Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
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1 April 2015
GFF 2015 Review - Wyrmwood (2015)
Genre:
Horror, Comedy
Distributor:
StudioCanal UK
Screened:
2015 Glasgow Film Festival,
Film4 Frightfest Glasgow
BD Release Date:
11th May 2015 (UK)
Director:
Kiah Roache-Turner
Cast:
Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey, Leon Burchill Yure Covich, Luke McKenzie,Berynn Schwerdt
Buy:Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead [Blu-ray] [2015]
Wyrmwood, the stunning debut feature from Kiah Roache-Turner is an impressive foray into the world of schlocky hand-made horror by a group of filmmakers dedicated to the ideals of Indy cinema. And it totally works.
Barry (Jay Gallagher) is a loving husband and father, thrown into hell after a meteor shower brings the dead back to life. After his sister (Bianca Bradley) is kidnapped by gas-mask wearing soldiers, Barry heads out on a rescue mission with a group of apocalypse survivors.
The story itself isn’t anything new, it’s the tried and tested formula applied to most zombie films, and it works fine. Wyrmwood’s real flair lies in its execution; the comedy of the writing, the intimate nature of the project (the film took 4 years to film; the crew could only convene at weekends), and the skill with which the story is filmed.
Wyrmwood doesn’t look like trash and it doesn’t want to. A great sense of motion, intuitive camera work, and a demented kind of energy definitely don’t get in the way of this handmade extravaganza. Sure its low-low budget horror, but this is a film with a flawless sense of exactly what it is and how to make it happen without looking like shit. Too often a film with a low budget looks like a film with a low budget, but Roache-Turner injects such energy and insanity into his script that the film could never be accused of being lazy, inept, or dull.
Dialogue is surprisingly sparky and the acting is solid, which isn’t exactly something to write home about, but it’s vaguely impressive considering the calibre of most films released in the wake of the zombie exploitation craze. Gallagher makes a great and oddly iconic looking hero; barely skipping a beat between the quiet domestic and apocalyptic punk landscapes of Barry’s life. But that’s not to say the drama is missing, there’s plenty of gruelling and heartfelt zombie concepts at work here. Special mention goes to the trauma of driving miles with your zombified daughter screaming in the back of the car.
Practical gore is probably the fastest way to my heart, so Wyrmwood gets bonus points for appeasing the gods of hard work, manual labour, and disgraceful DIY. Saying that, the film’s most zany trick comes hand in hand with some ill-fitting digital effects. Wyrmwood’s zombies exhale an odd flammable gas that our heroes hijack to power their truck. It’s daft, but in a film where government scientists dance to KC and the Sunshine band in zombie autopsy rooms, you can’t let daftness get in the way of viewing this hilarious totally impressive horror adventure.
Director Kiah Roache-Turner is an innovative talent to look out for if his debut feature is anything to go by, Wyrmwood is fantastic and genre fans will adore its lack of sanity and band of zany characters. <
★★★★
Scott Clark
23 March 2015
DVD Review - Traps (1998)
Genre:
Drama, Comedy
Distributor:
Second Run
Release Date:
23rd March 2015
Rating: 18
Director:
Věra Chytilová
Cast:
Lenka Vychodilová, Lucie Vackárová, Tomás Hanák
Buy: Traps - [DVD]
Věra Chytilová is often considered a feminist filmmaker even though she would always reject being labelled and called herself an “individualist”. Given the fact the Czechoslovakian communist government oppressed her for years, it’s understandable to see her desire to reject Western labels. Chytilová is best known to Western audiences for her psychedelic masterpiece Daisies, which annoyed the powers so much she could only made one film, Fruits of Paradise, in the next 9 years. In the late ‘70s her blacklisting was lifted and she resumed making films.
Second Run, after releasing Daisies (which I assumed is one of their best selling titles), have made it their goal to release more films from Věra Chytilová. The first one to come out is Traps, which is one of her later films, it came out in 1998. It has a decidedly mixed response on release and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a pitch black comedy about a young vet who is picked up by two men and raped, she later gets her revenge on them by cutting off their testicles.
It’s certainly not a subtle statement on the abuse of power; one of the men is a politician for example and the film starts with some pigs getting their balls cut off. It’s also a brilliant statement on male chauvinism banter; before they pick the woman up they talk about how easy it is to just pick a woman etc. The film pulls a near impossible balancing act when it comes to the depiction of the rapists, obviously you don’t, nor should you, feel sympathy for them, but you can feel their pain of losing their manhood. The two men are portrayed as bourgeois fools, which shows the influence of Luis Buñuel who was a massive influence on almost all Czech New Wave filmmakers.
It’s an angry rallying call to sterilize the ruling class of Czechoslovakia; the government may have changed from communist to capitalist, but their intent hasn’t. Traps also plays like an absurdist comedy, with even elements of populist slapstick comedy which may have troubled some viewers at the time. It completely subverts the genres it’s playing with, like the revenge genre and populist comedy, and remains such a startling film.
★★★★
Ian Schultz
16 March 2015
GFF 2015 Review - Clown (2014)
Genre:
Horror, Comedy
Distributor:
StudioCanal UK
Screened:
Glasgow Film Festival
DVD Release Date:
2nd March 2015 (UK)
Director:
Jon Watts
Cast:
Eli Roth, Peter Stormare, Laura Allen , Andy Powers,Christian Distefano
Buy:Clown [DVD]
Jon Watts’ Clown is an exceptional example of how much fun can still be had in the darkest corners of the horror genre without sacrificing a good story. Playing it straight in the realm of clown horror proves a bit of a tone twister, but actually works pretty perfectly in this Eli Roth produced monster movie.
When the clown for his son’s birthday party doesn’t show up, loving father and real estate agent Kent (Andy Powers) is forced to don a mysterious clown suit he finds at one of his houses. But the suit doesn’t come off, instead altering Kent’s body and behaviour, giving him a taste for child-flesh.
Like Sinister, Clown plays on the old “found object” terror, but by its half way mark, it’s taken on more of a Rare Exports vibe, unearthing the horrific truth behind an everyday icon and letting chaos spark at every turn. Watts is astute not to lose his head amidst the terror and confusion. Keeping the ideals of yester-year’s monsters and camp creature-features alive through kitschy gore details and fabulous practical effects is a wise move. It lends further startling substance to a film that already has so many great ideas, the least of which is to structure itself like a slasher for kids, complete with its own set of rules.
Scribe Christopher D. Ford obviously had a total hoot crafting this sadistic little screenplay, and you can’t blame him. This is the perfect update of the clown horror film, a well-considered venture into social anxiety via a garish and gory display of child mutilation, body horror, bright colours, and total madness. Screw IT, Clown wipes the floor with contemporaries and its entire repertoire of inspirations alike, but still has a great time doing it. Its not just on Watts and Ford though, Powers is integral to the meat of the story, because, after all, there’s still a man inside that foul suit. Peter Stormare shows up as the expert/previous owner fo the suit and seems to be having a ball spouting bonkers sentiments whilst terrifying all the films’ sane characters..
There’s a strong element of cheesy fun at work here, but not quite to the point of outright comedy. Kent’s struggle to remove the haunting outfit is funny, but the resultant body horror genuinely gets under your skin. Once the suit takes hold the film sets on a path of ridiculously confrontational horror and insanity: child abduction, murder, graphic suicide, Stormare’s daft turn, great use of found footage, finger nibbling, kiddy-crunching its all here. A genius sequence of mass-terror at a soft play is arguably the crowning achievement of the feature, delivering every single nightmare you could want from a film about a killer-clown. Watts’ has constructed a perfect mash-up of genre ideals without losing his humour, and he’s done it beautifully.
A funny, but mostly horrifying, monster-flick flaunting terrific scares and a great story. Show your kids, show your wee brothers and sisters. This is the film that fucks children up for life.
★★★★
Scott Clark
16 February 2015
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