Frightfest reviews: Thursday night and Friday
I'm breaking my reviews down by day to avoid post size issues.
The Guest
A charming young man turns up at an American family's home to deliver a last message from their deceased son he served with in the military. But as he spends time with them the body count starts to rise and the truth of why he is really there appears...
This was one that I was disinterested in from the programme but found it an ace film. Brit actor Dan Stevens fills the role of soldier David wonderfully. The 80's style synthesizer soundtrack invokes John Carpenter comparisons. A good, solid film.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill for
It's funny seeing this as Vic and I saw the première of the first film at Frightfest 9 years ago. Vic described the original as “Spending 2 hours in a man's head”.
The sequel is more of the same. Where it is weakest is with returning characters; Hartegan (as a ghost), Marv and others turn up. It felt a lot like fan service, although events do escalate to a big conclusion for Jessica Alba's Nancy. But it is the new characters (Played by Josh Brolin and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and their stories that are the best narratively. But the same old tropes apply; macho men, women are strippers, whores or gold diggers and random violence abounds. Can I invernt the term “macho porn”?
This was also a 3D print of the movie. While this was impressive at first for most of the film it didn't add much, which is a pity considering the film is mostly virtual sets.
R100
A lowly Japanese shop assistant is beaten down by his hum drum job and caring for his son. One day he signs up for the shadowy Bondage Corporation. The contract specifies that for a year he will be abused every day by a series of dominatrices. But when this fantasy intrudes in his work and home he tries to quit, only to find Bondage is a club one does not simply leave...
I think many people discounted this film for its fetish themes. But instead it descends to outright weirdness in that way that only Japanese film makers seem to think is appropriate. It was really funny and well worth catching by lovers of the weird.
Shockwave Darkside 3D
A squad of soldiers on the moon are dispatched to attack a base of soldiers from earth. But they fly into an ambush and have to walk to their extraction point. As the film progresses we find they are all followers of 'outlaws'; after a war on earth all theists flee to the moon to avoid persecution. But the Unlights have arrived from Earth to take the moon's water as Earth's is polluted with nano plague.
As the squad fights its way back to their lines they have to traverse an unmapped part of the moon. Which is where they discover something that could change the war and all human understanding...
Okay, this was the one duff film of the weekend. It feels like a Sci-Fi channel flick. The acting is sound, the FX are okay (the drop ships with manoeuvring thrusters on booms are neat). But the CG is a bit ropey. The combat scenes make the squad look like a team of accountants playing paintball. The idea of the theists being kicked off Earth and having to come up with a system of mutual respect is sound and the final twist has some interest. But the execution lets it down too much. Also while the film was shot in 3D it felt weird and odd.
But hey, one outright duff film is pretty good going for a film festival!
Late Phases
Retired blind soldier Ambrose moves to a remote gated retirement community. But on his first night there his neighbour is slain by a monstrous beast and Ambrose is only saved by the sacrifice of his guide dog. Upon hearing these 'animal attacks' happen every month at a full moon Ambrose realises what the threat is and spends the time to the next full moon working out who the werewolf is and preparing to fight...
This was one of my gems from the festival. Like all the best monster movies it isn't about the monster but about a proud, bitter man who regrets screwing up his relationship with his son. The main actor, Nick Damici, carries the film very well. The obvious comparison is to 'Bubba Ho-Tep' and comedy aside the theme of regrets and facing death are very similar. Genuinely left me with a tear in my eye at the end and highly recommended.
Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead
Carrying on from the end of the original survivor Martin wakes up in hospital after crashing his car escaping the Nazi zombies. The doctors tell him they sewed his severed arm back on but do not realise that it is the arm of the Nazi commander! But this appendage gives Martin the ability to raise the dead himself. Which he will have to do to raise an army to stop the dead army completing their final mission...
This is one of the films I was looking forward to most and it paid off so very well. While not as narratively paced as the first in makes up in pure jokes-per-minute. I was rolling in my seat laughing. And it will totally ruin Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' for you.
If you like the first you'll love this one too.
Housebound
After a botched ATM robbery Kylie is placed under house arrest at her parent's for 8 months. Her motor mouth mother is convinced that supernatural occurrences are happening in the house and gradually Kylie becomes convinced the place is haunted. With the help of her paranormal obsessed case worker she investigates the house's past and finds that it has an awful history...
This New Zealand comedy starts as a ghost story but the plot becomes a deliciously twisty, turny snake that constantly wrong foots the viewer. It's genuinely really funny in a very kiwi way. Another of the highlights of the festival