Reviews

Tobe Hooper's Dance of the Dead is never going to win over the usual horror crowd. Why's that? Well because it focuses on meaning, message and character as opposed to jumps, gore and kills. For those who watch a horror film just for the kills and gore, give up and go back to The Horror Channel.

"Dance of the Dead". Tells a story of a angst ridden youth of America, brought on by a total disregard for human safety by those in power. A theme that's becoming more popular in the horror genre with Alexandre Aja's "The Hills Have Eyes" remake. There are no monsters here, save for the corrupted and corroded humanity of the characters.

A true Masters of Horror episode in that it's directed by Hooper (Whose "Poltergeist" would go on to inspire "Ringu") and based on the short story by Richard Matheson ("I am Legend" and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" are widely considered some of the best sci-fi, and in the case of the former, sci-fi/horror novels around). Hooper captured some of that foreboding, and pessimistic view of that master write Matheson, although hardly to the standard that the novel "I am Legend" did.

"The Hunger" is a tour de force of passion and lust. Each tale, poetically introduced by Terrance Stamp in season one and David Bowie in season two, brings us into a world of unbridled, un-inhibited passion. The show preaches no self righteous moral, no great and uplifting message is hidden away and more often than not the ending is far from happy. "The Hunger" illustrates how lust is an essential part of our lives, that it need not be denied but is always dangerous.

Episodes range from the comedic ("Matter of Style"), to Gothic horror ("Necros") and to the perverse ("The Sloan Men"). Based on stores from such talents as horror maestro Graham Masterton ("Bridal Suite" etc…) and directed by a range of highly talented auteur. "The Hunger" is a master class in style from directorial legends and brothers Ridley and Tony Scott.

Treasure Planet is the adaptation of the classic swashbuckling children's tale of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. R.L.S originally wrote Treasure Island chapter by chapter for his son, as a bed time story for each night. When the story was first published it was actually condemned by some! Claiming that such violent tales encouraged boys to become ner-do-well's such as the pirates it glorifies! Suffice to say, Disney's futuristic adaptation fails to capture the rebellious nature of the original Treasure Island. Fans and fanatics can gripe all they want if a scene is missing from the book, or if a character's been changed, but as long as the core meaning of the story remains, it's essence. Then adaptation has been successful. Treasure Planet does not capture the essence of the book entirely, in fact it lacks a lot of it's power due mainly to the protagonist. Jim Hawkins of Treasure Planet does not suffer as much as his archaic counterpart, therefore his character does not under go the same heroic journey and does not emerge as profoundly changed as R.L.S original did.

Aside from that, Treasure Planet makes for a fine adventure film for the whole family. There are moments of joy and pathos to be found throughout. And it is interesting to see a science fiction twist on a pirating classic.

A surreal tale with an almost fairytale like quality to it. Rose of Iron seems very much like a cautionary tale of old as opposed to a straight forward horror film. The films drips with dark atmospheric, from the morbid poet who charms the female lead, to the foggy and creepy aesthetics of locations such as the train yard and the graveyard.

The plot navigates around a young man falling for a pretty girl, they meet at party where his poetry (need I remind you that not all poetry is rose are red) wins him the attention of an attractive girl. In keeping with the surreal they meet in a eerily quiet train yard and soon find their way to a graveyard. Our male lead lacks what you'd call respect for the dead and they're soon making love in a family crypt. When they're done night has fallen, they're locked in. Fear and madness begin to overtake them. But is there more to the graveyard than meets the eye? Perhaps, perhaps not. Rose of Iron is at the very least, a very enigmatic film.

A purely psychological horror, with few actual elements of the supernatural. It could be that they are simply lost in the graveyard, but at times they seem to be going straight but ending up where they began. It plays on conventions and stereotypes as our male lead becomes angry and violence prone. Since it is he who triggers the inciting incident, it is of course him that the obligatory scene at the climax must focus more one. But ultimately it's the female lead and her surreal serenity that leaves us with a climax you won't find in many gore encrusted horror films.

Morvern Callar is a haunting, surreal story of a near mute girl, her almost insane reaction to the death of her boyfriend and her attempts to escape from something even she's unaware of. Accompanied by her friend Lana (first time actress, met on Argyle St. Glasgow), the duo use Morvern's new found wealth and take a Club 18-30 trip to Spain, among other things.

On first viewing Morvern Callar I went home with a sick taste in my throat, which led onto a minor depression for the better part of the day. Rather than cast the film off, I bought it on DVD and forced myself through it again and suddenly my feelings made sense. Although I can never hope to understand Morvern herself (could anyone?), the dream like story telling and masterful script, combined with Ramsay's excellent talent for directing make this a film well worth it. Films strive to be emotionally effective, and Morvern Callar does just that. You may not understand it, or enjoy it the first time, but there's no doubting it's emotive quality.

There are certain films that are what we might call "by the book." This is to say they are made in a standard way was is typical of it's genre and sub-genres. This isn't always a bad thing, as it provides a good structure to begin with and a good director will add some to those bones and do something original.

"The Haunting" wrote the book. This is how haunted house films should be. The use of the camera, the clever set pieces, the sound all perfect for suggesting terrors rather than shoving them in your face. There are moments in this movie that are so unnerving it's unreal, truly one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Why is that you might ask? Because they implied and used the power of suggestion rather than shoved gore and monsters in your face.

There are certain films that are what we might call "by the book." This is to say they are made in a standard way was is typical of it's genre and sub-genres. This isn't always a bad thing, as it provides a good structure to begin with and a good director will add some to those bones and do something original.

"The Haunting" wrote the book. This is how haunted house films should be. The use of the camera, the clever set pieces, the sound all perfect for suggesting terrors rather than shoving them in your face. There are moments in this movie that are so unnerving it's unreal, truly one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Why is that you might ask? Because they implies and used the power of suggestion rather than shoved gore and monsters in your face.

Horror in the Attic Late night horror movie on the Horror Channel. It made a desperate stab at being a complex psychological horror, but ended up being boring and falling into the same trap as almost all modern horror films. There is no real atmosphere, it felt very phoney and just very typical. The complexity of it seemed just tacked on and was not very complex at all.

I'd read it was a "thinking man's horror film" and in the vein of Lovecraft, but it was far from it. I found it rather simple and pointless. If you really were a "thinking man" then this isn't going to make you think, try "Jacob's Ladder". And for being like "Lovecraft", the man didn't fill his stories with sex and nudity, while this film has two sex scenes and more nudity. Just making vague references doesn't make it like something. If that were the case then here: "God" - now this post is like the Bible.

Slightly above average horror movie, but better than most of today's American tripe.

When both Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi finished their short films for the Jam anthology early, their producer gave them something new to try. In the space of one week they were each to produce a film, using only two man characters, one location and it had to be focused around a fight. This was called the "Duel" project.

Kitamuras film was "Aragami". The title meaning "fierce deity", and the story revolving around a demon who seeks an opponent who can beat him in combat, taking a wounded samurai in and healing him so that they can face of in a climatic battle. The story, essentially being a simple good versus evil affair was very well done. At times it's hard to tell if one of them is evil, or if they both are in fact evil. And there are enough plot twists to keep your attention throughout this whole suspense filled feature.

Try as I might, I find it almost impossible to find anything to complain about with this film, it really is something amazing. It's a very atmospheric film. Kitamura makes excellent use of light to make the temple look suitably dark and mysterious. From flickering candle light, to eerie purple light flooding in from the night outside, to breath taking lighting that gleams from swords classing in the dark. "Aragami" is a very beautifully shot film, with excellent use of camera angles and not just during the fight scenes. But he made superb use of it to highlight both characters persona throughout.

The use of music was also really well done in this film. At times it heats up the action speeding your heartbeat, at other times it helps establish a more calm mood. During the final battle the use of sound makes it seem like we are almost on a roller coaster. The protagonists feelings of suspicion at the beginning is not only conveyed through acting, but through the music that accompanies his realisations. The use of music is possibly most notable when it helps reinforce the almost friendship that the two of them forge over their drinks and conversation.

Both of the main characters were very well acted, which for some reason I was surprised at. Perhaps it was the depth of the acting that did it for me. Or how quickly they were able to change the mood, and focus of the conversation. At one point the Aragami seems very evil and dark, but in a matter of a few words the focus is shifted onto the protagonist, making him appear as a cold and heartless monster. This was very well done, and very believable. You really get the feeling that the Aragami is bored, ancient and somewhat noble.

The only problems I can find with this film, is that it does have an incredibly slow pace up until the much anticipated climatic battle. Perhaps this was intentional, as to make us more desperate to see them tear into each other but I felt it wasn't very well done. For most of the film the two of them are just sitting there talking over drinks, and while this is well acted there isn't enough action to excite us until the finale.

Kitamura teases us with a little bit of a fight early one, but it's not until the end that we finally see one of his trademark epic battles. Which in itself could have been better, it wasn't as fast as his other films. Perhaps due to the "Anime" posing the characters did while the talked to each other during the fight. If they had just tore into each other in a brutal show of skill the film would have been so much better.

Some slight issues with the pace of the movie, but in all a very well made and entertaining film. And for anyone who has seen "Versus", you're bound to chuckle a little when you see the ending.

8.5/10

I can't believe how underrated this film is. This is one of those movies, that people think is gonna be something else, i.e. a teen comedy with puke, fart and sex jokes. When they find out it's not rather than enjoy the movie for what it is, they dub it a crappy version of what they expected.

A great movie, smart and somewhat disturbing. People might complain that the characters were thin, but that was the point, to make them seem totally shallow. It was well acted for the most part, with great dialogue resonating from a well thought out script and with nice camera-work.

Just like Dr. Pepper, it's misunderstood.

Before you condemn this film to video hell, it's worth noting that it WAS an amateur film, I'm pretty sure it was a student film, inspired by the works of legendary horror manga artist Junji Ito. He worked with the kids on the movie also, but not in a big way.

I personally felt this film was quite enjoyable, and weird enough to be interesting.

Basically if you enjoyed other bizarre Japanese horror movies, and in particular the other films based on the works of Junji Ito then you'll probably like this one. Just don't expect production values equal to that of Uzumaki etc...

Although those of you in the States have has Sin City floating around since April, Europe just saw this adaptation of Frank Miller's gritty comic book series hit cinema screens last week. A long awaited film, was it worth it? For starters, it's NOT Film Noir, I'm not gonna go through what makes a film, Film Noir, just know that Sin City is not Film Noir, it is in fact more accurate to call it Neo Noir. That being said, it mimics what made old Film Noir classics like Double Indemnity closely, with a bit more violence, cursing and of course naked women.

What it presents us with is a unique style of film that really you should go and see just for that, it's unique visuals make it worth while. Unfortunately that's it's weakness. Rodriguez was so caught up in transferring Miller's comic to life he left the characters as flat as they were on the pages. With little to no character development you'll either hate the characters or love them.

The script didn't let down, it followed the noir style closely, fast talking and each story narrated by the main character is a typical "detective" way. Again this is a thing you're either going to love or hate. So if you're a fan of Film/Neo Noir then you're going to walk away from Sin City with a little more than enjoyment than most people will.

So, a film you should go and see for the style of it if for nothing else, but worthwhile all in all.

I must say, I've seen almost all of the Tomie films and I like this one better. Once i see Re-birth that's them all. it's more accurate to the manga and Tomie is very true to the comic, and for a change she is more beautiful than the heroine (which is the whole point of the manga).

She works her magic with the male character's identically with the manga, and they even include her getting cut up. The scene at the beging was lifted straight from the manga, making it in my opinion a better film. Although i do recommend knowing Junji Ito's art before watching the films.