/slash 2015 – Day 8: Frankenstein

Posted on October 2, 2015 by cornholio1980

FrankensteinFrankenstein
USA 2015
Written by Bernard Rose
Directed by Bernard Rose
Watched on 24.09.2015

I’ve never read Mary Shelley’s original novel, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen either the classics with Boris Karloff or the Kenneth Brannagh-reimagening of the 90s. Thus, I can’t really compare this to the original text and/or the previous interpretations, but instead have to assess it on its own terms. And in that regard, it fares quite well.

One thing that will probably irritate some viewers is the voice over-commentary by Adam (aka “Monster”), which gives voice to his inner feelings. For that, they went back to Mary Shelley’s novel, quoting directly from the book, and it might throw off some that he has all this elaborate thoughts, even though he can barely talk. However, since I gathered that these words were not meant literally, but rather expressed his inner feelings that he himself wasn’t capable of expressing to the outer world (or even to himself), it worked for me. I also liked that “Frankenstein” is told solely from the monster’s view. We never ever deviate from his perspective, and only see and hear what he sees and hears – thus pretty much putting the audience into his shoes. I also felt that they did a good job to convey his childlike mind, from which most tragedies of this story ultimately stemmed, and which lead to some beautiful, quite dramatic and haunting scenes. The cast was also great. Xavier Samuel does a very good job in a difficult role, Danny Huston was great as always, Tony Todd also plays a crucial role, and it was nice to see Carrie Ann-Moss again, who stood out as Adam’s surrogate mother. And I really enjoyed the quite clever and timely way in which they brought the Frankenstein-myth into our modern world. What you should be aware of, though, is that despite a couple of rather brutal scenes, this definitely is more drama than horror. After a strong beginning and until the then-again strong ending, the story’s lagging a little bit in the middle part. I’m also not sure if I like the fact that he accidentally meets the same cop over and over and over again – which felt a tad forced to me, and I just don’t think that their last encounter was really necessary. And as much as I love the ending in itself, the CGI-fire was pretty bad, and almost ruined that – otherwise – great shot for me (which was especially damning given its importance). Ultimately, though, I really liked this modern interpretation of “Frankenstein” – which also managed to revive my interest for this particular story, which is why I will probably revisit the previous adaptations some time soon.
7/10

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/slash 2015 – Day 8: Scherzo Diabolico

Posted on October 1, 2015 by cornholio1980

Sherzo DiabolicoScherzo Diabolico
Mexico | USA 2015
Written by Adrián García Bogliano
Directed by Adrián García Bogliano
Watched on 24.09.2015

I know that I start to sound like a broken record, but it’s not my fault that “Scherzo Diabolico” is yet another movie from this years /slash Filmfestival that starts off strong, only to completely derail afterwards. I really liked the setup. How Aram prepares for the kidnapping in an incredibly cold, calculated and methodical fashion. The (mostly) clever way he ultimately goes about his dark deed. I also liked that his motivation isn’t sexual or anything like that, but instead rather mundane. And the short part where he actually is successful and gets everything that he wants was quite joyful. If only they would have had the balls to end the movie right there.

Unfortunately, you seemingly can’t have a criminal getting away for once, because what kind of message would that send? Thus, he of course had to get what he deserves – and more. And as is that wouldn’t have already been enough, the reason for why they would ultimately catch him after all was sooooo fucking apparent. I mean, come on. Everybody knows that he loves classical music, he listens to it all the time, and he even recommends the same CD to his boss that he later plays while he kidnaps the girl? How fucking stupid can you be? It’s like if I would commit a crime while listening to soundtracks, or Queen. Everybody knows that I love soundtracks, and Queen. But since I’d be a far more clever criminal, I’d actually listen to punk music or hip hop, so that no one would find me out. Anyway, that was really terrible – even more so because it didn’t fit the fact that apart from this glaring mistake, Aram actually acted extremely clever when planning and committing his crime. Thus, this seemed incredibly forced, like Adrián García Bogliano couldn’t think of another, better way to bust him. Also: I get that she’s traumatized by what happened to her, but despite that, I simply couldn’t believe her – extremely violent – reaction to hearing that music again. That just was completely implausible for me. Finally, the revenge that she finally undertakes bears no relation to the crime committed, which is why I had a hard time rooting for her – but obviously also for him. Thus, I couldn’t root for anybody, and accordingly, didn’t really care that much about what happened to whom. Which made the finale – which also presented a rather blatant tonal shift, with all the gore and splatter – very dull. I already wasn’t that keen on “Here Comes the Devil” (which was completely misogynistic) and “Late Phases” (ok, but nothing special) – but “Scherzo Diabolico” really takes the cake. That’s strike three – you’re out!
3/10

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/slash 2015 – Day 7: O piseu (Office)

Posted on October 1, 2015 by cornholio1980

OfficeO piseu
South Korea 2015
Written by Hong Won-Chan
Directed by Hong Won-Chan
Watched on 23.09.2015

Like so many other movies at this years /slash Filmfestival, “Office” actually starts off quite strong, only to ultimately disappoint. It also would have had the potential to deal with some interesting and important issues, like mobbing, or the heavy pressure that people feel in a highly competitive work place. Unfortunately, “Office” touches those subjects far too fleetingly, and mostly uses them as excuse for a thriller set in a typical office space.

—————————————– SPOILERS AHEAD! —————————————–

The first half or so actually was quite good. Hong Won-Chan knows how to create tension, and he really puts the cube office-setting to great use for that. Personally, I don’t work in one of those, but he still successfully manages to bring the terror to a rather generic, dull and common place, which definitely had its charm. He also includes a couple of beautiful shots here and there, and overall gives this movie a nice, creepy atmosphere. And to sum up the good parts, I quite liked Ah-sung Ko’s performance. Unfortunately, after the nice setup, once the twist comes around, I couldn’t take this movie serious anymore, since what started off as a rather down-to-earth thriller actually unveils itself to be a ghost/possession-story. And I simply wasn’t willing to go along with that. Seriously, “Office” could have been quite a good movie if they would have simply revealed Lee Mi-Rye as the killer (after the cops find the suspect in the elevator shaft and determine that he’s been dead for days). Instead, she’s kinda possessed by Kim Byong-gook’s ghost, and to add insult to injury, when she kills someone, they can actually see him! That was just far too silly for me. It’s a shame, really. If they would have put more emphasis on the mobbing-part and/or the pressure of the competitive working environment, and simply would have revealed her as the killer all along, we would have a decent thriller on our hands. As it is, the movie – which already wasn’t that special and/or great in the first place – completely lost me with this reveal. Afterwards, it was just a drag, and – pretty much like when you’re sitting in the office, waiting for quitting time – I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
4/10


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/slash 2015 – Day 7: Tokyo Tribe

Posted on September 30, 2015 by cornholio1980

Tokyo TribeTokyo Tribe
Japan 2014
Written by Shion Sono, based on the manga by Santa Inoue
Directed by Shion Sono
Watched on 23.09.2015

As much as I ended up loving “Love & Peace”, and thus was very much willing to give “Tokyo Tribe” a chance, it – like I previously feared – ended up being not my cup of tea. As someone who has a hard time with hip hop and rap music, this movie, which sounds and feels like a two-hour hip hop-music video, arguably never really had a chance with me.

There are certain things about it that I could appreciate. For example, and in complete contrast to “Love & Peace”, my favorite part of the movie were the first couple of minutes, with the very long take through the slums. That sequence was set up and shot masterfully. There were also a couple of nice, highly energetic scenes later on. And I also quite liked the lavish sets, the cinematography, as well as the overall look of the movie. In my book, however, the bad far outweighs the good, I’m afraid. I didn’t really like any of the characters, who mostly felt like clichés rather than real people, with the totally over-the-top crime boss especially annoying and painful. I also could have done without the supernatural angle that they ultimately bring in. There also were far too many different gangs for my taste, which made it difficult for me to keep track of them. The editing was quite erratic at times. And most of the humor fell flat with me, with the dick-measuring contest an especially low point. I really wish they would have spared us that, since I found it to be incredibly childish and immature. Ultimately, though, I guess it mostly boils down to the fact that I didn’t at all care about the music – which is why I found “Tokyo Tribe” to be rather loud, obnoxious, annoying and tiresome.
3/10


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/slash 2015 – Day 7: Love & Peace

Posted on September 30, 2015 by cornholio1980

Love and PeaceLove & Peace
Japan 2015
Written by Shion Sono
Directed by Shion Sono
Watched on 23.09.2015

Never before have I experienced a similar change in my opinion of a movie while watching it, than with “Love & Peace”. I found the first couple of minutes to be unwatchable and insufferable, and actually considered getting up and leaving. I sometimes have a hard time with japanese cinema, because it can be extremely over the top – thus, in its first couple of minutes, “Love & Peace” IMHO provided pretty much the worst that japanese cinema has to offer. Everything was so completely exaggerated, with Ryo Suzuki imagining that they make fun of him on TV, and the way he’s treated and laughed upon by his colleagues. Add to that his extreme reaction to the loss of Pikadon, with him breaking down and bursting into tears whenever he sees something that reminds him of the turtle afterwards, and me and “Love & Peace” didn’t exactly get off to a good start.

My reaction to the rest of the movie however proves my point that you should give every movie the chance to surprise you and win you over after all – something that “Love & Peace” made full use of. Because after that disastrous beginning, it turned around completely, and I ended up enjoying myself more and more. It all starts with Pikadon arriving at this weird place in the sewer where a mysterious old man gathers things that were thrown away, and brings them to life. After that, “Love & Peace” effortlessly switches between these two plotlines, and despite some shades of “Toy Story 3”, everything about the old man and the toys worked for me like a charm. There’s a sweetness to it that time and again is counterbalanced by melancholy and sadness (like the scene after the identity of the old man is finally revealed, and he sets off to give his fosterlings a new, better life – fearing, however, that he’ll inevitably see some of them again), which I found incredibly effective. Even before that, however, this plotline perfectly balances the funny and sweet with the dark, tragic and touching. Also, Pikadon was so incredibly cute that pretty much everybody – “Goodnight Mommy”-filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala included – made Pikadon-sounds afterwards. Overall, pretty much everything about the discarded things in the sewer was absolutely great.

I’m a little less enthusiastic about the plot revolving around Ryo Suzuki and his slow rise to fame. Its message, “fame corrupts”, is neither especially new, nor is it handled overly subtle. Like the beginning of the story, it’s all very exaggerated, with Ryo turning into a thankless asshole who’s far too full of himself far too quickly. Nevertheless, ultimately, his plotline also started to work for me, mostly because of the songs (which were all great, really catchy, and despite the fact that they get played repeatedly, never got tiring), the mood of the concert scenes, some great uses of an interesting interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” (still one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever created, and in this case, also working wonderfully on a meta-level, since the entire movie, in a way, is an Ode to Joy), and a couple of emotional moments thrown in for good measure. Ultimately, both plotlines collide in an uber-crazy finale that is such a hodgepodge of different tones and ideas that it probably shouldn’t work, but for whatever reason, it does. I especially liked the fact that “Love & Peace” essentially – and quite unexpectedly – turns into [MILD SPOILERS]a Kaiju-movie, with a couple of great quotes (“Love leaves destruction in its wake”) and brilliant ideas (like the scenes from Pikadon’s point of view, where he sees the buildings as cigarette boxes and the cars as something from “The Game of Life”)[/SPOILERS]. And I really loved the ending. With so many movies at this years /slash Filmfestival far overstaying their welcome, it was nice to get one that knows exactly when and where it should end.

Overall, after the less-than-stellar beginning, “Love & Peace” managed to win me over after all, and proved to be an incredibly sweet, charming, insane and touching piece of cinema that I can’t wait to see again. Alltogether now: “Love and Peace, omaewo, wasu rena-eee…”
8/10


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/slash 2015 – Day 6: Turbo Kid

Posted on September 29, 2015 by cornholio1980

Turbo KidTurbo Kid
NZ|CAN 2014
Written by François Simard, Anouk Whissell & Yoann-Karl Whissell
Directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell & Yoann-Karl Whissell
Watched on 22.09.2015

With its BMX-theme, the “Mad Max”-like postapocalyptic world, the awesome old-school synthesizer-score and that great, corny title song, “Turbo Kid” looks, sound and feels like a movie from the 80s that somehow got lost and forgotten, only to now suddenly reappear again – which is no small feat. For kids of the 80s like myself, this should prove to be a hilarious, cool and utterly brilliant study in nostalgia – as least if you’ve got nothing against splatter and gore.

I fell in love with the movie pretty much on first sight. Setting the movie in the postapocalyptic world of the “distant future of 1997”, the BMX-action (which, if you think about it, actually makes a lot of sense in that setting; it definitely seems more logical than to hunt for every last drop of fuel just to get the cars running), the typical-of-the-80s title song… as they say in “Jerry Maguire”, “Turbo Kid” had me at hello. However, as much as I loved the beginning, it really starts to fly once the Kid meets Apple. She’s such a great, bubbly character, always enthusiastic about everything. Every scene with her was a pure pleasure, and many of the biggest laughs of the film were due to her. On the one hand, it’s how the character is written, but one must also applaud Laurence Leboeuf for bringing her character to life so effortlessly, giving it her all, and emitting this incredible energy. Munro Chambers also is great as The Kid (even though Laurence Leboeuf steals the show in every scene she’s in), and Michael Ironside plays a great, appropriately over-the-top villain. Apart from Apple, the real stars of the movie, however, are the script, the directing, and the overall style and atmosphere of the piece. “Turbo Kid” is incredibly funny, but that’s not just due to simple gags (even though you’ll find those, too). Much of the humor stems from nostalgia, the characters and their interactions, as well as the overall tone of the film.

The splatter/gore-effects are great too, offering some cool, original and memorable kills that I won’t forget anytime soon, with the umbrella and the subsequent sweet and romantic scene a particular standout. And – apart from the splatter – I once again have to applaud them for making this feel like a movie that was actually shot in the 80s. There are many allusions to this time period, and I also really loved their fictional superhero “Turbo Rider” who was so believable that I ended up googling if such an action figure actually existed in the real world. If there’s one complaint, it’s that I’m a little torn on the ending. As much as I applaud them for the direction that they took, there’s a part of me that would have preferred a different outcome. Despite that little nitpick, “Turbo Kid” was my highlight of this years /slash Filmfestival, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the Blu-Ray when it’s released over here in the middle of november (and the soundtrack would be an instabuy too, if they should ever release it digitally or – preferably – on CD; Vinyl is a little too retro even for my taste).

“Turbo Kid” is an absolute blast (from the past). It’s funny, brilliant, cool, delightful, and incredibly entertaining. If, like me, you’re a kid of the 80s, then I highly recommend you dust off your BMX-bike and join Turbo Kid on this nostalgic trip to the futuristic and postapocalyptic wasteland of 1997!
9/10


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/slash 2015 – Day 6: Knock Knock

Posted on September 29, 2015 by cornholio1980

Knock KnockKnock Knock
USA 2015
Written by Eli Roth, Nicolás López & Guillermo Amoedo
Directed by Eli Roth
Watched on 22.09.2015

When they hinted at “Knock Knock” being the surprise movie two minutes before it started to roll, I got quite excited. It was one of the movies that I hoped they would show at this years /slash Filmfestival, so after my initial disappointment when the program was released, I now was pleasantly surprised that I’d get to see it after all. But while the movie starts off rather promising, I’m afraid that ultimately, I was rather disappointed by it.

Before we go on, let me say that I’m rather indifferent to Eli Roth. I’m neither a lover nor a hater, simply because so far, I’ve only seen his “Hostel” films, which weren’t really my cup of tea, but at least had a couple of interesting ideas. I also quite liked the general idea of “Knock Knock”, and the first 30 minutes or so were quite good. Eli Roth does a good job putting the (male?) audience into Evan’s shoes, so that we have to ask ourselves: What would we do? He also makes sure that Evan doesn’t jump at the chance of having a threesome with two young, beautiful girls right away. He very much acts like a gentleman, letting them in when they stand in the rain, drying their clothes, calling them a cab, and doing his best to keep them at a distance. I also found it quite interesting that in this situation, Eli Roth pretty much puts all the power into the hands of the two girls, while Evan looks almost helpless in comparison. And as much as I’m against adultery (and would like to believe that in a similar situation, I’d have the tenacity to say “no” – however, I do firmly believe that we can only ever know how we would react when we actually ARE in said situation), Eli Roth makes his ultimate surrender quite understandable.

Which, however, already brings me to my first complaint: I think I would have preferred an approach that doesn’t make Evan look like the victim of this sexual predators pretty much from the beginning, even before they have sex – let alone everything that follows afterwards. They make it a little too easy for the audience to excuse his adultery, thus the punishment that follows seems to be in no relation to his misdemeanor. Having Evan actively pursuing them in a bar or so would have made things a lot less black and white. I also would have preferred if they would have toned down the “crazy bitch”-act of the girls. Having them go about their revenge matter-of-factly, cold, calculated and business-like would have made them much scarier in my book. And I really wish they would have dropped the whole statutory rape-angle. It was completely unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the movie. There were also a couple of scenes where the protagonists had to act in a totally stupid way in order for the movie to not be over right away, like Evan dropping the knife, and especially the reaction of a certain person that visits the house later on. Seriously, you won’t believe your eyes when you see what he’s doing when he finds Evan. Definitely a very strong contender for “most stupid scene of the year”. Another thing that mostly didn’t work for me was the strange “game show”/torture-scene, which felt incredibly forced to me, didn’t really fit the rest of the movie, and also seemed more comical than scary/brutal.

My major gripe, however, is a certain action undertaken by the girls during the movie. [VAGUE SPOILERS CONCERNING THE ENDING AHEAD] See, there’s a twist at the end that suggest that they might not be the brutal, bloodthirsty and crazy bitches that they appear to be throughout the rest of the movie. And I actually would have loved that revelation, since suddenly, things wouldn’t have been quite as black as white as they seemed before, and Evan’s punishment would have been more befitting of his “crime”. Unfortunately, due to a certain something that they did before, this switch didn’t work for me – and that’s a damn shame, because otherwise, I really loved the ending. Some might be thrown off by the complete tonal shift the movie undertakes in its last couple of minutes, but I actually really loved it, with the like-button and the kids reaction when they get home two particular standouts. If only they wouldn’t have blown up the erratic, unpredictable and seemingly dangerous behavior of the girls before, in order to then make the twist all the more surprising – because for me, they pretty much ruined it in the process. And, one final complaint: Having Evan look that much as a victim, instead of a perpetrator, should make it far too easy for his wife to forgive him his dirty deeds. Ultimately, “Knock Knock” is a movie with a great premise, but a clumsy and at times flat-out flawed execution.
4/10


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/slash 2015 – Day 6: Nobi (Fires on the Plain)

Posted on September 28, 2015 by cornholio1980

Fires on the PlainNobi
Japan 2014
Written by Shin’ya Tsukamoto, based on the novel by Shohei Ooka
Directed by Shin’ya Tsukamoto
Watched on 22.09.2015

Before the screening, festival director Markus Keuschnigg read a letter that Shin’ya Tsukamoto sent to the audience, where he explained how making this movie was a life-long dream, how he tried to get it financed for years, and how he now believed that he simply had to do it, despite not really having the necessary funding, or he might never get around to it. And while I usually try to just rate and review the final product, in this case, I’m glad for this little background information, since it made me appreciate his effort more.

Some might criticize that there are already plenty of movies that deal with the horrors of war, and I’d agree that “Fires on the Plain” doesn’t really add anything new to the genre. However, some messages are important enough to bear repeating, and I strongly believe that “War is Hell” is one of them. It’s something that cannot be conveyed often – and loudly – enough. Thus, I can definitely appreciate Tsukamoto’s intentions. There were also a couple of great, haunting scenes. For me, the “highlight” (if you can call it that) definitely was the stunning scene with the attack at night, which was just masterfully done, and incredibly brutal and harrowing. It definitely will stick with me for a while. I also really liked the quiet, haunting ending, as well as the overall sense of hopelessness, dread and despair that the movie emitted. It’s also quite surreal and nightmarish, and is more interested in conveying certain feelings that to tell a coherent story – something that, in my case, it mostly achieved. And the sometimes meditative mood really gives you time to absorb it all. Unfortunately, there also was one big drawback that prevented me from ever really getting into the movie, and that’s its cheap digital look. I’m extremely sensible when it comes to that. I’ve grown up with movies and tv-shows, and I just expect them to look a certain way. Paradoxically, while live TV is actually more realistic and lifelike, for me, a movie looks fake when it doesn’t have the typical 24fps-look (which is why I loathe HFR). “Fires on the Plain”, unfortunately, seems to have been shot with a DV-camera, which makes the movie look like the guy-next-door’s holiday video. And as much and as hard as I tried, I never managed to look past that. “Fires on the Plain” also misses a clear narrative structure, and some of the scenes and/or developments were a little too exaggerated for me. Thus, while I can definitely appreciate Shin’ya Tsukamoto’s intentions and determination, I’m afraid that I couldn’t wholly appreciate the outcome.
6/10


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/slash 2015 – Day 5: Emelie

Posted on September 28, 2015 by cornholio1980

EmelieEmelie
USA 2015
Written by Michael Thelin & Rich Herbeck
Directed by Michael Thelin
Watched on 21.09.2015

Since I have a festival pass which allows me to watch all the movies anyway, I usually don’t inform myself that much about the movies that I’m going to see. I never watch any trailers, and only read the short descriptions when I’m unsure, for time reasons (like the midnight screenings), if a movie might be worth sticking around for or not. Otherwise, my advance knowledge of a movie is limited to the screenshot that’s printed in the program. In case of “Emelie” it was the shot of a young boy holding a gun to his babysitter, which is why I assumed that this would be a movie about a babysitter that gets confronted with an evil, sadistic and dangerous kid. Which couldn’t have been further away from the truth.

Instead, it’s the babysitter who’s the perpetrator here. And while this arguably through me off a little at the beginning, I managed to adapt quite quickly, and for 2/3rds of the movie, really enjoyed myself. Emelie is a babysitter from hell, teaching them all kinds of wrong lessons, making them uncomfortable, and during the course of the movie, forcing them to see or do some pretty dark shit (which I’m not going to spoil here, because much of the fun of that part of the movie is to see what she’ll come up with next, and how far things are going to go). I loved how she put the kids against each other, and for a while wondered what game she was playing, and what it was all about. Was she trying to see how far she could go with them? It all escalated quite nicely, and what I liked most was the scene from the screenshot, with one of them aiming the gun at her. Unfortunately, shortly after, when her – rather mundane – motivation was finally revealed (in a scene that I actually quite liked; there’s just something about dark children’s books that really speaks to me), the movie derailed very quickly. It’s main problem is that as soon as we know what she actually wants, her actions from before don’t really make any sense. If she would have simply played the nice babysitter and put them to sleep, it all would have been so much easier for her. Thus, she really looks quite stupid for acting how she does.

Now, ok, I get it, she’s obviously a little crazy (which is another thing: I actually would have founded it a lot more shocking if she would have been cold and calculated), and yes, she wanted to see if she picked the right kid, but come on. That just did not make any sense. I also didn’t get why her accomplice [SPOILERS AHEAD!] would kill himself for her. That seemed to be totally out of character. And I didn’t much care for the ending, where they didn’t even have the balls to at least let her kill the neighbor’s kid. And then, of course, she gets away, and we end on a “It’s not over yet! She’s still out there and is trying to get YOUR child next!”-note [/END SPOILERS], which is just sooooo clichéd and overdone by now. Aaaaaaargh! Seriously, the whole “Home Alone”-like ending was rather stupid, and demanded a huge amount of suspension of disbelief in order to believe that the kids would have any chance against her. At least Sarah Bolger was really great in the titular role, and the kids also all gave good performances. Still, “Emelie” was a movie that I found rather frustrating and disappointing. It’s well shot and acted, and starts off really strong, but for the direction that the plot ultimately took, the writers really would deserve a good spanking.
4/10

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/slash 2015 – Day 5: The Hallow

Posted on September 27, 2015 by cornholio1980

The HallowThe Hallow
GB 2015
Written by Corin Hardy & Felipe Marino
Directed by Corin Hardy
Watched on 21.09.2015

If nothing else, “The Hallow” at least gets one thing right: The creatures. You might think that with a creature feature, that should be a given, but there are quite a couple of movies that drop the ball in that regard, and where the final revelation of the creature(s) is a huge letdown. Not so with “The Hallow”, where they’re one of the best things of the movie. It’s a unique design, perfectly executed. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the movie.

Apart from the great creature effects, the biggest strength of the movie lies with the cinematography. “The Hallow” looks incredibly well, and offers some great, impressive shots of the woods, which it uses to great effect in order to create suspense. Also, the two leads, Joseph Mawle and Bojana Novakovic, do a great job with their respective roles, and really manage to make us feel their fear, terror and/or determination. The movie also leads up to a great, emotional ending that I enjoyed. The concept behind the creature and their origins was quite nice. And even though it’s just a sidenote, I loved the children’s song that’s playing first in the car and then during the end credits. Unfortunately, “The Hallow” relies mostly on jump scares to create tension, and apart from the incredible cheap last one right before the credits, I saw all of them coming from a mile away. They’re not particularly clever and/or well-built, but rather run-of-the-mill, and if you’ve seen a couple of horror movies in your life, it should be easy to predict them with shocking accuracy. It also didn’t help that I called the ending 20 minutes in. And – an all-too-familiar problem of the genre – sometimes the actions of the protagonists didn’t strike me as particularly clever. For example, they know that the creatures don’t like iron and light, and that they’re after their baby. So what do they do? Well, put it in a wooden cupboard where it’s dark inside, of course! Also, concerning the showdown (hopefully without giving too much away), instead of taking a 50:50-chance, if I were her, I simply would have grabbed both. And as much as I can understand that it was hard for Adam, a scientist, to believe in all this stuff, given his find in the shack right at the beginning of the movie, with the dead deer and that strange fungal, I probably would have come around a little sooner. Ultimately, it’s a solid horror movie and a notable first (feature film) effort of director Corin Hardy – whose inexperience, however, is sometimes noticeable, and prevents “The Hallow” from reaching its full potential.
5/10


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