What Doesn't Kill You DVD Review

DVD/BD Release Date:
2nd September 2013 (UK)
Rating:
15
Director:
Brian Goodman
Cast:
Mark ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, Amanda Peet, Donnie Wahlberg
Buy What Doesn't Kill You:
[Blu-ray] or [DVD]

The DVD cover for Brian Goodman’s Boston-based crime drama flaunts a dull collection of action stances: Ethan Hawke reloading a gun, a car on fire, and a swat team closing in on some kind of truck mid-explosion. All of this accumulates to present, what will surely be, a gripping slice of action thriller, a rollercoaster of cloak and dagger with cops and robbers. However, whoever put the packaging together deserves some severe words. It’s misleading marketing no matter what. At no point in the film does a car explode or swat team mobilise. This film is not an action thriller.

What Doesn’t Kill You is –however- an enjoyable, well-constructed, crime drama with a keen focus on story and character. If it is approached in that way then any viewer is likely to have a positive reaction. Goodman’s own experiences, as well as those of co-writer and star Donnie Wahlberg, provide the inspiration for a heartfelt and sombre exploration of the lives of two bottom-rung criminals desperate to climb the ladder.

Mark Ruffalo gives a fantastic performance here as a man stuck in a vicious loop: his neglect towards his family is enforced by his constant need to venture out and earn money to pay bills. As the pressure reaches an all-time high, Brian stumbles into drug addiction and gets closer and closer to hitting rock bottom. All the while Ethan Hawke seems to live it up as Jack-the lad type Paulie; womaniser and hot-head. Though Hawke is great and has an obvious chemistry with Ruffalo, his character can’t help feeling skimpy in comparison to Brian who’s near-ridiculous dependency on drugs and slowly slipping control make for striking viewing.

Beyond character study, it’s difficult to stay entirely engrossed at many points in the film, so you can’t help but wish there had been just a little more of the action promised by the posters. This is a film focused on showing the behind the scenes of crime and very rarely the actual act. It’s a film about the people involved in crime and its impact on their lives, rather than a glorified mess of bullets and chaos.

What Doesn’t Kill You plays out like Goodfellas crossed with Boondock Saints minus the action and humour.  Goodman does a great job of incepting a mood for Boston that carries on throughout, ensuring this is a crime film very much tied to its locale. Overall its shot in a formulaic manner, but there’s a few good moments that show an ability with image construction that should have been put to more use: one particular scene showing a night-time assassination is gruelling in its realistic apathy, but gorgeous in all its snow blown shadowy splendour. Still a lack of startling shots isn’t exactly a huge issue, Goodman is to be commended on an entirely grounded, unpretentious portrayal of crime.

Not a show stopping piece of film, but definitely a good one marred only by the false expectations riled up thanks to bad marketing. What Doesn't Kill You is a character film, driven by great writing and great performances; it’s realistic and feels like a confession of sorts, a man’s life story in all its sordid, unfortunate, but eventually hopeful sentiment.

★★★½☆

Scott Clark

FF2013 Review - No One Lives

Rating:
18
Release Date:
24th August 2013 (FF) 23rd September 2013 (UK DVD)
Director:
Ryuhei Kitamura
Cast:
Luke Evans, Gary Grubbs, Adelaide Clemens
Buy:
No One Lives [DVD]
Ryuhei Kitamura’s second American film (his first was the Vinnie Jones starrer The Midnight Meat Train), No One Lives harks back to his early work – the Super 8 short Down to Hell and his most famous flick Versus – putting strangers together in a pitched battle against a common enemy.

The film starts out very much along the typical backwoods/hillbilly slant, as a gang of robbers screw up their latest mansion heist and, to make up for their loses, kidnap a couple in a car instead. It looks as though we’re seemingly headed down the torture route, with our villains set to get the information they need from the couple by any means necessary. However Kitamura flips the script and what the robbers, and the audience, don’t realise is that driver is not exactly the shy retiring type – he’s actually a complete psychopath having, months earlier, killed fourteen students and kidnapped another, his victim locked up in the trunk of the very car the robbers have stolen! What comes next is a taut, gore-laden game of cat-and-mouse as psycho takes on psycho(s)…

No One Lives definitely marks a return to form for Ryuhei Kitamura. Right from the get-go there’s a strange air about the film, an edge if you will, that is at the same time both unsettling and intriguing. It’s this atmosphere which hooks the audience in – that is until a stunning scene in which Evans’ psycho climbs out from inside the body of one of the gang. From then on you know this is not going to be anything but a complete bloodbath and the film jumps from intriguing to balls-to-the-wall exciting!

If Kitamura is a director on form, then Evans is most certainly an actor on form. Having only seen Evans in good-guy roles in films such as The Three Musketeers, Immortals and Clash of the Titans, it was a revelation to see him channel his dark side as the quiet and unassuming serial killer. Evans is in fact key to the films success, foregoing your typical “crazed psycho” OTT performance for a restrained characterisation that reminded me a lot of the quiet mania Anthony Perkins brought to his role as Norman Bates in Hitchcock’s Psycho. Besides Evans, it’s America Olivio – probably best remembered by horror fans as the dick snapping killer of Neighbor – who shines, bringing a strength to her character that’s more typically found in the heroic final girl of horror, not a “villain” (though given Evans’ character no one in the film can really be called hero or villain – Kitamura self-assuredly paints this film with many shades of grey).

Blurring the line between action film and horror, No One Lives is very much of the B-movie mold, blending elements of exploitation movie and action film to perfection (and I do mean perfection). It is also that very rare breed of horror film, in so much as it successfully captures all that is great about the genre in a fast-moving, well-paced films that reminds me of the great works of Eric Red – in particular his classic The Hitcher, with Evans’ unnamed psycho very much in the mold of Rutger Hauer’s; and his dark, twisted relationship with his victim Emma (Clemens) recalling that between Hauer and C. Thomas Howell. And I don’t think there’s any greater praise I can give Kitamura’s film than that.

★★★★★

Review by Phil Wheat of Nerdly.co.uk

FF2013 Review - 100 Bloody Acres

Rating:
15
Release Date:
23rd August 2013 (FF)
Director:
Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
Cast:
Damon Herriman, Angus Sampson, Anna McGahan

Australia and New Zealand have a fine tradition of mixing comedy and horror to superb effect. Be it the early work of Peter Jackson such as Bad Taste and Brain Dead, or more recent efforts such as Primal and The Loved Ones, horror from down under always seems to walk a very fine line be laughs and scares, and 100 Bloody Acres is no different.

The Morgan Brothers’ “Blood and Bone” fertiliser has been a huge boon to their business but there’s a catch to its production – they’ve been using dead car crash victims in the mix! However it’s been months since their last find and an important new customer is waiting on a delivery. When Reg Morgan, the junior partner in the business, comes across three young people stranded on a remote country road, he sees a radical solution to their supply problems, and a way of finally gaining the respect of his bossy big brother, Lindsay. But things don’t quite go to plan when Reg starts forming an attachment with one of their captives, Sophie. Reg must now make a decision: go through with the plan and finally win Lindsay’s approval, or save the kids and destroy everything the brothers have worked for.

The debut feature from the Cairnes brothers, 100 Bloody Acres is a strange film. Filled with oddball characters and off-kilter comedy, the film manages to evoke similarities to the backwoods hillbilly horror seen in the 70s and early 80s US cinema, most noticeably The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (with which it shares the idea of humans as “meat). But at the same time the film also shares the streak of black humour found in the work of the Cohen brothers – especially the likes of Blood Simple and Fargo. So why is the film so damn dull?

It’s not hard to put a finger on why 100 Bloody Acres doesn’t work. The cast are uniformally excellent – the two “villains” of the piece are particular standouts. Damon Herriman, as the younger of the two Morgan Brothers, gives a manic performance, walking a fine line between complete lunatic and complete idiot. Meanwhile Angus Sampson, as older brother Lindsay Morgan, is one of the scariest “straight” men in horror, showing zero emotion, in the total psychopath sense! The pair bounce well off each other and the script gives them plenty of witty one-liners – in fact the script is filled with some truly black humor, be it the banter between the brothers or the outburst between their captives. However there are huge gaps of where nothing much happens – chases scenes, walks around the farm, phone calls etc. This slows the pace of the movie right down. And that’s where the problem lies…

With some tighter editing and an increased pace 100 Bloody Acres could have been yet another neo-classic from down under; as it stands now it more of an also-ran. If you want to see black humor at work in a great Aussie horror, check out The Loved Ones instead.

★★☆☆☆

This film was reviewed by Phil Wheat of Nerdly.co.uk

FF2013 - The Dead 2: India Review

Rating:
15
Release Date:
22nd August 2013 (FF)
Director:
Howard J. Ford, Jonathan Ford
Cast:
Joseph Millson, Meenu Mishra, Anand Krishna Goyal

Frightfest 2013 opened on Thursday evening with Howard and John Ford’s The Dead 2: India, a sequel to their previous Africa-set zombie flick. To be honest, it wasn’t the most auspicious start to the weekend. A zombie epidemic reaches the Asian subcontinent and American engineer Nicholas (Joseph Millson) attempts to cross the country to reunite with his Indian girlfriend Ishani (Meenu Mishra), aided only by plucky orphan boy Javed (Anand Gopal). I didn’t catch The Dead, so the novelty of watching a Zombie film set anywhere other than Middle America (or Crouch End) was not lost on me.

The various locations around rural India are occasionally used rather well. Nicolas’s introductory scene is a slow pull out from extreme close up to a panoramic shot of him dangling from a wind turbine, which works really well and there several nicely implemented vistas. Much of the film takes place during the daytime, which is a pleasing exception from the accepted norm. The incidental music was also atmospheric. Unfortunately, that’s about all there is to say of note about The Dead 2. The film is the same zombie feature you’ve seen dozens of times before with nothing new brought to the table other than location. The acting is somewhat subpar and the script is nothing special. A call-back to an Indian legend at the film’s conclusion attempts to wrap things up pithily but feels half-hearted. Still, as the opening film, it seemed to ride something of a wave of goodwill but I imagine if it was shown in the middle of the day on a smaller screen, it would have made little impression on anyone.

This is a review by Jack Kirby of Nerdly.co.uk

Love Is All You Need Blu-Ray Review

Rating:
15
DVD/BD Release Date:
2nd September 2013 (UK)
Director:
Susanne Bier
Cast:
Pierce Brosnan, Trine Dyrholm, Molly Blixt Egelind
Buy Love Is All You Need:
Blu-ray / DVD
Win Love Is All You Need on DVD:
Enter Here (opens link to The People's Movies)

Love is All You Need (originally titled The Bald Hairdresser) is a heart-warming romantic tale by Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier. The excellent Trine Dyrholm plays Ida, a recovering cancer patient, whom arrives home one day to discover her husband in the midst of a sexual encounter with another – much younger – woman. When travelling from Demark to Italy for her daughter Astrid’s wedding alone, Ida finds herself unexpectedly crossing paths with Philip (played by Pierce Brosnan), the father of Astrid’s fiancé. In Italy, both Ida and Philip learn to overcome their problems and are given the chance for a new beginning.

Love is All You Need is a charming film that would win over even the most cynical of viewers. I am hesitant to label it a romantic comedy – the genre the film has generally been regarded as falling into – since it does not contain much humour. However this is no bad thing, as most typical rom-coms tend to try far too hard to win laughs from the audience, and usually fail quite miserably. Instead, Bier’s text engages us with down-to-earth and likeable characters contending with relatable issues in their lives, all which are dealt with in a realistic fashion. While the film does have a fairy-tale like quality to it, containing plenty of picturesque Italian sunrises and orange and lemon groves, enhanced by beautiful cinematography; the grounded narrative lends it a level of authenticity that distinguishes it from most of Hollywood’s current cinematic output.

With well above average performances and a non-stereotypical plot, Love is All You Need is definitely worth a watch.

★★★★☆

Sophie Stephenson

Extracted DVD Review

rating:
18
DVD Release Date:
2nd September 2013 (UK)
Director:
Nir Paniry
Cast:
Jenny Mollen, Dominic Bogart, Sasha Roiz
Buy Extracted:
Extraction (DVD)
At first glance Nir Paniry’s neuro-trip Extracted (nee Extraction) can seem a little too Inception for its own good.  Nolan’s cerebral masterpiece has unfortunately taken command of an entire ocean of narrative possibility meaning that no matter what happens, any film that tries to tackle this area will undoubtedly end up being compared to the mega budget, thrill ride of 2010. If you can stomach a first half that’s perhaps a little too caught up in the science of Inception and the near-monotonous base storyline of a scientist trapped in the machine of his own making, then the second act will impress with a well-tempered tale of cyclical abuse and the power of memory.

The basic story follows an obsessed scientist, Tom, (Sasha Roiz) who has created a machine capable of allowing a person into the memories of another, for the purposes of psychological therapy. The machine is tested on a junky convicted of shooting his girlfriend but something goes wrong trapping the scientist in the mind of a killer.

The key turning point for the film is when Paniry becomes less interested in the mind boggling genius of Tom’s endeavours, and more focused on the realities of venturing into a human mind. Unfortunately, though Roiz provides a solid performance, Tom’s drives and goals are quickly overtaken by the desperation and urgency of addict Anthony, here played wonderfully by Dominic Bogart. Anthony’s story arc is a far more interesting, complex chain of events punctuated by more edgy characters.  The best of these is Anthony’s bilious but loving father played by the fantastic Frank Ashmore (The Lost Coat Tapes), an ever-magnetic screen underdog.

Come the end of the film, the Inception likeness pops up in a bittersweet but effectively grand finale accompanied by a Zimmer-esque piece of music. No matter what, it’s still a good end, better than the one they use, because here is a film that suffers from multiple ending syndrome. So many points present themselves and many would be suitable and great places to cap the tale, but Paniry goes for the one that is, if not pretentious, then dull in comparison to some of the other opportunities.< Extraction’s main issue is that it does seem a bit predisposed with trying to stay sharp and edgy, injecting moments of speed and action into an otherwise tame but thought-provoking affair. Overall it’s a fairly good go at the cerebral thriller genre, boring at points but still an enjoyable watch.

★★★☆☆

Scott Clark

Hammer of The Gods DVD Review

Rating:
18
DVD/BD Release Date:
2nd September 2013 (UK)
Director:
Farren Blackburn
Cast:
Charlie Bewley, Clive Standen, Elliot Cowan, James Cosmo
Buy:
Blu-ray / DVD
Win Hammer Of The Gods On DVD
Enter Here
If you can, try to sweep past the dull blasé action cover that adorns director Farren Blackburns feature debut, Hammer of Gods. To be honest don’t invest too much stock in the title either which, in its giant silver lettering, looks like the proud wrapping for a boy’s action figure. Past that, there’s a film here that ain’t half bad.

Prince Steinar (Charlie Bewley) is sent by his dying father to retrieve a long lost and ferocious brother who is likely to be apt in leading the Norse empire in its battle against the Saxons. However, conspiracy and the dangers of an alien land plague the Prince’s journey, forcing him and his band of warriors to fight for survival.

This is a Norse action epic, in the vein of Valhalla Rising, brutal and bloody and most of all gritty. The energy of the story and the frantic bloody nature of hand to hand combat is refreshing in an era where the gun is king. Though some of the fights can seem a little sloppy most of them are well choreographed bits of what-for courtesy of 871A.D.

Some decisions seem utterly preposterous, why someone thought each of Steinar’s warriors had to be introduced through giant gimmicky silver lettering is beyond me, you can almost hear Jimmy Hart chanting out the names as they pop up. In the same fight, a ridiculous amount of CGI lightening ripples the background, punctuating a sea of Norse ships preparing to land. It looks like a great Tekken arena, but is too much for a film that very quickly proves its heart is in basic, grounded action sans effects. That is, if you ignore the omnipresent, utterly evil CGI blood.

Excellent use of set and natural location ensures a steady tone and mood: brutal violence and fights, a grey pallatte, and some of the most beautiful scenery matched to the Norse world since Valhalla. Though the settings can sometimes be overbearing to the point where the film seems like an advert for a charming, if gruelling, hike in the Scottish highlands

Unfortunately Hammer of Gods goes on for far too long, but there is substance to the finale that proves the cuts could be made to the main body of the film where too much meandering across gloomy moors and mountain tops becomes inevitably dull. Some interesting characters punctuate the Prince’s journey: James Cosmo appears as the violence-craving Norse King, whilst Ivan Kaye pops up as a forbidding man-rapist named Ivar. Beyond these inductions, too much time is wasted on scenery and ultimately pointless scuffles.

A gritty, brutal, and surprisingly enjoyable action adventure in the vein of Valhalla Rising and Black Death, Hammer of Gods is worth a watch if you’re big on back-to-basics kinds of combat films. There’s plenty of things wrong with it, but enough is right to ensure an enjoyable watch.

★★★☆☆

Scott Clark

Win A Signed Copy Of Hammer Of The Gods On DVD

Bloody mayhem reigns supreme in this gritty and uniquely stylised Viking actioner. Viking and Saxon go head to head in a thrilling new feature starring up-and-comer Charlie Bewley (The Twilight Saga, Like Crazy, The Vampire Diaries). With a cast of veteran actors, rising stars and a story slick with bloodthirsty action and an unnerving twist, Hammer of the Gods is an action-packed treat that makes the players in Game Of Thrones look positively normal.

To celebrate the home entertainment release of Hammer of the Gods (eOne), we have a DVD copy signed by the star of the film - Charlie Bewley. Hammer of the Gods is out to own on DVD, BD and VOD from 2nd September onwards.

Set in Viking Britain in 871 AD, Hammer of the Gods is an intense visceral tale set in a world whose only language is violence. A young Viking warrior, Steinar (Charlie Bewley), is sent by his father the king on a quest to find his estranged brother, who was banished from the kingdom many years before. Steinar’s epic journey across terrifyingly hostile territory with his most trusted friends and warriors, gradually sees him emerge as the man his father wants him to be – the ruthless and unforgiving successor to the throne.

To Be the lucky winner of Hammer Of The Gods on DVD please answer the following question:

Q.Charlie Bewley starred in Twilight Saga Franchise, He also plays a vampire in a popular TV Series, name that series?

Email your answer, name to winatcinehouseuk@gmail.com (subject Hammer Of The Gods). You must be 18 years or older to enter.

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Terms&Conditions: You Must be a UK or Irish resident aged 18 or older to enter. If your successful and win the competition then you will be asked for Postal address to arrange deliver of the prize.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse, eOne/ Vertigo Films employees who have the right to alter, change or offer alternative prize without any notice. The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain, we will tell you when prizes are sent to us, mostly all cops prizes come directly from the PR company representing the film distributor. Deadline Sunday 22nd September 2013(23:59pm)..

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FF 2013 Review - V/H/S 2

Rating:
18
Release Date:
23rd August 2013 (Frightfest) 14th October 2013 (UK DVD)
Director:
Simon Barrett, Greg Hale, Gareth Evans, Adam Wingard, Timo Tjahjanto, Jason Eisener
Cast:
Lawrence Michael Levine, Kelsy Abbott, Adam Wingard
Pre-order/Buy V/H/S 2:
[DVD]
The horror anthology has received a fair bit of new blood lately with two high-profile effort V/H/S and The ABCs of Death both arriving on a huge wave of hype in horror circles but ended up raining a shower of disappointing poop over us instead. Both indulged in the worst of what this genre’s filmmakers seem to think fans want, splashes of misogyny, gore purely for gore’s sake and the same old story repeated ad infinitum with the same old scares played the same old ways. The insanely quick turnaround of V/H/S 2 (or as its original brilliant title had it, S-V/H/S) was cause for concern but with filmmakers more exciting than those involved in the first instalment, there was cause for hope. This is something which is thankfully proven to be the case with V/H/S 2 improving on the first anthology in virtually every single way and in moments pushes your expectations of what a horror film can do .

Simon Barrett’s wraparound segment, Tape 49, is wholly more satisfying than the original films equivalent showing two private detectives breaking into a house to retrieve a woman’s son and finding a bunch of tapes. Unlike many wraparound segments in horror anthologies, this has a beginning, middle and end, it’s a story in itself with its own little horrors working as a stand-alone but also giving us the inkling of mythology, alluding to certain events in the first film but not feeling beholden to them and weaving elements of both J-horror and body horror to crunchy effect.

Adam Wingard, director of the next hotly buzzed horror film coming down the road, You’re Next, brings us the first uninterrupted short Clinical Trials, which is the least effective of the whole film, relying on jump scares which feel very tired, but the first person perspective manages to remain effective and at least a gratuitous sex scene, one of only two in the whole film, in itself a refreshing change, comes off as funny and not leering.

Better than this is Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale’s A Ride In The Park, a zombie tale with a USP of being told from the zombies perspective. Suffering from tonal inconsistency with a vein of humour uncomfortably meshing with somewhat sadder, darker content, this still hits home thanks to its at-times ferocious paciness, it by far feels the shortest of the bunch, the directing team wisely understanding that this is a one-note story and thus can only be played for a limited time to remain effective. This pace also feeds into some rather crazy “how did they do that?” moments of directional sleight of hand which are huge fun to behold.

This is just an appetiser for the main course that is Gareth Evans’ and Timo Tjahjanto’s Safe Haven, the longest film in the anthology and one which is absolutely breathtaking. The first film of either V/H/S to be centred in another country, already bringing a sense of otherness, this tale of a documentary crew entering a cult’s sanctuary manages to pull off the brilliant and highly skillful trick of being both incredibly disturbing while also being an awful lot of fun with mixture of body horror and cult rituals which builds up with superb intensity but ends on a quiet but rather chilling note. This one feels like a love letters horror fans which evolves from the pathetic “fratboy” nature of so many horrors today and instead offers the cliched but true “thrills and chills”. A mature and harrowing effort, it is the finest piece of horror cinema I’ve seen in quite some time.

After Safe Haven virtually anything would be a bit of a come down and Jason Eisner’s Alien Abduction Slumber Party is indeed that, though it’s got a lot of merit to it also. Focusing on a bunch of kids having rather dirty fun and getting caught in a house invasion from unfriendly aliens, this works through a sheer sense of blind panic. When the alien strike it’s visually and audibly overwhelming, hitting that primal nerve of “what the hell is going on” with the camera being tossed around all over the place before finding the characters in perilous situations. The intensity recalls the final segment of the first film but is a meaner beast than that especially with the last shot which is a little too cruel for my blood takes away from the enterprise somewhat.

This and other relatively minor quibbles peppered in spots aside, V/H/S 2 is a wholly more impressive and satisfying collection of horror shorts than last year’s film, resulting in the best horror of 2013 up to this point. Daring, shocking, fun and managing to regain my sense of hope that there is still horror of great worth out there, the whole experience is hugely refreshing and it’s delightful to say so.

★★★★☆

Review By Phil Wheat at Nerdly.co.uk

Greg Araki's Nowhere (1997) DVD Review

Rating: 18
DVD Release Date: 26th August 2013 (UK)
Director: Gregg Araki
Cast: James Duval, Rachel True, Nathan Bexton, Christina Applegate
Buy: Nowhere [DVD]
When I watched the daring and beautiful Mysterious Skin some five years ago, Gregg Araki topped my list of filmmakers to further explore. At that time, though, the rest of his oeuvre was not available on DVD in the UK so I put my interest on the back burner. In the years since, my interest in Araki’s films had dramatically subsided having heard and read on numerous occasions that his other films were, quite frankly, not worth bothering with. However, having recently developed an interest in the New Queer Cinema movement (and after recently watching The Living End, his seminal, yet flawed, contribution to that movement) my interest in Araki’s films was rekindled. So, when the opportunity arose to review Second Sight’s release of Nowhere, I jumped at the chance.

With a stellar cast of, what were at the time, up and coming stars including James Duval, Chiara Mastroianni, Christina Applegate, Ryan Phillippe, Heather Graham, Scott Caan, Mena Suvari, Shannen Doherty, Rose McGowan, and Jordan Ladd, Nowhere is the final instalment in Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy following Totally F***ed Up and The Doom Generation (fortunately, as I have seen neither, the films only share a common theme).

Envisioning a nihilistic future world, the film offers up a surreal, apocalyptical vision of Los Angeles that is both hedonistic and decadent. At the centre of the film is the existential Dark Smith (Duval) who is tormented by his girlfriend’s (Rachel True) polygamous nature. Over the course of a day, we follow Dark and an array of his eccentric friends as they confront issues ranging from drug addiction and eating disorders through to alien abduction. Hell, by the end of the film we witness Dark’s not-gay, gay new soul mate’s absurd transformation into a cockroach like alien.

As well as the absurdities surrounding alien abduction, Araki also likes to throw in some over the top violence and a scene in which one of the characters is raped by a Baywatch star. All the over the top irreverence goes nowhere, rather ironic given the film’s title, and the film lacks any of the political punch that was served up in The Living End. It would seem that the reservations held by those who have warned me about Araki are true. What the film does have going for it, though, is a visual style that owes much to Godard and a punk aesthetic reminiscent of Derek Jarman’s Jubilee.

★★☆☆☆

Shane James