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!