Killing them Softly

An American Crime film directed by Andrew Dominik and released in 2012.

Gritty and brutal with a dash of dark humor, this film is a grim tale of high end, american criminal activity set during the 2008 presidential elections. The movie is essentially a gangster film but without the glamour, it's a down right nasty tale of some hapless criminals who are hunted down and killed by a hired hit man (Played by Brad Pitt). Initially the film seems a lot lighter than in fact it is, what with the two bumbling criminals robbing the money from a poker game while wearing kitchen gloves and wielding a ridiculously small sawed-off shotgun. The film turns dark and horrific once Markie Trattman (Played by Ray Liotta) is savagely beaten in the street by two paid thugs, the film is bleak and aggressive from this point on with a smattering of humor to help it along. 

This is not a comedy film, it just has moments of comedy embedded in it and if you're expecting to see something funny or light harted then you're in for a shock. In your average gangster movie when someone's shot that's the end of it, in this film you see them tagged and freezer drawed in the morgue. There's no happy ending and no positive message, the film's harsh subtext seems to be making the point that we can't get along and we do everything for money because life is just another job. And I'm sorry but Brad Pitt doesn't even take off his top this time :(

This is another film that certainly requires it's 18 cert, it doesn't tip toe round any issues and instead gets straight to the point. It's one of those heavy films that you only watch once. 

The cinematography is really good and provides a wonderful look for the film, with slow motion shots similar to those in Dredd. You could say that the visuals and overall feel of the film are both very beautiful and also so goddamn ugly. Not sure I can really recommend this film but if you do go to see it be aware it's ruthlessly unforgiving and doesn't hold back.   

    

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Bram Stoker's Dracula an American film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released in 1992.

The scene in which Dracula and Mina are both in clothing.

An arty and flamboyant take on the Gothic tale of Dracula by Bram Stoker, surreal and make believe. This film's overall style is one that is Bohemian and experimental with a good helping of pornography mixed in, the acting is intentionally camped up and the costume and lighting are amazingly colorful and elaborate.   

Keanu Reeves trying to act.

Gary Oldman's interpretation of Dracula is interesting and original, it certainly contrasts with the lack of performance from Keanu Reeves whose absence of any facial expression and awful fake British accent are unbearable to behold. This movie is worth a watch but may not be to everyone's taste, depending on what the viewer takes away from the artistic and  avant garde aesthetic of the film, the appearance of a naked pair of breasts every few scenes can seem either gratuitous or in keeping with the romantic/Gothic style. Sex and death are of course two strong themes of the Gothic genre and Bram Stoker's Dracula is the most sexed up version of Dracula you're lightly to find.    

Lucy rises from her tomb.

Although an interesting and entertaining film, it does feel as though it's trying a little too hard to be 'arty' and is very much an over kill. If you want a film that is camp and slightly pretentious then this is the one for you, however if you're looking for a good Dracula film then I would much sooner recommend Tod Browning's 1931 film Dracula or the numerous Dracula Hammer films from the 1960s. I did enjoy watching Bram Stoker's Dracula but it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been had the acting and plot not suffered in favor of the visuals.

Blood!

Dead Snow

Dead Snow a Norwegian horror/comedy directed by Tommy Wirkola and released in 2009.

Nazi Zombies!

This film is horrific and frightening but is far too over the top to seem scary or in anyway realistic. The excessive gore is coupled perfectly with the absurdity of the films premise, the overall idea of a film featuring nazi zombies is in its self crazy and ridiculous. Dead Snow shares a similar style and humor to films such as Brain Dead, Black Sheep, The Evil Dead etc. in that the situation and violence are taken to such an extreme that they become comical.

A copious amount of blood. 

Like many other slasher films of this ilk, the movie starts when a group of young adults decide to go and spend their holidays in a cabin off in the middle of no where. After arriving at the cabin the gang are visited by a strange local guy who warns them that there is evil lurking in the hills. The stranger gives a long ex-positional speech all about how the nazis were stationed in the area and were nasty to the locals and stole their possessions. The cabin, the stranger and the talk of an 'evil presence' are all so cliched that it becomes hard to take the film seriously and instead the viewer is dragged into a tongue and cheek horror romp, this is made all the more funny when the nazi zombies start to appear.

These natzis are pissed!

This film is fun to watch  and still packs quite a punch in terms of sheer horror and gore, the plot and characters development are fairly obvious and straight forward, there are no big surprises in this film. Early on we discover that one of the characters is scared of blood and another has claustrophobia, rather unsurprisingly one ends up covered in blood while the other becomes trapped beneath an avalanche.  

The group find a box of gold that the natzis stole from the local community.

Beyond the interesting and original idea of nazi zombies in the snow the rest of the film is very average. There are far better horror/comedy films out there to enjoy and although this film is good for some easy going and pretty mindless entertainment, it doesn't hold a candle to such films as Shaun of the Dead, The Cottage, Tucker and Dale Vs Evil etc. If you don't want a film that's too challenging and you'd rather not have to think much about the plot then give it a try, it is a fun film to watch although I would not rank it too highly. You may wish to watch it so you can tick it off your list.

 

Dredd

Dredd is an action film directed by Pete Travis film released in 2012.

Don't mess with Judge Dredd!

Dredd has been certified as 18 and for good reason. The film is extremely violent with graphic depictions of people being flayed as well as having large bullet wounds blown into their bodies in super slow motion. The blood and guts spray through the air and if you see this film in 3D, as I did, then you may feel safer with an umbrella. The film is based on the original comics and is set in a crime and poverty ridden city some time in the distant future. This movie is dark and gritty, and in some ways I prefer it to the flood of superhero films which are all together more tame and cliche.

Dredd attacks some gang members on a stairwell using gas grenades. 

Dredd is a judge whose job it is to up hold law and order with his fists and his big gun. Dredd is the law, and with no mercy or remorse he will see that the law is followed in anyway possible, no matter how violent. Dredd is the polar opposite of superheros like batman as he is certainly no vigilante and kills lots of people, he is there to do a payed job and for him it's just that, a job. Dredd is there to administer not his own justice but the justice of the law, he is tough and not to be messed with.

Anderson and Dredd

In the movie, Dredd (Played by Karl Urban) is teamed up with new trainee judge Cassandra Anderson (Played by Olivia Thirlby) who has psychic abilities. The two go to investigate a homicide at 'Peach Trees' which is a large tower block filled with hundreds of families all ruled over by the leader of a vicious gang called Ma-Ma (Played by Lena Heady). Ma-Ma's gang have created and distributed a new illegal drug called 'slo-mo', which slows down time perception. Dredd and Anderson are trapped within Peach Trees and slowly work their way upwards killing people as they go, anyone who is in the gang or assisting the gang in any way is up for execution and as it turns out there are many who fall under that description.

Dredd is certainly not for the faint heated and anyone who has an aversion to violence or a fear of heights may be best watching a film about talking rabbits instead. Not the best film ever but edgy, gritty and action packed, if there is a sequel to this film I will be tempted to see it.  

The Artist

The Artist is a silent, black and white French film written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius and released in 2011.

The Artist poster.

The film tells the story of the transition from silent films to 'talkies' and what impact this had on actors of the time. The main protagonist, George Valentin (Played by Jean Dujardin), begins the film as a hugely successful movie star of the silent era but as the film moves into the late 20s and early 30s he is quickly cast aside to make room for new actors who talk. Valentin cannot adjust to the new style of acting and attempts to direct his own independent silent film 'Tears of Love' which sadly goes down like a lead balloon, Valentin's life goes completely down hill and he becomes an alcoholic.

This film captures the mood of early Hollywood, with it's mean and unforgiving movie producers trying to make as much money as possible and ruthlessly laying people off along the way. From the period costume and sets, to the pompous sounding music score, this film does well in creating the illusion of a film from the 20s but with much better quality and smoother special effects.  

George Valentin and his dog.

  
Sound is used in this film very sparingly, one memorable instant is when George Valentin has a frightening anxiety dream about the switch over from silent films to films with sound. In the dream sequence everything around him is making a noise but he remains silent, this is very effective as by this point in the film the viewer is used to the absence of sound and so it comes as a shock to suddenly hear people laughing, doors slamming and busy traffic. The only other moment in which sound it used is at the end of the film when Valentin finally embraces the future and teams up with his old co-star Peppy Miller (Played by Berenice Bejo) to form a tap dancing duo. This is the first time we hear the character's voices and it makes the ending of the film interesting as well as representing the evolution of film making.

Valentin has a nightmare about a world of sound.

 
Valentin's love interest the sweet Peppy Miller, starts out as a big fan of Valentin and this is what inspires her to join the film industry. Valentin then breaks up with his wife and becomes depressed as a result of plummeting from number one star to nobody, meanwhile Peppy Miller becomes a huge star as the new face of talking films. There is something rather sad about this film as it is essentially about the death of an old art form and times changing so fast that people are left behind, we see audiences enjoying the silent films immensely but only to tire of them.

Peppy Miller being made up for camera.

The story is heart warming and emotional, the overall theme is interesting and imaginative but it is difficult to say whether this film deserved all the awards it got. 2011 wasn't an amazing year for films, although amidst Jack and Jill and Season of the Witch were some brilliant films such as Captain America, Sucker Punch, The Muppets etc. but The Artist is certainly one of the best, had this film been released in 2012 it would probably not have won as many award as it did. One thing's for sure, watching this movie has made me want to see some more silent films, 1920s here I come...

Valentine and Miller first meet.

 

What is Horror?

It's often difficult to define what genre a film is, based on it's content, because most of the themes associated with the various genres overlap. A scary film is rarely 'just a horror' as it may contain comedy, romance, action and drama. Films such as Trainspotting or Pulp Fiction have moment that are quite horrific but they're certainly not horror films. People know when they're watching a horror not necessarily because of the content but because of the feeling they get, a rush of dread, the feeling of waiting for something to jump out. Some horror films display a sense of horror but don't actually contain any blood, gore or death.

Hannibal Lector from The Silence of the Lambs 1991

I have always considered the film Silence of the Lambs to be a horror movie and yet other serial killer films like Zodiac clearly aren't because the focus of the film is less on the horrific aspects and instead concentrates on the investigation. Then you have films such as Seven, a serial killer film that is often placed in the horror category but is considered by many to be a thriller. The problem with the thriller genre is that it encompasses nearly every film, whenever someone is unsure what genre a movie is they say it's a thriller. Personally I have always felt that thriller is a branch of horror anyway and as any true horror movie fan knows, the horror genre is in many ways as diverse as cinema itself. There's gothic horror, slasher horror, scifi horror, comedy horror, romantic horror, psychological horror, body horror, action horror etc.

Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2007

   

Tim Burton is a director who has made horror films in the form of musicals, this demon-straits how far horror has managed to spread as a genre. I have always been drawn to what I would describe as 'spookiness', skeletons, bats, candles and cobwebs the things people associate with horror films but which don't necessarily have to involve any gore or violence. Some times the scariest thing about a film is the overall concept or ideology behind whats happening in the story and this can conjure up a dark urge or morbid curiosity that keeps you glued to the screen, dramatic irony is often used to great effect in gothic horror of this nature 'we know she's still alive inside the coffin but he doesn't'.

Paranormal Activity 2007

I believe that, like most films, to enjoy a horror film you can't just watch it you have to feel it and live through it. Only then do you get a proper sense of what the characters go through and amerce yourself into their world. 
     

Troll Hunter

Troll Hunter is a Norwegian film directed by André Øvredal which came out in 2010.

A big ass troll!

The first 'found footage' film I've seen that doesn't try to be scary but instead comes across more like a fantasy based wildlife documentary. Although there are moments put in to frighten the viewer such as the usual 'creeping around with night vision' moments that appear in almost every found footage film, this is not a horror film and certainly doesn't make an effort to be scary. The trolls themselves are not horrifying monsters but rather comical looking large hairy creatures with big noses, it's more like watching animals only these animals are stupid and giant, which as it turns out is not a good combination.

Thomas talking to the camera.

The film is about some students who are making a documentary about bear poachers and acidently stumble across a man they believe to be a poacher but who turns out to be hunting something a little bigger than a bear. The troll hunter, Hans (played by Otto Jespersen), is working for a branch of the government called the Troll Security Service whose job it is to keep the trolls under control and prevent them making contact with humans. Unfortunately there is something not quite right with the trolls and they are being a little less scarce than normal.

Luring a troll onto a bridge.

 What lets this otherwise interesting, entertaining and unusual film down is that it feels the need to be a 'found footage' film as well as a mockumentary, when really it'd probably work better just in a mockumentary style. The ending of the film is abrupt with a silent message appearing on the screen informing us that the camera tapes were found but that the people in the film are still missing... the exact same ending as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Where ever this film tries to be a 'found footage' it runs into cliche and where ever it behaves more like a documentary it gets interesting. Worth checking out I think.      

It Came From Outer Space!

Directed by Jack Arnold and starring Richard Carlson, It Came From Outer Space was released as a 3D film in 1953.

Ellen and John watch the alien space craft crash to earth.

Thought by many to be one of the greatest 3D films of all time, It Came From Outer Space was filmed for 3D cinema but does not draw too much attention to the fact in a way that is cheesy, unlike some of the other 3D films around at the time.
This clip from the 1953 film House of Wax demonstraits how some films drew far too much attention to the new 3D effect:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6gRO0wixQM


 At first glance It Came From Outer Space seems like a pretty standard 50s SciFi film with our white male hero driving his best gal around in an open top car, while she tries not to scream or faint at the sight of the nasy alien monsters. This film however was unique at the time as it's the first alien invasion movie in which the aliens aren't actually trying to invade but have arrived by accident and against their will, in other words they're non hostile.

John finds a strange craft at the bottom of the crater.

One night while star gazing John Putnam (played by Richard Carlson) and Ellen Fields (played by Barbara Rush) see a bright object fall from the sky. The object, thought to be a meteor, creates a huge crater in the desert. John journeys down into the crater where he finds a strange alien ship, before John can show anyone else his descovery a rock slide buries the evidence. While the papers laugh at the stories John Putnam tells them, the aliens try to repair their crashed ship by disguising themselves as humans and gathering resources they need from the town. It is now left to John to prove to the world he's not mad and find out what the aliens are up to.

John comes across two of the aliens disguised as humans.

John Putnam is the first 'cool' scientist, before him scientists in films were either insane madmen or boring academics. It Came From Outer Space gave us the first action packed, all american hero who was also an intelligent expert. The hats and suit jackets, and delicate women, all make the film seem very dated fitting into a style typical of cinema in the 40s/50s and reflecting the times. What i do like about this film is the use of cinematography, the use of shadows and low and high angle shots help to create a mood of mystery and suspence as well as a sense that the characters are being watched. The film is a social comment on mankind's rash and cofrontational approach to the unknown and the disgust people feel for what they don't understand, origionally the director Jack Arnold did not want the aliens to be revealed at all and instead build up an atmospere of suspence and tention without ever having to cut to a man in a rubber costume. The studio had different ideas and in the end the alien does reveal it's true form as a scary one eye'd monster, rather poignantly though the creature goes on to explain that they are not ready to meet and get along because the humans wouldn't be able to get past how hidious their appearence is.

The alien's true form!

This is still an enjoyable film to watch and has plenty of good ideas planted in it as well as some beautiful dialogue. It's also the film that really launched Richard Carlson's career as a SciFi actor and he would later appear in films like The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Magnetic Monster. Overall I'd say that although this movie is concidered a classic it doesn't stand out as being incredibly different to alot of other films around at the time and so is reasonably standard in it's field. It is worth seeing non the less and I would certainly recommend it.

Slasher!

The jokes in Christmas crackers and on the back on penguin wrappers are usually rather bad or obvious, this is so that everyone round the table can get the joke and all agree on how bad it is. This brings people together. This is also similar to how, in most slasher films, the victims are always clumsy and make stupid mistakes. It makes us come together in our agreement that the character is being foolish and shouldn't have left the knife lying there! This often creates a level of interaction between the viewers and the movie itself, 'why don't you just run away?' or 'no don't go in there!' etc. Although sometimes frustrating it can make a film more fun to watch when with a group of friends.

Scream 1996

What I definitely do find frustrating in slasher films however, is the long drawn out endings in which the hero or heroine (who we know is going to survive) and the psychopath (who we also know is going to survive if part of a franchise) fight it out. The number of times someone can get stabbed and still be okay is often stretched to the limit, nothing will kill these mad men who just keep coming back again and again and again. They're like superheroes who never die but then I suppose that's why people love them, you can't get rid of them and so no matter what they're always out there.

Halloweem 1978

Slasher films are often considered to be predictable, unimaginative and pretty much the down fall of horror as a genre. They are certainly the most 'main stream' type of horror film but they haven't always been the dreadful films that people seem to think they are. The pioneering movies of the slasher genre such as Halloween and Friday the 13^th are still widely regarded as being good memorable films, the wave of low budget slasher films that came later just repeated what had already come before. Some of these films eg. Sleep Away Camp 2: Unhappy Campers and Sleep Away Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland offer nothing more that topless girls running around at night and being stabbed at summer camp. The idea of going away to camp was once scary but now it has simply been over used and lost it's edge (much in the same way that 'found footage' films are starting to do).

Slasher films will always be fun to watch on a night in with some friends, they're one of the few types of horror film that nearly always provide a good laugh from time to time as well as hopefully managing to stay scary and often alarming. Slasher films have given us the likes of Jason Vorheers, Michael Myers and Freddy Kruger, all of them much loved by many and all of them coming to get you while you sleep.

Hellraiser

Hellraiser is a horrifying English fantasy film released in 1987.

"We will tear your soul apart!"

This is truely Clive Barker's masterpeice, even better than Candyman in my oppinion, Hellraiser manages to create a unique and origional vision of hell. When Larry Cotton accidently cuts his hand, without knowing it, his blood bring's his cheating, hedonistic brother Frank back from hell. Frank is incomplete and so Julia (Larry's wife), who secretly had an affair with Frank before he was sent to hell, helps Frank return peice by peice. She does this by spilling the blood of men she manages to bring back to the house by seduction.
There are huge similarities between this plot and that of The Mummy, a film in which someone is also brought back from the dead by aquiering parts of the living, however what makes this movie so compelling is not only the story but also the general mood it manages to convay.

The CGI effects are limited and are used  sparingly, most of the frightening looking viuals are the result of a creative use of make-up, lighting and model work. The Cenobites imparticular look truely terrifying, the most iconic of which is Pin Head who is the Cenobites' leader. The Cenobites are the deamons/angels of hell who demand Frank's soul be returned to them. In the first film they are only seem breifly and there is only a glimpses of hell, but Clive Barker makes sure that it stays in people's heads. Hell consists of hundreds of chains with hooks that rip into people's flesh, as well as revolving collums wrapped in barbed wire which have human body parts nailed to them, it's like stepping into a genuine nightmare.

The dark dindgy sets, strange blue light and incredible make-up all serve to bring the audience into a horrifying yet beautiful immersive fantasy world. This film harbours the same sort of dream like 'am I really here' feeling as movies such as Videodrome and Labyrinth. The imagery is so ritch that the film leaves you hungry for more, but be warned! This film is certainly not for the faint hearted as it contains quite literally 'hellish' torment in the form of ripping hooks, a scary hell monster and a man with no skin.  
Please do check this film out and let me know what you think, I would certainly reccomend it as a must see and the sequel aren't bad either...

Brave

Brave, origionally titled The Bear and the Bow, is an animated Disney Pixar film released in 2012.

The film is about a young girl called Merida who is brought up in a Scotish clan with the expectation that she will one day be a queen like her mother. Merida does not wish to obey her mother's strict concil and so sets about doing all she can in order to avoid becoming the sweet, married princess that her mother wants her to be. With the help of an old witch living in the forest Merida's world is turned upside down and we are swept into a life threatening and heartwarming battle of emotion the like of which Disney is so consistently good at delivering.

On leaving the cinema my first thoughts were how wonderful the sound track to this film was. Music, although an essential part of almost any film, is never usually the first thing I think about when considering a movie's main qualities. In the case of Brave I felt that the Celtic sounding folk songs composed by Patrick Doyal complimented  the beautiful scenery incredibly well and created an atmospere that conjured up a feeling of ancient legends long past.

This film ultimately focuses on the mother/daughter relationship and both Kelly McDonald and Emma Thompson gave a convincing voiceover performance that adiquately convayed the emotions shown in the faces of the CGI characters. As always there is a fair amount of family comedy and an important moral message, there are however a few things that seem to be a little different that some of Disney's earlier fairytales.

Merida and her Mother.

Unlike a typical Disney fairytale, Brave is alot more like a traditional fairytale in that it's darker. The monsterous black bear is indeed scary and Merida's foolishness puts her mother in life threatening danger. It's for this reason that the film is rated PG as appose to a U certificate. It's also what helps make the film a deeper and more meaningful one because it deals with the usual themes of freedom, coming of age, love and regret in a far more direct style. This film is also a rarity for Pixar in that the main protagonist is female and they've managed to get away with this by making Merida a tough 'tom boy' character.

The main critisism I'd have to make for this film is that it's predictable and, despite being enjoyable, is actually very standard and not particularly memorable. It follows the same pattern as many other films of the same ilk and so is unlikely to stand the test of time as a Disney classic.

INTRODUCTION

What follows is, what I hope will be, a spooky and macabre journey through some of the films that I myself love but which can cause the fainthearted to look away in terror! . Horror films are not to everyone's taste but I have decided to make it my mission to get to the root of why they are so popular and hopefully add a few more people to the list of diehard horror fans. Due to the fact that there is so much variation within the horror genre not all the films reviewed here will be horror films but many will encompase variouse types of horror, including Thriller and SciFi. Many of the films I'll be reviewing will certainly fit into more than one genre of film but will all have something 'spooky' or 'scary' about their content.

Film-ocalypse

To hear more informal yet informative film reviews please do vistit Film-ocalypse, a weekly POD cast hosted by myself, Jake Blandford, Karl Metcalfe,  Jas Bhattle and Neil Feder.











Why do we love horror?

There seems to be little else so moving, provoking and beautiful as a really good horror movie.

Horror films allow us to escape from reality in an almost dream like way, they invoke a powerful emotional response and engage with our nightmares. Fear is arguably the strongest human emotion and everyone of us has something we're afraid of as well as some level of darkness in our lives. By displaying this sense of horror that we all share on the screen the film makers are helping to make us feel better about our own worries and problems that we face in our every day lives. Even if we do feel grumpy or upset at least we're not being chased through a dark wood by a psycho with an axe!



The Phantom from Phantom of the Opera

It's often easy to relate to the fear that a character in a film is feeling even in an larger than life scenario. It's exciting to watch and gives us a thrill not knowing what's round the next corner and thinking 'No! Don't go through that door!' Moments like these cause us to access primitive instinctual parts of the brain that deal with fight or flight, this creates an internal battle between fear and curiosity so that we can be trembling on the edge of our seats but still desperately want to know what's round that corner!

The hum drum bore of every day life does not allow us to experience real terror and excitement like that of which we get when we escape into a good horror film. This is why people love horror so much and why horror stories have existed as far back as prehistoric cave paintings. Tales of horror have always been an important part of culture throughout history and throughout the world.