FILM REVIEW: V/H/S (2012)

Directors: Adam Winguard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence

Starring: Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes, Adam Winguard, Hannah Fierman,  Mike Donlan

Running Time: 115 minutes

Genre: Horror anthology

The found footage gimmick is becoming stale. It's resurgence in recent years due to the success of the Paranormal Activity has brought up a host of cheap and tacky imitations trying the same trick over and over. V/H/S is a breath of fresh air in that regard. Unlike the majority of these films threats of near-misses for 90 minutes and then one big reveal at the finish, V/H/S goes straight for the jugular. It's gruesome, nasty, vile, ultra-violent and disturbing in parts, but one thing you can't deny is that it is an effective horror film that sticks a middle finger to the safe horror that is constantly being thrown into cinemas.

Rather than being one long haul, V/H/S is an anthology film, broken into six short segments (five of which are seen in one main arc called 'Tape 56'). This allows for greater variety in tone and style, which is often a hindrance on such films, where the found footage gimmick can wear thin pretty quick. Tape 56 suffers the most from being broken up in bit segments while the other shorts play and is the most confusing, but there are a few chills to be found, despite the group being a bunch of douchebags. The opening short, Amateur Night (directed by David Bruckner) is the best of the bunch. Following three guys on a night out, their drunken antics (except the quiet and nice guy of the group cameraman) and their inability to see that everything isn't okay with one of the chicks they pick up from a bar. Cue madness. This segment is bat-shit bonkers. The warning signs are evident for the boys early on and it's horror movie school 101 stuff, but is executed with such thrilling style and makes exceptional use of the found footage format. Visceral and pretty much every young man's nightmare, it's a fantastic opening segment. The second segment, Second Honeymoon (directed by Ti West) is a more subdued affair. Anyone who knows West's output will instantly know his involvement here. Slow building and full of quiet menace, a couple on their second honeymoon become victim of a deranged stalker. Here, the use of the found footage is haunting and eerily creepy. West's horror instincts (as seen in the great The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers and probably the main reason I wanted to see this film) are old school, the slow build, the ominous signs and the night scenes. They are beyond scary. The stalker using the couples camera is a master stroke. The menace and threat of the stalker in those scenes do more than the blood-letting that comes afterwards. The shockingly brutal climax will warrant a strong stomach and is about as explicitly violent a film can get without being censored. Be warned! 

The third segment, Tuesday the 17th (directed by Glenn McQuaid), plays with the slasher movie format and after the first two segments feels like a let down. It has its moments with some genuinely spooky flashes. One or two of the kills are rough and nasty, but the over-reliance on gore here (and some shoddy effects/fake looking props) hinder. It has its moments, but nowhere as effective as the previous two. The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Young (directed by Joe Swanberg) is the weakest segment of the film. Relying on a Skype camera call scenario, a young woman who suspects there is a ghost in her apartment contacting her doctor boyfriend to keep a record of the events. There are scares to be had here, as the Paranormal Activity premise is turned on its head in pretty disgusting fashion. Two impromptu surgery scenes again keep the recurring theme of extreme gore at a high. This is perhaps the weakest segment of the film, but given the tricky and confining setting, it does well all things considered. The final segment is the most fun of the bunch, 10/31/98. Directed by Radio Silence, this segment has by far the most visual scares of the film, as a group of guys go to the wrong Halloween party and enter a real life house of horrors. The scares are not a gruesome as the previous segments and there is a lighter feel to this segment (for the opening exchanges anyway). The scares are great, giving more in jumps in 15 minutes that the combined Paranormal Activity franchise combined. 

V/H/S is a great horror film. Mean and nasty, but with enough clever touches to stop it from being exploitive, there are enough scares and blood here for hardcore horror fans. Definitely not for those with a weak stomach though. All involved have made an entertaining and genuinely unique take on a horror sub-genre that has relied on safe and basic scares. V/H/S rectifies this, with blood-soaked aplomb. Be warned, it is intensely violent and gruesome. One for Halloween then!

78

FILM REVIEW: The Thing (2011 prequel)

Director: Matthijs van Heijiningen Jr.
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Running Time: 102 minutes
Genre: Horror thriller

A prequel to the 1982 classic of the same name on paper is totally unnecessary and uncalled for. Even now, 30 years after its release, the original film remains a masterpiece of psychological horror storytelling and the creature effects remain miraculously decent despite its age. So this prequel has an awful lot to live up to and it essentially comes off very much like 2010's sequel Predators, a film which captures the spirit of the original classic, but does little to elevate it from being a modern rethread.

A film like this can't help but be compared to the original as there are so many nods and winks to it throughout its 100 minute running time. Finding out how the Norwegian camp from the original came to end up like this was an interesting idea and at a basic level the style and set-design are excellent for the most part and consistent with the original. But much more important and an essential part of what made the original so tense was the characterization, the strong central cast who felt like more than filler for when the trouble began. In this aspect, this film fails, we are given Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Kate Lloyd, who is the sole character we get to know or appreciate in any way, with supports like Carter (underused Joel Edgerton as a Kurt Russell clone) and the two-faced Adam (Eric Christian Olsen) wasted. The rest are either cardboard cut-out characters, like the callous Dr. Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen), who are underdeveloped and given little room to be nothing but stereotypes. This would not matter if the film had a hidden ace up its sleeve, but it doesn't. Once the alien is loose, it becomes a stalk'n'slash horror with the body count rising steadily and some shoddy CGI (even compared to 1982's version, where prosthetics have held up considerably better) kill any tension that could have been sought from the creepy premise of not knowing who could possibly be the creature.

While entertaining as a throwaway action horror film, this prequel does not do enough to distinguish itself from the classic 1982 film. Much like other new rethreads of older classics, this film serves more as a homage to the original film rather than trying to invoke any unique and original scares/thrills of its own. Only for die hard 'The Thing' fans.

58

FILM REVIEW: Prometheus (2012)

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce
Running Time: 124 minutes
Genre: Science-fiction

While not up to the level of his Alien and Blade Runner efforts, Ridley Scott's big return to the science fiction genre is still a highly effective and creative thrill-ride that takes a well known mythology (of the Alien film series) and not only reinvigorates it, but turns the series in another and more ambitious direction. But while not being a proper prequel to Alien, it contains many odes and obvious references to the seminal 1979 film that made Scott an icon. This film aims to be bigger and more expansive than the Alien franchise and to a level it succeeds, but often at the expense of logic and gaps in continuity. 

From the opening scene, Prometheus is a gorgeous, wonderfully shot and epic looking film. Perhaps this epic and awe inspiring imagery covers up some of the inadequacies in the plot and with the characterization. Noomi Rapace does well with the well-worn female hero role and while being nowhere near as iconic as Sigourney Weaver's Ripley, she puts in a great effort as an archaeologist whose discovery may lead to the extermination of mankind. Her and her partner Charlie (Logan Marshall-Green) become part of the journey to explore the same star maps they found on different archaeological expeditions on earth. On board the ship (named Prometheus), we met the 17 strong crew who and their mission to make contact with extraterrestrial life. Even early on, the standout of the film is Michael Fassbender's David. Fassbender has proven himself as a terrific performer with his roles in Hunger and Shame and again here he is nothing less than stunning in his portrayal of this android. Effortlessly swaying from sinister to sincere, Fassbender's David is a joy. His emotionless performance and robotic delivery is frighteningly divisive, is he good or bad, should we be cheering him on or condemning him (especially in comparison to Alien's Ian Holm, of whom David is an earlier model of). Scott's various odes to Alien are common, none more so than the central villain of the piece, the space jockey (seen in Alien, but not explained) or as they are now called, Engineers. While fascinating and creepy, the plot holes start to come into effect here and it adds to moments of questioning that even pushes science fiction logic to its limits. But as the logic falls, the action suspense and space horror elements are very well done. There are quite a few cringe moments of gore that up the ante and bodies start piling up. Characters like Rafe Spall's Milburn and the underrated Sean Harris's Fifield get little screen time, they make enough of an impression to feel for their plight. Captain Janek (Idris Elba) is the captain of the ship and despite his lack of screen time, Elba is as charismatic as ever. Vickers (Charlize Theron) is the Burke (ooh, Aliens reference) of the film; a company woman with profit and power on her mind as well as a few secrets that turn out to be predictable and poor reveals. The biggest disappointment (besides his terrible make-up) is the genuine waste of Guy Pearce, an actor so good it's criminal to have him hidden behind 40 layers of prosthetics. 

A return to form this may be for Ridley Scott, it however still falls short of his classic Alien and Blade Runner masterpieces. But you have to admire the scale and ambition seen in Prometheus, it expands on a beloved franchise and breathes new life into a genre that has become stale and tame. Prometheus, while far from being a perfect film and having a weak plot, is a greatly entertaining science fiction thriller that is high on gorgeous visuals, big set pieces and a towering performance from the terrific Michael Fassbender.

79

FILM REVIEW: The Innkeepers (2012)

Director: Ti West
Starring: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, Lena Dunham and George Riddle
Running Time: 101 minutes
Genre: Horror

Ti West is one of the most promising directors to emerge on the horror scene in quite some time. His films are highly influenced by stories that favour atmosphere over gore and character development over high body count. His style, highly reminiscent of 80's auteur John Carpenter, usually has a slow paced opening and a tense build to a finish that gives a finality that tends to allude most modern horror films (usually a cop-out or left open for a sequel). His latest effort, The Innkeepers, builds on the great promise shown in his previous effort, the little seen chiller The House of the Devil.

While billed as a horror film, The Innkeepers borrows from many different genres. There are elements of romantic comedy, slacker comedy mixed with psychological thriller elements that combined with the haunted house story create a peculiar and offbeat treat that is at the heart of The Innkeepers appeal. Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are working in the Yankee Pedlar Inn, a hotel which is closing down after the weekend. As the hotel is practically deserted (bar an ageing actress and a mother and son), Claire and Luke pass the time by maintaining Luke's ghost-hunters website and doing some ghost-hunting of their own in the hotel. While this all sounds like it has been done before story-wise, West builds up the relationship between Claire and Luke so effectively, that by the time the creepy stuff starts happening, we genuinely care for their safety and well-being. Paxton and Healy are great in their roles and both are immensely likeable, even as rom-com possible elements come into play. The effective build-up and introduction of actress-cum-psychic Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis) allows for the tension to grow further, as her ominous presence brings a sense of dread to proceedings. Like with his previous effort The House of the Dead, the final act sadly comes short, the big reveal of the actual ghost isn't as terrifying as it should be. But there still are still tense, effective chills to be had in the build-up to the underwhelming reveal.

Ti West is an great young talent. His old school direction technique and favouring of a slow and tense build up mixed with endearing character based development over cheap thrills and gore is a refreshing take in a modern horror film community where films tend to be blood-soaked and devoid of humanity. The Innkeepers is a traditional horror tale that embraces the ghost story genre with some modern beats. Add to this good lead performances by Paxton and Healy, where you are genuinely left worried for their safety and you have all the signs of good storytelling.

75

FILM REVIEW: Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Director: E. Elias Merhige

Starring: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Catherine McCormack, Cary Elwes and Udo Kier

Running Time: 92 minutes

Genre: Meta-fictional horror

Shadow of the Vampire is a fictional take on the making of F.W. Murnau's (John Malkovich) classic 1922 horror film, Nosferatu. The cast and crew are summoned to an old Slovak castle by the actor who will portray Nosferatu, Max Schreck (Oscar nominated Willem Dafoe who is wonderfully creepy), a supposed method actor who will stay in character throughout the film shoot. As the production arrives at the castle, proceedings take a turn for the surreal with Schreck's erratic behaviour seemingly behind some unsavoury events. 

E. Elias Merhige's film has a wonderful atmosphere to it, this uniquely set tale is in essence set up in such a way that echoes of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, of which Nosferatu was based on, but had the name changed due to it being an unauthorized adaption. As Murnau and his crew descend onto foreign territory, the sense of foreboding deepens as Schreck's behavior becomes stranger and as cast and crew members go missing/or are traumatized. A terrific sequence where Schreck tells of his history as a vampire is an acting master class by Dafoe, as Schreck nonchalantly catches and feasts upon a bat at the discussions end. As the full story begins to come to the light on Murnau and Schreck's dealings, a bloody finale ensues that wraps up proceedings neatly that allows the meta-fiction of the narrative to come full circle (the film is completed, but lots of people die).

Merhige has crafted a highly accomplished, atmospheric horror film that is held together primarily by the terrific performances by Willem Dafoe, the ever-reliable Malkovich and a strong cast of supporting characters. While the film has a great atmosphere and Dafoe is genuinely creepy, we never get the full promise of his horrific nature, or the scares to go with being a horror film. Despite this, Shadow of the Vampire is a entertaining peculiarity that rarely comes around, with a focus on atmosphere rather than simple chills and for that it deserves just credit.

72