by a scarecrow who rises every 20 years. This time, he’s seeking a bride, bless him. We get a quickly told backstory, involving curses and a murdered man having his eyes pecked out, and that’s about it. Claire-Maria Fox plays May, a faded radio host, who inherits a large Welsh farm house. With a motley group of friends, she sets about solving the mystery of the scarecrow. Before the opening credits have rolled, we have three attacks. Each victim reacts in exactly the same way: sensing ‘something’ behind them, they turn around ever-so-slowly to confront the hooded horror.

Director Louise Warren and writer Shannon Holiday mix some effective flourishes (especially towards the rather touching finale) to what is otherwise a drawn-out and unengaging story-line. There are some excruciating moments too, to be honest: in a séance scene for example, the camera pans round slowly across to the four characters taking part, which leads to a long pause between lines of dialogue as each actor waits for the camera to fall on them, leaving the others gesticulating wildly as they await a response. Possibly May’s boyfriend Darren (Manny Jai Montana) emerges as my favourite – it’s a good, unforced performance that manages to escape the dialogue issues infecting the others.

After what might be described as a rather uneven debut series for Jodie Whittaker's 13th incarnation of The Doctor, 2018's New Year special proves that the show is still more than capable of delivering the goods. Concentrating on what it does best, Doctor Who's showrunner and head writer Chris Chibnall reintroduces us to the series's most fearsome monster. After vowing only to bring new villains and aliens to his first series, he has still shown a certain restraint here. The singular returnee is, by its very nature, a nuts-and-bolts affair - but still capable of causing a great deal of trouble. Not only a reintroduction, but a reminder of the power and scariness of the returning baddie. You all know what it is, but I ain't saying!

The cast are terrific. Jodie's Doctor is a bundle of nervous energy, Ryan (Tosin Cole) has his own story to tell, Graham (Bradley Walsh) provides the bedrock to it all, with some funny one-liners. And Yaz (Mandip Gill) - dear old Yaz - who has yet to be given anything really interesting to do, continues to be my favourite, primarily because I really want to know more about this likeable, loyal young police woman. Hopefully future Doctor Who can give us - and her - a really interesting story in her own right.

For now though, Doctor Who has reinvented itself as a slightly more intimate, less spectacular series. For the most part, this works, especially when something earth shattering does threaten to happen - as in 'Resolution.'

I was surprised to find this film was made in 1957. The production style made me think ‘Voodoo Woman’ was made at least fifteen years earlier.

Smooth, deeply disinterested Tom Conway plays Dr. Roland Gerard, a Frankenstein wannabe determined to make a new life form out of a young woman using the magic of voodoo. Ultimately, he might even breed the resultant creature and … take over the world, probably. Maria English plays Marilyn Blanchard, a cold hearted manipulator and killer who would do anything to get what she wants. It takes most of the running time to get these two characters together, and she proves a perfect choice for his ideal woman on which to experiment. She’s not easily sympathised with though, and English gives her not a moment of warmth. Hers is my favourite performance in the film.

This is a very low budgeted Samuel Z. Arkoff/Alex Gordon production, and subtle lighting gives the impression of more money being spent than is the case. The resultant creature, however, is a hoot. Wisely, Director Edward L Cahn obscures our view of the dear old white-haired curio for the most part, because it really doesn’t look very fearsome at all.

Mike ‘Touch’ Connors – yes, ‘Touch’ is his nickname – plays rugged hero Ted Bronson, and blond Mary Ellen Kay is nice Susan, wife of evil Dr. Gerard, and original focus of his indecipherable experiments. The evil Doctor takes to wearing a hilarious straw hat pulled over the eyes to aid his experiments. He even says that ‘nothing will stop me now’ towards the end.

The whole thing is a determined, fairly wretched ‘B movie’, with every effort made to ensure it never rises much above adequate. It’s a fairly fun ride, charming even, but never threatens any kind of greatness.

Voodoo Woman.

I was surprised to find this film was made in 1957. The production style made me think ‘Voodoo Woman’ was made at least fifteen years earlier.

Smooth, deeply disinterested Tom Conway plays Dr. Roland Gerard, a Frankenstein wannabe determined to make a new life form out of a young woman using the magic of voodoo. Ultimately, he might even breed the resultant creature and … take over the world, probably. Maria English plays Marilyn Blanchard, a cold hearted manipulator and killer who would do anything to get what she wants. It takes most of the running time to get these two characters together, and she proves a perfect choice for his ideal woman on which to experiment. She’s not easily sympathised with though, and English gives her not a moment of warmth. Hers is my favourite performance in the film.

This is a very low budgeted Samuel Z. Arkoff/Alex Gordon production, and subtle lighting gives the impression of more money being spent than is the case. The resultant creature, however, is a hoot. Wisely, Director Edward L Cahn obscures our view of the dear old white-haired curio for the most part, because it really doesn’t look very fearsome at all.

Mike ‘Touch’ Connors – yes, ‘Touch’ is his nickname – plays rugged hero Ted Bronson, and blond Mary Ellen Kay is nice Susan, wife of evil Dr. Gerard, and original focus of his indecipherable experiments. The evil Doctor takes to wearing a hilarious straw hat pulled over the eyes to aid his experiments. He even says that ‘nothing will stop me now’ towards the end.

The whole thing is a determined, fairly wretched ‘B movie’, with every effort made to ensure it never rises much above adequate. It’s a fairly fun ride, charming even, but never threatens any kind of greatness.

This is a very choppily made, low-budget project that features heat-infused zombies and hatchet-faced cult actor Danny Treyo. Scenes fade away before they seem to have finished, characters come and go before we know them. And yet, there are some appealing performances from Nicole Carmela as Nicole Roberts and Thomas Downy as the Sherriff. Roberts’ boyfriend Ryan is played very self-consciously by Kevin Norman. Treyo makes little more than a cameo appearance, which is a shame. Playing the boobs that passes as titillation is Jenny Lin.

The volcano that erupts, giving birth to the ‘heat zombies’, contains the best of the varied (often CGI) effects, with the idea behind the zombies themselves proving to be effective. Probably as a concession to low finances is the sunny mid-day setting. How much more powerful these scenes would have been had they taken place at night.

Sadly though, this never really rises above the daytime soap style of execution, despite the occasional close-ups of gristle eating. We don’t really get to know most of the characters, and despite the standard pounding of the by-numbers music, things remain pretty dull.

Apart from a few impressively creepy images on the internet, I was unfamiliar with the idea and concept of ‘the Slender Man’. To quote Wikipedia, ‘The Slender Man (also known as Slenderman) is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forums user Eric Knudsen (also known as "Victor Surge") in 2009. He is depicted as a thin, unnaturally tall humanoid with a featureless head and face and wearing a black suit.’ I’m still not sure I’m any the wiser!

This then, is the film based around the character. And sadly, despite the efforts of a young cast saddled with irritating dialogue centred around writer David Birke’s idea of teen dilemmas (affairs of the heart, usually), this is a fairly half-hearted affair. It owes some of its ideas to the central concept of ‘The Ring (1999)’ and employs much use of mobile phones to communicate events. The title character looks good, but is really just another ‘bogeyman’ whose function it is to traumatise flirting adolescents and administer death by CGI. With such a potentially creepy central character, I’m not sure this is the best use of his talents.

My favourite character is Wren. Actress Joey Taylor transcends the triteness of some of her dialogue and emerges as not only the most likeable lass of the bunch, but someone you actually do not wish to see fall victim of the machinations of the Slender Man. Director Sylvain White cloaks most scenes in an effective, sinister cold shadow and the ambient score by Ramin Djawadi and Brandon Campbell does its best to sustain the atmosphere. Ultimately however, ‘Slender Man’ is disappointingly dull.

Of course you could, if you wanted to, lump much of ‘Hereditary’ in with the many other ‘is there something supernatural afoot, or is it all in the mind’ horror films that exist. But such is the slow-burning set-up, the very convincing performances and the assuredly weird direction (from Ari Aster, who also wrote this), that the resultant filmic experience is so much more.

My favourite performance, in some impressive company, is that of young Alex Wolff as Peter, son of Steve and Annie Graham (Gabriel Byrne and Toni Collette) and brother to poor Charlie (Milly Shapiro). Whilst Peter and his mother seem most susceptible to the demonic mischief going on, whilst Steve remains scared but sceptical, it is Peter who evokes most sympathy, even though he has a terrible guilty secret.

Throughout this 127 minute experience, I made several attempts to pause the DVD to fix a drink. Such was the power of the film, it remained unfixed. Whilst his doesn’t perhaps measure up to all the hype and positivity heaped upon it (it has been set alongside ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘The Omen’), it is nevertheless, an extraordinarily powerful and retrained horror story. Restrained because, for all the fevered emotion and tragically disintegrating personalities on display, there is relatively little gore or special effects. What there is, however, is exactly right.

Al of these things push the finale into dizzying heights of surreal hellishness. If you have any interest in horror, and especially if you may find yourself disillusioned by much current popular horror output, this two hours will make you horrifically happy.

If you are taking a trip to the snowy forests of Alaska, or indeed anywhere at all, then this film's lead Marcus (Jared Cohn) possesses every trait you would be wise to leave at home. I'm no prude, but every sentence simply has to be littered with the f-word, every word has to be squealed out in the most petulant way possible, and every overtly aggressive gesture is just begging for the little weasel to receive the best kicking available. His sister and her friend, not hugely appealing themselves, have my every sympathy for having to spend time with this absolute tool, as he searches for marijuana plants. That's right, he is an excessive weed smoker, and that may be the reason he is portrayed in this manner. Rather than being stoned and laid back, he is forever in the midst of a temper tantrum as he travels to locate more marijuana. Don't do drugs, kids - is that the message - or you'll become a boorish loudmouth like Marcus? Have I said enough to convey how appalling this character is? To be honest, I doubt it. I'm not sure any one character has tempted me to turn off a film before, at least not for a long time. Only the nicely filmed locations, occasionally spooky isolated atmosphere, and the furious hope that I'll see Marcus suffer stop me giving up on this.

There are some moments of gore, or more specifically, meat. There are also some nicely shot moments of jeopardy for our leading man who, after carelessly losing his co-travellers and has no-one to talk to, does us the favour of keeping his gob shut. Overwhelmingly, though, this is a choppy, curiously edited film. Things happen, events occur, nothing moves forward. And then suddenly, it ends. The storyline, which is not unlike Adam Nevill's 'The Ritual' in places, doesn't really pick up momentum. I admire director and co-writer Max Perrier for appearing to try something different with his approach to this (and the excellent score by Miksa Kovek adds further layers to the horror), but his abhorrent main character tests the patience, and the rest of the production isn't consistent enough to make amends for that.

This is a fairly lame horror film very much in the mould of several unambitious TV Movie-style productions. It’s competently made, albeit over-reliant on jump-scares. It’s adequately acted, despite the fact that all the characters are bland and unlikable. It is as if no-one concerned really cares and are simply ‘going through the motions’.

Events involve a Ouija board and the resultant spirit’s fixation on pretty obnoxious young Sara (Tara Shayne) her lacklustre boyfriend Frank (Marty Dew) and dull silly-billy Santiago (Richard Muller). It is Santiago’s irritating antics that provide a great many of the early jump-scares. We also meet Sara’s parents who spend the vast majority of the running time rushing around after another one of their daughter’s tantrums.

Scenes with an apparently possessed nana are directed with a certain flair, and occasional encounters with the spectral Samara-type girl are well staged. And yet such moments are few and far between, with the remainder proving to be lacklustre.