9 Reviews (1 New)
A Dark and Scary Place
Starring: Michael J Fox, Jason Bateman
Directed by Rod Daniel/Christopher Leitch
Fabulous Films/Fremantle Media
September 2023
Fabulous Films/Fremantle Media Enterprises releases the 1980s cult comedy horror Teen Wolf (starring Michael J Fox), and its sequel Teen Wolf Too (starring Jason Bateman) on Blu-ray as a double feature boxset with bonus extras. In the classic original, a teenage nerd with no status suddenly discovers he originates from a long line of werewolves. His awkwardness, confrontation with the school bully, and his lack of friends is turned on its head when he transforms in the middle of a basketball match. After the initial shock of his fellow students, he becomes an ultra-cool icon: he has more friends than he can handle, all the girls want him (apart from the one closest to him), and his basketball skills improve tenfold – to the point his teammates begin to resent him. But Scott has lost touch with his original identity and wants it back. However, his basketball team are the underdogs in the championship final and everyone expects the wolf...
Teen Wolf (1985) was a low budget sensation which cost less than a million dollars but grossed $33 million upon its cinematic release. It’s simple but thoroughly entertaining fun. The script, which incorporated all of the essential ingredients for its format, was written at very short notice by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. They had pitched several ideas and were astounded when Teen Wolf was selected for immediate production. By this time Michael J Fox was hot property with the huge success of Back to the Future and decided not to do the sequel – citing the time spent in the make-up artist’s chair as the problem. Jason Bateman took over the central role in Teen Wolf Too (1987) as Scott’s cousin Todd, in what is essentially the same movie almost scene-for-scene. The main difference here is that Todd is in the high school boxing team and is obliged to fight the resident tough guy. This plays-out like a scene from Rocky! The sequel is a perfectly fine film, just not in the same league as Teen Wolf. Also, the make-up doesn’t look as natural on Bateman as it does on Fox.
There is a comprehensive documentary of Teen Wolf, which includes interviews with many of the cast and crew – including the writers. The extras on Teen Wolf Too include an interview with the director Christopher Leitch, interviews with co-stars Stuart Fratkin and Estee Chandler, and a look at the wardrobe of Teen Wolf Too with costume designer Heidi Kaczenski.
A final word about Mark Holton who played Chubby in both films with great aplomb. The films wouldn’t have been the same without him.
Verdict: 9 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2023)
Starring: Charlie Ruggles, Bela Lugosi, Dick Foran
Directed by A. Edward Sutherland, Ford Beebe & Others
Eureka Entertainment
April 2023
Eureka Entertainment releases, for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK, Creeping Horror – incorporating the four tales of terror: Murders in the Zoo, Night Monster, Horror Island, and House of Horrors. They star such luminaries of the time as Lionel Atwill, Bela ‘Dracula’ Lugosi, and Rondo Hatton. This Eureka Classics set has a Limited Edition Slipcase and a Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing by Craig Ian Mann and Jon Towlson. The discs are rendered in 1080p high definition and include the additional features of a brand-new commentary on Night Monsters and House of Horrors, with author Stephen Jones and entertaining author/critic Kim Newman; a brand new commentary on Murders in the Zoo and Horror Island, with Kevin Lyones and film historian Jonathan Rigby; stills galleries; and a trailer for two of the films.
In Murders in the Zoo (1933) – directed by A. Edward Sutherland, Doctor Gorman (Atwill) is a millionaire hunter of dangerous animals who is bringing them back to the US in order to open an exotic new zoo. His neglected beautiful young wife entertains other men to alleviate the boredom so, when a fundraising gala is announced to promote the zoo, Gorman seizes the opportunity to use the animals to kill his rivals. A reptile expert sees through the man’s scheme to use the poison from a deadly mamba, but can he survive when Gorman’s attention turns to him? Randolph Scott’s character is somewhat naïve for a scientist, and Atwill reveals his guilt to the police by running away, but the film proves to be an enjoyable romp.
In Night Monster (1942) – directed by Ford Beebe, Kurt Ingston is a rich recluse living in a run-down mansion in the swamps. He invites the doctors who had previously saved his life but left him crippled and, one by one, they are killed by a mysterious creature which doesn’t stick around to be seen. Also present is a creepy mystic, a former friend of Ingson and another doctor unlucky enough to break down in her car near the house. You would have to be two pork pies short of a picnic not to realise who the killer is. It’s a nice run-around though, and the scenes wherein the frogs suddenly stop croaking prior to a door opening in the mansion’s grounds when the creature is near are suitably creepy. The rubber monster feet seen at the climax of the film is one reveal too far, however!
In Horror Island (1941) – directed by George Waggner, a down-on-his-luck local businessman learns that he now owns Sir Henry Morgan’s Island and the supposedly haunted castle. When he is offered $20,000 for the castle, he instead sets-up a boat trip for paying customers to visit the ‘haunted castle’ to enable him to check out the location himself. When there is the rumour of hidden pirate treasure it becomes apparent the other paying customers aren’t there by chance. I liked this one a lot; in some respects, it’s a variation on The Old Dark House scenario, with a little early Raiders of the Lost Ark thrown in. The film is based on ‘Terror of the South Seas’ by Alex Gottlieb.
In House of Horrors (1946) – directed by Jean Yarbrough, an under-appreciated sculptor misses out on a lucrative sale when the buyer shows up with a cruel and sadistic critic. Soon after, the sculptor saves a man from drowning, who turns out to be a notorious monstrous and disfigured criminal. It doesn’t take the cheated sculptor long to use the criminal to kills the critics who denounced him. You kind of feel sorry for the sculptor – and the criminal, to a certain extent, because the film is set from their point of view. It’s the pushy, scheming journalist that you half-wish gets her just desserts.
I love these old horror/thriller film collections from Universal and others. Long may they continue. Other sets which are available include the Boris Karloff collections, and the Inner Sanctum Mysteries.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2023)
Starring: Verona Blue, Ally Loannides, Steven Ogg
Directed by Flying Lotus, Maggie Levin & Others
Acorn media International
March 2023
Acorn Media International releases the Shudder Original release V/H/S/99 on Blu-ray. This is the fifth instalment of the franchise and incorporates five gristly horror tales presented in a found footage format – this time linked by the year 1999. It’s a brutal rendering of social isolation, analogue technology and disturbing home videos – exploring the dark side of 1990s nostalgia. V/H/S/99 is Shudder’s most streamed film ever.
In Maggie Levin’s ‘Shredding’ a local band wishes to film themselves playing in the venue of their heroes. The only trouble is the building is abandoned and considered to be haunted, after the place caught fire and their heroes were trampled by the fleeing crowd and succumbed to the flames. They all lark about, aside from one member who feels it is disrespectful. They will come to regret their nostalgia trip when the spirit ghouls of the dead band return to claim new bodies. In Joannes Roberts’s ‘Suicide Bid’ the concept of college hazing is explored. An initiation involves a girl having to be buried alive for a certain amount of time, as a local legend said had happened years ago – wherein the body had disappeared. This time the arrival of the police and the onset of a storm delay a rescue until the next day. But reprisals from beyond the grave are unforgiving.
The third segment – by record producer, DJ, filmmaker and rapper, Flying Lotus (along with Zoe Cooper) – is a dark comedy about a TV kids’ gameshow which goes hideously wrong when a family’s little girl is seriously injured. In retribution, the family kidnap, ridicule and torture the host, whose only option is to take the family to Ozzy’s Dungeon, where any one-wish can be granted. But the girl’s wish is not what anyone expected in their wildest nightmares. In ‘The Gawkers’ – written and directed by Tyler MacIntyre and Chris Lee Hill – a group of teenage boys spy on a good-looking neighbour, but when they install a camera in her house they get more than they bargained for in terms of monstrous retribution. We conclude with ‘To Hell and Back’ – in which two individuals are hired to film an occult ritual summoning and take more of a part than they would ever have wished.
What begins as quirky and inventive, with fuzzy and jumping video tape images and previous generation recordings coming and going, quite quickly becomes tedious and annoying. All of these segments are concepts we’ve seen before on numerous occasions. The first is probably the most bloodthirsty but also the most dull, and it’s filmed so dark you can hardly make anything out. The idea of a kids’ TV show with a dark background was suitably explored in the Monsters anthology episode, 'Holly’s House', but Ozzy’s Dungeon is also below par. The others are solid tales, with perhaps the last two being most striking. It’s amazing what some movie magic will achieve, when you subsequently view the average behind-the-scenes footage. I very much like short tales with a linking theme; this one is a game of two halves. ‘To Hell and Back’ utilises clever camerawork and quick cuts to reveal (but not linger on) some intriguing nightmare creatures.
Verdict: 7 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2023)
Starring: Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena mandel, Jan Hieronimko
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Eureka Entertainment
May 2022
To tie-in with and celebrate the 90th anniversary of one of the earliest surrealistic horror films, Eureka Entertainment releases a 2K restoration of director Carl Theodor Dreyer’s (The Passion of Joan of Arc) Vampyr. The first time on Blu-ray in the UK, it is presented as a part of The Masters of Cinema Series in a Limited Edition set of 3000 copies, featuring a Hardbound Slipcase and 100-page Collector’s Booklet. The restoration comes courtesy of the Danish Film Institute and took nearly a decade to complete, incorporating material from the British Film Institute, the DFI and CNC)...
There is a plethora of extras, including: a restoration of the German version of the film with uncompressed mono soundtrack and optional unrestored audio track; an audio commentary by critic and programmer Tony Rayns, and another by my favourite film director (after John Carpenter) Guillermo del Toro, who is a Vampyr fan; a visual essay on Dreyer’s Vampyr influences; an entertaining new video interview with author and critic Kim Newman on Vampyr’s unique place within vampire cinema; two new video interviews with music and cultural historian David Huckvale on the film’s score and its adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu; a documentary on the director by Jorgen Roos; two deleted scenes removed by the German censor in 1932; The Baron – a short MoC documentary about Baron Nicholas de Gunzburg; optional English subtitles; and a 100-page book featuring rare production stills, location photography, posters, the 1932 Danish film programme, a 1964 interview with Baron Nicholas de Gunzburg (producer and actor ‘Alan Gray’), an essay by Dreyer on film style, and writing by Tom Milne, Jean and Dale Drum, and film restorer Martin Koerber.
So, we get to enjoy the German, English and Danish versions of this classic surrealistic horror. The tale follows the visit of an occult-obsessed student to a small French village. Right from the start some of the characters pass by like wraiths with no acknowledgment of the presence of our protagonist, who looks for all the world like the photos of weird fiction/cosmic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. This aids the uneasiness of events, and everything thereafter floats by as if we are witnessing an off-kilter dream. When our hero goes exploring, he passes through buildings and rooms unseen as he hears gathered voices and spies creeping shadows, conspiracies and dark figures. The viewer is so used to this third-party aspect of being removed from events that, when an old man converses with him, it is a shock to the system.
Subsequently, he is very quickly drawn into a family’s events. A young woman is seriously ill in bed; they say she is cursed and will die. As the protagonist attempts to help where he can, the entire family becomes suspicious in his eyes. Both the remote setting and the period in which it was filmed offer the whole a slow-motion effect of creeping malaise and frightening uncertainly. There is a feeling that some of the events could well be in the key character’s head. If you give it a chance, you’ll find it a beguiling and compelling backdrop, which stays purposefully clear of Stoker’s overpowering presence of Dracula and instead builds suspense as a whodunnit. It’s surprisingly effective for its time, and no doubt scared the living daylights out of cinema goers upon its original release. Today, it is the removed aspect of unreality which will unnerve.
Verdict: 9 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Fabulous Films/Fremantle Media
September 2021
Fabulous Films Ltd/Fremantle Media Enterprises releases a 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of the classic psychological thrillerCape Fear, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis. Vicious psychopath Max Cady is released after a 14-year prison sentence for rape and battery, and begins an intensive terror campaign against his defence attorney Sam Bowden and his loved but unstable family. Cady appears to keep safely within the parameters of the law, and so Sam feels forced to take the law into his own hands. Events spiral beyond all sanity, resulting in a nightmare showdown in a houseboat on Cape Fear...
There are some interesting facts surrounding this film. It’s a remake of the 1962 cinematic thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum – which is itself based on the 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. Both Peck and Mitchum have cameo roles in this version. Scorsese agreed a film swap with Stephen Spielberg, who was originally in line to make the film. Spielberg wanted Scorsese’s Schindler’s List, and Scorsese himself was happy with getting Cape Fear, as he wanted to avoid any controversy after Goodfellasand The Last Temptation of Christ. Ultimately, it was a good arrangement. Scorsese’s direction is creepy and chilling, ramping up the aspects of threat and menace, and utilising some unusual camera angles. Some scenes have a sense of unreality, reflecting the reaction of the victims who just cannot believe this is happening to them.
I have to admit I’m not a fan of Robert De Niro’s acting, but in this one his portrayal is suitably psychotic, being outwardly friendly or passive aggressive, and not just threatening or violent but manipulative – taking his time to achieve his goal. Both he and Juliette Lewis (the daughter) were nominated for awards. De Niro’s commitment to the role cannot be denied after he not only allowed his body to be heavily tattooed with vegetable oils which take a few months to fade, but paid a doctor $5,000 to grind down his teeth in order to appear more menacing. After shooting the film he then paid $20,000 to have his teeth restored. Personally, I feel that Jessica Lange’s performance lets the side down a little, without being too noticeable. It’s a film that is quite powerful and effective; the kind that you’re glad you watched but wouldn’t be on your regular repeat list.
What makes this more of an attractive purchase is the reversible sleeve artwork by Graham Humphreys, the double-sided fold-out sleeve art poster, and the extras which consist of The Making of Cape Fear, Deleted Scenes, Behind-the-Scenes on the Fourth of July Parade, On the Set of the Houseboat, Photograph Montages, Matte Paintings, Opening Credits and the Theatrical Trailer.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2021)
Starring: Sienna Guillory, Jessica Alexander, Ruby Stokes
Directed by Ruth Paxton
Second Sight Films
October 2022
Second Sight Films releases a Limited-Edition Blu-ray of Ruth Paxton’s debut film, A Banquet. It is a psychological and emotional pot-boiler which pushes the boundaries of human existence and how we cope with our own and other people’s extreme experiences. Holly (Sienna Guillory of Resident Evil, Luthor and Love Actually) has just lost her husband to advanced cancer. She is distressed and broken but attempts to keep it together for the sake of her two teenage daughters. The eldest, Betsey (Jessica Alexander), attends a party but is thereafter ‘changed’ beyond all recognition. Initially, Holly believes it to be the result of substances she may have taken, but the alteration in character is beyond all recognition. Betsey completely stops eating; the very idea causes her to be physically sick. However, her weight appears to remain constant. She slips into prolonged trances, sleeps for much of the rest of the time and is periodically seen to be conversing with someone or something. These episodes deeply affect the rest of the family, and matters are exacerbated by the strict opinions of Holly’s mother June (Lindsay Duncan). But Betsey has a new secret revelation...
This offers a new meaning to the term dysfunctional family. The difference is that these events are real (whether they are believable is another matter). Right from the beginning we are subjected to an extremely disturbing scene wherein Holly’s husband is in the final stages of cancer. He suffers constant sickness, pain and distress, and his eyes are pleading. To be brutally honest, it is difficult to watch. The fact Betsey witnesses her father take his own life is a telling factor, particularly as she attempts to follow suit shortly afterwards. It’s easy to believe that everything which happens to Betsey – her gradual regression – stems from her father’s horrific death, but certain aspects leave it open to impression/interpretation. Firstly, none of these changes take place until she wanders into the woods behind a house party. Is she possessed or psychotic? Or something else. She talks about a new world order, but also stresses everything is for nothing. So, there is plenty of ambiguity – which is something I welcome in a film.
Some nice Special Features put the icing on the cake for a very effective and well-paced film exploring a fictional side of mental health. Deformity of the Flesh is an Interview with Director Ruth Paxton. Improvised Exorcism is an Interview with Betsey actress Jessica Alexander.Produced in a Pandemic is an Interview with Leonora Darby. Dark Edgesis an Interview with Cinematographer David Liddell. There is a Glasgow Film Festival Q & A with Ruth Paxton, Jessica Alexander & Sienna Guillory. Family Disorder is the Making of Banquet.
Verdict: 9 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022)
Starring: Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks, Robert Armstrong
Directed by Cooper & Schoedsack
Eureka Entertainment
October 2022
Big game hunter, Bob Rainsford, is on board a ship which flounders on rocks in a strait when it is discovered danger marker buoys have been moved. As the ship sinks in shark-infested waters, Bob – the only survivor – makes for the nearest island where he is taken in as a guest of Count Zaroff. It materialises that Zaroff is a dedicated hunter too, but the connection soon turns to suspicion when two other guests – a brother and sister – reveal their party previously numbered four and the other two have mysteriously disappeared. By the time the terrible truth is known, only the beautiful sister (Fay Wray) is left. Zaroff hunts people, and Bob is challenged to survive until sun-up...
To celebrate the classic film’s 90th anniversary, Eureka Entertainment releases Cooper and Schoedsack’s The Most Dangerous Gamefrom 1932 on Blu-ray for the first time, as part of its Masters of Cinema series. This pre-code horror/adventure film, starring Joel McCrea and Fay Wray, is presented from a 2K restored scan. The film is adapted from the hugely popular 1920s short story by Richard Connell. So ground-breaking was the story that countless books and films wherein a human being is hunted-down for entertainment, information, money or a number of other reasons originates back to The Most Dangerous Game.
The film fully utilises the lavish jungle sets created for King Kong… whilst Kong was still being made! Many of the cast and crew worked on Kong during the day and The Most Dangerous Game through the night. This gives the film added gravitas. It’s easy with hindsight to dismiss Leslie Banks’ portrayal of Count Zaroff as pantomime-like, but in truth it is an intense representation of a character on the edge of madness. The movie proves to be a nice little pot-boiler; a claustrophobic horror/adventure. It even plays-out an elaborate final clash between hero and villain which was only referred to in the story.
There is a brand-new audio commentary by that regular double-act author Stephen Jones and author/critic Kim Newman. Kim Newman appears on many classic film release extras and he is equally enthusiastic and entertaining here, with his talk on the hunted-human sub-genre. Not so much an interview as an engaging talk on the subject, bordering on rhetoric. Along with Mark Kermode, Kim Newman is the best film historian/critic around. There’s also a brand-new interview with film scholar Stephen Thrower. A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Craig Ian Mann completes the piece, illustrated with archival imagery.
This is a good release. Buy yourself a piece of film history… before I set the hounds after you.
Verdict: 9 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022)
Starring: GWAR
Directed by Scott Barber
Acorn Media International (Shudder)
October 2022
Acorn Media International releases the Shudder exclusive Blu-ray This is GWAR, a feature-length Rocumentary by Scott Barber which charts the Metal/Art Movement band GWAR from its 1984 beginnings in Richmond, Virginia, USA. The collective of musicians, artists and filmmakers were originally known as Slave Pit Inc. – the intention being to raise money to make a movie based on some of their extreme comic art. The artistry and theatrics was the asylum which took over the music to a certain extent. Nevertheless, their antics soon made them fan favourites – being described in some quarters as the sickest band in the world. Costumes and props became increasingly more crazy and extravagant, including spraying the crowd with theatre blood and other fake bodily fluids. Using stage footage and interviews with the seeming cast of thousands who have been in the line-up, this is the story of the individuals who have kept the dream alive for more than 30 years...
Although as a Metal music fan I was well aware of the existence of GWAR, I never really got into their bizarre style. For me, the band – particularly in the early years – seemed to be more about the horror-fantasy schlock and blatant sexual connotations than the music. The balance being heavy weighted on the former. Compare this to an act like Iron Maiden, whose stage show is there only to enhance the effect of the music. This changed slightly when GWAR reached the 2000s, the improved musicianship attracting more interest from the record label. But it was still tempered by sometimes very explicit lyrics which the band refused to pull or moderate, resulting in bans and the ultimate loss of sales and backing.
No matter my feelings towards the GWAR act, I am more than impressed by the professionalism with which this story has been put across. There is no showing-off, grandstanding or ‘slagging-off’ of fellow band mates. It’s simply an earnest warts-and-all exploration and, indeed, explanation of what has occurred internally over the years. There is heartfelt emotion covering the entire gamut of situations. The GWAR members talk with enthusiasm, irony, regret, excitement and sadness. A couple of the contributors speak with tears in their eyes about lost compatriots and there is no doubt that they miss their friends from the band. As with the very popular from-the-heart Anvil documentary (2008's Anvil! The Story of Anvil), this one also has a genuineness about it.
There is a host of Special Features, which include: a Commentary track with Derks and Bob Gorman; Behind the scenes of a GWAR show; GWAR on Empire Records; The Legend of GWAR; Last Interview with Dave Brokien; A Message from the Scum Dogs of the Universe; Four Pillars of GWAR; Slave Pit walk-through with Michael Bishop; and GWAR from the outside.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022)
Starring: BMG
Directed by George A. Romero
Acorn Media International (Shudder)
October 2022
Acorn Media International releases – for the first time on UK Blu-ray – the short film The Amusement Park from Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero. Just short of 50 years after its completion, the film has been rediscovered and restored. It was released in selective cinemas in 2019, and now this Shudder Exclusive is available to a wider audience via retail sale and digitally. Martin (Lincoln Maazel) is an elderly man who purchases tickets for a day at an amusement park. What he believes will be an ordinary day emerges as a sustained nightmare, as he learns how the senior citizens are (mis)treated or ignored by the general populace in the chaotic surroundings of the crowds and rides. The release incorporates new artwork and a number of extra features...
The first thing you will discover when watching this curious movie is that the amusement park itself is an allegory for life itself. It exists in order to provide examples of obstacles, pitfalls and general ignorance the elderly come across in everyday life – in many cases, treated as second-class citizens, if they are considered at all. Bearing in mind when this was made (1973), it was not only an original idea but a very serious subject put across fairly dramatically. I’m not certain the central character’s reactions are entirely believable, and this is one drawback of having all the allegories of life in one location and on one day. However, it makes its point well. Right from the start there is a queue of elderly people having to trade their worldly goods for tickets and being right royally stitched-up.
A well-handled scene depicts a young couple entering a fortune teller’s tent, only to be shown in graphic detail what they will suffer in the twilight of their lives. There are two attempts to innocently converse with a little girl, only to be shouted at and threatened as if a potential sexual predator. It is telling that this example is given even back in 1973. I remember Tom Baker once stating in an interview that parents only allow their young children to approach two strangers: Father Christmas and Doctor Who. I’m not even sure this is the case anymore, and that’s sad. All of the interacting or peripheral people in The Amusement Park come across as strangers, offering the whole almost a documentary feel. It’s not entertaining but address a problem which still hasn’t been addressed/rectified all these decades later.
Extras include: an Audio Commentary by Michael Gornick; Re-opening the Park: with Suzanne Desrocher-Romero; Bill & Bonnie’s Excellent Adventure: with Bonnie Hinzman; For Your Amusement: with artist Ryan Carr; a Panel Interviewwith Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, Sandra Schulberg, Greg Nicotero and Daniel Kraus – moderated by Shudder’s Samuel Zimmerman; The Amusement Park official brochure; The Amusement Park script; and a Behind-the-Scenes photo gallery.
Verdict: 3 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022)
Switching between the past and modern day, we see part of the events surrounding the Turkish/Armenian massacre at Mount Ararat, and the present day making of a film of the events. Adding poetic licence, the scriptwriter makes Gorky, an Armenian painter, a character and this brings in an art expert with knowledge and speculation on the man himself. She has a son and daughter by two different husbands. The son's father died trying to assassinate the Turkish ambassador, but the daughter resents the story she is told about her father dying by his own hand...
The same dark story is told from so many different angles here that you quickly feel depressed enough to consider watching a party political broadcast instead, or even eating a pot noodle (yes, that bad!). Charles Aznavour (yes, the guy who used to dance with himself) plays the film director, and Christopher Plummer plays a stone-faced customs man who stops the art consultant's son when entering the country, just so that he can blankly listen to his heartrending story.
The majority of films in this day and age will contain an element of humour, even if it's a wry comment or situational happenstance. It's all about light and shade. Without initial joy, how can you be taken by the sadness? People need to feel happy once in a while; it's what gets them through the trials and tribulations of everyday life. No such humour is to be found here. These are very serious themes; events which continue to shape the lives of the characters years after the event. Imagine Schindler's List and you won't be too far from the mark. At least Spielberg's film contained an underlying theme of hope, whereas this film prefers to stupefy itself in deep depression.
Many critics would find it simplicity itself to describe Ararat as pretentious or maudlin claptrap, but it doesn't quite fall that low. It is better than I expected. The characters appear to feel passionately about the past and how the new film might portray the apparent annihilation of the Armenian race. But would they really feel this strongly years later? In other words, do the Jews really still hate Germans, or just the idea of Nazism? Throughout history many nations have conquered and latterly been accused of mass slaughter: Turks, Greeks, British, Chinese, Romans, Americans... I can understand any race wanting to maintain its identity, but as one character in the film says, "Let's move on."
Not a bad film, by any means, but lacking that essential seed of hope for a bright future.
When new neighbours move in next door, Sid fails to hit it off with the pompous civil servant, while Jean gets on with the wife like a house on fire (or in this case, like a shed on fire). Matters are further complicated when their son, Mike secretly starts dating the neighbour's daughter...
Shenanigans aplenty and lots of running around ensue in this slapstick film version of the seventies sitcom series of the same name. Whilst hardly enthralled, I do have somewhat fond memories of the series. This film doesn't quite live up to its standards. For anyone who doesn't remember Bless This House, imagine a cocktail mix of Carry On capers, Terry and June (Terry Scott and June Whitfield are the neighbours), and Confessions of a Window Cleaner (Robin Askwith). What do you mean, you don't remember any of those either? Where have you been? Doing something useful with your life?
There's a veritable who's who rogues gallery of comedy names from the sixties and seventies. Aside from the aforementioned, we have Sid James (not at his best here), Diana Coupland, Peter Butterworth, Janet Brown, Bill Maynard, Wendy Richard (for anybody who's interested, she was in Are You Being Served before EastEnders), and countless others.
The slapstick elements, accompanied by guffaws and "oops" type sound effects make you wish for a hole to open up and swallow you. In other words, you feel embarrassed for the cast. However, this was often the style of comedy from the era. The throw away one-liners work best; for instance, Jean waking up Sid to tell him the job she wants him to do isn't urgent. This is timeless comedy, and the expression on Sid's face speaks volumes. In fact, Sid James plays the long-suffering father subsequently adopted by Geoffrey Palmer in Butterflies and As Time Goes By, and more recently, Robert Lindsey in My Family.
I doubt that this film will find much of an audience alone, and with only an extra trailer to its credit, will not tempt the causal buyer. I would package this with other films as an example of comedy from the period, or even better, with the Bless This House series.
Jeff and Amy Taylor are driving across state towards their new home when, after a near-miss with another vehicle, they break down on a desert road. A truck arrives and it's decided that Amy will catch a lift to a diner phone a few miles down the road. Jeff soon realises that his new 4-wheel drive has been sabotaged, but when he arrives at the diner nobody has seen his wife. Amy has been abducted as part of an ongoing kidnapping and extortion ring, and it seems that everybody is in on it. Jeff himself is ordered to have $90,000 that he doesn't possess wired from his bank to procure his wife's release. So begins a deadly game of cat and mouse, as he attempts to seek out and free his wife...
Kurt Russell has been one of the best modern action heroes, particularly in the excellent John Carpenter flicks Escape From New York and The Thing, but that approach wouldn't work here and, thankfully, Breakdown doesn't attempt it. Russell plays an average desperate man literally driven to the edge by a series of hazardous events. We witness the tumult of emotions (particularly convincing at the point when he believes his wife to be dead) and occasional ineptitude when forced to take matters into his own hands. Okay, so hanging on underneath a moving lorry and manoeuvring along its side is far-fetched, but you do get the impression that fear and desperation oblige the character to take ever-increasing risks.
Don't get me wrong; in the great scheme of things Breakdown is nothing very special. It isn't a blockbuster or a low-budget cult film, but something in-between. It borrows from Duel, The Hitcher and displays many influences; however, you don't fully realise this until you've enjoyed watching it.
As a dvd package it's poor. You would think an effort would be made to enhance this release with as many extras as possible: isolated music track, star filmographies... anything. With only a theatrical trailer to its name, there is no value for money except as a budget release.
For the first time on DVD and Blu-ray, we have all three series of the Rock spoof, Brian Pern, starring Simon Day. Each series consists of three half-hour episodes (that’s nine in all) which chronicle the many trials and tribulations of a has-been Progressive Rock singer. It features a veritable host of famous guest actors, musicians and presenters, against a backdrop of home, studio and live venues. This long-overdue complete set is released by Dazzler Media. Let the fun begin…
Some people might say that this series owes its style origins to The Office. The only thing is, those people would be wrong. Without a shadow of a doubt, Brian Pern would not exist if not for the timeless success of the brilliant This is Spinal Tap (and maybe, The Ruttles). Rather than Tap’s premise of an ageing English Metal band touring America, we get the Rockumentary/mockumentary following the daily life of a Prog Rock star from the seventies, with potted histories and flashbacks to his earlier crazy days. Although it’s never said outright, you can’t avoid the fact that the character is modelled on Peter Gabriel of Genesis and a subsequent and quite different solo career. Brian Pern is often promoted here as being the first musician to use plasticine in a video, and the originator of World Music. As this is in effect a comedy played straight, there are plenty of situations which go disastrously wrong.
Series 1 – The Life of Rock With Brian Pern starts at the very beginning, poking fun at Rock’s origins. The period dominated by LSD comes complete with weird images which includes one of the worst sequences from Doctor Who in the 1980s, featuring a character karate-kicking an alien monster. There is a recurrent piece in all three series which is stolen directly from Doctor Who’s original 'Master Theme'. The point here is that, being a BBC show, the sky is the limit as regards to which old panel programmes, music presentations and news items can be dug out, dusted-off and manipulated for spoof purposes. There are appearances over the serial by such luminaries as Roger Taylor, Rick Wakeman, Rick Parfitt, Jools Holland, Noddy Holder, Chrissie Hynde, Paul Young, Roger Moore, Paul Whitehouse, Nigel Havers, Christopher Eccleston, Matt Lucas, Michael Kitchen, Simon Callow, Martin Freeman, Peter Bowles, Tony Blackburn, Cathy Burke, and many, many more.
Series 2 – Brian Pern: A Life in Rock is primarily about charity records and concerts, a musical play a la War of the Worlds, the Christmas album and tax evasion. I particularly like Pern’s radio interview by newscaster John Humphrys, in which he is asked some very pointed questions. Pern describes his charity record to save the rain forests, which has an ape singing backing vocals. When asked what he is going to use the money for, he explains it’s for bullet-proof vests to protect the gorillas from poachers. There is also Phil Collins playing the crashing drum piece from 'In the Air Tonight' over the top of the quiet intro to Led Zeppelin’s 'Stairway to Heaven'. The musical play is about Pern’s career, except without the music! The play becomes something quite different, and he can do nothing about it, as he is arrested. I particularly like the moment when Rick Parfitt is brought in to help him with his World Music album, but contributes only Status Quo-like 12-bar riffs.
Series 3 – 45 Years of Prog And Roll covers a potted history of the band Thotch, it’s albums and solo projects. A reunion concert is organised, and this spawns one of the best lines from Pern’s manager when he is originally against the idea: ‘Did you see the Rolling Stones at Glastonbury? It was like Last of the Summer Wine directed by George A. Romero!’ We also get to learn what the original members of Thotch really think of each other, and how they justify what they have become. The culmination of the whole thing is the reunion concert itself, which has some funny and bizarre moments, including the unwelcome appearance of an original member of Thotch, played at his mad thespian best by Simon Callow.
At some points the serial does suffer from diminishing returns, because you begin to guess what will happen in certain situations. However, overall, this is a highly enjoyable piece of comedic TV which will appeal to anyone who loves This is Spinal Tap, or simply wants an insight into the ridiculousness of the music industry.
A woman witnesses an argument between her son and a man with criminal connections. When she comes across the body of the man, she assumes her son murdered him and sets about covering it up. When an associate arrives at the house with evidence of a sexual connection (so to speak!) between the dead man and her son, the woman becomes the subject of blackmail. However, when she fails to raise the money quickly enough the blackmailer shows up again, only to end up saving the life of the woman's father who has suffered a heart attack...
The Deep End is one of those thrillers where something small escalates out of control. One indecision or mistake accumulates and conspires to confound all attempts to lay the problem to rest. It's been done before and we'll see it again.
My first thought after viewing The Deep End was, if the mother had conducted a proper heart to heart with her son in the first place then none of the subsequent events would have occurred. The idea of someone going to any lengths to protect their family has so much scope for exploitation with the love-conquers-all theme and the hunted becoming the hunter, etc.
Despite good reviews plastered all over the dvd cover this movie fails to deliver on any of this. Just when you think the plot is starting to take off the whole package comes to a juddering halt like a tired old jalopy. This film isn't exactly a nonentity, it's simply mediocre, a damp squib. It certainly would have benefited from a tighter script and less lacklustre performances. Imagine any one of a hundred weekday afternoon telemovies screened by Channel 5 and you won't be too far from the mark.
Dr Mabuse The Gambler is the precursor to the recently reviewed sequel, The Testament of Dr Mabuse. Based on a novel by Norbert Jacques, this one follows the exploits of a criminal genius who stamps his authority on 1920s German society. Through strict rules and force of will, he terrorises the public and those thieves, murderers and counterfeiters forced to work under his control, because no one crosses Dr Mabuse and lives...
First shown in 1922, Fritz Lang originally made this as a two-part film (4.5 hours in its entirety). Rudolf Klein-Rogge plays the title character as he did in the sequel (incidentally, he also played Rotwang the scientist in Lang's Metropolis). Proof that timing is an important factor in all things comes in the fact that The Gambler depicts more violence in a decadent society than Testament, and yet it was the latter which was banned by the Nazis, Hitler having just been appointed chancellor.
With the sequel already out on DVD, it's giving nothing away to reveal that The Gambler ends at the point of Mabuse's fall into madness and incarceration into a mental asylum.
Once again full marks go to the incredible reconstruction job carried out in 2000 using the German and foreign distribution negatives. The digitally remastered picture and sound is as clear as you could ever want it. Who would have believed a few years ago that we would be listening to a 1922 film score in digital 5.1 surround sound!
Having said that, because this is a silent movie (with both German and English subtitles) there is an unnecessary need for constant orchestral blasting or piano maiming. Imagine over four hours of manic Keystone Cops-type music and you'll probably understand why I was driven to distraction. But as soon as you mute the sound your mind wanders, so it is necessary in hindsight as a focus. The documentary Mabuse's Music has Aljoscha Zimmermann demonstrate and rationalise Gottfried Huppertz's composition, but a central theme even with variations soon wears thin.
Other extra features include: Norbert Jacques, the Literary Inventor of Dr Mabuse; the Motives and Themes of Mabuse; a photo gallery; Facts and Dates; Biographies; and Imprint (restoration credits).
As often proves the case, I preferred learning about the background to the film much more than the feature itself, but this two-disc package will be a worthy addition to any collector's library of any old and rare films.
Crane, a top criminal lawyer (with the emphasis on criminal), rapes his new secretary and then arranges to have her killed when she threatens to destroy his new posting as a judge. Nathan, a young man just released from jail for car theft, gets the job. He is looking for his real father who happens to be the lawyer, and befriends two women, one of whom happens to be the rape victim. Before even learning the identity of his target, Nathan decides not to go through with it, but an associate who desperately needs the money takes the down-payment and carries out the hit. When Nathan arrives too late to save her, he is blamed for the murder...
Were you paying attention there, because I'll be asking questions later. The fact is the above describes just part of this intricate plot. There are more twists and turns in this movie than... well, a twisty-turny thing. None of the action really succeeds in pulling off a surprise, and you can't help feeling that it's too predictable. However, the performances are strong and the pace rockets along, pulling you with it. Even the commercial rock songs mix well with the incidental music, all of which suit the mood of the piece well.
Behind the majority of the scheming is Crane, who manipulates most of the other characters into acting out his own private puppet show. He steers the hitman into the lap of gangsters, sends his illegitimate son into a police trap, and even manages a convenient divorce with his wife. But the reason why there is no such thing as the perfect murder is nobody can possibly foresee all events; there's always a random factor which materialises to confound the best planning, and that's what we get here.
In short then, a movie with far too many convenient coincidences, which nevertheless succeeds in putting its story across well.
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2003)
A young man is discovered at a poolside and offered a part in a film. He goes on to star in another picture, but dreams of entering into production work. Finally achieving this, he works for Paramount, lifting it from number nine to number one company, and in doing so saving it from the brink of collapse. Now an independent producer, the future looks rosy. However, the police set him up in buying pharmaceutical drugs, and suddenly no one will do business with the man. When attempting to secure independent financing at the Cannes festival for his next film, he is named as a suspect in the killing of another producer with whom he had done business. Although never tried, and later proved innocent, he finds himself at rock bottom. He is ejected from the Paramount office, and sells his beloved home retreat. Contemplating suicide now, the man books himself into a sanitarium, but soon realises he is the only one who can get his life back on track. After a desperate breakout from the secure unit, the man strives to get back his house and recover his life...
With a rollercoaster plot like this, it could only be contrived fiction, right? Wrong. The Kid Stays in the Picture is the true life story of Robert Evans, at 35 years plus the longest running producer at Paramount Pictures. You couldn't invent such a turbulent history as this, or one with as much lucky happenstance and sheer excitement. At first I thought I was watching the making-of, rather than the main feature. The entire biopic is narrated by the man himself; there is next to no acted dialogue, and only a handful of old film scenes, the majority of the project being constructed of stills only. This may sound extremely tedious, but you soon find yourself sucked into a life-story of glitz, glamour, wheeling, dealing, scheming, bullying, back-stabbing, and of course sex.
Most people will not have heard of Robert Evans, so here's a few high- and low-points of his career, some of which you might be able to connect with. He produced Rosemary's Baby, employing Roman Polanski as director. Frank Sinatra demanded that his wife, Mia Farrow, be released for his film, The Detective. She agonised over the decision, but when Evans showed her the dailies she decided to stay. Sinatra arrived on the set to serve her his divorce papers; Farrow had the last laugh when Rosemary's Baby was the smash hit of the summer, easily outgrossing The Detective. Love Story practically saved Paramount from self-destruction. Evans married the female lead, Ali McGraw, but later lost her to an illicit love affair with Steve McQueen. When Evans was at his lowest ebb, the new head of Paramount - a man to whom Evans had given his first break back in the sixties - offered the producer back his old job. And, stranger still, Jack Nicholson persuaded the owner of Evans' old house to sell it back to him. You couldn't make it up! At a book-signing he was attracted to a woman and asked her out for dinner. She laughed in his face and said, "You're 72, my last two boyfriends didn't add up to that!" Six months later they were married.
This will appeal to fans of Robert Evans' work and general followers of the film industry. There's some great extras for anyone interested in this sort of thing: a couple of award ceremonies, including the Lifetime Achievement Award; film of a personal pitch for Love Story; interviews with various film business people on their experiences of Evans; A gag reel featuring mainly Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man (another of his productions); and a theatrical trailer. If you're only looking for whizzes and bangs, look elsewhere. This won't appeal to a mass mainstream audience, but it is refreshingly different and worth seeing at least once.
Sean Crawley is a young man with no attachments who earns money doing odd jobs. When Duke Wayne offers him a cash-in-hand job following a man day and night he jumps at the chance. Then Duke takes Sean to meet Ray Matthews, a local businessman who offers him $13,000 to kill the man. Although he is expected to fail, thereby seriously frightening the man, he messily and somewhat clumsily succeeds...
Whilst the realisation of what he has done haunts him, he discovers that the dead man had been investigating corruption surrounding Matthews and his shady building enterprises. When demanding his money, Sean is physically threatened and ordered to leave town. He tells them he has the dead man's evidence file hidden and refuses to tell them where it is, so they drive him to a remote ranch where they periodically strike his head with a golf club, hoping to turn him into a vegetable. Eventually escaping, Sean makes his way back to town where he gets treatment and a bed at a mission. Susan, the beautiful widow of Sean's victim works there, and they strike up a close relationship. But everything goes sour when she finds his file, and Sean is obliged to take his revenge against Matthews, Duke, and their cohorts.
On the surface King of the Ants is an average tale of corruption and murder, but I have to confess it grows on you, slowly hooking you so that, even though you guess roughly how it's going to end, you want to see it through anyway. I suppose it's the age-old David and Goliath story of the little man (the "Ant" of the title) rising up in the face of adversity. It's also about survival, endurance and revenge, base human instincts.
This could so easily have looked silly; so many films about local villains tend to drown in cringeworthy dialogue, but King of the Ants, by luck or good judgement avoids the normal pitfalls. In fact, at the start of the story the filming appears amateurish, as if handled by a technophobe with a camcorder, but this is soon forgotten when the rest is completed competently and on an increasing scale, considering the cast is very small. It almost makes you think it was done on purpose... but not quite.
One drawback is Daniel Baldwin, so smooth as the corrupt businessman that he almost slips over several times on his ice-coolness. However, it is good to see George Wendt (Norm in Cheers) playing the hard man Duke, in contrast to his more well known half-drunken slob character.
King of the Ants is not so good that you'll want to watch it on a weekly basis, but it's well worth going out of your way to view once... Best described as an unmistakably low-key but enjoyable romp.
A series of child murders takes place and the citizens are in a state of panic, publicly condemning the police for their lack of progress. While an inspector follows his first solid lead in the investigation, the city's underworld decides to take matters into its own hands, the heightened police presence being detrimental to its nefarious business practices and street crime. The murderer is finally cornered within an office building, but the villains of the underworld are obliged to wait until after dark to break in and systematically search for their prey. Succeeding just before the police arrive, they drag him off to an abandoned warehouse where they conduct a kangaroo court, with the intention of issuing out their own brand of vigilante justice...
Although a decent enough film for its time, M, unlike Metropolis, certainly doesn't deserve the 'classic' label attached to it by many film historians. This is a fictional piece said to be based on Peter Kurten, the real life 'Monster of Dusseldorf'. Made in 1931, it was subsequently banned under the Nazis and didn't resurface until 1960. The running time had been reduced from 117 minutes to only 99, and the movie was released under the titles M - Your Murderer Looks At You, and M - A City Hunts a Murderer.
Viewing the film now, it comes across as strangely unbalanced; at one moment frantic with movement, and the next fixing for an eternity on one frame. There is so much rushed dialogue that it is virtually impossible to keep up with the subtitles, requiring you to scan-read the text. As you would think, this somewhat mars the comfortable enjoyment of watching a movie. And when white words occasionally appear on a light background, you might as well give up hope.
The visuals make their point well, and the themes explored are brave and inventive for the period. Condemnation of the police and mob rule tactics were probably what led to its ban. Peter Lorre is... well, Peter Lorre: creepy and strange. Having said that, the film is still average in my eyes. What really deserves special mention is the extensive restoration work. The massive cleanup of both picture and sound from the original 35mm print is nothing short of miraculous. Judging by the documentary, The Restoration of M - Peter Campbell, it was a painstaking process using the latest technology. This was undoubtedly a labour of love. The comparisons show that the recovered film prints were practically unwatchable, plagued by multiple scratches, creases and all manner of white blotches, as well as sound marks. Seeing evidence of the damaged goods you would never have thought the finished product was possible. I can't praise this marvellous work enough.
Other extras in this two-disc set, aside from the aforementioned, include an interview with writer and director Fritz Lang; a documentary on the man himself; a visual essay from film historian R. Dixon Smith; animated biographies, photo gallery, set designs, and an interesting feature commentary (for example, the nasty rhyme sang by the children at the start of the picture, was made famous by M, but actually evolved a decade earlier when a killer terrorised Munich).
Obviously, this release will not appeal to many casual film-buyers; however, if you're a collector of old movies (and there are plenty around) this will be an indispensable purchase. The remastering, plethora of extras, and packaging alone deserve more points than the film itself.
Steve Myers is a lawyer turned fisherman whose boat is struck by lightening and sunk during a storm. Seriously out of pocket and with no livelihood, he turns to the insurance company. Although he insists his cover is comprehensive the company refuses to settle, citing the incident an Act of God. Knowing he can't win against the corporations, Myers decides to sue God instead. The church is forced to defend the case in court, whilst Myers represents himself and the countless others conned out of their rightful entitlement by a convenient interpretation of the law. The subject becomes a media circus, but when Anna Redmond, a reporter who helps him and with whom he falls in love, is revealed to be a long-time nuisance campaigner against insurance companies, he nearly loses the case. Nevertheless, Myers decides to go for a moral rather than true victory...
The quotes from various periodicals which adorn the cover of this video call this film "Hilarious", "A comic gem", and "Simply divine". The truth is it's none of these, but it is mildly amusing. The idea is sound, if a little far-fetched, and the cast is generally good.
The main part is played by that well-known stand-up comedian monster of mirth... Astro as Arthur the dog. Oh, and Billy Connelly's in it too. All joking aside, the dog is a superbly well-trained animal whose friendly and adventurous nature proves an ideal tool for warming the audience to the main players as quickly as possible.
Let's face it, nobody likes money-pinching bureaucrats, so the subject matter partly endears us to the film even though we realise it's both nonsense and morally valid.
The most apt phrase which springs to mind is quirky. There is no attempt to upset any ardent religious people; in fact, it's made plain by Connelly's character that he is not suing God in the literal sense, but a company whose representatives are the clergy. It is a device with which to point out that the church is being used by the insurance companies as a get-out clause; that they should be insulted by this defamation of character, because God is in effect being blamed for every personal disaster.
In the gangland streets known as Hell's Kitchen a group of boys vow to support and protect each other. Years later two of them become involved in a money laundering scheme that goes seriously wrong, incurring the wrath of the local crime boss. When one of the group is discovered dead, supposedly of a drugs overdose, Frank learns the truth that he was killed. The most obvious suspect is the crime boss, but is it that simple?...
Crime lords, street gangs, drug dealers, Mafia mobsters or gangsters; they all meld into one messy blob as far as I'm concerned. Perhaps I'm not the best person to pass judgement on this film, because this is just about the worst genre there is. I think it's probably due to the fact the subject is all so clichéd, and One Eyed King is no exception. You can pretty much guess the events which will take place: stabbings, shootings, beatings, double-dealing and constant threats against the backdrop of strict Catholicism and strong family ties (yeah, right!) where they love their own like brothers until they turn their backs.
Characterisation is an even more convincing example of stereotyping. Italian (or Irish) Americans with slick-back hair (usually called Gino, Toni or Louis) put cotton wool in their cheeks and talk with dodgy Mafia-like accents.
All this might seem like rambling, but it gets my point across. This film achieves nothing in dispelling the myth. Predictable and monotonously conventional.
Si is a lonely man with no relatives or friends, who becomes obsessed with a family through camera prints he processes regularly whilst working at a one hour photo booth in a department store. When he learns via somebody else's prints that the man is having an affair, Si takes matters into his own hands...
Firstly, let me say that I'm not a fan of Robin Williams. In my opinion, he's one of those actors who is stuck in a single enactment of weakness and compassion, in the same manner that Jim Carrey can only do manic comedy. Having said all that, Williams pulls off a faultless performance and certainly the most natural since his fun-filled early start in Mork and Mindy. In fact, he carries the film, convincing me it would be nothing without him. I actually felt genuinely sympathetic towards the character who, with the best of intentions, goes about things the wrong way.
At the conclusion of the film we discover just why Si considers happy families to be so important. The revelation comes as a throw-away line, but it puts all the movie's motives into perspective. It's not the tightest script in the world. There's no outright resolution. The tale simply comes to an end without the audience discovering how the characters are affected, but it is compelling in its own way.
One Hour Photo is among those many films which lose much of their power after one viewing. However, as a family film which becomes a psychological thriller it serves its purpose well.
A pretty young woman is mistreated and often kept prisoner by her brute of a husband, watched over and aided by his backwater friend. A local clairvoyant/witch tells her on a rare outing that her true lover is close and, although the road will be hard, everything will turn out for the better in the end. It transpires she is seeing a young and rich businessman who only feels connected to life when he is with her. Her husband's friend hangs around her like a puppy-dog and she eventually manipulates him into killing her husband and dumping his body in the swamp. She is now free, but she hasn't accounted for the friend's infatuation, and the difference in class between her and her lover could be a bridge too far...
Although this is a fairly average film, you do find yourself being drawn into events. It's probably due to Inez (Dominique Swain) who manages sexy, vulnerable and scheming in degrees with little difficulty. Even dirty and beaten-up she is alluring; and this is necessary because otherwise you wouldn't believe the possessiveness of Edgar (Henry Thomas; remember Elliot in E.T.?) or the crush of the husband's friend.
Karen Allen, the supporting star of many 1980s movies (including John Carpenter's Starman and Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark), plays the chain-smoking mystic with no time for her kids.
Check this one out if you have 97 minutes to spare, but don't go out of your way.
Kenichi is a half-Chinese half-Japanese ex-member of the Taiwanese Mafia. He is both ostracised and held responsible for the killing of the Shanghai Don's right-hand-man, who was actually assassinated by Kenichi's old partner, Wu Fu-chun. Threatened on all sides by organised gangs from Taiwan, Shanghai and Beijing, Kenichi agrees to trace Fu-chun and hand him over. However, the situation is further complicated by the arrival of a young woman who says she can get him Fu-chun at a price. She appears to fall for Kenichi, but should she be trusted? The word is out that she's Fu-chun's woman and he wants her back...
Actually there's a lot more to this film than that, and that's undoubtedly its major downfall. I've got to admit I'm not a great lover of gangster movies. Sleepless Town is probably considerably more involved than most. There are some nice revelations and twists, but there's far too many players, making the plot confusing at times. That's not to say I didn't appreciate the look and feel of the movie, for which the director and cinematographer should feel proud.
Takeshi Kaneshiro (who was in House of Flying Daggers) plays the anti-hero part of Kenichi as a calm, somewhat cold fish that nevertheless you can't help liking. It's nice to see that occasional slip of the emotions which make him much more believable as a character.
The strangest thing about this film is the music. There's a repetitive theme reminiscent of what you might hear at a cheap French carnival. It is so far removed from the style of the movie that it simply doesn't fit at all. Likewise, the old song Unforgettable is played three times to montages of images which could easily have been cut entirely with no serious loss of plot progression. A rock-style Japanese song, used on the DVD's menus and the film's closing credits, would have suited as incidental music much better.
A lot of great films have emerged from East Asia during the last few years. I'm a big fan of Japanese horror (nobody does it better these days), and it's made me more open to sampling other genres from that part of the world. However, as I've already intimated, Mafia and gangs leave me somewhat cold. So, Sleepless Town gets a lower rating, but that's almost certainly down to the genre.
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