The Torment (2010) – Review.

The story starts with a young couple, Alex and Kate, having a normal evening in at their flat. After a long explanation about the webcam, which Alex has set up in the house to record intruders, they fall asleep on the sofa together. Alex wakes up to find Kate sleep-talking, muttering, ‘don’t open it’. Cue the doorbell! Their close friend David turns up with the explanation that his girlfriend, Sarah, has been having an affair. Feeling sorry for him, they let David stay, but it quickly unfolds that the reason for David’s harrowing state is more than just upset that his girlfriend has left him. After Alex has gone to bed, David sees something out of the window – a weird zombie creature – and he then spends the rest of the night running around with a large bottle of salt in his hand, lining salt along the doorways.

The story quickly enfolds as Alex and Kate learn of their friends fears, and several nights of haunting ensues.

The Torment is a strange movie to watch, and ultimately one I couldn’t quite decide if I liked or not! At the time of watching it I found it to be slightly annoying and frustrating, yet when I woke up the next morning I still found myself thinking about it.

So what are the reasons for my mixed thoughts? Well, the movie starts with lots of promise. It is British (always good to support British films) and is another one of the ‘wobbly-docu-type’ filming style. There is a long talk up about the web-cam, and I had thought it was going to go down the same route as Paranormal Activity, but then it just seems to get forgotten about until close to the end, and even then it is very much played down. This is a shame, and they could have made so much more of it. Instead, the first half an hour of the movie is just plain weird. Much of it is David running around, acting strange (and Alex and Kate don’t even notice he is crashing about in the middle of the night) and it isn’t until he starts sleep walking that they realise something is wrong.

A lot of the movie is filmed in near-darkness, so it is hard to see what is actually happening, except for a lot of screaming and running around. Their hysteria is a little too infectious, and Kate allows herself to be barricaded into a room with a clearly unstable David, who is sporting a very large knife, despite her not actually having seen anything for herself. In fact, the whole way through the movie she doesn’t actually see anything, yet she does not do what any normal woman would do, which would be saying to her boyfriend, ‘uh-honey, I think your friend has some serious psychological issues,’ and kicking him the hell out of there. Instead she just kind of goes along with the madness.

There are also a lot of things that were hinted at and yet left untied. There is a whole plotline about a pregnant woman upstairs (and by the way, I really think pregnant women and babies should be left alone when it comes to horror) and that the house itself might be haunted, but then this again is just kind of forgotten about.

There are some good moments, when we are actually allowed to see the monsters, they are scary! But so much of it is in darkness, that it is really difficult to see what the hell is going on, except for them all screaming like girls because the lights have gone out!

So is David a lunatic, or are the monsters real? Well, it is that question that resides through out the film. But you never know, if you can manage to get through the first bit, you just may be surprised by the ending.

Could have been so much better, but still not a bad watch. Something Wicked, 6/10

District 9 – review!

Naturally I had heard about this movie, but I was completely unprepared for what it was actually about! I had expected yet another documentary-style movie (which it is), but it is also so much more.

The film opens with a  series of interviews that introduce the story: twenty years earlier, an alien ship arrives above Johannesburg, South Africa. It hovers above the city for three months without any contact, but eventually humans go up and cut into the ship. They discover a large group of aliens who are malnourished and sick and they bring them down to a holding camp (district 9) which eventually turns into a slum.  Difficult relationships emerge between the population of Johannesburg and the aliens (which are referred to as ‘prawns’ by the locals.) Eventually the government bring in a task force to relocate the aliens to a different location, away from the city.

The head of the task force is Wikus van der Merwe. He is a type of bumbling geek (imagine a character from The Office, and you won’t be far off). He also has no respect for the 'prawns’, or their welfare. His only redeeming quality is that he has somehow managed to marry the beautiful daughter of his boss (which is also the only reason he was given the job).

While issuing eviction notices he finds a silver canister which then sprays him in the face with a black fluid. Immediately something is not quite right, and what follows is the type of transformation that takes place in the movie, The Fly. Wikus quickly gets sick and not long after discovers he has grown an alien arm.

Suddenly Wikus is the man everyone else wants. Because of his transformation he can work the alien weaponry that previously could only be used by the aliens, due to their DNA. He finds refuge in the only place he can, the alien slum. Here he strikes up a relationship with an alien called Christopher Johnson, who also has a small son.  Together they try to stop Wikus’s transformation and, in turn, find the fluid needed to get the aliens back home again.

I had expected this movie to be scary, but, even though it wasn’t (and wasn’t supposed to be), it was still a really good film.  I started the movie really disliking Wikus, but by the end I was really rooting for both him and the aliens.  The aliens at the start aren’t shown to be particularly intelligent or humanoid, but this is turned around by the introduction of Christopher and his son.  The bad guys are the government agency, and they really are horrible – conducting experiments on the aliens and even prepared to cut Wikus open while he was still conscious!

At some point during the movie it stops being in a documentary style and is just normal ‘movie-style’, but I didn’t notice when this happened, so I guess it worked well enough!  The start is a little slow, but it quickly sped up and then it is fast paced right through to the end.  It was also a really original storyline, and, as I said, not what I had expected.  I guess I had expected something more like Cloverfield, but it was completely different!

As with all Peter Jackson films, the effects were really good, and towards the end I could even see a bit of Avatar influence on the effects creeping in.

Overall, District 9 is a really good movie - even if it’s not scary!  Something Wicked 8/10.

 

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Flashback -- Dead of Winter

So, Marissa's fond of teasing me that I need to update my viewing list with items that are dated like, past 2000 (what?  They actually bothered to make movies after 1989?!).  I'm working on it, but in the meantime, I had the pleasure of viewing one of my old favorites, Dead of Winter.

Seriously, I hadn't seen this movie in like, 20 years, and I'd just been thinking about it, so it was a treat when it was on a few weekends ago.  AND Roddy McDowall is in it (Peter Vincent), and he does a stellar job being the creepy toadie.

The premise is this:  Mary Steenburgen is an actress who is offered a part in a movie, because the lead actress has taken off due to a mental breakdown.  Or so she's told.  She needs to audition out at the director's house, conveniently located in the Middle of Nowhere, where you cannot run or scream for help.

And it's cold and snowy.

Whilst at this house, Katie (Steenburgen), starts noticing that the Director, Dr. Lewis (played by Jan Rubes), might not have been completely honest with her.  Like how the actresses' mental breakdown really ended in a suicide, (Katie finds pictures of the corpse).  Unfortunately, by this point, Katie is held as a prisoner in the house because she bears a remarkable resemblance to the dead actress, as well as her sister (Evelyn, also played by Steenburgen).

It appears as though Evelyn had her sister killed for some reason, and Dr. Lewis and his oh-so-lovable toadie, Mr. Murray (McDowall), want to play games with Evelyn and make her think Julie (dead actress sister) is still alive.  Hence the need for Katie to film 'screen tests' which are actually then sent to Evelyn as 'proof' that Julie is still alive, and would she please send along some cash for their silence?

Unfortunately, Evelyn doesn't like to be toyed with, and Katie gets severe cabin-fever, especially after she wakes up one morning to find her hand bandaged.  Way.  There's even a mirror in Katie's room that's actually a doorway to a secret passage through the house (I just LOVE those!). 

I won't spoil the plot any further -- see it for yourself!  It's a very good flick that I think holds up today, with good old-fashioned suspense and acting to flesh out a decent, classic plot.

Something Wicked -- 4/5!

Knowing (2009) – movie review

Okay, so I am a bit of a closet Nicolas Cage fan. I know he’s done some terrible movies, but he’s one of those men I have always had a bit of a crush on, but wouldn’t really admit to – a bit like Dr Gregory House (for any of you who know the show).

Anyway, when I saw he had made a supernatural movie it was straight on my must-see list.

Knowing starts fifty years in the past.  In a local school the children are drawing pictures to be put in a time capsule.  One little girl is hearing whispered voices, and when time comes to draw the pictures she writes lists of numbers all over both sides of the page.  When the teacher tells her that her time is up she runs away and is later found hiding in a closet.  She has scratched the door so badly all of her fingers are bleeding.

Fast forward fifty years.  Time has come to open the time capsule.  Nicolas Cage’s character is recently windowed and he is left alone with his young son, who attends the same school the girl did.  On the day of opening the capsule the son is given the envelope containing the numbers.

Nicolas Cage somehow recognises the numbers as dates of terrible tragedies, and then his son starts to hear voices and see strange men watching him.  Cage discovers that the final numbers are predictions and he decides it is his job to stop them from happening.

Knowing starts off really promisingly.  The stuff with the little girl is really creepy, and I almost wish they had stayed with that storyline rather than jumping ahead (but then I guess that would have been a different movie all together!).  Cage plays a decent portrayal of a recently bereaved man, though I did question how quickly he managed to figure out what the numbers meant.  I also had to question the actions of some of the characters, as the daughter of the woman who wrote the numbers makes some bizarre decisions.

The ending was a bit of a disappointment.  Without giving too much away the film seems to lose track of what it wants to be.  It starts off in a spooky, supernatural genre, but finishes as a sci-fi/end-of-the-world disaster movie.  There was even a bit of religious symbolism thrown in for good luck.  It was a shame because I had really enjoyed the movie up to that point.  Also, the ‘people’ following the son looked like grown up ‘children of the corn’, which was a bit off putting.

Despite this I did enjoy the movie overall.  It’s not a scary as I would have liked, but it is worth a watch.

Something Wicked 6 /10

Movie Review -- Ginger Snaps (or American Werewolf In the Red Tent)

Finally, I've seen this movie!!! (and yes, I know it's Canadian, but Canadian Werewolf In the Red Tent just didn't have quite the same ring, you know? ;-) When I heard that it was a metaphor for a women's induction into puberty, the feminist in my really wanted to see it, and I have to say, it didn't disappoint. Not in the very least. Loved the symbolism, the commentary on relationships between women, women and men, and how society views women's roles. And there was good use of werewolf lore too. A win-win all around!

The Fitzgerald sisters, Brigitte and Ginger are outcasts in high school. They dress in dark, baggy clothes, they smoke during gym class, and they couldn't care less what the popular boys and girls think of them because they hate life and are preoccupied with death, even going so far as to make a death pact that they will die by the time they're 16 (Ginger is nearly 16 and Brigitte is nearly 15, though both are in the same grade in school as Brigitte skipped ahead a year, thus making her The Smart One, which means she's even more of an outcast).

Despite their ages, niether sister has had their first menstrual cycle yet, though it appears that Ginger may be on the cusp, as she's been having back pain and Mom (expertly played by Mimi Rogers) diagnosis this as the precurser to cramps.

So one day at school, the popular girl takes a swing at Brigitte, knocking her over and into a shredded dog carcass on the hockey field. UGH! The Beast of Badon Hills has struck again, killing and mutilating another family pet, and Brigitte now has the dead dog's blood on her face. As revenge for this act, the sisters want to make it seem as though Popular Girl's own dog has become a victim of the Beast, so they set out one night (in direct defiance of their mom's orders to stay home) to plant some fake blood and guts in Popular Girl's yard. On their way, they come across another dead dog corpse, this one is still warm. Ginger encourages Brigitte to take a leg from the corpse to make their own set-up even more real, when Brigitte notices that Ginger got some of the dead dog's blood on her -- specifically, on the inside of her leg, just above her knee.

Yepper, you know it, and so does Ginger. She examines the blood and then wails, "Oh no, I'm cursed!" and just as she does so, a huge beast swoops in and drags her out of the frame. Double, double toil and trouble -- two curses on one night, the night of a full moon, no less: Ginger's got her first period AND she's been bitten by a werewolf.

It's so interesting to see how the werewolf infection 'changes' Ginger; she was very, very close to Brigitte, and much is made of the two of them being sisters, united in sisterhood, against the world. Though after Ginger is bitten, she becomes more confident, especially where the opposite sex is concerned. Gone are the baggy clothes in favor of more form-fitting garb to show off her developing figure (which also develops a tail!), and she leaves Brigitte during gym class to go flirt and make out with the popular boy.

Whereas The Red Tent by Anita Diamante had Dennar relishing in joining her sisters in the Red Tent, united in womanhood, through the monthly cycle and the toils of childbirth, Ginger Snaps shows us another, (in my opinion, unfortunate) observation of puberty -- girls leave their girlfriends, their sisters, behind and discover boys. Especially noticeable is how Ginger treats her mother, the woman who can probably understand and offer her the most advice during this time; though puberty is the classic time when teens pull away from their parents. The parents in this movie have a very interesting dynamic: the mother does all the talking, guiding, and advising, whereas the father just sits there, inert, immobile, with no input or any kind of guidance. Ginger and Brigitte's mother is a June Cleaver type, serving dessert at dinner every night, and even making Ginger's favorite dessert when she discovers Ginger is finally menstruating. Mom means well, but she's so very disconnected and clueless when it comes to her daughters.

Another interesting commentary in the movie is Ginger's increased sexuality. She and her new boyfriend are in a car, and Ginger's newfound 'infection' is really making her sexually agressive. Her BF at one point tells her to slow down, asking, "Who's the guy here?" Because women are not supposed to be sexually agressive, and if they are, well then, that's just plain wrong. During Victorian times women were counselled that during the act of intercourse, she should just 'stare at the ceiling and think of England', well -- a sexually agressive female is quite a monster now, isn't she!

Pigeonholing women into certain roles is even remarked upon by Ginger. Towards the end of the movie, there's an accident and a teenage girl ends up dead. Ginger and Brigitte cover up the crime, with Ginger telling Brigitte how no one will suspect them, because "we're women. We can be sluts, bitches, teases, but we're not killers."

I loved this movie (as if you couldn't tell by now) because I love delving into the mythology of 'monsters' and how they become so through ideas such as sex is linked with beasts and not something intellecutal man should enjoy, the exploration of feminism and how women should bond and band together at certain, pivotal times in their lives, but too often they don't, and even point the finger at their fellow sisters, blaming them for fates which befall them.

As for the lycanthrope aspect of the film: the film presents it as an infection, thus the sisters try using various folk-remedy antibiotics such as silver and monk's hood in order to 'cure' the disease. The werewolf is scary, and there is a good bit of suspense and gore in the film.

Considering the popularity of teenagers in today's paranormal realm, I have to say that this film is the complete opposite of Twilight. It's centered on women, with no men to blame or save them; the girls receive help along the way but in the end, they are on their own. The monsters are truly frightening and not there to help repel anything that sparkles in the daytime (as a matter of fact, I have a feeling that Ginger and Brigitte are the kind of girls who would snicker at and deride teens who love sparkly vampires. Just sayin' ;-)

If you want to see a good werewolf film, one that includes lots of social commentary on women and their roles in society, then Ginger Snaps is for you. If you get squeamish talking or even thinking about that time of the month, then you may want to skip this one!