The Midnight Meat Train (USA, 2008) – 3,5/5
Kitamura & Hollywood doesn’t sound like a promising combination, but the feedback has been highly positive, and for a reason. Using a Clive Barker novel as a base, Kitamura delivers a strong horror film that borrows its atmosphere mostly from the late 80’s / early 90’s American horror cinema. The director has left out his usual trickery for the most part and remains loyal to the source material; this is far more Barker than Kitamura. Bradley Cooper plays the lead role, but it’s Vinnie Jones as a giant butcher that takes his work to the midnight train once the day closes that really stands out. The only notable negative is the use cgi gore effects, although they don’t come even close to sinking the film. Humour is used very sparsely, and it works. Also bonus from sticking to the simple but effective base idea, instead of trying to spread it out too much to please bigger audiences.
Quarantine (USA, 2008) – 2,5/5
The American incarnation of last year’s over-rated Spanish horror hit [Rec] isn’t nearly as bad as it had every reason to be. It is a direct copy of [Rec] as far as screenplay goes, only this time shot in English and with a new cast. Technically, however, it’s an effective movie and better than the original. [Rec] suffered from realism; the panicking and yelling characters became more irritating than likable during the film’s course. The American cast handles this aspect a tad better, perhaps making the pic less convincing to some, but overall more enjoyable.
Another improvement is the cameraman who is given slightly more characteristics than his counterpart in [Rec] that never grew into something more than a walking camera. Admittedly the character development is not deep, and having an African-American man in the role, often consoling his nervous white female colleague, feels quite obvious Hollywood calculation, made even more obvious by making things even by casting another African-American as the bad tempered policeman. Such strong anti-racism is almost racism in itself.
Bangkok Dangerous (USA, 2008) – 2,5/5
I had to make a choice between Bangkok Dangerous remake, and Into the Mirror remake. The logically thinking side of my brains told me to go see Mirrors (2008). Director Alexande Aja’s career has gone downhill ever since his brutally effective debut Haute Tension, but assumably he’s still capable of keeping the tech side under control. Also, the festival is playing the uncut version - the US cut was edited for R-rating. But I can’t help myself. In the promo pics of Bangkok Dangerous (2008) Nicolas Cage looks so utterly confused and spiritually absent that I just have to get myself a ticket. Bangkok two way it is. And it’s a decently good trip. Brothers Pang deliver an average assassin pic that surpasses the Thai original simply by lacking the revolting disco direction it suffered from. Sentimentialism is also kept under control this time. The oriental location works, but feels a bit under-exploited.
The first thing the fans and non-fans of the original notice is that Nic talks. The main character, now an American killer for hire, Joe, is no more a deaf-mute. It’s a shame, really, as the thought of Cage as deaf-mute assassin lost in the streets of Bangkok sounded quite delicious. But the good thing is that the Pang bros have created an entirely new screenplay that only throws a few familiar elements into the mix. One of them is the female lead Charlie Young who - here it comes – is a deaf-mute. Her role is not very extensive, though. Cage and his enjoyable art of acting from the fourth dimension dominates the pic.
Eden Lake (UK, 2008) – 2,5/5
Eden Lake (2008) is a debut film by James Watkins. A couple’s holiday to nature turns into a nightmare in a way that references the problems of the real world in many ways. Technically a superb film, with a very good cast and beautiful locations, but unfortunately the screenplay takes continuous turns to the wrong direction. It fails to surprise the viewer, and lowers the audience dedication by too often doing the exact thing you were hoping for not to happen. It’s a shame as Eden Lake is a strongly involving film that could’ve been really great if it was better written.
The Cottage (UK, 2008) – 2,5/5
A few years ago when Paul Andrew Williams made his debut with a hard hitting but slightly pretentious London to Brighton he advised new film-makers to avoid shooting in digital as it always looks worse than film. Obviously he had little idea what he was talking about, but having personally just sat through a painful reminder of how poor digital formats can look like when used incompetently, Williams’s preference for traditional film came very much welcomed indeed. In The Cottage (2008) Andy ’Gollum’ Serkis and Reece Shearsmith play two men with an intention to make money with a kidnapping plan. Things go worse than possible. Instead of a thriller or pure horror, The Cottage is a comedic no hold barred ride that will surprise more than once. It the first half doesn’t work entirely, though, and the music choices are less cleaver than the one responsible for them probably thinks.
Battletruck: Warlords of the 21st Century (NZ, 1982) – 2,5/5
In the recent uprise of Ozploitation (thanks to the documentary pic Not Quite Hollywood) this New Zealand post apocalypse pride could also find a new audience... perhaps its first major one. The basic elements are all there; armored trucks, lonely hero, and deadly battles for gasoline. What’s extra are the fine landscapes of New Zealand, effectively used in a couple of ’helicopter tracking shots’ but otherwise playing little role in the story. The title truck is driven by a villainous bunch that oppresses the ordinary poor people. Michael Beck has to stand up for them. The middle third features some dead moments but the action is rather good and the armored truck itself leaves no room for complaints.
I Drink Your Blood (USA, 1970) – 3/5
A famous video nasty title with a creepy cover art that burned into my memory at young age, I Drink Your Blood (1970) turns out a hippie movie instead of the monster splatter I was expecting. But it’s not about free love and flower girls. No, these hippies are dangerous! I Drink Your Blood is a nice piece of unintentionally funny American exploitation cinema that works best when seen with people who have at least some understanding for the genre. The screenplay is wonderfully illogical; you’ll find yourself confused more often than not. Apparently the pic was originally rated X by MPAA, which sounds pretty far out considering the content. Perhaps 38 years ago someone did take the film with some seriousness.
worth seeing
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