Raindance 2012: State Of Shock Review

The break up of communism and the Eastern bloc is a theme often found centre stage in European cinema, being such a recent and seismic shift in the continents history and culture. The 2003 film Goodbye Lenin imagined a life interrupted by a coma that spans the change from communist rule of East Germany and into the free world of modern Germany all unbeknown to the sufferer. It is this straddling of two very different philosophies that new Slovenian film The State of Shock echoes most closely.

    Starting in 1986 and communist rule Yugoslavia we meet our protagonist Peter, a factory metal-worker, and his wife Marica on the eve of Labourer’s Day. Their humble yet happy lives come to a halt when, at the Labourer Day ceremony Peter is awarded the Worker of the Year award complete with the promise of a new apartment as well as the respect of his community. All this proves too much for Peter to take and he swiftly falls into the titular state of shock.

    Taken to a mental institution there he stays for 10 years, oblivious to the family visits as much as the passing years. Marica decides to re-marry and it is the thought of this union with his best friend Jovo which shakes Peter’s subconscious awakening him from his catatonic state and propelling him out on to the dramatically changed streets of Slovenia.

    No longer under Yugoslav rule, the newly established state is all new to our comatose comrade, confronted by a world that looks familiar but undeniably altered where his old street no longer exists and neither does his country as he knew it. His beloved Balkan state now shimmers with the material world of capitalism while his, now former, wife is shacked up with what he thought was his best friend and taken the children with her. It’s Peter’s acclimatisation to these changes, both personal and national that form the crux of the film.

    Trying to adapt to his new position as lodger in his ex’s marital home brings its own complications but writer/director Andrej Kosak’s focus is on the broader scale changes in ‘Pero’s homeland. Acting almost as a requiem to a lost ideal, State of Shock highlights the flaws and absurdity of a modern consumerist society. Through Peter’s fresh perspective we are allowed to sympathise with his perplexity at our established culture – why is there a need for shelves of screwdriver options, or three television sets and two cars - while his distrust of banks and outrage at incessant beurocracy are poignantly relevant in these mistrusting times.
    This tale of a lost humanity serves as stark warning about where we are heading with Peter’s ending speech delivered as a message directly to the viewer, one portrayed in 1996 but still relevant today. This, no doubt, is Kosak’s aim – a pertinent take on modern society full of characters with heart and strong performances and told with enough humour to keep it fresh.

Matthew Walsh

★★★★☆

Rating: 15
UK Release Date: 30th September 2012 (Raindance Film Festival)
Directed By: Andrej Kosak
Cast: Martin Marion, Urska Hlebec, Nikola Kojo, Aleksandra Balmazovic
Stanje šoka / State of Shock (napovednik / trailer) from vertigo emotionfilm on Vimeo.

Raindance 2012: Confine Review

A tale of robbery, suspense, torment, kidnap and murder; with Confine, director and writer Tobias Tobell has managed to conjure up that most elusive and miraculous of things; a genuinely torturous horror movie.
Following an horrendous car crash, former model Pippa (Daisy Lowe) has been reduced to a gibbering, neurotic shut-in, limping around her flat and communicating only via telephone or Skype. Facially disfigured by the accident, she never ventures from the safe confines of her living space, preferring to remain locked-away, dealing art in order to raise money for various charitable causes; the many hundreds of magazines that populate her bedroom, are a constant reminder of the life she has known and lost.
Pippa’s life of seclusion comes to an end courtesy of Kayleigh (Eliza Bennett) and Henry (Alfie Allen), a couple of criminals involved in a nearby jewellery heist, who make Pippa a prisoner in her own home, before brutally turning on each other.

Confine attempts to generate a sense of discomfort, of visceral, verbal horror by placing its emphasis on the uneasy, potentially deadly relationship which is struck up between Pippa and Kayleigh. An unknown quantity, Kayleigh veers dangerously between perniciously cute, and sadistically violent. The result is a movie which may well have been superb, if it weren’t so incomprehensibly written or woodenly acted.

As she wobbles around the screen, wheezing into paper bags and muttering garbled nonsense, Daisy Lowe looks every inch a model pretending to be an actor pretending to be a model. At 5 foot 4 in heels and 8 stone wet-through, Eliza Bennett may well be the least physically intimidating villain imaginable. So ghastly is the double-act performed by Daisy Lowe and Eliza Bennett, it very quickly becomes difficult to watch. Protracted moments of supposedly-threatening dialogue, become toe-curlingly embarrassing, as the women bicker like a couple of siblings fighting over the last Turkey Drummer.

 With so much of the film focusing so intently on the knife-edge relationship between Pippa and Kayleigh , there’s simply nowhere for its actors to hide; or its audience for that matter.

Chris Banks (@Chris_in_2D)

★☆☆☆☆

Rating: NC 15
UK Release Date: 1St October 2012 (Raindance Film Festival)
Directed By: Tobias Tobbell
Cast: Alfie Allen, Eliza Bennett, Daisy Lowe, Corinne Kempa

Confine Trailer from Two Bells Productions on Vimeo.

Hell is a City DVD Review

Hammer productions: The great British production company proudly flaunting one of the most impressive CV’s in the history of cinema, but also guilty of more than a few woeful endeavors  got it pretty spot-on in their 1960 Brit-Noir Hell is a City. Adapted from the Maurice Procter book and written and directed by Val Guest , Hell is a City marked one of Hammer’s deviations from horror during the 60’s, a move meant to widen revenue in a trying time against the American market. Thankfully, the film is a solid stand-alone that does a great job at internalizing the Noir genre to a murky industrial Manchester.

The film follows Harry Martineau (Stanley Baker), a tough, dedicated, but world-weary police inspector with a troubled home life. When Don Starling (John Crawford) escapes from prison Harry heads to Manchester to head him off, expecting the jewel thief and murderer to attempt to pick up the jewels he stashed before getting arrested. In order to make good his escape, Starling needs money so plans the robbery of a local bookmaker (Donald Pleasence), but the heist goes wrong and all of a sudden Starling’s escape spirals into a mess of murder and blackmail with Martineau hot on his trail.

In the typical Noir fashion, things don’t really go as planned, and the film’s narrative feeds off a sense of disorder and mishaps. Martineau’s home life is plagued by his failing marriage, so he stays out, wandering the dimly lit streets like a true Noir hero. The dialogue is snappy and charming, the action is, for the time, brutal, most interestingly is how the noir framework fits onto the British scene, certainly a quainter and more sullied setting than the war-torn streets of San Fran or New York. The dark horizon of Manchester, punctuated by factory vents and smoke,  makes an ideal setting, pushing the whole events of the film into some context, making the events seems small and insignificant (dare we say commonplace) in the face of the vast mechanical city.

Stanley Baker and John Crawford are on top form as disillusioned copper and desperate thief respectively. One can’t help but find a slight Heat undertone to their relationship, especially from Martineau who seems to use his job as a means of keeping his personal issues at bay. Crawford captures the brutal nature of a genuine bad ‘un, usually found in the annals of 50’s and 60’s detective films, the likes of which rarely find screen-time nowadays.

The action has a swift pace, the plot is intriguing if sometimes convoluted with characters, and the roof-top finale gives a fantastic last indicator of how ahead of the curve this film actually is, even if it is a little short. The last poignant scenes really reinstate the sense of noir that seems to dissipate half way through the film; exploring the lonely nature of the dedicated cop. Special features consist only of an alternate ending that does little for the film. This particular ending sees Harry and his wife make up and leaves the film on a significantly more hopeful note than the one chosen. The more uplifting ending, at risk of sounding like a cynic, unravels the grimy and almost perpetual feeling of entrapment in, not just Manchester, but life for Martineau.

A fantastic example of sturdy British “cops and robbers” fun, Hell is a City garnered two BAFTA nominations for Best Screenplay and Most Promising Newcomer for Billie Whitelaw. It’s a highly recommendable Brit-Noir, with some stellar talent, which fans of Film Noir and British thriller will really enjoy.

Scott Clark

★★★★☆

Rating:PG
DVD Re-Release Date: 8th October 2012(UK)
Directed By: Val Guest
Cast: Stanley Baker, John Crawford, Donald Pleasence, Maxine Audley
Buy Hell Is A City: On DVD

LIFF 2012:UK Trailer For The Sessions

It's been a fan awards favourite at every festival its played at since it's premier at this Year's Sundance Film Festival and this January The Sessions will arrive in UK and Fox Searchlight have sent us the first UK trailer for your enjoyment.

Starring Martha Marcy May Marlene's John Hawkes as journalist / poet Mark O'Brien who is paralysed by Polio and at the age of 38 still a virgin.Mark is determined to loose his virginity with the help of his therapist (Moon Bloodgood) and local priest (William H Macy) he hires sex surrogate Cheryl (Helen Hunt) to do the deed.

When you read the outline of the film's plot it sounds like it's going to be another Friends With Benefits type film which is totally untrue. The Sessions (formerly called Surrogate) is more poignant , a lot more intelligent as well as funny film which has some fantastic performances from its two leads. Hawkes who has really excelled himself in independent films such as Winter's Bone which should see him nominated many times in the awards season especially The Oscars, only matter of time he'll get a breakout film, though that film could be The Sessions!

The Sessions is due for release in UK&Ireland on 18th January 2013, however it will make it's UK premier at BFI 56th London Film Festival on 16th October, don't surprised if it picks up awards in London too.


We've also been sent this fantastic watercolour style poster which really capture the ambience of the film as well as the films independent film roots. Embrace it as it's got some American critics jealous as its far superior to the American version!

Finger Licking Killer Joe Coming To DVD& BluRay November!

When Killer Joe arrived in UK&Irish cinemas it left some cinephiles feeling finger licking good for some of the colonel's favourite recipe and in November you will be able to bring home a box that's a DVD or Bluray box of the film.In Killer Joe Matthew McConaughey delivers what many are calling a career-best performance in this violent and darkly comic neo-noir thriller that marks a blistering return to form for “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection” director William Friedkin.

When small-time drug dealer Chris Smith finds himself seriously in debt to his supplier, he hatches a plan to have his estranged mother killed in order to claim the $50,000 life insurance due to be paid to his younger sister, Dottie. To do the job, he hires Killer Joe Cooper, a creepy, corrupt and crazy Dallas cop who Chris is informed moonlights as a professional hit man. Unable to pay Joe’s fee upfront, Chris agrees to provide a “retainer” in the form of Dottie, with whom Joe has immediately become besotted. However, following the murder of his mother, Chris’ plan begins to unravel in a series of unexpected twists involving the interference of his father’s new wife, Sharla, and the development of an unlikely bond between Joe and Dottie.

As pure, unadulterated entertainment Friedkin’s second collaboration with writer Tracy Letts (following 2006’s “Bug”) has it all – steamy sexuality, shocking violence, a compelling storyline, lashings of black humour and, most of all, a killer cast of actors all at the top of their game. McConaughey effectively shakes off his rom-com shackles once and for all, while Juno Temple delivers a scene-stealing performance in a movie likely to leave viewers both exhilarated and shaken at the same time.

Killer Joe is due out in UK&Ireland on November 5th, starring Emile Hirsh, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church and Gina Gershon.
Pre-Order/Buy Killer Joe On: DVD / Blu-ray

Raindance 2012: Loveless Zoritsa Review

As curses go, the hex foisted upon young Serbian women Zoritsa would, at first glance, appear to be relatively minor. From a long line of moustached women, Zoritsa is the first to be born without even the merest hint of growth. But Zoritsa’s fortuitous hairlessness comes at a heavy cost; her prospective suitors have a habit of dropping dead.

Returning to her village after an absence of some 20 years in an attempt to break the curse on the much revered Day of the Dead; Zoritsa attracts the attention of sceptic policeman Mane, as well as pitchfork-wielding locals with a score to settle.

It’s no easy task to blend horror with moments of comedy. For every Shaun of the Dead there’s a Severance, for every Evil Dead there’s an Army of Darkness. Thankfully, Radoslav Pavkovic and Christina Hadjicharalambous’s movie is one of the more enjoyable offerings from this particular mix of genres.

Loveless Zoritsa plays out like a strange, modern-day fairy tale, with a charming visual style that owes a debt to the Universal horror films of the 30’s and 40’s. Zoritsa’s secluded Balkan village appears to be just that; a strangely antiquated little township that’s been spirited in from a time gone by.

There are no prizes for guessing how the relationship between Zoritsa and Mane will resolve itself, and perhaps the moments of comedy never quite elevate themselves above just strangely charming; but for a film which is as strangely charming as this, with its baying, incompetent villagers, its botched satanic rituals and its bizarre coven of wailing, moustachioed women; it’s not a particularly big problem.

Chris Banks (@Chris_in _2D) 

★★★1/2☆

Rating:15
UK Release Date: 1st October 2012 (Raindance film festival)
Directed By: Hristina Hatziharalabous,Radoslav Pavkovic
Cast: Branislav Trifunovic, Ljuma Penov, Mirjana Karanovic

Masters Of Cinema Has Trouble In Paradise This November

ROUBLE IN PARADISE will be released on DVD in the UK as part of the Masters of Cinema Series

Eureka Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing TROUBLE IN PARADISE, for the first time ever on home video in the UK, released in a DVD edition on 12 November 2012.  Widely regarded as one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made, this Hollywood classic, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, legendary filmmaker behind Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner, and To Be or Not to Be stars Hollywood icons Herbert Marshall (Foreign Correspondent, The Fly), Miriam Hopkins (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Heiress), Edward Everett Horton (Lost Horizon, Arsenic and Old Lace), and Charlie Ruggles (Bringing Up Baby, Ruggles of Red Gap).

"It's perfection" – Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies

"The most sophisticated comedy ever produced in Hollywood … The performances, visuals and screenplay are all exquisite. ✭✭✭✭✭" – Empire Magazine

"It's a masterpiece, as well as being wonderfully good fun. ✭✭✭✭✭" – Radio Times

“If ever a film slipped down a treat, this one does.” – Time Out

Jean Renoir once said of Ernst Lubitsch (Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner, and To Be or Not to Be): "He invented the modern Hollywood." And none of the director's films has had greater influence or impact than Trouble in Paradise. With his first comedy of the sound era, Lubitsch created one of cinema's supreme visions of shimmering romance and worldly sophistication.

When career thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) meets glamorous pickpocket Lily (Miriam Hopkins), their love soon takes on a professional dimension as they initiate a plot to rob beautiful perfume magnate Mariette Colet (Kay Francis). But as Gaston gets ever closer to his intended prey, his romantic confusion, as well as the threat that his past will catch up with him, throws their plan into jeopardy.

A breathtakingly nimble and elegant examination of the perils of mixing "business" with pleasure, this gloriously adult and witty comedy features a peerless screenplay by Samson Raphaelson, effervescent performances by its stars (including Charlie Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton), and exquisite direction by the legendary Lubitsch. Rarely equalled, never topped, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present the UK home viewing première of Trouble in Paradise. Released on DVD in the UK on 12 November 2012.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• New high-definition transfer in the film's original aspect ratio

• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing-impaired

• Illustrated booklet featuring the words of Lubitsch, rare archival imagery, and more

• Further details to be announced nearer the release date!

Buy/Pre-order Trouble In Paradise: DVD [1932]

Win Jean Claude Van Damme's 6 Bullets On DVD

It might have been August when we last saw Mussels From Brussels in a rare cinema release with The Expendables 2 but now it's back to business for JVCD with his latest direct to DVD action goodness. Today in UK&Ireland 6 Bullets is released and thanks to our friends at Studiocanal we have 3 copies to give away to you!

Reformed mercenary SAMSON GAUL (Jean-Claude Van Damme) has made rescuing stolen children his speciality – until his latest daring rescue attempt goes terribly wrong and results in too many casualties. Wracked with paralyzing guilt, Gaul gives up his vigilanteways.

However when PEGGY FAYDEN, daughter of down-on-his-luck professional fighter ANDREW FAYDEN (Joe Flanigan), is abducted right before his big comeback fight, Andrew and his wife MONICA (Anna-Louise Plowman) must convince Gaul to come out of retirement.

But Gaul’s fast-and-loose style might be more of a liability than the Faydens realize. After tracking down and threatening the local mob boss, Gaul gets a solid lead on Peggy’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, the next day the police discover the remains of a young blond girl wearing Peggy’s bracelet. When the DNA match comes back positive, the Faydens blame Gaul and his no-holds-barred tactics. After watching his bestwork turn deadly for a second time, Gaul retires again, this time to the bottle.

With Peggy’s corpse trapped in his mind, Gaul recalls how the dead girl he saw was wearing the bracelet on herleft arm; Peggy always wore her on her right. Realizing the ruse, Gaul rushes to tell the Faydens. Disbelieving at first, the Faydens quickly side with Gaul after he forces a confession and a name out of the medical examiner. The name is STELU, the Minister of Defense, and his plan is to use Peggy to sweeten a deal he has with a Sudanese General. Unless Gaul and the Faydens can stop him.

Loaded with Gaul’s artillery, they infiltrate the military complex where Peggy’s been hidden. They manage to dispatch the guards easily and rescue a captured blonde. But it turns out to have been a trap. Surrounded and outgunned, Gaul, Monica, and Andrew must decide: trade the decoy for Peggy or end Stelu’s brutality for good.

To win Six Bullets on DVD please answer the following question:

Q. JVCD starred In a Ernie Barbarash film already this year also starring Scott Adkins, name that film?

Send your answer, name, address, postcode only plus answer to 50x3-50= winatcinehouseuk@gmail.com
Deadline is 21stOctober 2012(2359hrs) Must be 15 or older to enter


Terms and conditions

• This prize is non transferable.
• No cash alternatives apply.
• UK & Irish entries only
  The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse and Studiocanal have the right to alter, delay or cancel this competition without any notice
• The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse,studiocanal employees
• This competition is promoted on behalf of studiocanal
  
• If this prize becomes unavailable we have the right to offer an alternative prize instead.
• The Prize is to win the 6 bullets  DVD, 3 winners
• To enter this competition you must send in your answer, name, address only, Deadline October 21ST, 2012 (2359hrs)
• Will only accept entries sent to the correct email (winatcinehouseuk@gmail.com), any other entry via any other email will be void.
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Raindance 2012 : Familiar Ground Review

Stephane Lafleur’s meandering, minimalist slice of Canadian life, Familiar Grounds, revels in the mundane, while simultaneously peppering its story with splashes of the remarkable.

Brother and Sister, Benoit and Maryse are living lives of utter monotony (and I do mean monotony) through a bleak Quebec winter. Living with his elderly father, Benoit despairs that everything he touches “turns to shit”. His budding romance with a single mother is scuppered by her son, his relationship with his father fractured, his inability to competently work the family Skid-doo a constant bone of contention. Following an accident at her work, Maryse begins to evaluate her life of domesticity, married to a tedious cycling enthusiast. The snow-blown boredom for these two is broken by the arrival of a used-car dealer claiming to be from the future. His words of warning to Benoit point to an impending disaster for his sister, should she go ahead with a planned roadtrip.

Lafleur’s story of disaffected siblings moves at an absolute snail’s pace, allowing the director to revel in the crushing bleakness of the unforgiving Canadian winter. The daily routine is broken only by the odd moment of sudden randomness, categorised as a serious of “accidents”. The rare moments of drama, as and when they do appear, throw into stark contrast the dullness of the daily grind. Family dinners become ruined monuments to the dead, trips to the garage grim portents of looming tragedy.

The end result is a movie which, with its excruciating study of the unremarkable, has a sort of dead-eyed charm. Glimpses of affection can be gleaned through the cold exteriors of the characters, the positively ice-age backdrop may seem half a world away, but the people are recognisably human.

The only trouble with all this is, a film which takes so much effort to revel in so much overwhelming tedium, can get a little, well tedious.

Chris Banks (@Chris_in_2D)

★★★☆☆

Rating: NA
Directed By: Stéphane Lafleur
Cast: Francis La Haye, Fanny Mallette, Michel Daigle, Sylvain Marcel

Sinister Review

★★★★☆

Of all the horror films to make it to the big screen this autumn, Sinister, starring Ethan Hawke and directed by Scott Dickinson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), has probably had the most attention. Take one look at any respectable horror web site and the stills, TV spots, trailers etc are proudly flaunted as if with some secret knowledge that this will be something to remember. Though the film isn’t exactly a deal-breaker, it’s definitely one of the more skilfully executed horrors we’ve seen thus far 2012.

The story follows Ellison (a top-form Ethan Hawke), a true crime writer who, for his new project, moves him and his family to a new home. Soon after arriving, Ellison finds a box of old films that show the brutal murders of numerous families by an unknown assailant. As he gets closer and closer to unravelling the mystery of the tapes his family are pulled with him into grave danger.

Sounds like a fairly standard horror tale, but it’s not. The thing that puts this film above most is its finely tuned understanding of its subject; the use of old celluloid pulls out a hundred references to voyeuristic horror, Peeping Tom and Psycho jump to mind, and then there’s the family under duress aspect which brings in just about any “haunted house” film you’ve seen. But under all this is the relentless beating heart of a genuine horror story. Take any sequence where Ellison watches the films and you’ll find some of the tautest in ages. From the second we lay eyes on the conspicuous black box of home movies, with their unassuming yet ominous titles, there’s a feeling of dread lording over all. All of a sudden, we want the family to get away from the house, but at the same time we really want to see those movies. Even after the first we want to know what the rest of those canisters hold. That’s where the voyeuristic guilt comes into play and we, the audience, are all of a sudden participants to something ghastly. Unfortunately it’s the film’s own ingenuity that really highlights how lazy it can be, particularly its jump-scares which leap-frog the suspense and capture a significantly cheaper thrill.

Derrickson’s tight direction and frantic style keep the film on track also lending a chaotic feel to some of the more brutal moments. Ellison’s slow-slipping sanity comes with the rapid cutting-in of super 8, an effect that in other hands might have been wasted but here gives a Shining-esque sense of schizophrenia. The speed of the film is important to its narrative: just as the characters very quickly become confused and assailed, the narrative flickers through “haunted house” past “serial killer”, and eventually spirals into a web of macabre beyond the isolated affairs of Ellison’s new home.

The film’s primary issue is one not unusual in modern horror: it shows too much. A lack of reserve in relation to some of the more terrifying concepts allows those concepts to become almost laughable through over-exposure. A scene which sees Ellison wake in the night to wander his creaky old house suddenly becomes an abstract ballet with ghostly children. Mr Boogie, a genuinely unsettling omnipresence, eventually becomes too familiar which is a shame considering he’s the reason you spend half the film wincing in terror and trying to burrow into your seat.

Special note has to be reserved for Christopher Young’s soundtrack, which doesn’t bother to come up with a specific melody; instead it focuses on blurring the lines between film and reality, which in turn leaks Ellison’s world into ours. The insect flickering of the finished celluloid film pops up throughout the film amidst abstract chanting and a host of other deeply unsettling sounds to illustrate Ellison’s mind state and keep us wondering whether he’s bothered to wake up (or fall asleep) once the films have stopped rolling. It truly is a masterful score to be put up there with Young’s work on Hellraiser.

Sinister may not be a film to induct into the canon, but it’s certainly a well-executed piece of nerve-shredding that will haunt you for some time, and it definitely has the potential to seriously disturb your kids. Don’t see it alone.

Scott Clark

Rating: 15
Release Date: 5th October 2012 (UK)
Directed by: Scott Derrickson  
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance , James Ransone , Clare Foley, Vincent D'Onofrio