Frightfest 2012: The Inside Review

Opening with a man pawning a ring for 75 euros and a camcorder, all accompanied by the voiceover of a radio DJ talking about three girls going missing of the streets of Dublin, The Inside soon transforms into yet another found-footage film as the man discovers the camcorder still has a tape in it and plays it back. However what he sees isn’t merely footage of a group of girls on a night out, but footage of the girls descent into madness and the very depths of hell. I absolutely hated (and I really mean hated) The Inside for the first 35 minutes of its running time. Shot in a first person perspective, the film started out with a group of obnoxious girls on a night out. It then descended into a series of jump-cut scenes of three psychos attacking and raping the girls in an abandoned warehouse (a stupid place for the girls to party in the first place). Between the ridiculous shaky-cam footage and the annoying screams of the girls I was ready to call it a day on the film. But then something happened. Mid-rape one of the three psychos is suddenly torn off the girl he is molesting, followed swiftly by the girl disappearing too! From then on the film takes a turn for the bizarre as it turns out the girls and the psychos are (possibly) not alone… To be brutally honest The Inside is not my type of genre film. By now, given the fact I mention it every time I’m lumbered with reviewing one, you all know I hate found-footage films. Nine times out of ten the filmmakers behind them get it wrong – both in terms of what makes a successful found-footage flick, but also what makes a really bad one. More often than not the choices behind making such a film err on the side of bad. The Inside however sits somewhere in the mid-ground. Yes, the film makes a lot of stylistic errors, none more so than too much shaky-cam, too much incessant screaming and not enough plot. But it does – at times – feature some particularly creepy imagery, akin to that of Perry Teo’s Necromentia or John Michael Elfers’ Finale (which also screened at Frightfest back in 2010) and to some extent Guillermo Del Toro’s Pans Labyrinth. And whilst it can’t compare to those films, what The Inside does do is offer up some interesting questions about what is worse: man or monster? And where do you draw the line? For that the film has to be commended. It’s just a shame that such a fantastic idea had to be wrapped up in such an annoying movie. If the main crux of the film had been as good as the films central theme, and its creepy final moments, then perhaps writer/director Eoin Macken (who also stars in the movie as the man in the pawn shop who obtains the tape) would have been on to a winner with The Inside. As it is now he gets an “A for effort” and a commendation for trying to bring a more philosophical question to a much-maligned genre. Was a review by Phil From Blogomatic3000 Rating: 18 Release Date: 26th August 2012 (world premier, Frightfest), 2013 (UK DVD) Directed By:Eoin Macken Cast:Karl Argue, Kellie Blaise, Siobhan Cullen, Brian Fortune,

Frightfest 2012: Chained Review

L’enfant terrible Jennifer Lynch, whose previous flick Hissss is yet to see the light of day in many territories (at least legally), is back with Chained, a serial-killer flick that looks like something that has stepped off 70s US television, yet plays like the the more sleazier side of the decade as seen in the grindhouse cinema of 42nd Street and movies such as Taxi Driver – with shades of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer thrown in for good measure! Chained tells the story of Tim, a young boy who following an outing to the cinema with his mother, is abducted by Bob, an unlicensed taxi driver whose cab they hail. Driven out to the wilds of Saskatchewan and to the isolated home in which Bob lives, Tim’s mother (played by a cameo-ing Julia Ormond who also starred in Lynch’s Surveillance) is brutally murdered in front of Tim by the unflinching Bob. Taking Tim under his wing, Bob teaches Tim how to be the obedient slave come son-he-never-had, making him cook and clean and wait on his new “father”, not only that but also clean up after his kills and bury the bodies in the basement. Starting with Tim’s mother. Years pass and Tim, now re-christened “Rabbit” by Bob, remains in non-indentured servitude. However Bob is soon eager to teach the grown Tim the ways of the human body and have him experience a woman – in more ways than one. In short Bob’s looking for an heir to his serial-killing empire, and Rabbit is it. If you’ve seen Lynch’s Surveillance you may remember her fantastic use of stark, almost empty locales, which gave that film a weird ethereal nature. Well with Chained she does it again, shooting the film in the wilds of Saskatchewan which, whilst contrary to the typical claustrophobic nature of the genre, still manages to make proceedings feel closed-in and isolated despite the vast open landscapes on which the film takes place. The sparse setting is also translated inside Bob’s home, with only enough furniture to make the place liveable whilst remaining a functional “lair” for his serial-killing exploits. But Chained is not about the landscapes or the locales, it’s all about the characters of Bob and Rabbit; and it’s here where Lynch has once again pulled off somewhat of a coup in her casting choices. With character actor turned TV star Vincent D’onofrio (whose performance as Agent Goren in NBC’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent is one of the television greats) in the lead role as Bob, Lynch has an actor that once again brings his chameleon-like quality to this role. The antithesis of Agent Goren, Bob is a lumbering brute of a man who has a no-nonsense approach to life and to death; and D’onofrio plays the role with an air of pathos, which works to humanise the man even if his deeds are reprehensibly monstrous. However the real revelation is Eamon Farren. Last seen in the less-than-stellar wannabe exploitation flick X: Night of Vengeance, Farren brings a quite, often disarming, calm to his portrayal of Rabbit – this is a teenager teetering on the edge of sanity and he balances fragility and strength (both mental and physical) to perfection. And come the films final act you’re never really sure whether Rabbit has given in to Bob’s indoctrination. It’s credit to Farren that his performance is never lost alongside powerhouse D’onofrio. Director Jennifer Lynch isn’t afraid to go to some pretty dark places in Chained, there’s an incredible streak of black comedy running throughout – nowhere more so than when Bob and Rabbit play “Go Fish” with the driving licenses of Bob’s dead victims. She also mounts an assault on the ears as well as the eyes, often cutting away from Bob’s actions and leaving the audio to tell the tale; and come the films final denouement it’s sound that continues the story… A tense, bleak drama about a serial killer and his charge, Chained is for the most part a barn-storming success. It’s just a shame that Lynch chose to throw in a final twist that dampens the effect of all that has proceeded it. This was a review by Phil at Blogomatic3000 Rating:15 Release Date: 26th August 2012 (Frightfest) Directed by: Jennifer Chambers Lynch Cast: Vincent D'Onofrio, Eamon Farren, Julia Ormond, Gina Philips, Jake Weber, Conor Leslie, Evan Bird

Frightfest 2012:Maniac Review

After helming remakes of The Hills Have Eyes and Piranha, the gang behind the “trapped in a parking lot with a psycho” film P2 reunite for yet another remake of a 70s horror movie, this time the notorious video nasty starring Joe Spinell and directed by William Lustig - Maniac. Only this time it’s Frodo’s turn to go on a homicidal trip! Yes, everyone’s favourite hobbit Elijah Wood steps into the shoes of Joe Spinell as the deranged Frank, owner of a quasi-abandoned mannequin store and all-round creepy dude who, to the outside world, seems like a typical loner. However Frank has issues, lots of them – migraines, hallucinations, strange OCD-like compulsions – this is a man who is for all intents and purposes completely deranged. Stepping into Franks world is Anna (Arnezeder) a French photographer who wants to use Frank’s restored mannequins as part of her fine arts exhibit… As sleazy as the film that inspired it, this iteration of Maniac takes the story and key set pieces from the original (minus the stunning shotgun death) and re-locates the action to Los Angeles, with the cities seedy back alleys and unkept streets as a backdrop for Frank’s exploits. And whilst the core idea of Frank scalping his victims remains the same and is just as graphic as William Lustig film, director Franck Khalfoun adds a first person perspective to the action which is not only a bold choice and a superb technical achievement, but it’s also one that makes this version of Maniac much much troubling than the original. Whereas 1980′s Maniac had a chubby, pot-marked, sleazeball as a lead, this version has Elijah Wood who makes for a much more convincing “love interest” for Anna. However the real star of the film is the audience. By shooting the film from Frank’s POV and only showing the character in reflections, Khalfoun makes the audience identify with Frank and make them complicit in his crimes. Which is bound to disturb some, and (wrongly) excite others; and unlike many modern horrors, the film lingers on the violence a la Fulci’s The New York Ripper – hence the rumoured four minutes of cuts to the film for the official UK release. However despite the technical innovation and the stylish Drive-like soundtrack, Maniac still feels very much like it’s treading the same water as the original, offering nothing new beyond the POV format and in the end left me feeling nothing but ambivalence towards it… This was a review by Phil From Blogomatic 3000 Rating:18 Release Date: 26th August 2012 (Frightfest) Directed by:Franck Khalfoun Cast:Elijah Wood, Nora Arnezeder, Liane Balaban, America Olivo