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jamie_mactell
Reviews
Snuff-Movie (2005)
Highly underrated... Only watch if you can take the confusion.
Just finished watching this with my girlfriend... And I was very, very impressed. This is not a good date movie (unless you are into gore cinema), and of the standard slasher fare. It is good if you like gory films, and can keep up with a fast twisting plot.
The premise is simple: four fame hungry actors go to live with an eccentric hermit director (that is a director who is a hermit, not a guy who directs hermits), and nasty stuff happens. So far, pretty standard. The thing which set the film apart for me was the interesting direction (a lot of unusual low budget camera angles), and the exceptional plot twists. I have read some comments on this site which seem to completely misunderstand the entire film. I guess the answer is if you aren't watching, don't comment.
I found the acting to be, while not incredible, of a high standard throughout (although some scenes were better than others)and the gore and violence very well done (if somewhat graphic for the uninitiated). There were some standout scenes where it was genuinely difficult to tell the action from real life.
I would definitely recommend this film to anyone interested in nasty or subversive cinema and, while not the most horrific, it contains enough gore and an interesting enough plot to keep even desensitised movie buffs happy. I will soon be adding this to my DVD shelf, and forcing it into the faces of many unsuspecting house guests. Excellent.
Severance (2006)
This film comes close to perfection
Well, like many others who saw this film I was expecting a slightly inferior Shaun of the Dead 2. I was wrong. This film is a take on the slasher genre, and without really bringing anything new to the table manages to be easily the best film I have seen at the cinema this year. A basic plot summary: A group of arms dealer employees (featuring an excellent turn by Danny Dyer as a drugged up wide-boy) go on a team building exercise somewhere in Hungary. Now, when someone mention arms dealers to me, I can't help but think AK's and balaclavas, but the characters here are straight out of the office around the corner from you. The trip goes wrong (as you would expect) and lots of people get hacked up. So far, so Scream. However where Severance really excels is in making the scares that it offers genuinely horrific by employing the audiences empathy with the characters. The actors are all so funny that when limbs start flying off left right and centre, you feel as if the jokes they've made have been with you and so are genuinely sad when they die. Throw in some genuinely disturbing bad guys (all the more unsettling for their believability) and you have an excellent British film, on of which that not only stands along side but is arguably better than anything out of Hollywood this year.