Elwood's Essentials #17 - The Crow

Title: The Crow

Director: Alex Proyas

Released: 1994

Starring: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Ernie Hudson, Rochekke Davis, Bai Ling, David Patrick Kelly, Angel David, Jon Polito, Tony Todd, Sofia Shinas, Michael Massee, Laurence Mason

Plot: One year after being murdered Eric Draven (Lee) is resurrected by the power of The Crow to extract revenge on the gang who killed him and his fiancée Shelly (Shinas)

Review: An iconic cult movie for a number of reasons especially in terms of style and design aswell as the tragic death of leading man Brandon Lee in an event echoing the death of his own father Bruce Lee. More so when this film much like “Enter The Dragon” is frequently seen as the film which would have finally launched Brandon into the mainstream having previously put in memorable turns in “Showdown In Little Tokyo” and “Rapid Fire”. Certainly for myself it was one of those films whose VHS cover drew me in long before I knew anything about the film or it’s tragic and highly problematic production as I discovered it of all places in my local (and long since defunct) record store and since that initial discovery has remained a film I still love to go back and revisit.

Based on the equally cult comic book by James O’Barr who had originally wrote the story as a way of dealing with his own personal grief when his fiancée was killed by a drunk driver, while drawing further inspiration for the story from a newspaper article he'd read about a young couple who were killed in Detroit for a $20 engagement ring. At the same time it should be noted that while the source comic is still an incredible piece of work and certainly raw emotion with its distinctive black and white illustration it’s not a piece which works as a straight adaption. As such instead of following the source material’s path of unflinching violent revenge between bouts of Eric’s emotional torment we get a more traditional revenge movie yet one which still retains the core elements of the source material.

Proyas brings the world certainly to life here as he paints a crime riddled vision of Detroit were it is almost permanently night and raining, only allowing some colour into the world once Eric gets close to completing his quest for revenge. Proyas had though originally wanted to shoot the film completely in black and white and only use colour for the flashback sequences which the studio unsurprisingly wouldn’t get behind especially for what was already a risky concept. Still while perhaps not the vision he had intended this city of almost permanent midnight is still an effective playground for the story to playout in.

While he might not have been the first choice for the role of Eric with O’Barr citing Johnny Depp as his personal choice for the role, while River Phoenix and Christian Slater were also seen as being up for consideration for the part. Brandon Lee though was of course much more of an unknown talent and no doubt better known for being the son of a famous martial artist than his previous films, but watching the film now and seeing how he embodies the role of Eric its hard to see anyone else in the role and even now after numerous sequels it’s still Lee which we see as being the definitive embodiment of the character. What further helps Lee’s portrayal of the character are the moments of humanity he gets throughout rather than just being a vessel for revenge on T-Bird and his gang and while the flashbacks might be a little too smaltzy he does manage with these brief flashes of his former life manage to give us an idea of who he was before he became “The Crow”.

Considering Lee’s background as a martial artist it might seem strange in the fact that he doesn’t in fact get to do much bar a move here or there with the film being much more focused on heroic gunplay. Were it does pay off though is with his body movements and much like the casting of dancers like Michelle Yeoh in Martial Arts movies here it equally pays off as Eric is shown as moving with cat like movements especially as he prowls the city roof tops in search of the gang members on his list. The fact that he is so charismatic and hypnotic in his performance is only an added bonus.

Opening on “Devil’s Night” the night before Halloween were the city gangs cause acts of vandalism and arson throughout the city, which surprisingly was actually a thing in Detroit until the mid 90’s when it was Detroit official's organised “Angel’s Night” were volunteer patrols protect their neighbourhoods from arson attacks. Here though it’s seen as a calling card for the city’s top crime boss Top Dollar (Wincott) a minor character in the comic who here gets a promotion to the film’s big villain which is only added to by the charismatic Michael Wincott which might be his most iconic role to date outside of voicing “Death” in “Darksiders 2” and as such has meant that its always been kind of disappointing to see him frequently not getting to play more of these kinds of roles in the films he’s made since.

Top Dollar is really the perfect sort of villain for this Gothic vision of Detroit as he carries himself with the right amount of theatricality, while his half-sister / lover Myca (Ling) helps to fill in the rules for the crow by adding the subtle element of mysticism without the action getting too fantastical, which really isn’t the easiest thing when your essentially dealing with a supernatural force of vengeance. At the same time the gang responsible for murdering Eric along with his fiancée lead by the Milton quoting arsonist T-Bird (Kelly) are all colourful and unique in their quirks which ultimately become the tools of their demise and really add to this “Sin City” style world which Proyas creates here and which he would carry across to the criminally underrated “Dark City”.

The soundtrack throughout really makes the film a time capsule of it’s release with Proyas compiling a suitably grungy soundtrack featuring the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against The Machine and the Rollins band. Nine Inch Nails also fittingly provide a cover of the Joy Division track “Dead Souls” tying the film further to the source material. Proyas also features live performances by both Medicine and My Life With The Kill Thrill Cult the later whose club performance soundtracks the boardroom shoot-out. The only real downside to the soundtrack is the use of “Burn” by the Cure which is not down to the track which itself perfectly matches Eric applying his harlequin styled face paint but rather the issues come with the fact its a choppily edited version which really stands out if your familiar with the track. Unsurprisingly the grunge / goth ascetic of the film combined with the soundtrack which still holds up now saw the film being often sold in record stores, which is certainly how I first came across it were it was displayed amongst the VHS copies of “REM: Road Movie” and “Nirvana Live Sold Out”.

A fantastic film which unfortunately broke the mould so that any of the attempts to expand the mythology through different souls either in the films which followed or the numerous spin off comics / books none came close to matching what Brandon Lee gives us with Eric more often than not characters being left feeling like they were in some way attempting to mimic his performance and or character. As such this remains a beautiful curiosity and one which like any actor who dies when they are just getting noticed if this would have been his breakout film or not. Sadly we will never know but it remains a fitting end note to go out on.

The Crow: City of Angels

Title: The Crow: City of Angels

Director: Tim Pope

Released: 1996

Starring: Vincent Perez, Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks, Thuy Trang, Iggy Pop, Thomas Jane, Vincent Castellanos, Eric Acosta, Beverley Mitchell, Ian Dury

Plot: When mechanic Ashe (Perez) and his son are murdered under the orders of Los Angeles drug kingpin Judah Earl (Brooks) after they accidently witness a murder being carried out by his followers. Resurrected as the Crow Ashe now sets out to seek his revenge.

 

Review: It was always going to be a difficult task to follow on from the cult original film but believing that they could make a franchise out of the idea, the Weinstein’s offered the job to Music video director Tim Pope for his feature film debut. They also brought in David S. Goyer to write the script who at this point was yet to really make a name for himself having previously written the scripts for “Death Warrant” and “Demonic Toys” with this film sitting on the cusp of his mainstream success as he also working the scripts for “Dark City” and “Blade” at the same time he was writing this script.

Moving the story from Detroit to Los Angeles the look of the cityscape is still pretty much the same landscape of seemingly eternal darkness and urban decay. Despite this similarity Pope and Goyer had initially wanted to make a film which was different from the first film especially out of respect to Brandon Lee. who only for the Weinstein’s in their usual misguided wisdom to make demands for the film to be recut so that it was similar to original as possibly ultimately leading to both Pope and Goyer disowning the film as it no longer represented their vision. Goyer was especially dismayed by the changes having fought to cut out the resurrection of villains Top Dollar and Grange from the first film.

One character who does return from the first film as well as admittedly older is Sarah who is no longer the skateboarding tomboy of the first film but here is all grown up and working in the city as a tattoo artist and painter. Here she serves to fill in the mythology when required as she helps Ashe on his quest for vengeance. One of the potential scripts for the film had her returning as the female Crow, which while certainly a cool idea is one I was glad they didn’t go with for the film and even though Sarah returning wasn’t anywhere on the list of things I’d want to see from a sequel here it still works and her appearance also means we get to see Ian Dury showing surprising acting ability as her boss Noah.

Equally surprising in their acting ability is Iggy Pop whose acting C.V. is surprisingly more extensive than his brief appearances in “Tank Girl” and “Hardware” and here as one of Judah’s thugs “Curve” he makes up for turning down the role of “Funboy” in the original film and turns out to be one of the better aspects of the film and really gives us one of the more odious villains of the film and arguably the real villain of the piece had they choose to cut out the theatrical antics of Judah. It equally be noted that the amount of musicians appearing in the film would have been increased has the casting gone differently with Jon Bon Jovi originally being interested in playing the lead while Tori Amos was considered for the role of Sarah only for her to turn down the role.

The role of the Crow as played by Perez is thankfully not a rehash of the Eric Draven version of The Crow and even though the make up makes little sense that he would share the same dark Jester design. True Perez overplays the theatrical moments as seen during the scene he stalks Spider Monkey (Castellanos) which just comes off as deranged than intimidating. Still seeing him stalk his foes with his Spirit crow on his shoulder looks fantastic much like the scenes of him riding through the streets on his motorcycle. It’s just a shame that he’s not given anything to do which makes him any more than your usual action hero, only pulling out the one creative kill through the film and certainly giving us none of the themed kills while the Crow outlines often end up feeling forced.

The villains we get this time round are far from as defined as they were in the original film and ultimately come off as something of a mixed bag of undeveloped characters who like so many aspects of the film you can’t help but feel would have been much more effective had their characters been given chance to breathe. Sure they all have their own vices (drugs, voyeurism etc) but with the exception of the sole female member Kali (Trang) they are nearly all interchangeable. Worst of all is out supposed big villain Judah who is just a mess of theatricality and mystic nonsense. Perhaps Michael Wincott set the bar too high as “Top Dollar” in the first film but here everything about Judah feels like a poor imitation.

While the mythology of “The Crow” was kept simple in the original film here the film attempts to expand upon things so that its no longer the case that Ashe has his powers while the crow is alive, but also that its a power which can be transferred which feels like one of those ideas which might have worked in the script but only serves to take away from the film which in its final quarter ends up descending into mythical nonsense including Ashe being able to command a murder of crows which really add nothing to the film.

When I originally saw this film I honestly didn’t care for it, but now rewatching it and knowing what to expect it feels more frustrating to see glimpses of what could have been had it not been ultimately another casualty of Weinstein meddling. What it did give the franchise though was the potential to go anywhere it wanted essentially as no longer was “The Crow” just Eric Draven but essentially any person who was wronged and in the films / novels / comics which followed we have seen that principle creatively used aswell as the series “Stairway to Heaven” which ran for one season before being axed on a cliffhanger. In the scheme of the franchise this might not be the worst, but its a far cry from the best and as such provides little than a passing distraction for fans of the series and little really for anyone else.

Blue Ruin

Title: Blue Ruin

Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Released: 2013

Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack, Eve Plumb, David W. Thompson, Brent Werzner, Stacy Rock

Plot: Dwight (Blair) is a drifter currently living out of his car when not scavenging for food and money. However his life living off the grid is interrupted when he finds out the man who killed his parents is set to be released from prison so he begins to formulate a plan to take his revenge, only to soon find that its far from straight forward.

 

Review: The career path of director Jeremy Saulnier has certainly been funny one for while he made his directing debut with the 2007 black comedy “Murder Party” a film largely overlooked by most it meant that most people wondered where he had come from when he released this film while the established fans got the a completely different kind of movie than what they'd expected from him. Its also a film which despite its limited theatrical release still went on to be one of the most talked about movies of late with his follow up film “Green Room” only furthering the interest in this film and creating a perhaps unintentional one two punch as audiences often find themselves watching one and quickly seeking out the other.

Shot on a modest budget of $35,000 raised through Kickstarter and his own funds here Saulnier crafts a simple yet effective tale which not only brings to mind the Coen Brothers debut “Blood Simple” but also the equally overlooked "Big Bad Wolves" all while bringing its own unique spin to the revenge genre. While the more traditional approach to this kind of film would see the wronged party spending most of the film plotting their revenge, here Saulnier instead mixes things up by giving Dwight his revenge in the first twenty minutes with Saulnier more interested in the fallout from this situation especially when the family of the man he killed come seeking revenge on him.

Reuniting with his long time collaborator Macon Blair who here plays the unlikely angel of vengeance and who when we first meet him is an almost mute heavily bearded drifter scavenging for food and cashing in cans for money. Right from the start though its clear that Dwight is out of his depth as we see his failed attempts to get a gun only to break it thanks to his attempts to break the security lock. Its almost painfully obvious as we follow Dwight that here we have a man who is using what he’s seen in movies as a guide rather than having any kind of training, a fact that only becomes the more obvious during this first quarter to the film in the lead up to Dwight fatally stabbing the man he believes to be his parents killer in a dive bar toilet.

While this first quarter might give us a mini revenge movie of sorts its really the fallout from his actions that make up the real meat of the story here. The mild mannored Dwight soon finding himself increasingly out of his depth as he’s now hunted by the killer family who have zero qualms about dishing out their own vigilante justice as we discover when they come looking for him at his sisters house. Needless to say the real fun of the film is seeing how he handles the situation which constantly threatens to consume him.

It should be noted that while Dwight’s path of revenge might be a twisting one Saulnier maintains a very black and white world view with the members of the Cleland clan being all grimy and morally devoid compared to Dwight who now is shown as the clean shaven every man who has been thrown into this situation he now having to handle himself, knowing full well that to go to the cops would only lead to him incriminating himself in the process. This inturn gives us such great scenes as Dwight attempting to revolve a crossbow bolt from his leg and his confrontation with Teddy (Kolack) one of the Cleland brothers who he ends up holding hostage in the trunk of his car.

While the violence throughout the film is frequently bloody and graphic Saulnier still shows incredible restraint in when he unleashes such imagery which only serves to maximise its effect when it does happen such as the bathroom stabbing or during the final confrontation. At the same time his characters are not immune to the effects of the violence around them, especially Dwight who constantly struggles to deal with the consequences of his actions bringing a real sense of reality to the film rather than have him just be another emotionless vigilante.

Unquestionably this is Blair’s film as he convincingly plays out Dwight’s journey so that you can believe in the choices he makes. At the same time he also recives strong support from Amy Hargreaves as Dwight’s sister and one of the few pillars of support he has with the other coming from his childhood friend played with a perfect almost deadpan ton by Devin Ratray whose appearance while perhaps more brief than I would have liked still like so many of the characters featured throughout leaves a memorable impression.

This really is a film best seen with as little expectation as possible and while it starts off perhaps alittle slow once it gets rolling it grabs hold of you and refuses to relinquish its grip till its played out its grim finale. Between this film and “Green Room” Saulnier really marks himself out as a talent worth watching and I’m now excited to see where he goes from here.

Samaritan Girl

Title: Samaritan Girl

Director: Kim Ki-duk

Released: 2004

Starring: Yeo-reum Han, Ji-min Kwak, Eol Lee, Hyun-min Kwon, Yong Oh, Gyun-Ho Im, Lee Jong-Gil, Shin Taek-Ki

Plot: Jae-Young (Yeo-reum Han) is an high school student who also moonlights as a prostitute while her best friend Yeo-Jin ( Ji-min Kwak) manages her dates and acts as a lookout as the pair plan to use the money to escape to Europe. However when Jae-Young killed trying to escape from the police Yeo-Jin trying to deal with the loss of her friend decides to track down every man Jae-Young slept with.

Review: Despite being viewed as the enfant terrible of Korean cinema, Kim Ki-duk for one reason or another has never managed to gain the same kind of name recognition that the likes of Takashi Miike or Sion Sono or even Park Chan Wook. Perhaps its due to his ability to move between making arthouse movies like “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring” and “3-Iron” aswell as more shocking fare like “Bad Guy” and “The Isle”. Here though he gives us a film which sits on the boundary line between his two styles.

To say this is a film about teen prostitution its a surprisingly upbeat movie with Jae-Young seeing no shame in what she is doing to raise the money the pair need for their tickets to Europe, though the reasons why are never clarified. Still Jae-Young who comes across like some otherworldly presence constantly reassures her friend that she enjoys these dates that the pair arrange for her, even citing the connection she feels with some of them in particular a musician (Yong Oh) who acts as the catalyst for the main meat of the film as following Jae-Young’s baffling escape attempt of jumping out of a forth story window and landing on her head, which somehow she survives only to later die in hospital asking to see the musician who she claims to be in love with.

This relationship that Jae-Young has with the relationship is one of the only times that we see any kind of tension between Jae-Young and Yeo-Jin and who are not only clearly best friends but at the same there is the hint of somthing else between them, more so when Kim Ki-duk seems so keen to include so many bathhouse scenes between the play

Its worth noting that this isn’t a film that you can watch questioning the logic of anything happening, because here Kim Ki-duk is flying in the face of logic and instead just telling the story he wants to tell. This of course is the only way I can explain why Yeo-Jin sees the best way of honouring her friend is by sleeping with all the men that Jae-Young did before returning their money. Perhaps its to try and find the same connection that Jae-Young had with these men who she previously is shown dismissing as being losers or perhaps its an attempt to live in her skin for awhile, the answer is unclear and certainly not clarified by the film.

The real twist here comes when Yeo-Jin’s police officer father Yeong-ki (Lee Eol) discovers what his daughter is doing though not understanding why nor choosing to investigate the reasons he instead embarks on personal mission to intimidate the clients. This imitation quickly escalates with Lee Eol seemingly channelling Beat Takashi’s performance in “Violent Cop” during these scenes as he shows up to the family dinner of one of the clients, unflinchingly slapping him around in front of his family before leaving as calmly as he entered, the fact that the man is shown throwing himself out of the dinning room window only serves as a grim encore to the scene. Yeong-ki’s mission against these men climax’s in a brutal toilet beatdown.

The final act of the film comes as something of a gentle let down with Yeo-Jin and her father head out to the countryside, both of them unable to tell the other about what they have been doing while the finale plays out with an air of unease as your not sure if her father plans to kill her off or not which going off his actions leading up to this spontanious visit to her mother’s grave it really could really go either way.

A strangely watchable film even though at times its unclear what is supposed to actually happening let alone the direction which Kim Ki-duk is choosing to take the film, something only made the more unpredictable considering his aforementioned love of playing with the audiences expectations of his work. At the same time while not as angry as his earlier films, it lacks the artistic whims of his later work as it falls between the two worlds and perhaps to this extent makes it the best starting place for his back catalogue.

The Purge: Anarchy

Title: The Purge: Anarchy

Director: James DeMonaco

Released: 2014

Starring: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, Zoe Soul, Michael K. Williams, Judith McConnell, Jack Conley

Plot: When a couple attempting to get home before the start of the annual Purge find themselves stranded in the city when their car breaks down, they soon find themselves rescued by a mysterious stranger (Grillo) who is on his own quest for revenge on the night when all crime is legal.

Review: The original Purge movie was something of a flawed creature as it took an intreging premise of a twelve-hour period every year where all crime is legal. At the same time it was a visually very arresting movie, but one which thanks to one annoying kid audiences struggled to get on board with. Here though director James DeMonaco returns to take another crack at the format as the action this time is transferred from the suburbs to the streets of Los Angeles.

This time round DeMonaco aims for something a little deeper than the siege movie the original descended into, as one year on from the events of the first film the divide between the rich and poor has never felt so obvious. More so when the wealthy view the impoverished as being disposable at best as seen at the start of this year’s purge when Eva (Ejogo) and Cali’s (Soul) father / grandfather is shown selling himself to be purged by a wealthy family. This is only further driven home by the death squad who appear to be targeting the poor under the command of the mysterious Big Daddy (Conley).

Rather than rest on his laruels and settle for rehashing the events of the first film in a different location, here DeMonaco actively attempts to develop this near future vision of Los Angeles with more disillusionment being shown towards the purpose of the Purge, especially when it is so weighted against the poor who are unable to afford the expensive security systems that the wealthy can. At the same time an anti-Purge resistance group lead by the revolutionary Carmelo Johns (Williams) hack the government propaganda feeds to denounce the ideas of the New Founding Fathers.

Once the film establishes its central group comprised of our stranded married couple Shane (Gilford) and Liz (Sanchez) aswell as Eva and Cali with Frank Grillo’s punisher esq Sergeant leading the group across the city to Eva’s sisters apartment with the film taking on a similar plot to that of “The Warriors” especially as this group have to constantly battle or escape various groups of frenzied Purge participants. This in itself changes things up from the siege setting of the first film, while also opening up the world to show how various groups choose to celebrate their right to purge. Much like the first film though this is a film strongly driven by its visual style from the colourful Purge participants though to the neon lit cityscape or the flame thrower lit tunnels of the subway system all making it all the more fascinating a world to explore.

As I mentioned already this entry in the series is keen to explore the deeper reasons behind the Purge itself , moving past the concept of what happens when all crime is legal and instead asking why the founding fathers would put in place such an idea to begin with? As to be expected the answer can be found in the division between the rich and poor, with the rich throughout this film being shown as seeing the poor as disposable and going off the black tie finale they also view them as being suitable sport as groups of rich hunters bid for the opportunity to hunt our group within the confines of an area they have constructed and which certainly brought back memories of “Hard Target”. In something of a missed opportunity we are introduced to a pair of machete welding twin sisters as one of the group bidding which sadly was not a role filled by the Soska Sisters who after seeing them playing a pair of twisted twins in their own “American Mary” meant that I was left feeling that DeMonaco had missed a trick by not casting them in this role.

Casting wise everyone is competent and likeable enough in their roles though this really is Frank Grillo’s film as he gives us essentially his version of the “The Punisher” with the right amount of gruff darkness to keep his character and his own mission interesting throughout. Jack Connelly is equally interesting as the big bad for the film though his role as Big Daddy only seems to get the recognition of being the big villain during the final few minutes when before then he just appeared to be just another government grunt.

A big step up from the first film as it avoids many of the issues which plagued the first film such as that darn annoying kid, this film really showed that this franchise has legs and scope to work outside of the confined original while making me keen to see where the franchise goes next.

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter

Title: The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter

Director: Lau Kar-leung
Released: 1983
Starring: Gordon Liu, Lily Li, Wong Yue, Alexander Fu, Kara Hui, Yeung Jing-jing, Wang Lung-wei, Chu Tiet-who, Ko Fei, Ching Chu, Lau Kar-Leung

Plot: When his father and brothers are massacred by the Khitan army after they are betrayed by the treacherous General Pun Mei (Lam Hak-ming). Now seeking sanctuary in the monastery in Mount Wutai Yeung Dak (Gordon Liu) soon adapts his spear technique for use with a pole before he is soon called back to face the Khitans when they capture his younger sister.

Review:  Another key title from the expansive Shaw Bros. library with this film being released in the final years of the studio before competition from the rival studio “Golden Harvest” forced them to move away from films and into TV instead. Director Lau Kar-leung though would be responsible for directing many of the studios most memorable titles including the “36th Chamber of Shaolin” trilogy aswell as the likes of “My Young Auntie” and “Heroes of the East”. Kar-Leung while certainly a noteworthy director not only for the Shaw Bros. but the Martial arts genre on a whole Kar-leung was also one of the main choreographers for the Shaw Bros. aswell as for director Chang Cheh on the likes of “The One-Armed Swordsman”.

Collaborating again with Gordon Liu here the relationship between with Kar-leung and Liu is probably one of the more overlooked director / actor pairings which is only the more surprising when you consider that they clocked up a whopping 18 collaborations together with this film unquestionably being yet another noteworthy addition to the list. The film plot wise of course is nothing too different than we have seen countless times before as we open to Yeung Dak alongside his father and brothers showcasing their impressive spear skills before being overwhelmed by the Khitans who have a special staff to counter their spear use. From here though it’s the usual develop winning fighting technique in this case the titular “Eight Diagram Pole Fighting Technique” before heading off to get his revenge on General Pun Mei.

However despite going through some familiar moves the fight scenes we get here are the real draw as Kar-leung crafts some truly draw dropping scenes with the monks of the film showcasing a defensive pole fighting style based around de-fanging wolves which they practice on a wolf statue. It’s a skill which comes in especially handy at the finale as we get a showdown between the Khitans lead by the general and Yeung Dek with his newly found monk brothers who put aside their non-violent ways to help him as the style they practice proves to be equally efficient against human foes in one of the more bloody finales as numerous henchmen find themselves toothless. While the fight scenes here might be less numerous than in other films in the Shaw Bros. Catalogue, Kar-leung limits himself to a mere 3 fight scenes, he makes them so memorable and integral to the plot itself that here less really is more while the flying headbutt in the finale is something to behold.

The journey however is really were the strength of the film lies as we see Yeung Dak go from a hot headed youngster to eventually finding his peace and heading off into the wild seemingly to continue the teachings he learns at the monastery than return to his violent ways. What only adds to this journey is the fact that he is initially turned away from the Monastery leading him in a memorable scene to suddenly shave his head with a blade and burn holes into his skull with incense sticks. Even after this act of self-mutilation they feel he is still too full of anger to become a monk leaving him to develop the titular fighting style off in a cave as he remains determined that he can get accepted by the monks.

An easy film to watch and well deserving of its status as one of the best titles in the Shaw Bros. back catalogue even if it did come during the dying days of their film productions this film at the same time equally provides a gentle introduction to those curious about the genre or the Shaw Bros. legacy.

Sympathy For Lady Vengeance

Title: Sympathy For Lady Vengeance

Director:  Park Chan-wook
Released: 2005
Starring: Lee Young-ae, Choi Min-sik, Kwon Yea-young, Kim Shi-hoo, Oh Dal-su, Lee Seung-Shin, Kim Byeong-ok, Ra Mi-ran, Seo Young-ju, Kim Boo-seon

Plot: Wrongly imprisoned for the kidnap and murder of a young boy, Lee Guem-Ja (Lee Young-ae)  has spent the last thirteen years plotting her revenge on the man responsible Mr Baek (Choi Min-sik). Now with the help of the prisoners she helped while serving her sentence she sets out to put her plan into action.

Review:  The third and final film in Chan-wook’s “Vengeance Trilogy” following on from “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” and “Oldboy” while it is also a trilogy more in the sense of reoccurring themes and ideas rather than characters, while Chan-Wook’s trilogy can equally be known for just how beautiful he manages to make the look of revenge, despite the fact that he has his characters over the course of the trilogy carry out some truly ugly acts. More frustatingly though is the fact that the bookend films in this trilogy are generally overshadowed by “Oldboy” a film which has gone onto alongside “Battle Royale” and “The Raid:Redemption” become one of the few subtitled movies that everyone including none subtitle fans have seen. This of course is only more of a shame especially when this film alongside “Symphony for Mr. Vengeance” are equally as good if not better than the middle film in this trilogy a case I have especially argued for this film.

Opening with the release of the angelic Guem-Ja its hard to imagine that she will soon transform herself into an Angel of Vengeance but as she rejects the offer of snow white tofu from the gathering of Christians outside the prison its clear that she has no plans of living pure as her consumption of the tofu would symbolise. Soon though she is wearing her trademark red eye shadow and leather coat but not before she has attempted to apologise to the parents of the boy she is accused of murdering by cutting off her finger in an attempt it would seem to cut them all off which goes down as well as can be expected.

One of the great aspects of this film is how this time is seeing how Geum-ja puts her plan into action, visiting paroled inmates she helped while in prision she is quickly able to assemble everything she needs and it’s during this portion of the film that we not only get to meet this colourful group of characters including my personal favourites the husband and wife bank robber team and a plump lesbian responsible for killing and barbequing her family, while we also learn the things that Geum-ja did to help each of them from caring for them to the more extreme donating of a kidney and slowly poisoning the prison bully making it little surprise with so many selfless deeds being done by her that they are so keen to help her with her plans for revenge. Of course the path to revenge is never a straight path and it was never truer than here as even with all the tools required to carry out her revenge she soon discovers that her situation may just be a small part of a much larger picture which soon leads to a much more chilling finale which comes completely by surprise yet at the same time makes for a fitting finale for the trilogy as a whole.

As with the previous entries in the trilogy Chan-Wook once more brings a distinct visual look to the film as here the grim cityscapes are countered by the purity of nature, with his use of snow being especially effective as we are reminded once more of how effective blood on snow can look. Despite more once containing some memorable scenes of violence throughout, though perhaps nothing to the levels seen in “Oldboy” here he goes more for subtly over splatter while at the same time making it look stunning to watch, proving once more that such stunning visuals shouldn’t be kept solely to arthouse and prestige pictures.

For those coming to the film after the spectacle of “Oldboy” they may find themselves slightly disappointed by the slower pacing of this film, much less the lack of shocking scenes as no one is eating live squid or taking on multiple thugs with a hammer here. This is of course not to say much like “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” that the film is lacking in its own memorable moments such as the touching reunion with her daughter now living in Australia with her adopted parents or the showdown with a pair of thugs in which Geum-ja constantly has to keep judging her position to ensure her gun is in range. Geum-ja constantly proving that she is far from the fragile doll despite the angelic persona she equally hides that of a devil aswell as she proves herself more than capable of handling herself or carrying out ruthless deeds without any concern for the morals of her actions.

On equally great form is Choi Min-sik who after playing the antihero lead in “Oldboy” here returns as the villain of the film Mr Baek and who like Geum-ja does his own great job of showing two very different sides to his personality as he hides behind the persona of being a friendly primary school teacher who we see in one seen happily entertaining his class with a rendition of “Two Little Dickie Birds” before showing him at home brutally abusing his wife, who it turns out is also a former cellmate of Geum-ja who married him as part of her revenge plot which makes you wonder what else Geum-ja did that we didn’t see to inspire such loyalty and favours from these former convicts.   The fact that he is such a hedious character certainly makes his fate easier to accept, especially from the surface details such as him being an abusive husband, but the fact that Chan-Wook is able to add further grime to his character as Geum-ja gets closer to completing her revenge only hightens the film above just another run of the mill revenge flick.

While it’s true that this entry is more concerned with its styling and cinematography than the previous entry, much less slower paced this is far from a boring watch, thanks to its interesting characters and Chan-Wook’s ability to

I Spit On Your Grave

Title: I Spit On Your Grave

Director: Meir Zarchi

Released: 1978

Starring: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols, Gunter Kleemann

Plot: Escaping to the countryside to finish her novel, writer Jennifer (Keaton) soon finds herself the attracting unwanted attention from a group of local men, which soon leads to her being raped and left for death. However Jennifer survives the attack and soon begins to plot her revenge on the men responsible.

 

Review: A film whose legacy more than precedes it, the films originally released under the title “Day of the Woman” aswell as being shown under the more colourful “I hate Your Guts” and “The Rape and Revenge of Jennifer Hill” with the film only receiving its current title when the film was re-released in 1980. The film would only increase in notoriety when it was banned in the UK as part of the DDP list of “Video Nasties”, the unintentional side effect of which being that it created a watchlist for genre fans even though the majority of  films named would have no doubt been forgotten over time instead received a boost in popularity. At the time of writing ten films on the list remain banned due to either being refused classification or because they are yet to be resubmitted by their relevant distributors. Sadly this would not be the fate for this film which despite still not being released uncut it remains banned in Ireland but here in the UK even after cuts this still remains a grotesque and disturbing piece of celluloid trash.

Reportedly based on the director helping along with his friends a girl who he found to have been raped and the subsequent mishandling of the case by the police when they attempted to report it, the film is one of his two directing credits with the other being the little seen “Don’t Mess with My Sister” while he has returned to produce the two remakes that this film somehow has spawned which I can assume is more to do with its legacy than anything to do with its actual content. The original however was shot for cheap on a budget of $650,000 meaning that the film is unquestionably grimy while devoid of any kind of soundtrack which seemingly was more due to Zarchi not being able to find any music which would suit the film. This does however have the effect of increasing the intensity of the film, something the equally notorious “Last House on the Left” lost thanks to the inappropriate inclusion of bluegrass music during its comedic “Chickens” scene. As a result the film is largely silent bar background noise which is strangely eerier and only adds to the nastiness of the rape and abuse scenes as you’re forced to hear everything providing no escape from what you’re being forced to witness.

When we first meet Jennifer she is just a nice city girl with aspirations of finishing her novel and even though she is amused by the antics of the backwoods locals, including two of her soon to be attackers which we see playing the classic knife game split the kipper she is not rude or judgemental about their ways. As such the reason for them choosing to attack her for reasons outside of her being an attractive woman on her own is unclear. As a result of any kind of explanation for the groups actions it results in the tone of the film being far sleazier than it would have been had we actually been given some kind of reasoning.

While the film does have its moments of excessive violence, it is the rape scenes which is the hardest thing to stomach which even members of the crew found the filming of tough with one crew member quitting during the second of the three rape scenes, while the make-up artist who herself has been the victim of a gang rape attack also quit the film as she found the shoot too much like reliving the traumatic events. The male cast members to show their support for Keaton also requested to be naked, especially when she spends a lot of the film naked which really isn’t as titillating as it sounds as this is anything but fun nudity here. Keaton meanwhile had no problem with the nudity aspects of the film and was actually more concerned with the scenes involving her walking barefoot through the woods.

The kills are all creative as Jennifer despatches the group in a number of sadistic but highly justified ways including a hanging and creative use of an outboard motor. The also features the much discussed castration which interestingly would be uncensored for the Australian release of the film as the Australian censors don’t see castration as sexual violence which would have seen the film banned under Australian censorship laws. While the kills are all justifiably brutal, the film by this point has left such a bad taste in your mouth with what it has forced you to watch already, that if your still watching it is more a test of endurance that it makes it hard to get overly excited about them.

 I can’t help but feel that had Zarchi restrained himself to a sole effectively shot instead rather than the exploitive and voyeuristic style which he chooses for the film, let alone the fact that he chooses to include three rape scenes, which if we are to believe IMDB clocks in around 25 minutes which really is beyond excessive. Again if these scene had been handled effectively and focused more on Jennifer plotting and carrying out her revenge this would have been a stronger film, rather than feeling like a questionable idea stretched out to excess.

On one hand the film makes for an interesting argument on censorship, as had the film not been banned as a video nasty would we still be talking about it now or would it now be just another lost exploitation movie? Equally would this film have lead to the current wave of torture porn horror films being released sooner? What remains true though it that this is truly a disturbing and haunting film in only all the worst ways. Approach with caution.

Orca

Title: Orca

Director: Michael Anderson

Released: 1977
Starring: Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson, Bo Derek, Keenan Wynn, Peter Hooten, Robert Carradine  

Plot: Captain Nolan (Harris) and his crew make a living capturing marine animals, however while attempting to capture an Orca he accidently kills the whale which he discovers was pregnant and occurring the wrath of her mate who now sets out to seek revenge against Nolan.

Review: One of the numerous films to come off the back of the success of “Jaws” a trend which continues even today with this being one of the better ones and one of the few to stand on its own, as other the years it has spawned its own cult following. Unquestionably the idea of a killer Orca is an intriguing one especially when most people view these animals like dolphins in the fact that we don’t see them as vicious killers, which is something that couldn’t be further from the truth as is especially the case with Orca which are especially fearsome predators as "Blackfish" only further highlighted to the doubters.

Produced by cult cinema legend Dino De Laurentiis who tasked fellow producer Luciano Vincenzoni to “find a fish tougher and more terrible than the great white” following a late night viewing of “Jaws”. Like De Laurentiis, Vincenzoni knew little about sea life but was soon directed to killer whales by his brother Adriano….I guess the fact that whales are not fish but mammals didn’t ultimately matter now De Laurentiis had his killer. Still if to emphasis the point that here was an animal deadlier than a great white the film features the orcas being introduced by having them attack a great white shark, in a scene were the gauntlet is truly being thrown down and one which would inspire in retaliation the scene of the mauled orca in “Jaws 2”.

Director Anderson though really is another director who really doesn’t get the credit he deserves, especially as he was also responsible for the iconic WW2 war movie “The Dam Busters” let alone cult favourites “Logan’s Run” which he directed prior to this film and the much overlooked “Millennium”. Here again despite being essentially tasked with turning in a “Jaws” cash in still manages to give us something alittle different than the usual go to plot of disposable cast members being picked off  by the titular beastie. Here instead we have what could essentially be seen as “Moby Dick” in reverse with the whale this time taking on the role of the vengeance seeking Captain Ahab relentlessly hunting his prey in Captain Nolan. Nolan though is an interesting character for while he might seem like a clone of Quint seeing how both ruthlessly hunt animals for profit, but Nolan is not hunting these creatures out of a deep seated desire for revenge but rather the simple desire to pay off his boat and return to Ireland. True having an actor like Harris really raises the role and unquestionable sells the journey Nolan is forced to take over the course of the film, even coming to a point where he finds himself comparing his actions to those of the drunk driver which killed his own family. Harris reportedly enjoyed making this film and it shows with the thoughtful performance he gives here even to the extent that he insisted on doing all his own stunts, something that would on several occasions almost kill him in the process.

Okay I know the idea of an animal seeking revenge is unquestionably a far-fetched one as I don’t think that its an emotion they are even capable of. It would also be the same idea which would later sink the “Jaws” franchise” and it is none the more believable here despite the best efforts of Anderson who stops off trying to play things smart with the whale pushing his dead mate onto the island, before sinking fishing boats and driving away the supplies of fish which the island rely on. From here though it becomes increasingly far-fetched as it is soon knocking out essential support legs on Nolan’s dockside house aswell as severing the fuel lines to the village causing a huge fire to erupt and engulf have the village in flames. All things which I doubt even the smartest of whales would be able to do and things which only mark the randomness to come as the whale manages to convince Nolan and his crew to follow it into the icy north using nothing but the same gestures we have come to expect from these animals asking for more fish.

When it comes to the orca effects originally I thought that it was solely trained whales and stock footage, but what is surprising is that a realistic animatronic whale was also used as part of the filming. In fact it would prove to be so realistic that animal activists mistook it for a real whale while protesting the production trucks. The orca attacks are also played largely true to nature, with cast members being pulled over board rather than anything “Free Willy” style attacks. Anderson only really allows himself a fantastical leap with these attack scenes once during the scene were the orca attacks Nolan’s house and in doing so tearing off Bo Derek’s leg, in a scene shot arguably similar to Quinn’s death in “Jaws”. This scene is also about gory as the film gets, while the death of the female orca and the miscarriage of her calf prove far more haunting that anything else the film has to offer, but then this is a film like “Jaws” where a minimal amount of gore goes a long way.

If I was to grumble over any aspect of the film it would be the sudden ending, were the climatic showdown between Nolan and the orca suddenly comes crashing to a sudden and abrupt ending, before we are treated to the warbling end credit music that had me scrambling for the remote to make it end.  Still credit has to be given to Anderson for going with such a ballsy ending, yet ultimately a fitting one even if it might not seem like it at first.

While this might not be even in the same league as “Jaws” it comes closer than most knock offs did, while certainly helped as I mentioned earlier by the casting of Harris. Equally the pacing is brisk enough that it doesn't outstay its welcome even if the finale seems come perhaps alittle too out of leftfield. However with the orca antics not limited to just killing off random cast members, there is plenty of orca action to enjoy and when compared to the recent animals gone rogue movies we are bombarded with currently with their cheap cgi, it only really makes this one all the more enjoyable.

Oldboy (2013)

Title: Oldboy

Director: Spike Lee
Released: 2013

Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Imperioli, Pom Klementieff, James Ransone, Max Casella, Linda Emond, Lance Reddick

Plot: Joe Doucett (Brolin) an advertising executive is kidnapped and imprisoned in an isolated hotel room. His only contact to the outside world being through the TV in his room, Joe soon discovers that he has been framed for the rape and murder of his wife, while his daughter is adopted. Now twenty years later Joe finds himself suddenly released and given 72 hours by a mysterious stranger (Copley) to discover why he imprisoned Joe.

Review: Unsurprisingly when the news was broke about an English language remake of the highly memorable yet alone much beloved Park Chan-wook original it was an announcement greeted with much distain by the fans of the original who rightfully saw it as yet another unneeded cash in. Still the studios rumbled on regardless as for awhile it looked like Steven Spielberg would team up with Will Smith for an adaptation of the original manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, only to step away from the project leaving it open for Spike Lee to take on the project. Certainly a fitting director choice, especially as it takes a certain kind of ego to think that you can better an undisputed classic like the original is rightfully seen as not only by foreign cinema fans, but by people who would normally not even consider watching a foreign film, much less an undubbed one.

So with this in mind I really entered into this film expecting the worse, even more so when I have never exactly been the biggest fan of Lee’s films, which for myself hit their high water mark with the Oscar snubbed “Malcom X” and have since then been pretty much hit and miss. At the same time his frequently opinionated attitude (especially when it comes to racial politics) often leaves little too warm to. So now having finally seen this film it is something of a surprise to report that honestly it’s not that bad. Okay first off it should be noted that this review is based were possibly purely on this film alone, without trying to draw comparisons to the original especially when the two are so incomparable especially when both directors approach the material with two different spins on things.

Interestingly then than rather than trying to adapt the original source Manga, Lee here chooses instead to adapt Chan-Wook’s original film. It has to be noted though that on the credits it is listed as “The Korean film” rather than name checking Chan-Wook. Lee also notably leaves off his usual trademark “A Spike Lee Joint” title which seemingly was Lee’s protest of choice for the studio hacking 35 minutes off his original 140 minute cut. Where these cuts were made I couldn’t say, especially as nothing seems to be noticeably missing

Noticeably more violent than the original, the hammer blows are frequently shown in graphic detail much like nearly all the violence which has none of the savage beauty which Chan-Wook brought not only to the original film but his vengeance trilogy on the whole. Here Joe is a blunt weapon of raw vengeance fuelled with a single minded determination to find out who imprisoned him. It is interesting though to see that Lee rather than simply recreate the memorable brawls of the original instead reworks them in his own vision, so that the Joe’s first chance to test out his fighting skills is not with a group of thugs but instead a bone breaking showdown with a group of lacrosse players. Now as for the memorable one shot corridor fight, here it becomes a multi-level fight as Joe works his way down a series of ramps battling thugs, which Lee ambitiously also shoots as single shot. A sequence which reportedly brought Brolin to tears, while also sequence which suffered under the cuts imposed by the studio, but honestly I couldn’t see where the cut had been made as it remains still a standout sequence if perhaps too clustered in places, as the ramps frequently give the thugs the opportunity to surround and pile in on Joe.

Unsurprisingly some of the more memorable scenes like the squid eating scene are noticeably absent, though the squid is teased as Joe goes on a marathon dumpling sampling session to try and find the restaurant which supplied the dumplings he has been forced to live off for the last 20 years. A reminder once again that there are still somethings you can’t do via the Hollywood studio system that you can do in the Asian film industry. Needless to say when the film does have a memorable moment, it is frequently do to it being a reworked scene from the original, as when attempts to emulate Chan-wooks stylish violence as seen during a particularly sadistic torture session carried out by Joe on Samuel L. Jackson’s hotel manager / jailer the result comes off largely flat and lacking any of the morbid beauty that Chan-wook’s films have frequently brought to such matters.

While the film might frequently fail to capture the spirit of original, it cannot really be blamed on the assembled cast who despite being given what is ultimately watered down material to work with, they still manage to provide some great performances with Brolin easily carrying the film with his testosterone driven antics while still having the acting chops to take us on a journey with the character of Joe, who starts of as an portly alcoholic arsehole, who through his forced captivity is forced to face up to his personal demons while preparing himself for his eventual revenge. True he might not play it with the same feral roughness (he does get a pet mouse though) that we get with the original, but he still perfectly sells the final twist, which sees Brolin pulling the character to the complete opposite end of the scale in reaction to the final twist. It is however one which here like so many aspects is reworked into what I guess Lee saw as being a more acceptable ending for Western audiences. One major and unquestionably shocking aspect of the original’s ending, which I won’t reveal for those of you who havn’t seen it (the fans will know already which one) is kept intact and nicely worked in just when you think that they wouldn’t include it.

As the villain of the piece Copley continues to prove himself as a human chameleon as he continues to never play the same kind of role twice. Here he plays a camper but none the less calculating villain who shares similar motive to Lee Woo-Jin in the original but here Copley is a lot more playfully tormenting of Joe and takes great delight in the trails Joe is forced to go through, were as Lee Woo-Jin played it cool throughout. While Copley is on great form here, he does lack the memorable presence even though he is frequently delightfully evil and comes with a devilish bodyguard (Haeng-Bok) who sadly gets a chance for a great showdown with Joe squandered.

A flawed yet strangely watchable remake and even despite entering the film with a low opinion it still turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable experience. True it might be a more edited version than Lee would have liked (if we are to believe his latest rants) and I would be interested to see what got cut and if it improved or detracted from the film (something which was certainly the case with the “Donnie Darko” director’s cut). Still as remakes go this is certainly one of the better ones out there, even if its unwanted status will mean that many will avoid it out of loyalty for their love of the original. This film however is worth a curious watch, only if to reinforce your love for the original the talent of Park Chan-wook all the more.

Big Bad Wolves

Title: Big Bad Wolves
Director: Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado
Released: 2013
Starring: Tzahi Grad, Rotem Keinan, Lior Ashkenzai, Dvir Benedek, Kais Nashif, Guy Adler, Doval'e Glickman, Nati Kluger, Menashe Noy, Gur Bentvitch

Plot: Following a series of violent murders of young girls, three men soon find their lives on a collision course with each other. Gidi (Grad) the father of the latest victim now fuelled with a lust for revenge, Miki (Ashkenzai) a rouge police detective and Dror (Keinan) a school teacher and main suspect, who despite being arrested once already by Gidi only to be released due to Miki and his teams’ vigilante actions. Now Dror finds himself captured again by Gidi and the now suspended Miki who are determined to get him to confess to the murders they believe he is responsible for.



Review: While Israeli cinema might not be over well renown outside of World Cinema fans, it certainly seems to be something which directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado are trying to change, as having launched their careers by making Israel’s first horror film with their debut “Rabies” they now follow it up by essentially giving the country its second with this film, which also comes with a glowing recommendation from Quentin Tarantino who proclaimed it as being the “Best Film of The Year”.

Opening to the slowed down footage of children playing hide and seek, while one of them is kidnapped, the film is attention grabbing from the start especially when combined with the sinister score provided by Frank llfman, who also provided the soundtrack for “Rabies” and whose score is equally memorable here aswell, as it perfectly sets the mood for the film throughout. From this memorable opening we first meet Miki and his team carrying out their own brand of outlaw justice as they attempt to interrogate Dror in an abandoned building and attempting to beat a confession out of him, only to have the plug pulled before they get the answers they want, while more grudgingly being forced to apologise and release Dror. It is a surprising scene to open with and one only made the more surreal by the rich vein of black humour which flows throughout this scene. This scene though is really a taste of what is to follow as the film balances out scenes of brutal torture with pitch black humour making it a kind of torture porn with jokes.

This of course is the most loosest of descriptions as this film is equally a taut thriller and one which grabs you from its opening moments right down to its final chilling twists. Needless to say it is also a film were its directors choose to play their cards close to their chest throughout giving out small and seemingly unimportant hints, only to pull them all together during the finale as they suddenly become a lot more important than first perceived. Equally the actual guilt of Dror is one left worryingly under a cloud of presumption bringing back memories of Donna Tartt’s second novel “The Little Friend” which told its own tale of revenge against a subject seemingly picked at random, though thankfully this film does finally reveal the answer regarding Dror’s guilt by the closing credit, but certainly not after making the audience question the actions of Gidi and Miki.

While the film works perfectly well with these three main characters, we also get the surprise appearance of Gidi’s father who arrives to drop off soup while staying to weld a blowtorch.  At this point Gidi has already had time to show his dark side as he sets out to seemingly cross off every grisly detail of the police report by re-inacting them on Dror. Gidi’s father however soon reveals his own darker side as he joins in, while also providing numerous darkly comedic moments, such as an impromptu argument with his wife over the phone about taking his medication and a sudden lust for Barbeque after showcasing an alternative use for the blowtorch.

Of course such asides could easily derail the film and its only a further credit to the directing duo that nothing is lost by the frequently random aside, such as a local wandering Arab, a drugged cake or the frequent comical moments such as Miki receiving a dressing down by his superior and their son. These like the frequently interrupting ringtones instead help to relieve some of the tension, especially as certain members of the group begin to doubt their actions, while equally stopping the film from getting too heavy or away from its dark comedy core.

Needless to say the torture is certainly a key element here and while it might not be as voyeuristic as that seen in Eli Roth’s “Hostel” trilogy. The film does however really come with quite a bite in some of these scenes, several of which left me squirming in my seat as I waited for a sudden cut away which never comes.  While these scenes certainly come with an unexpected brutal edge, there is constantly an undertone throughout the film questioning whether such actions are ever truly effective methods of interrogation? Needless to say it is a popular subject of debate as of late something which has been looked at in several films as of late such as “Zero Dark Thirty” and one continued here if abet more subtley and certainly without the preachy edge.

The real strength of this film through lies in the casting in particular the three central characters who for the most part are left to carry the film themselves.  A feat not especially easy to carry out and while none of the cast might not be known outside of their native Israel it only further works to the films advantage as it allows the audience to view these characters with no preconceptions. This especially works to the advantage of Grad who comes off when we first meet him as the kind of slow witted parental figure. Needless to say he perfectly sells Gidi’s turn to the dark side of vigilantism aswell as his single minded determination to get Dror to reveal the location of his murdered daughters head. What is more remarkable though is that no matter how brutal the acts he carries out there is still a part of you which sides with him, even as his actions become frequently more questionable. Ashkenzai meanwhile gets to play things largely for laughs as the rouge detective and helps to stop the mood from getting too dark, especially as he finds himself increasingly deeper than he no doubt would like, even more so when he finds himself becoming an unwilling observer when he also gets chained up in the basement by Gidi. Finally Keinan is through ally convincing as the accused Dror and really keeps you guessing as to if he is the killer or not.

A confident and stylish film, it clearly proves that their debut was no fluke while certainly making me curious to see were they go next, while making me curious to know what other cinematic treats Israel might be hiding. At the same time I wouldn’t exactly agree with Tarantino’s branding this the “Film of The Year” it is still a gripping thriller and unquestionably one of the better films, though for myself the heavier torture scenes really took away from my enjoyment of the film and rating it higher, but unquestionably this is brave and exciting film making at its best.

Drive Angry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Drive Angry

Director: Patrick Lussier
Released: 2011
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Bill Burke, David Morse, Todd Farmer

Plot: Undead criminal John Milton (Cage) breaks out hell when he finds out that his daughter and her husband have been killed by Satanic cult leader Jonah King (Burke) who has also kidnapped Milton’s granddaughter who he plans to sacrifice as part of a Satanic ritual. Meanwhile an operative of Satan known as The Accountant (Fichtner) has been dispatched to bring Milton back.
 

Review: If you ever wanted to know how to automatically give me a lesser opinion of your film, release a trailer essentially consisting of grinning loons who got to see your film no doubt for free, while forcing them shout out sound bites of how much they supposedly love your film, while generally making claims that they have seen the “BEST FILM EVER!! No I didn’t just slip on the caps lock, but it’s probably the only way to capture on the page the grating enthusiasm for these comments that they see to bizarrely have for frequently awful films…but then perhaps this is the only film these folks have seen...you know ever! Alas this was the situation I found myself in as I entered into this film (see it wasn’t just random ranting) especially when all I could remember about this film was those awful adverts and the handful of intriguing snippets of action it contained.

Still no doubt the sheer sight of Nicolas Cage’s involvement in this film, will have most folks giving it a skip anyway, especially with Cage working his way out of his tax troubles and other debts by seemingly appearing in every film currently being made. True this has resulted in him taking on some of his more questionable roles, but it is hard to deny that when he does take on a role he digs he really is still an incredible actor, as “Kick-Ass” or “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” are only further testament to. Sadly though this was not to be one of his better efforts, as he largely sleepwalks his way through this film while never seeming fully committed to the role, yet thanks to a largely no name cast his performance does give the illusion of being better than it is.

The cast director Lussier has assembled here as I mentioned are largely no name, with only half a dozen recognisable faces being drafted for the more dramatically involved parts I.E the ones not requiring you to run around randomly or just being kill count fodder. Sadly for some reason though he also skimped on the casting of the films big evil, as Burke never once feels threatening, despite Lussier frequently showcasing him doing various hideous acts, he still ends up coming off like a henchman than any real kind of threat to Milton. Thankfully the evil quota is partially saved by a scene chewing Fichtner who not only gives a performance with undertones of Christopher Walken but also seems to be having a blast as the relentless henchman of Satan “The Accountant” who is not only invincible but also rocks a sharp suit to boot, while also processing a penchant for coin tosses like Chigurh in “No Country For Old Men” for who both share a relentless devotion to their work. It’s just a shame that more wasn’t made of his role, rather than generally using him as another obstacle for Milton to overcome on the quest to rescue his Grandchild.

On equally strong form is Heard as he waitress Piper who unwittingly becomes Milton’s sidekick. Piper’s character though suffers like so many other aspects of the film from some clumsy characterisation which see’s her character randomly switching back and forth from helpless damsel in distress to ass kicking firecracker on a whim, which is frequently frustrating when you have scenes of her catching her cheating fiancé in bed with another woman who she proceeds to beat the hell out of, as she tosses her out of her trailer, only to then suddenly fall apart when it comes to facing off against her fiancé suddenly losing any of her awesome fighting skills she had only moments earlier, with the only reason being seemingly so that Milton can come and rescue her like a knight in grungy leathers.

As with Lussier’s previous film, the enjoyable remake of “My Bloody Valentine” this film was also released originally in 3D, which as with his previous film I never saw in 3D but rather the 2D conversion which does mean that the once 3D moments now stand out looking like cheap CGI. This of course is a minor issue and one generally covered by the fact that I don’t own a HD TV. Where the real issue is though is that Lussier uses the 3D format in what is very much an old school style in that it is more about the spectacle (and generally seeing what he can throw at the audience). On the plus side this lust for spectacle does occasionally play in the films favour, as it opens with Milton driving a muscle car out of hell, with finale seing Milton and Piper take on King’s army of redneck Satanists in an epic shootout, which includes also includes such highlights members of such as the random naked machine gun welding chick and cultists ablaze and still frenziedly shooting shotguns. Sadly for a film whose title and trailer which sells itself as being high on car smash excitement, feels largely sterile thanks to Lussier largely favouring green screen or over car rigs, which considering that he has a gearhead like Cage on the film seems like a wasted opportunity to have done more like “Gone In Sixty Seconds” for which Cage his own driving still stands a strong testament to his skills behind the wheel.     

Sadly this is far from the neo-grindhouse experience I was hoping for, especially when this is a film were whenever it manages to give the viewer something special I couldn’t help but feel that I had seen it done better before, leaving me with an ultimately hollow viewing experience with a prime example being its shootout during sex which honestly was done better in the underrated “Shoot em-up”, while the dialogue frequently comes off like someone doing a poor Tarantino impersonation. Maybe with the right setting this film could have been a more fun experience, but from this viewing I was left ultimately cold and largely irritated. As such I advise it as one to approach with caution even for Nicolas Cage completists like myself.