After being very impressed by
the original V/H/S, the review of which you can find here,
I was interested to see if the sequel could hold up agaisnt the original. After
watching V/H/S 2 alone in a dark room I can safely say that the sequel
surpasses the original by a significant margin.
The V/H/S films are horror anthologies;
they both contain a number of shorts which are linked together through an
overarching plot line. The sequel contains 5 shorts including the main plot,
with 3 of them being excellent and 2 being simply 'good'. For a horror
anthology, the fact that all of the shorts are at least of good quality is a
rare thing, as anthologies usually have a more mixed level of quality.
Short 1: Phase 1
Clinical Trials
The first short excluding the
wrap around segment is based around fear of technology. The plot concerns a man
who has been fitted with a robotic eye, who then begins to see glitches that
come in the form of jump scares. Clinical Trials is the least creative of the
shorts, and relies on jump scares too heavily, the visuals are creepy but again
nothing we haven’t seen before, using a mixture of bloodied little girls and
demons. The use of the first person camera style however is a great addition to
the paranormal activity style of jump scare horror, and provides a claustrophobic
and extremely tense atmosphere, with the viewer not knowing what is going to be
lurking as the character looks around. Overall its a middling short, but not a
bad one, and is significantly better than the worst short in V/H/S 1.
Short 2: A Ride in the
Park
In the second short, a
cyclist stumbles across a pack of zombies in the woods; he then turns into a
zombie giving the short a point of view angle from the infected rather than the
victim. The first half of this zombie short gave a terrible first impression,
with what appeared to be a standard zombie plot. The twist of placing the
camera on the head of one of the zombies was a clever idea, although it still
seemed quite tame in comparison with the original film's shorts and the
previous one. The one redeeming feature of this short was the ending, which
broke the conventions of a zombie horror plot giving the short a fresh feel.
Even with the refreshingly new plot conclusion, it was still one of the least
frightening entries in the film.
Short 3: Safe Haven
Safe Haven is the standout
short from the film, it could have been made into a full length film, it's that
good. A group of news journalists approach the head of a doomsday cult and ask
to interview the leader and film what goes on in his cult. As the crew arrives
at the building it is clear that this cult has a far more disturbing purpose
than they initially thought. As the short escalates, it builds a sense of fear
and tension through the unknown, playing on the 'orientalist' fear of other
cultures. The film goes from tension building creepfest into full blown
disturbing body horror, making even the goriest of the original's entries look
tame in comparison. The imagery of this short is what will stick with you, and
its pure shock horror factor makes it easily the most disturbing and
frightening of both the original and the sequel's entries. The only thing that
let the short down was the attempt at humour at the end, which didnt sit well
after seeing what I had just seen, and felt cheap and forced. Other than the
conclusion, Safe Haven is a fantastic horror short that is worth the price of
the film alone.
Short 4: Slumber Party
Alien Abduction
This entry is exactly what
the title suggests, a slumber party in interrupted by the arrival of a group of
violent aliens. The short utilises visual and audio effects to create an
atmosphere of relentless threat, and to distort and dizzy your senses. To a
degree the effects work, with the use of intense strobe lighting, loud siren
and horn noises and smoke and mist to disorientate the viewer, leading to a
state of constant tension and fear. It is the least narrative heavy of the
shorts, and the idea of strapping the camera to a dog worked well, providing
some interesting visual results, especially near the end.
Wraparound Plot: Frame
49
The overarching storyline is
better than the original's, but is still weak in comparison to the individual
shorts. Two police officers enter a house to investigate the disappearance of a
young man, inside they find a stack of TV's and a house full of VHS tapes. They
begin to watch the tapes which leads onto events I won’t spoil. Again the
segment relies on jump scares, and does so admirably, even if they begin to
become repetitive. The ending of the film is clever and again works well,
providing a satisfyingly dark humoured conclusion to the entire film.
Overall this is a great
horror film, one which has all of the scares and gore you could want while
still being clever and inventive. The filming techniques are all impressive and
most of the shorts provide at least some jumps and scares, with Safe Haven
providing the most intense experience. If V/H/S 2 is showing near you I highly
recommend you check it out, especially if you are a fan of horror.
I recently went to see Blue Sky's Epic at the cinema, and left feeling like I had seen it all before. This has plagued a lot of the recent animation films that I have seen, and I think its time for something new to emerge from the genre.
We all remember the peak of 2D animation, arguably during the Disney animation cycle in the 1990's, where each and every film managed to capture our hearts and immerse us within their narratives. Films like Pocahontas, The Lion King and Mulan all attempted display a sense of maturity and emotional depth within the 2D frames, something which I find has recently gone missing. The second animation boom happened at the peak of the Pixar/Dreamworks cycle during the mid naughties. Films like Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Monsters Inc showed us how technology could immerse us in fictional worlds populated with interesting characters. These initial 3D animation films have now set the standard for today's releases, with each one attempting to be the new Shrek or Toy Story.
Unfortunately, lately I find that animation films are created to take advantage of the children's market, and rather than provide a film that is deep and meaningful, while still being kid-friendly, the genre has nosedived, taking a leaf out of the action film's book. No longer are animation films based on real world issues or events like the Disney films of the 1990's, they are now based upon whatever niche the filmmakers can come up with. Take the upcoming Planes, the film takes advantage of the Pixar film Cars by creating a set of characters set in the same universe. Planes is actually a Disney production rather than a Pixar one, shoehorning off the back of Pixar's reputation for excellent animation for profits. Monsters University proves that even the best have run out of ideas, with Pixar now relying on sequels over original IP's, translating to middling reviews and claims that Pixar have lost their touch.
Last year's Brave was a step in the right direction, with Pixar appearing to have listened to the critics by creating a new IP. One film out of many just isn't enough to save the genre however, films like Epic, Despicable Me 2, The Croods and Turbo are turning the once great animation genre into a commodified cliche, which panders to profits over the public. Even re-releases like My Neighbour Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies prove that animation can be more than children's entertainment, and can push the boundaries of film to new levels. Perhaps we are simply in a state of animation bust, with another boom on the horizon, or perhaps the genre has run out of steam permanently, I sincerely hope that isn't the case.
Battle Royale is the film that many claimed was the inspiration behind The Hunger Games, this Japanese Sci-Fi presents a warped future, in which each year a class of students are taken to an island to fight to the death. Unlike The Hunger Games, the film does not present the audience with special effects or a fully fleshed out universe, instead opting for sheer realism as a method of providing substantial social commentary. The commentary in question is what makes Battle Royale stand out as a brilliant piece of cinema, it is not merely an exploitation film complete with over the top gore and black as the night humour, it goes further by establishing a relationship between the Battle Royale universe and ours. The entire film is played out in a news report style, which reminded me of the kind of reporting you would see in a war, again pushing realism over spectacle.
There is action and gore to be had of course, the action scenes in particular excellently played out, most noticeably the infamous lighthouse scene. Rather than providing entertainment, these scenes invoke emotions usually felt during a horror film, with the combination of ultra violence and the deaths of children conjuring images of the future in which this kind of thing could potentially happen. The sturdy link between the film and reality is perhaps Battle Royale's most impressive feature, providing effective commentary on the nature of television and the mediated world. If you're into thought provoking films, or indeed action films, you should check Battle Royale out, it may just be your new favourite film.
Being a big fan of the original Last Exorcism, I was eager to see if this sequel lived up to the original. I came out of the cinema disappointed, frustrated and angry, this is perhaps one of the worst horror films ever made.
Firstly, I want to stress that I am a massive fan of horror films, and so what may seem bad in my eyes may be different for a general audience. This film managed to genuinely shock me at its sheer lack of horror. It seems that the director chose to disregard everything that made the original above average; the claustrophobic filming style, the use of shadows and light and the focus on disturbing the audience. What has been created instead is merely a thriller dressed up as a horror film. The first 30 minutes of the film showed some promise, it would have been easy to forgive the director for disposing of the found footage style if the film managed to still carry itself off well and ultimately be scary. The first segment is a character study, a psychology based look at the main character Nell, which was interesting and used the previous film as a backstory. About 30 minutes in the film begins to take a turn for the worst, ditching any attempt to be fresh or original in favour of cheap jump scares that barely work and 'body horror' in the form of twitching and contorting, all of which have been done better in other films. The plot nosedives into a ludicrous mumbo jumbo, straying into laughable territory and dampening any sense of tension or unease created during the first half of the film. By the time birds are flying into windows and cars are being set on fire using special effects that look like 2-D sprites from pong, the film is beyond saving.
Technically, the film is below average, the departure from the found footage style of the original prevented the sequel from creating decent scares, instead relying on cliche jump scares. The special effects as mentioned before were laughable, with the budget seemingly unable to pay for the effects that the director intended on being effective. Instead we are treated to a series of cheap visuals that look like something out of a retro video game. There is however one saving grace in the film, that being excellent Ashley Bell who plays Nell. Her performance again proves that she is a very talented actress, as she manages to carry the film on her own two shoulders. Bell is probably the best possessed girl in any horror film I have seen, using her facial expressions and body to her advantage and disregarding the use of special effects that are needed in most other exorcism films.
Aside from Bell's performance, there isn't much to like about The Last Exorcism Part 2. The narrative is painfully bad, boiling down to nothing more than a run of the mill plot. Its a shame as the initial 30 minutes of character study showed promise in providing something more than just a cliche plot. The scares are non existent, relying on a series of ineffective jump scares and 'seen it all before' body horror instead of attempting to create an atmospheric level of horror. If you're in the mood to watch a horror film, I strongly suggest skipping over this one and watching the original instead. If you are interested to see what happens plot-wise after the original, read it on IMDB, it'll be much less painful than watching this.
One to Watch is a new feature that allows me to recommend a film with a very short review, making it easier to still post on the blog even when I'm busy. They won't be fully fleshed out reviews but simply state the reasons why I think you should watch the film, I thought I would start with a documentary I recently watched: The Invisible War.
This documentary is not only brilliant, it is important.The Invisible Warinvestigates the controversial issue of rape in the military, specifically women. It presents a harrowing portrait of the lives of a group of rape victims, who after giving their lives to their country, are sexually abused and forced to leave thanks to the military judicial system. The documentary covers both the personal side of the story via the victims, as well as questioning the systems put in place to report these kinds of attacks. The film uses government statistics and utilises them well, proving shocking evidence to the (mostly male) naysayers who attempt to suggest that the situation is not as widespread as the documentary makes out. Tell that to the 500,000 rape victims that have so far come forward to report their abuse. As mentioned earlier, this documentary is of great importance, it even led to changes in the military criminal reporting system, which in turn will prevent the cover ups and lies that are currently occurring in the military. A disturbing, upsetting yet important documentary that should be seen by anyone wishing to serve in the military.
I thought I would post another indie roundup this week since I've seen some interesting indie and art films lately that I think you should check out. Here's a list of 3 Indie films I can wholeheartedly recommend, along with a trailer for each.
Little Birds
I found this indie gem while scrolling through Netflix, having heard about it the year before but not being able to go see it I decided to give it a go. The film is far from perfect, but Its a brilliantly acted film that throws some interesting ideas around, but perhaps without a clear focus. The plot involves two small town girls who lead a rather mundane life, one of the girls, Lily (Juno Temple), meets a group of boys who encourage her to go to LA with them. Lily decides to go and brings her reluctant friend Alison, they then carry out a predictable series of anarchistic activities in the city, eventually leading to a rather more serious conclusion. This kind of troubled youth plot has been done countless times in films like the brilliant Fishtank or the disturbing Kids, some of which arguably do it better than Little Birds. Aside from the plot however, there are some amazing performances, most noticeably Juno Temple, who skyrockets well above anyone else in the film. The role of angsty teen gives her plenty of room for artistic expression, she puts her own stamp on the tired cliche and brings life to the film, proving her to be a sure-fire star in the making. As well as the performances, the film is technically beautiful, utilising the melancholic trailer park wasteland to its full advantage, giving some gorgeous long distance shots. There are plenty of ideas floating around in this film, the decay of the American dream, the troubles youth face in today's society as well as commenting on the rural working class American life. While the ideas might be there, they aren't used to their full advantage, making the film seem rather half baked. In any case its a film that you should check out if you're into films like Fish Tank or Korine's works.
Bully is an uplifting yet devastating documentary that focuses on the problems that American schools face with bullying. The film attempts to display the full effects that bullying can have by following a number of different students who are or have been bullied. Small portable cameras are utilised to capture footage on school buses and in the school itself, proving an insight into what really goes on, and how the institutions deal with it. Some of the stories told by the students are heartbreaking, with one particular boy being unrelentingly attacked and ridiculed, and the footage bringing me to tears. The film succeeds in both telling the stories of the victims as well as highlighting the problems that the American school system faces in terms of punishment and prevention. Bully is a brilliant documentary that ticks all of the boxes, it highlights the issue of bullying with first hand accounts and footage, it highlights the problems the institutions face, as well as suggest solutions to these problems. I recommend this film to anyone who is remotely interested in documentaries, as well as anyone who wishes to see first hand how cruel and life destroying bullying can be.
This feminist piece examines the relationship between men and women, as well as nature vs society. The narrative revolves around a family man who finds a woman in a forest, the woman appears to be living in the forest and isn't part of modern society. The woman is then kidnapped and kept in the tornado shelter of the family, where she is subjected to abuse and torture in an attempt to 'civilise' her. It's a horror film, but rarely follows any of the conventions of the genre, instead providing an interesting political commentary revolving around patriarchy and male power. It provided a welcome breath of fresh air after the recent influx of unimaginative horror films, and felt more like an art house film than a mainstream horror flick. The visuals are wonderful, shot magnificently and capturing the mood of the film perfectly, while the sound and gore effects were also top notch, particularly at the end of the film, which left me feeling quite ill. I don't want to spoil any more of the film as its best watched without knowing much about the plot, horror fans should definitely give this a go purely based on its refusal to abide by conventions, as well as fans of feminist films, who will have plenty of commentary to chew on.
Thats it for this weeks indie roundup, keep checking the blog or @karlrichings on twitter for new updates!
First of all I would like to apologise for the lack of new blog posts recently, I've just finished my university exams and was caught up in revision and what not. Since I've not seen many new releases due to revision, I thought I would do a top 5 post since they seem to be the most popular entries. This week its my most hated films of all time, those films that make you want to cower under your bed in a desperate attempt to hide from sheer monstrosity that you have just witnessed. Ladies and gentlemen I present you with my personal top 5 worst films of all time.
I've never been a fan of the Transformers series, the first was simply a bland, mediocre action blockbuster, the second however took it to another level of awful. I'll never understand why Megan Fox was ever allowed to be an actress, throughout the entire film she grates annoyingly like fingernails on a chalkboard. She cannot act, plain and simple, and she's merely there for a bit of eye candy, making the entire film seem like a profit making product from the off set rather than a film. Shia Leobeof fairs better, but is undermined by the pathetic attempt at a script, giving him the most mundane and cliche lines imaginable, wasting his talent.The plot is mind numbingly cliche and predictable, making Die Hard seem like an intelligent art piece in comparison. The audio in the film is perhaps even worse than the acting, amassing to a series of dubstep-like mechanical noises and explosions, making it impossible to watch without wanting to tear your ears off. The special effects are perhaps the films only saving grace, which weren't half bad for 2009. Ruling the visuals out though, its clear that the film was designed with one thing in mind, money, which in my book is a disgrace to the medium and makes the film a historic failure.
I was naive in thinking that nothing could surpass the horrendous original Hangover film, this however managed to do just that. It follows the same demise as Transformers 2 in that it was created purely for money. I am aware that films need to make box office returns and ultimately make a profit, but making a film to take advantage of the formula of a previous success story is beyond a joke. This film takes this to a new level, this IS The Hangover, just set in a new location. All of the same gags are there, the same character stereotypes replaced with something new, and ultimately it failed to provide the entertainment that the original did for a lot of people. Personally, the original was only just made bearable by the relatively fresh take on the genre, even if the jokes were stale and overused, and the sequel managed to strip the series of the one redeeming feature, its creativity.
This film holds the honour of being the only film I have ever fallen asleep in. What frustrates me the most about On Stranger Tides is that the first film was wonderful, the need for sequel after sequel has caused all of the admiration held to be pushed farther and farther to the back of my mind. The film is a retread of all of the previous films, like The Hangover it attempts nothing new, proving no excitement or intrigue whatsoever. The replacement of Kiera Knightly and Orlando Bloom for Penelope Cruz was a decision I expected to enhance the series, after enjoying her performances in countless Almodovar films. Again I was proven wrong, with a weak script giving Cruz little room for artistic expression, following tired cliches and providing no character development. Again the visuals were fine, but unfortunately visuals are only an ounce of what is required to make a brilliant picture. I sincerely hope that the cash cow has run out of milk, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see another one of these monstrosities swim to the surface over the coming years.
Farts. If you found that funny chances are you'll love Jack and Jill. This absolute blinder of a failure is probably Adam Sandler's worst film, and that's saying something. The film is essentially a series of insults directed at social minorities mixed with plenty of toilet and slapstick humour, in an attempt to be funny. Now I'm not usually offended by anything, I enjoy the way some films push the envelope in terms of taste, Jack and Jill pushes it too far. The plot isn't even worth speaking about, its just predictable trash, and Sandler's performance/s are equally horrific, the Jill character is infuriatingly overacted and irritating. It clearly isn't just me who feels this way about Jack and Jill, with the film having a pathetic 3% on Rotten Tomatoes, if any film were to win the award for most idiotic picture, it would surely be this garbage.
Never has a film left me so astonished as Abduction. I left the cinema replaying what I had witnessed over and over again in my head. Usually this would indicate that the film was fantastic, not so for Abduction. This film is the definition of terrible, making the rest of the top 5 look like Citizen Kane or 2001. Taylor Lautner's first appearance outside of the Twilight series proves that moody, shirtless roles are the peak of his talent. In abduction, Taylor is trash personified, he manages to single handedly provide the worst performance ever witnessed in a film. The plot is a nauseating combination of the Bourne films and Taken, mostly consisting of Lautner being chased by some generic agent type for no particular reason. It's disappointing to see great talent like Sigourney Weaver wasted on bargain bin trash, and unfortunately her performance just doesn't stand up to her most celebrated performances in the Alien films. The cliche plot, characters and dialogue make this film the epitome of a bad film. Avoid at all costs.
Thats it for this weeks top 5, I'll be posting a new indie roundup next week along with various other posts, so keep checking @Karlrichings on Twitter or the website for new content!
