Review - A Bay of Blood aka Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971 - Dir. Mario Bava)

This starts really well. Beautiful opening music and then into nearly ten minutes of no dialogue. The initial scene plays on the staples of the giallo. An unknown killer wearing his/her murdering gloves and, of course, you don't get to see their face. Er, sorry... you do get to see their face. But I won't spoil it any more than that.

This opening sets up a string of murders that obviously inspired Friday the 13th; one scene was homaged/blatantly half-inched for Friday the 13th Part 2. Some effective gore, crazy sixties dancing, quality hair cuts (yes, you Roberto!), best film title ever and a naked lady running along a jetty all adds up to an enjoyable grindhouse classic. Thrown into the mix is the gorgeous Bond girl, Claudine Auger and a great ending that I doubt you'll see coming, so I'm not sure why I haven't rated it higher. Maybe the slasher films that have come later have weakened its impact. 

I think that I need to give this one repeat viewings because it has stuck in my head since I saw it, in no small part thanks to the music by Stelvio Cipriani. Don't be surprised if the rating goes up over time. A film where virtually everyone dies can't be that bad, can it? Oh, and it's got a cool trailer.

6/10

evlkeith

If you like this you could try:
Blood and Black Lace, Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Cat o' Nine Tails.

Review - Letter From An Unknown Woman (1948 - Dir. Max Ophuls)

Told from the perspective of Lisa (Joan Fontaine) this is a story of unrequited love. It is also a bit of a masterpiece. I can't say that I was really looking forward to it when I first watched it but it draws you in and sticks in your memory for a long time afterwards.

Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan) is a concert pianist and a right one for the ladies. He comes into contact with Lisa throughout the film but he is so self-obsessed that he never actually sees her. We see the story through Lisa's memories of events, so her face is often bathed in light, as if she is his saviour. He sees her as just another notch on his Steinway. Because we are seeing her memories, Fontaine plays Lisa at every stage of her life, even down to the age of twelve. It is her perception of events and not reality we are watching.

Watching this makes you wish that black and white films were made more often now. The lighting and compositions are gorgeous with a great use of shadow. Echoes of past events are often used. Lisa watches Stefan enter his room, with yet another lady, from the top of a staircase. Later, we see her enter Stefan's room from the same viewpoint, telling us she is no different from his other lady friends.

I hadn't heard of this before and only came across it because I'd seen Rebecca, again with Joan Fontaine, and wondered what else she was in. I'm glad I did because this is a beautiful, poignant film that still holds up to this day.

7/10

evlkeith

If you like this you could try:
Le Plaisir, Rebecca, Gaslight, A Place in the Sun.

Review - Fata Morgana (1971 - Dir. Werner Herzog)

Well, where do you start on this one? The title means 'mirage' and the whole film is very dreamlike with no narrative structure. It sets out its stall in the opening four minutes. Four minutes of watching a plane land. And then land again. And again. All from the same viewpoint. 



Filmed in Africa, you get plenty of desert shots for your money. Stick a camera to the top of your van, point it at the desert and drive. That seems to have been the general thinking behind most of the shots. There are some trademark Herzog documentary style parts to add a little bit of spice to the mix. The director has envisaged it as an alien film crew coming to a desolate planning and filming deserts. Before you watch it, there is no alien film crew. Not even alien film crew voices. What you do get is some narration from the Mayan creation myth, Popol Vuh.

I can see this being half decent if you were in a dark cinema at two o'clock in the morning and you'd had a few Tizers. You could fall asleep and dream of desiccated cow corpses. That being said, there are some gorgeous shots within the film. Mainly of deserts, granted, but still beautiful. Also there is a brilliant club singer who has the dodgiest sound system going.

Werner Herzog should be the Patron Saint of obscurendure. Yet again he has come up with an obscurity that is truly a test of endurance. Clocking in at under eighty minutes you'd think you would have no problems. See how you get on watching just ten minutes on the clip below. Strangely, I vaguely enjoyed it. It's very hard to recommend to anyone though. If you enjoy the clip bump up the review score to five.
3/10
evlkeith




If you like this you could also try:
Anything by David Lynch, Even Dwarfs Started Small, Gummo.

Be honest, how long did you last?

Review - Silent Hill (2006 - Dir. Christophe Gans)

Now, I know this is not the most popular of films, even amongst horror aficionados and fans of the original game, but it is a film I keep coming back to again and again. 

I played the original Silent Hill game on the Playstation some years ago and can't remember it exactly; however the film does give me similar feelings to my recollections of the game. 

Radha Mitchell plays the mother of a young, sleepwalking girl who constantly witters on about a place called Silent Hill. She takes her there and promptly loses her in an atmospheric and confusing place filled with a mist made of ash. A great deal of disturbing monster filled mist action ensues, the highlight being Pyramid Head; you wish there was more of him. The original ending was going to include loads of Pyramid Heads but due to budgetary reasons was changed to the current ending.

One of the most maligned parts of the film is the role that Sean Bean plays as the husband. Yes, he is Basil Exposition. Yes, the director didn't really want to include the character. But he does add to the sense of poignancy in the final scene so I don't mind him too much. And he's from Yorkshire. 


I have one question about the film. How is it rated as a 15 when there is a intimate scene including razor wire and a lady's privities? The Evil Dead was banned for far less and is still rated an 18 now.

Easily my favourite video game film (admittedly, there's not much competition) but also one of my all time favourite films. Writing this review makes me want to watch it again...
9/10
evlkeith




If you like this you could try:
The Mist, The Fog (1980), Brotherhood of the Wolf, Crying Freeman.

Review - The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957 - Dir. Jack Arnold)

A science fiction classic from the 1950's but well worth revisiting in the 21st Century. Jack Arnold's interpretation of the Richard Matheson novel is as compelling a drama as anything I've seen in the last decade.


You could argue the plot is a little 'B movie' with a strange radioactive sea-fog incident leading to a bad case of the shrinks for our hero Grant Williams, but it's done with a passion and attention to detail that means you rarely question the realism of the situation. The special effects are really impressive considering the fledgling nature of techniques at the time and the scenes in the basement are especially gripping and realistic although the cheese does have an uncanny resemblance to a large block of polystyrene.

Williams portrays the emotion and turmoil of the situation perfectly; contemplating suicide, seeking a relationship with a woman of similar height and ultimately culminating in the uber-philosophical 'I still exist' ending.

Apparently a Hollywood remake is in the pipeline, which fills me with a sense of terror at the prospect of CGI spiders in an all action, fast paced romp, similar in style to another Matheson adaptation 'I am Legend.' Ignore the fact that this film is in black and white, uses early special effects and a questionable plot, and enjoy the literal descent into another world.
9/10
doccortex




If you like this you could also try:
The Thing From Another World, Day of the Triffids, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, The Omega Man, Village of the Damned.

Review - Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986 - Dir. Hayao Miyazaki)

Possibly not Miyazaki's best, but it's still a great  film (especially on Blu-ray). The opening credits set the scene beautifully with shots of strange steampunk type machines drawn in ye olde Victorian style. This is accompanied by some of the most gorgeous music to grace the beginning of a film (not quite as good as Bay of Blood though).

The story is fairly standard issue. A princess, Sheeta, needs to return to her kingdom to reclaim her throne. Other naughty people including pirates and the military try to stop her. To help her in her quest is Pazu, a little fella who normally works in a mine. Together they try to find Laputa, a city in the sky.

So, if the stories not up to much, why have I given it a good rating. It's all in the atmosphere and the world building. The details, normally accompanied by great sounding effects,in the film are stunning. Simple things like frying an egg or a bubbling pot of stew all ground the film in an anime reality. Yes, the sky is the usual  anime blue, but who wouldn't want to walk into that world. When they finally reach Laputa - no spoilers there, really - you are greeted by an ancient crumbling city that reeks of history. Gorgeous.

There are some great action scenes: a train/car chase with pirates, Pazu flying over a landscape to rescue Sheeta from the top of a  burning building and the final scenes in Laputa. Although these scenes inject pace, one problem with the film is a slow middle third. It is basically a build up for the big reveal of Laputa.

All in all then, not as good as Nausicaa, but then, what is? Look out for some nods to Nausicaa: the little evil Pikachu creatures that Nausicaa befriends make an appearance and the design of the robots looks suspiciously like the Giant Warriors. For some reason, if watched at Christmas with a cup of tea and a pack of biscuits you can add another point to the review score.

8/10

evlkeith

If you like this you could try:
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, The Castle of Cagliostro, Howl's Moving Castle.