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  • 20 Aug

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    Toronto After Dark: I Spit on Your Grave Review

    7
    I Spit on Your Grave

    Director: Steven R. Monroe
    Writers: Meir Zarchi (1978 screenplay), Stuart Morse, , Jeffrey Reddick
    Producers: Lisa Hansen, Paul Hertzberg,
    Starring: Chad Lindberg, Daniel Franzese, Rodney Eastman, Jeff Branson, Andrew Howard
    MPAA Rating: Unrated
    Running time: 107 min.

    On a personal level based off of subject matter:
    (3.5/5)
    For those who enjoy rape/revenge films:
    (4.5/5)
    Toronto After Dark

    I am having trouble coming up with a film that is harder to provide a concise review of that doesn’t just delve into how I feel about the subject matter or what is right or wrong to show in a film. I will be putting up another post in the near future where we can actually try to delve into that a bit but for this post, I want to mostly deal with whether I Spit on Your Grave is a strong revenge film.

    The basic plot is that Jennifer (Sarah Butler) is a lone female author who heads off to a secluded cabin in order to write her next novel. On the way to the cabin she stops off for gas and has a quick run in with Johnny (Jeff Branson) and his friends. Nothing really comes out of the run in right away but later on Johnny and friends invade Jennifer’s cabin. What proceeds next is about 10-20 minutes of extremely disturbing and uncomfortable as they proceed to humiliate and eventually rape Jennifer. Eventually it is time to get rid of Jennifer but she manages to slip through their fingers. A month or so later Jennifer returns and extracts vengeance against her attackers.

    In order to be successful, a movie like I Spit on Your Grave needs to have good acting. If the acting is poor you will not be drawn into the film and you will not care whether or not the revenge is given. The acting in the film is indeed good. Sarah Butler is completely believeable. Jeff Branson is quite menacing but I particularly enjoyed the performance given by Chad Lindberg who plays Matthew. Matthew is a mentally challenged who is forced to be involved with the attack and rape. We all know Matthew’s fate is sealed but one can’t help but pity him.

    Without a doubt, I Spit on Your Grave is a very strong entry in the revenge film genre. It is gripping and terrifying for the run of the film. It also provides a large amount of catharsis for the viewer which is strongly needed after having to sit through the initial rape and brutality. The violence returned upon the attackers does not feel silly even though it is some of the most brutal nasty violence that I have seen in the past few years. The audience at Toronto After Dark groaned, laughed and cheered its way through the scenes of Jennifer’s vengeance.

    I have not seen the original 1978 film and other than having a morbid curiousity and wanting to be somewhat of a completionist with my film going experience I won’t be rapidly seeking it out. Having seen the remake I am quite content to believe from everything that I have heard. The main problem most people have with the original is that Jennifer seduces her victims after the attack. This is a diservice to the brutality and how someone might react. The remake is much smarter in that it turns Jennifer into more of a force of nature that just can not be stopped.

    You may have noticed that I gave this film two ratings. This movie is not for me but I can’t help but enjoy the skill with which I Spit on Your Grave was made. This is why I gave it the lower yet still good rating of 3 1/2 stars out of 5. If you are a fan of the original or enjoy similar movies then there is no way you will not walk away thoroughly entertained with the film. It provides the audience with some of the most brutal violent kill scenes, it is filmed beautifully and is both terrifying and yet still provides the catharsis needed to make it a success.

  • 20 Aug

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    Toronto After Dark: Black Death Review

    2
    Black Death

    Director: Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance, Triangle)
    Writers: Dario Poloni
    Producers: Douglas Rae, Robert Bernstein, Jens Meurer, Phil Robertson,
    Starring: Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne
    Carice van Houten
    Running time: 97 min.

    (4/5)
    Toronto After Dark

    As a big fan of Severance I was quite happy to be able to check out his newest movie Black Death at Toronto After Dark this year. As luck would have it I was not able to attend the actual screening but I was fortunately presented with the chance to watch a screener of the film. As this was a fullscreen screener I am not going to talk about the cinematography which I believe will look quite good on the big screen as the film has a dark gritty look to it. What I will focus on more the story and the characters.

    Black Death tells the story of a young monk, Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) who has fallen in love with a woman and when the plague is ravaging the town tells her to leave. As he wants to leave but is unwilling to do so due to his believes he asks God for a sign as to if he should leave. The sign comes in the form of Ulric (Sean Bean), an envoy for the Bishop who is requesting help in finding a village that needs to be questioned as to how they are avoiding the plague. Osmund sees Ulric’s arrival as the sign and leaves after a warning from the other monks. Osmond quickly discovers that Ulric and his men have been sent to capture what they believe is a necromancer and that they are to bring him back to the Bishop. A particularly evil looking contraption is will torture the suspected necromancer. Osmond has little choice but to go along with the men as he hopes to find his love and leave with her. When the men eventually find the village they are greeted with friendly faces and open arms but there is definitely and underlying tension between the two groups and Ulric is still determined to find the necromancer.

    Black Death is a very dark and grim movie. Very little happiness is to be found during the time of the plague when everyone was suspected by the church of being in league with the devil. The violence when it comes is brutal and th lives of everyone involved is quite nasty. The grim realism of the movie is one of the films strongest points. It draws you in and you begin to feel as if you are within the world as it existed at that time. Black Death also has a very strong ensemble cast. Each of the soldiers has their own quirks and character but they all fit together as a whole yet their is a certain level of tension also between them. These men of God are killers and they know it. Some of them are doing it for money and others for their belief.

    The film does take a few twists and turn that I found annoying while watching the film but as the movie progresses it all ends up coming together nicely. My biggest complaint about Black Death is the need to dumb things down a bit by providing a voice over to explain what you are seeing on screen. Yes some time has past and you might not recognize everyone involved upon an initial glance but it quickly obvious even without the voice over just who is who and what is happening.

    Overall, Black Death is a very strong dark gritty tale of mans need to be in control and not accepting the beliefs of others. It does not feel as if it is preaching about the subject but instead is just providing us a glimpse of what the times were like and how the suffering of the plague could bring the worst out in people. If Black Death ends up in a theatre near me I am going to revisit it as I wish to see the full movie in widescreen aspect as I also believe that it may very well be very beautiful with its washed out colours and gritty look.

  • 17 Aug

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    Toronto After Dark – Half Way Through

    2
    Toronto After Dark

    We are half way through the line up for Toronto After Dark and once again the festival has been a blast. While my reviews for the movies might not always be positive my review of the festival will be. Adam, Shelagh, Steven, Peter and all the rest who run TADFF do such a great job of making each and every fan feel welcome to the festival. The audience has such a good time with even the bad movies because they (we) are all fans. I often compare going to the festival as something like going to a concert and how much better the music seems to be because of everyone there.

    I ended up skipping the initial opening part after the Opening Night Gala as I had flew in very early that day. Each day since I have gone out to the Pauper’s Pub (has amazing Wings) before the festival to just hang out and then caught the after party. It has great atmosphere and it is so easy to chat with press, industry, festival staff and most importantly the other fans.

    The festival may be half over but the rest of the line up is looking pretty strong. If you are in or near Toronto you should come on out the festival. You won’t regret it.

  • 17 Aug

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    Toronto After Dark: The Last Exorcism Review

    17
    The Last Exorcism

    Director: Daniel Stamm (A Necessary Death, Off Hollywood and Vine)
    Writers: Huck Botko, Andrew Gurland
    Producers: Marc Abraham, Thomas Bliss, Eli Roth, Eric Newman
    Starring: Patrick Fabian, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Running time: 87 min.

    (5/5)
    Toronto After Dark

    Last night prior to watching The Last Exorcism I was commenting on how I needed to move a bit away from the comedic horrors a bit as the early part of Toronto After Dark was fairly top heavy. I was also chatting about how my previous visit to the festival had provided me with a few of my top 10 films for 2007 and I was not sure if this years line was going to provide me with a film strong enough to make the list. I am now eating my words. Walking out of the theatre I had a new horror movie to add to my list of all time favorites and since last night I have been thinking about the film and I am loving everything about it more and more.

    The Last Exorcism is the story of a disillusioned Minister who after hearing about a death of a child during an exorcism has decided to tell the world through a documentary about how the whole exorcism thing is a setup and how it should be stopped. He wants to do one last exorcism for the documentary. He randomly picks a letter and heads off with the crew only to discover much more than he bargained for.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 16 Aug

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    Toronto After Dark: RoboGeisha Review

    0
    RoboGeisha

    Director: Noboru Iguchi (Machine Girl)
    Writers: Noboru Iguchi
    Producers: Yoshinori Chiba, Yōko Hayama, Satoshi Nakamura
    Starring: Aya Kiguchi, Hitomi Hasebe, Takumi Saito, Taro Shigaki, Etsuko Ikuta, Suzuki Matsuo, Naoto Takenaka, Asami Kumakiri, Shoko Nakahara, Asami Sugiura
    MPAA Rating: UK: 18
    Running time: 102 min.

    (2.5/5)
    Toronto After Dark

    First off, Robogeisha is not a movie that is made for me. Secondly, I can understand Toronto After Dark playing trailers of the other films that are playing but after having watched a fairly lengthy trailer for Robogeisha three times prior during the festival I felt as if I had already seen 80% of the sight gags that happen in the movie. Given all that I will say that Robogeisha did please the audience. I don’t really get it but everyone who enjoys this style of movie seemed to love it. There are enough site gags and amusing jokes that the movie definitely pleased them. I’ll admit that even though I was tired of the joke by the half way point I was still chuckling every so often when one of the jokes would come up that was not in the trailer. Especially funny was the wheelchair bound man who couldn’t really talk except for in one special case. It was just so crazy that you couldn’t help but giggle. That really is the only real strength of this type of movie. You want to see weird crazy sex blood soaked sight gags.

    Without having seen the trailer so many times I might have enjoyed Robogeisha more but as I did I came away mostly bored with having had a few chuckles. If you are a fan of Machine Girl or Tokyo Gore Police you will likely enjoy it but I personally was looking more forward to Alien Versus Ninja which is playing tonight at Toronto After Dark. I knew going in this movie wasn’t for me and it pretty much met my expectations.

    Update: I just realized about 20 minutes after having written the review that I never talked about the plot and you know what it doesn’t really matter. You aren’t going to check this one out for the plot. If you must know it involves two sisters. One is a Geisha and the other doesn’t believe she has what it takes to be a Geisha. When a business man seems interested in the non-Geisha sister they fight a bit but then it turns out that the business man wants her because he believes she can be a strong assassin. The two sisters end up competing to be the stronger assassin by converting their bodies into cyborgs. All hell breaks loose and they eventually end up fighting each other and the also the evil businessmen who want to blow up Japan. That’s probably enough of a plot summary. There are other characters that are involved in the plot but like I said you aren’t watching this one for the story.

  • 16 Aug

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    Toronto After Dark: Doghouse Review

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    Doghouse

    Director: Jake West (Evil Aliens)
    Writers: Dan Schaffer
    Producers: Michael Loveday, Terry Stone
    Starring: Danny Dyer, Noel Clarke, Stephen Graham
    MPAA Rating: UK: 15
    Running time: 89 min.

    (2.5/5)
    Toronto After Dark

    I remember coming out and seeing Simon Says at Toronto After Dark back in 2007. In his introduction to the film, festival Director Adam Lopez talked about how you will hate the characters and will cheer when they are killed. I did not cheer and did not enjoy the movie. On the first screening this Saturday at TADFF Adam once again talked about the British blokes and how you will cheer when they are killed in Doghouse. While, I enjoyed Doghousemuch more than Simon Says as it is a much better movie I still did not find myself cheering when the men were killed.

    Doghouse tells the story of a group of guys who head off to a village to party it up after one of them breaks up with his wife. When they get to the village the find out that first it is not the party town that they thought it would be and that all of the men have been killed by women who have been turned into blood thirsty zombies. They end up being stuck in the village and try to find a way out.

    I would really have to say that I have two problems with Doghouse. First the humor falls flat several times. I am not the biggest fan of comedies as I feel that too much of comedy in many movies is just not smart. I love smart humor but get very little movies where the comedic moments are telegraphed a mile in advance and not in a good way. Perhaps I am being a bit harsh as I did chuckle and laugh at some of the jokes but jokes such as having a character where a bullseye are just too obvious for my tastes. Similarly several of the female zombie characters were just too much of a charicature to be to my liking. Sure having the witch character swinging a sword after the characters could be fun but putting the eyepatch on her and having her dressed up as much as she was just took the joke to far. I really think that I wanted the world to be a bit more real and the joke to work better.

    Secondly, as I said I did not cheer when it came to the kills as I feel they killed the wrong characters and that the whole revelation of the men just fell flat. I can understand not wanting to kill of your biggest stars but they were also the biggest jerks and should have been the ones to bite it. At the end of the movies it becomes completely obvious that the surviving characters were idiots before and are still idiots the movie feels like a let down.

    I know I’ve sounded harsh with the review. When I came out of the theatre I will admit that I had a fairly good time. There was enough small bits that I did enjoy that I was not annoyed at the movie it is only upon reflecting on the film more that my opinion dropped. While I wouldn’t really recommend Doghouse to anyone I wouldn’t out right tell them its a bad movie. I really just is a mediocre horror comedy that if I was bored one afternoon and hadn’t seen it would watch it while doing other stuff.

  • 16 Aug

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    Toronto After Dark: The Last Lovecraft Review

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    Last Lovecraft

    Director: Henry Saine
    Writers: Devin McGinn
    Producers: Devin McGinn, Oliver Garrett, Ashleigh Nichols
    Starring: Devin McGinn, Kyle Davis, Barak Hardley
    MPAA Rating: NR

    (3.5/5)
    Toronto After Dark

    There are certain movies that you have a gut feeling going are going to play really well with a festival crowd. The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu is one of those movies. Based off of the trailer it looked like it was going to be light hearted fun and had the hook of being based off of H.P. Lovecraft’s works. For those of you, who have never heard of Lovecraft or the Cthulhu mythos here is a really and all too brief summary. Lovecraft was an early horror writer who developed and entire mythology of ancient beings who still exist in the hidden areas of the world and haunt our dreams and drive people insane. What the The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu does is presuppose the Lovecraft actually discovered the alien creatures and was somehow immune to their mind controlling effects. Our two main slacker characters, Charlie (Devin McGinn) a wanna be comic book artist without much self motivation and Jeff (Kyle Davis) discover that latter is actually a descendant of Lovecraft and if they don’t try to keep an ancient Relic away from the evil General Starspawn that Cthulhu himself will be freed from his eternal prison and the world will be destroyed. As Charlie mostly knows about the mythology through comic books and Jeff knows nothing they enlist an old friend, Paul (Barak Hardley) from high school who is completely into the whole Lovecraft mythology. They go on a wild adventure and attempt to save the world.

    The Last Lovecraft does succeed as light fun entertainment because of the chemistry between the three main characters and its fairly good sense of humor. There are a few moments that drag a bit but overall the movie is amusing with interesting side characters that only add to the fun. For me, what brings the movie up a few notches compared to similar films which travel the genre festival circuit is that it does not completely rely on CGI. Yes, CGI is used for some special effects such as some of the Chthulu creatures and explosions but when it comes to the Deep One half-breeds (bizarre half human half fish creatures) and General Starspawn they use practical effects and this really adds a nice polish to the film.

    The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu is a strong fun independent movie that Lovecraft fans will really love. It pays enough homage to the whole mythology while still being a good romp. If you have a chance to check it out definitely do. It has been picked up for distribution but I imagine it will only play in a few select cities and will eventually end up on DVD and possibly Blu-ray. My suggestion would be to see it with an audience or with friends while drinking a few beers and you will have a really good time.

  • 12 Aug

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    Review: Cropsey

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    How does a community deal with an Urban Legend that turns into something real? In the new documentary Cropsey directors Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman delve into the story of Andre Rand, the Pied Piper of Staten Island. Going into watching Cropsey I was expecting documentary that plays like a horror film and while there are a couple of moments that play up the horror aspect I became more interested in what the film makers had to say about how urban legends develop and the story of how Rand was convicted.

    The beginning of Cropsey deals with the background behind Staten Island and the mental institutions that used to be run there. Just like how the Island became a dumping ground for the actual garbage of New York it also became a place where children who were deemed unstable or mentally unhealthy were discarded. At one point the hospital housed over 6,000 patients. When towns and communities started to develop legends of escaped patients living in the heavily wooded area became common and kids would haunt each other and make dares of entering the woods and the by then abandoned institution.

    In the 70s and 80s children started to disappear and while at first no one ties the disappearances together eventually it becomes evident that one person or group is likely responsible. After some initial searching and some coincidental evidence is found Andre Rand is apprehended and brought in. While there is some evidence that points to him being in the area it is mostly just the way that Rand looks that convinced people he was the abductor. While there is obviously something wrong with Rand the documentary does a good job of staying unbiased and clearly points out how he may or may not be the abductor. Rand was convicted and spent much of his life in prison.

    Much of the movie is spent interviewing people who “knew” Rand. Some of them are the police that investigated him and others only know him in passing. Many of them seem to have come up with some elaborate conspiracy or story as to why he was abducting children. Tales of devil worshiping cults are talked about. Some believe that Rand was simply the person responsible for gathering children to be sacrificed. In many ways Rand is turned into the bogey man that teenagers told stories about.

    While the documentary does have its moments of “horror” what really draws the viewer in is discovering how the people of Staten Island react to the terror of their children being taken away from them and their search for an explanation. I am not really sure whether or not Rand truly is the Pied Piper of Staten Island and I don’t believe that the documentary is trying to prove he is. What it does do though is show how our search for an explanation for tragedies forces people to create monsters out of nowhere. Cropsey does indeed create a sense of fear in me but not that something might jump out at me. I am more worried that one day something bad will happen in the area I live in and average people around will start to make strange connections and see cultists, devil worshipers and other monsters. For me, that is much more terrifying.

    Cropsey is showing on Investigation Discovery this Friday night (Jandy’s Film on TV Post). It is definitely worth checking out and while you won’t be jumping out of your seat scared you will be frightened by how bogey man are created.

  • 30 Jul

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    Weekend Entertainment – Original Psycho Trailer

    2

    Not much to say other than we need more trailers done like this now days.

  • 29 Jul

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    Toronto After Dark Preview

    6

    In 15 days I will be on my way to Toronto once again. This time for the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. TADFF is in its 5th year or presenting fun, scary, exciting genre films to Toronto and visitors. The last I went was in 2007 and it was a blast. It was the first film festival I ever attended, and so it feels good to be returning after a three year absence. While I get a big kick out of seeing the films with the audience at the Bloor it really is the whole experience of heading to Toronto, seeing the sights, watching the movies and hanging out in the bar with movie fans that make TADFF so much fun.

    This year there is a wide mix of films from the horror comedy style (The Last Lovecraft, Doghouse, Robogeisha) to the more scary, and more suited to my tastes horror films (The Last Exorcism, Phobia 2 (Kurt’s Review), Cargo, Heartless) plus a couple of interesting looking cult films (All About Evil, Highschool). I also get a chance to see Centurion, Evil in the time of Heroes, Alien Vs Ninja and Black Death after missing it at Fantasia this year. The I Spit on Your Grave remake may bring a bit of the (‘why are you showing Rape as entertainment’) controversy to the festival that hung over the film in Montreal. The final night is a one two punch of Rubber (Kurt’s Review) and The Human Centipede (Andrew’s Review).

    If you do not have any plans for mid-August (13th – 20th) I suggest taking some time off and coming on out to Toronto to see some fun movies and have a great time at one of Torontos more intimate festivals.

    I have included the links and trailers to each each of the movie below the seat.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 20 Jul

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    Review: Overheard

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    Overheard

    The directorial and writing team behind Infernal Affairs (Felix Chong and Alan Mak) return with a new crime thriller, Overheard and unfortunately they are not able to recapture the magic of the Infernal Affairs trilogy. While the concept behind Overheard could lend itself to a very interesting thriller or drama the movie is weighed down by bloated plotting and a need to please the audience even though Mak and Chong want to say that crime doesn’t pay.

    Three police officers working surveillance, Johnny (Ching Wan Lau), Gene (Louis Koo) and Max (Daniel Wu) end up hearing a secret discussion while watching a surveillance tape and discover that they have the chance to make a large sum of money by using insider information on the stock market. After some initial discussion, money is borrowed and spent and the three have to deal with an impending investigation and some very nasty criminals who are not happy with their actions. Instead of keeping the story simple we are shown and told how each member of the trio is suffering due to health concerns, a secret relationship and unhappiness caused by relatives. While this does provide justification for their actions it also bloats down the story unnecessarily and only causes confusion as to whether the audience should be cheering for the three. Mak and Chong want this to be a story of grays as opposed to black but they are unable to make it compelling and they cave in and give the audience a weird feel good conclusion. Bad things continue to happen to Johnny, Gene and Max throughout the movie, mostly caused by their actions. When they try to do things in the right way they are still punished for their crime. Perhaps it is just the fact that the world feels like it is out to get all three of them that has really soured me on Overheard but I think it is more a matter of the story really being bloated.

    Infernal Affairs was as much a character study of the main characters as it was a solid thriller. I can tell that Overheard wants to be more than it is but it fails. While all the main character’s do an admirable job with their parts I just lost interest in it and when the climax of the movie arrives I was even more disappointed with the story because it really felt like it was copping out in an attempt to bring the audience back in. I know that I will return to the Infernal Affairs trilogy over and over throughout the years but I doubt I will return to Overheard again.

  • 19 Jul

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    Review: Accident

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    accident

    There is really something to be said for movies that catch you off guard when it comes to the story they are telling. Going in expecting one thing and coming out with something else is one of the great pleasures of movie going. You might not always get what you originally wanted but when you get something else that is highly entertaining or thought provoking you come away with a treasure. I remember going into Sean Penn’s The Pledge starring Jack Nicholson expecting a strong but standard story of a cop tracking down a killer. Instead what I got was a deep look into the psyche of a man driven by an unattainable quest. Like The Pledge, Accident delves into the realm of the obsessed and rewards you for it. The story starts out with the basic premise of a team of hitmen discover after one of their own is killed that there is another team working against them. The leader of the team, Ho Kwok-fai or “The Brain” (Louis Koo) is driven to discover just who is working against them and who is responsible for the death of Fatty (Suet Lam).

    What sets Accident apart from other hitmen or spy movies are two things. First off, the way the assassin team works is by arranging accidents. In a couple of cases the accidents are a bit to coincidental to be believed but they are still entertaining. The first death is caused by the lone female of the team (Michelle Ye) having a flat tire which forces their victim down a side road. The car of the victim is then splashed from a truck driven by Unlce (Shui-Fan Fung) carrying some form of liquid which caused the car to swerve and which point a banner is dropped from the roadway above. When the victim removes the banner, he pulls on it dislodging a glass plate which shatters and drops down on him killing him. As far as the police are concerned this is an accident and therefore there is no search for the assassin. Each of the assassination planned in Accident are similar in nature. In effect the movie plays out much like a heist movie as opposed to a hitman movie with each team member having their own tasks and it is quite fun to watch the team work together and also experience some difficulties as mistakes are made.

    As already mentioned, what truly sets Accident apart is that after the initial half is Louis Koo playing the driven character. He is sure that he knows who is responsible for things falling apart with his team. Koo plays the role perfectly. Just like Nicholson in The Pledge Koo is given much of the screen time and this allows us to watch as he works through the mystery of just what happened. From, his distrust of his teammates to listening in on the suspected killer who is having sex in the apartment above, watching Koo become The Brain is compelling.

    Accident is produced by Johnnie To and is directed by Pou-Soi Cheang has several of the key elements of a To directed film. There are elaborate set pieces, the team of experts and more than a couple well shot scenes. I would not place Accident in with To’s better films but it is more than a match for his mid range films and this is saying something as I am a very big fan of Johnnie To. While I was expecting more of a typical action thriller I ended up with a very interesting character study . The only real faults that I can find would be that a couple of the “accidents” really are a bit too coincidental to be believed plus a whole subplot with the Uncle character developing Alzheimer’s felt a bit too rushed. Overall though, Accident is an interesting movie that has made me interested in checking out Pou-Soi Cheang’s other feature films.

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