Bishops Film Review Blog

“Martyrs” by Pascal Laugier

kida1211 — Thu, 07 May 2009 02:33:37 +0000

Last year I had this feeling of déjà vu in the sense that, throughout the previous year, I had been hearing raves reviews and a lot of hype regarding a new French horror film (Inside aka À l’intérieur), except this year the French horror film is Pascal Laugier’s “Martyrs”. When I first read about this film I automatically researched the director and discovered that Martyrs is his second feature film. So I managed to find a copy of his first film called “Saint Ange” or “House of Voices” (American title) and gave it a viewing. The first thing I noticed was that film was visually impressive for a debut feature, and it looked like it had pretty high production values as well. But after watching the film a couple times, I thought that the screenplay was very sloppy, amateur, and most of all boring. I understand is was designed as a Victorian era period piece and an intentionally slow moving ghost story, but the characters were also very unlikeable and mundane. But, I will give the film some credit; it was shot well and did have some interesting ideas at certain points in the story. So, after seeing this I was intrigued by all the positive press regarding Martyrs. So for a long time I researched the film’s DVD release and discovered it was out a month earlier in Canada, so of course I tracked a copy down. Although my expectations were somewhat high based on the all the buzz surrounding it, I still was hesitant due to his first feature film. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, but right from the start the film still managed to catch me off guard (in a really good way). Behind all the visceral on screen horror, I think what really captivated me about the film was the very interesting theme/main concept regarding this dark nature that lies dormant in everyday/suburban human beings. Without ruining the film for anyone, I will say that the screenplay is very horrific, dramatic, and emotional at the same time which I thought was a very unique combination that in my mind, made for one of the most original and affecting horror films of recent memory. Unlike his first film, this screenplay was surprisingly innovative and well paced, not to mention very impressive visually (as I expected), with no flashy camera work or MTV style editing. On the other hand it was not as atmospheric or stylish as other French horror films like “Inside” and “High Tension”. But the more I think about it this actually helped the film’s sense of realism and enhanced the horrific moments. Also, unlike a lot of the other recent French horror films, this movie was not a fun gorefest or over the top slasher movie. It was a gut-wrenching nightmare that was hard to watch at certain points, and not because of the gore but because of the psychological stress the viewer has to endure while watching it. I can’t imagine what the two lead actresses had to go through physically and emotionally while shooting this film, but they both delivered very powerful performances that leave a lasting impression. The bottom line is that “Martyrs” is another unique and brilliant addition to the already stunning catalog of recent French horror films.
- Mark

Fritt Vilt “Cold Prey” by Roar Uthaug

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:30:07 +0000

Since I haven’t seen many good domestic horror films lately (with the exception of Midnight Meat Train) I have turned to watching loads of French, Spanish, Japanese and now even Norwegian horror films. The slasher film “Cold Prey” is a little hidden gem I managed to hunt down on Region 2 DVD. If you like slasher films Cold Prey is for you, the story is pretty standard and it’s not going to break any new ground for originality, but it somehow seems refreshingly unique. The film isn’t particularly gory but it does have its fair share of violence, and best of all is captures a great sense of atmosphere. Finally the DVD has been released by Anchor Bay for a good price, so if you like slasher films make sure to track this one down.

- Mark

Insanitarium by Jeff Buhler.

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:24:07 +0000

After seeing “Midnight Meat Train” twice in the theater, I decided to watch the directorial debut from (Midnight Meat Train) screenwriter Jeff Buhler. This film is a very simple horror story, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a really fun film to watch. “Insanitarium” follows Jack, brother to Lilly, a girl who’s been having mental issues ever since their mother died. Jack is forced to commit his beloved sibling in order to keep her from harming herself, so then he acts crazy and gets himself committed in order to help her. For some reason I really liked this movie, it had a great pace, was really gory, had some interesting characters, and combined some elements of “28 Days Later”, “Re-Animator” and “Session 9”. Obviously it doesn’t hold a candle to any of those films, but in the category of straight-to-dvd horror films it’s one of the best I’ve seen. If nothing else this film once again confirms that writer/director Jeff Buhler is worth keeping an eye on.

-Mark

2008: Year In Review (Bishop’s List)

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:03:09 +0000

Top 10 Films 2008:

1. There Will be Blood – directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Technically, this came out last year but I didn’t see it until earlier this year so I didn’t get a spot on the 2007 list. Either way this film is perfection in every sense of the word. Paul Thomas Anderson directs a film that is the closest contender to matching the cinematic craftsmanship of my favorite director of all time, the late Stanley Kubrick. I can say with pure confidence that “There Will be Blood” would have made my number 1 spot over any film released over the last 5 years.

2. Inside “À l’intérieur” – directed by Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury
The French are making the most exciting and original horror films in the world right now and leading the pack is the indie horror masterpiece “Inside”. This movie not only makes my #1 horror film for 2008, it’s a possible candidate for best horror film of the last 5 years. I’ll never forget the feeling I got after my first viewing, it was an adrenaline rush (suspense) mixed with nausea (gore), excitement (original story), and admiration (cinematography/direction). Everything that I want to feel from a horror movie viewing.

3. The Dark Knight – directed by Christopher Nolan
It wouldn’t be a 2008 top 10 list if The Dark Knight wasn’t listed somewhere in the top 5. This movie is brilliant in the sense that it pleases every audience including: comic books fans, indie movie buffs, art house snobs, general moviegoers, etc. The 2 ingredients that make this film great are of course Heath Ledgers performance and Christopher Nolan’s flawless direction. I still think the second half of the screenplay could have been a little better.

4. The Fall – directed by Tarsem Singh
I remember occasionally researching director Tarsem Singh after watching his visually impressive and interesting debut film “The Cell”. I figured he gave up on filmmaking because the film wasn’t exactly a hit and so much time had passed since it was released, but then I saw a trailer for “The Fall”. As soon as I saw the trailer I had a STRONG feeling the film would be one of the years best. After my fifth viewing I will say that this movie is a masterpiece, not only visually (which is the film’s most obvious strength) but the story/screenplay is touching, and there are fantastic performances from everyone involved.

5. Iron Man – directed by John Favreau
Although I really love the comic book character Iron Man and director John Favreau, I never anticipated this film being as good as it was. In my opinion this film features the best special effects of the year, and also one of the best performances from Robert Downey Jr. as the lead Tony Stark. The screenplay was strong in my opinion and the ending set up a fantastic opportunity for a unique superhero franchise that is on par with Batman and Spider-Man.

6. Midnight Meat Train – directed by Ryuhei Kitamura
Under the brilliant direction of Ryuhei Kitamura and based on the short story by Clive Barker, this film was treated like a leper by Lionsgate and dumped into dollar theatres for one week. It’s too bad because it’s an excellent horror film that has real potential to be a future cult classic. Originality is very hard to come by in horror films these days, but this one manages to try something new.

7. REC – directed by Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza
This is a terrifying Spanish horror film shot in the Cinéma vérité style much like “The Blair Witch Project”. With little gore, it relies on horrific imagery that really leaves a lasting impression. It makes me sad that they made a mediocre remake before the original even received a Region 1 DVD release.

8. Southland Tales – directed by Richard Kelly
After a long wait, and a ton of bad press we finally are treated to (Donnie Darko) filmmaker Richard Kelly’s sophomore effort. Playing like a Philip K. Dick story, it is a brilliant satire and visually stunning film that like 2001: A Space Odyssey will be discovered down the road to be one of the best sci-fi films of the decade.

9. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – directed by Guillermo del Toro
If nothing else, this movie confirmed my opinion that Guillermo del Toro can do no wrong. I thought this film was FAR better than the first. A perfect blend of fantasy/horror/action for all almost ages. Hellboy works because he’s a totally different superhero than all the other comic turned movie heroes. All we need now is another installment to complete a fantastic trilogy.

10. In Bruges – directed by Martin McDonagh
This is a fantastic debut film from director Martin McDonagh, it work’s so well because it never classifies itself in any particular genre. There are very hilarious parts mixed with serious drama. Not to mention the film also has some great action sequences mixed with some innovative camera work and excellent performances from everyone involved. I can’t wait to see what his next film is like.
- Special Mention –
Films to Keep You Awake – “A Christmas Tale” & “To Let” – Since they aren’t technically feature length films I did not add them to the top 10 list. This whole set was pretty fantastic and showcased some really talented Spanish horror directors & writers.

5 Honorable Mentions:
- Doomsday – Not quite as good as I was expecting, but Neil Marshall still delivers the goods in this Sci-Fi/Apocolyptic/Horror film.

- Transsiberian – A solid suspense/semi-horror film from director Brad Anderson. Not as stylish or terrifying as “Session 9” or “The Machinist”, but still a great Hitchcockian type mystery.

- Insanitarium – By the screenwriter of “Midnight Meat Train”, this movie is low budget but still a fun horror movie and one of the best straight to-DVD horror films of the year.

- Rogue – This is the sophomore film from “Wolf Creek” director Greg Maclean. This creature feature had flawless effects & cinematography. It would have made my top 10 if it had a little less dialogue and a few more attacks (and little more gore).

- Re-Cycle – I never thought I would be putting a PANG brothers film on my top films of the year list, but the movie was an awesome blend of fantasy/horror which is rarity.

5 WORST:
1. Prom Night – One of the worst and most generic horror films I’ve ever seen. It’s hard for me to express in words how bad this movie was. Avoid at all costs.

2. The Strangers – Terrible, nothing but a few hipster killers standing around with masks looking scary. PLEASE, watch the French film “Them Ills” instead.

3. Mother of Tears – Can anyone tell me what the hell happened in this? I still don’t know. Time to retire Mr. Argento.

4. Mirrors – Not the worst film ever, only the fact that Alejandre Aja made it makes it so bad. Maybe I will like the unrated DVD version better who knows.

5. 88 Minutes- A generic suspense/thriller that is TERRIBLE. It is not really horror but really bad no matter what genre it’s classified in.

STILL HAVE NOT SEEN:
Martyrs
Let the right one In
Bad Biology
Timecrimes

One Hour Photo by Mark Romanek

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:13:18 +0000

If you haven’t seen it watch it asap. If you have then re-watch it and i bet you’ll see things you missed the first time watching it. It’s an incredible “lonely man” character study that captivates and shocks its audience. And as much as I’m not a fan of Robim Williams comedy his performace is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Mark Romanek is an amazingly talented director and watching his choice of colors and camera angles is like visual ecstasy. And it’s not just style over substance, every single shot, angle, light, etc. plays a part in understanding the characters without needing narration or even much dialogue. I don’t think this film has been given the praise or credit it deserves but hopefully in the future it will be remembered like films such as “Taxi Driver”. Watch out for the next Mark Romanek feautre film, a remake of the old monster movie classic “The Wolfman” starring Benicio Del Toro…..

- Mark

Ondskan “Evil” by Mikael Håfström

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:11:13 +0000

The front of DVD has a quote that says “It’s Fight Club in a boarding school”. Although I don’t really agree with that I think this movie is the best psychological study of adolescent cruelty ever put on film. The film is adapted from a bestselling novel (based on a true story) and the plot is basically this: Erik, our main character, is expelled from school for fighting. He ends up at a private boarding school in Sweden where the senior students control the young ones. Erik finds a friend in Pierre, his room mate. The story revolves around Erik who just wishes to be left alone and graduate. He doesn’t listen to what the seniors have to say and they don’t like it so they haze him and his friend. I could go on and on about this film because it has all the elements you could want, a great story of friendship, freedom, punishment and with gritty and brutal violence. The entire film you see the older students doing horrible hazing to our main character ERIC but the film never goes as far as advocating revenge as the solution until the end where there was no other choice for him. It is in subtitles, but I highly recommend watching this more than once be cause you get more out of it each time. The director is Mikael Håfström who followed this film with his first American effort “DERAILED” (Starring CLIVE OWEN), which I think is also a brilliant and underrated drama. He shoots amazing visuals but I think his greatest strength is getting raw and realistic performances out of his actors.

-Mark

Dressed to Kill by Brian DePalma

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:08:35 +0000

If somebody would have asked me 2 months ago what comes to mind when I think of film maker Brian DePalma I would have said “Scarface” , Carrie” and “Untouchables”. Not that those aren’t great movies but I never realized he had such a great lineup of older films from the late seventies to the mid-eighties. I started with the film “Blow Out” (1981) because I kept hearing it was one of Tarantino’s favorite films of all time. I watched the film once and liked it but then watched it again 2 weeks later and loved it. It’s a really unique story about (John Travolta) Jack who is a sound-man that works on “Grade-B” horror movies. Late one evening, he is “sampling” sounds for use on his movies, when he hears something unexpected through his sound equipment and records it. Curiosity gets the better of him when the media become involved, and he begins to unravel the pieces of a nefarious conspiracy. The visual style of it is very innovative and the ending is really shocking and twisted which I didn’t see coming at all.
But now for “Dressed to Kill” which was the film DePalma made right before (1980) “Blow Out”. I decided to give it a chance because I liked “Blow Out” so much, but I really didn’t think the premise for “Dressed to Kill” sounded very interesting. Being a fan of 80′s slasher films I am used to seeing bad acting, editing, lighting, effects, etc. although that is part of the fun of 80′s slasher films and is what makes them funny. After the film “Halloween” was a HUGE hit in the late seventies slasher films came out in the bucket loads and were 95% pure garbage. Studios were throwing anything together real fast just to cash in on the slasher craze. But, out of this phase came a few well made slasher films like “The Prowler” and “Slumber Party Massacre”. Although “Dressed to Kill” was more or less advertised as a “Thriller” it really is a straight up SLASHER horror film all the way. But it really is one of, if not the best slasher film of the 80′s. In comparison to other slashers of its time it’s like a glass of fine wine compared to a 40oz of King Cobra. The story is basically this in one sentence : “A transsexual murders one of his psychiatrist’s patients, and now he’s after the prostitute who witnessed it.”…..I know it sounds wierd but trust me it’s really genius and builds suspense and atmosphere better than anything ive seen in a long time (in that genre). To be honest there isn’t a ton of slashing and gore but the few death scenes that are in it are brutal and don’t hold back or turn away. And again the directors visual style is a big part of the films strenth and I think the way he frames, sets up and lights certain shots is influenced by Hitchcock in a big way. Overall I don’t want to give much of the story away because, like “Blow Out”, the end is kind of a suprise and really of creeped me out. And last but not least, the movie wouldn’t have been half as good without Michael Caine’s amazing performance. Now I know why he won that Oscar a couple years ago. Bottom line: GO RENT THIS FILM (and other early DePalma: “Blow Out” & “Body Double”) you won’t regret it…..

-Mark

Grapes of Death by Jean Rollin

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:07:08 +0000

OK, this film “Raisins de la mort, Les” or Grapes of Death is a French zombie film from 1978. This film a very simple in story but very effective in atmosphere and tension. I guess it’s a “zombie” film per se but it falls under the style of “28 Days Later” in thats it’s not traditional looking zombies. I never thought I would find a French zombie movie that I would actually like but Jean Rollin made an excellent film that it VERY unique in the genre. It is about a young woman who discovers that the pesticide being sprayed on vineyards is turning people into killer zombies. The effects/gore are not excessive but really well done and the camera work is inventive for a film from 1978. I haven’t seen Jean Rollins other films but I have been reading that he made mostly erotic style horror films (which really sounds boring to me). But I will check out a few of his other films and see if the are worth writing about. Two other foriegn zombie films I have currently come to like are (Japanese) “Junk” and (Spanish) “Return of the Evil Dead” (the second film of the “Blind Dead” series).

-Mark

Birth by Jonathan Glazer

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:04:21 +0000

Jonathan Glazer is an amazing artist. He started off directing music videos for artists such as RADIOHEAD, BLUR and MASSIVE ATTACK. In the year 2000, he went on to direct his first feature film SEXY BEAST, which is one of my all time favorite films and one that I think is vastly underrated among the general public and film fanatics. With Sexy Beast, I think he really showed his unique ability to play with abstract visuals and complex symbolism in such a simple story. But…. following up such a critically acclaimed first film is no easy task for any director. So…. in 2004 came his second feature film BIRTH. When it opened the film was pretty much received as a flop by critics across the board. Audiences didn’t seem to understand it as well considering it had a 20 million dollar budget and only made 1.5 million its opening weekend. And I admit the first time I watched it I didn’t really care for the screenplay, only the visuals held my interest. But, after recently giving it another chance I think it was a bold and powerful step for the director. It’s a really thought provoking film that really doesn’t provide many answers when it comes to an end. But after a few views, I think this aspect is one of the strengths of the film, it sparked debates and conversations because it didn’t spell out all the details. The film is basically about a very young boy that claims to be the main characters (Kidman) born again dead husband. Glazer and his ace director of photography, Harris Savides, create an atmosphere that seems alive to every possibility. The film is very subtle but haunting and emotional at the same time. At a concert, while the orchestra swells with Wagner’s Die Walkuere, the camera just fixes on Anna ( Kidman) who is sporting a short Mia Farrow hairstyle out of Rosemary’s Baby. The shot is about 3 minutes long and is a very BOLD but crucial move on the directors behalf. I think it really gives audiences a chance to see the pain she is going through, and it really reminds me of the camera work of a Kubrick film like EYES WIDE SHUT or CLOCKWORK ORANGE. Overall, it isn’t for everyone, but I think it’s a really unique and wonderful film. I really hope Glazer decides (or gets the chance since the film was such a financial flop) to direct more films because i think he has the potential to be a master storyteller.

-Mark

Uzumaki (SPIRAL) by Higuchinsky

kida1211 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:02:17 +0000

I would like to preface this by saying I really can’t stand J-Horror films. After the excellent Ringu/The Ring, I feel like there have been a non-stop wave of terrible and unoriginal J-Horror films followed by teen friendly American remakes (I will admit I haven’t seen many since I gave up on them a LONG time ago). But, I read the premise for this film and decided to give it a chance because it was based on a Manga comic and sounded like an interesting story. After watching it I can proudly say that everything about this film is top notch, the dark psychedelic visuals, graphic horror/gore, dreamlike pacing, and interesting characters. To the best of my memory, it’s the first horror film to really get under my skin since I watched “Session 9″ a few years ago. Although, I will admit that the film doesn’t always make sense, it’s almost comparable to a Lynch or Croeneberg film in that it’s not directly a horror film. All I can say is that it’s not your typical J-Horror, it’s hard to explain but a unique experience that shouldn’t be missed.

- Mark