WolfCop
Canada 2014
Written by Lowell Dean & Bannister Bergen
Directed by Lowell Dean
The idea behind “WolfCop” sounded rather promising, but unfortunately, the final product was a rather tame affair. The premise of a werewolf-cop sounded cool, and those scenes are definitely the highlight of the movie. Unfortunately, they only account for about 10 minutes of this furry mess. The rest is a weird hodgepodge of ideas that includes shape shifters and satanic rituals, and that didn’t really come together in any coherent and/or convincing way. The story was very predictable, the characters one-note (for example, Lou’s only noticeable character trait is that he drinks a lot), and the showdown was also more of a letdown. That said… I liked the Wolf Cop-makeup, there are a couple of nice gags, and the performances range from ok to rather good. Overall, it’s not bad enough to cry wolf, but also by far not good enough to be over the moon with.
3/10
Late Phases
USA 2014
Written by Eric Stolze
Directed by Adrián García Bogliano
“Late Phases” was mostly entertaining, and had some funny moments. I liked the setup at the retirement home, the transformation scenes (even though I’m not sure that they were really all done without any use of CGI, as promised by the festival bill) and the humor. Nick Damici was also really good as the blind retiree who gets attacked by a werewolf, and vows vengeance. There also were a couple of nice, brutal, gory kills that got cheers from the audience. And I really felt sorry for the first victim. She was such a funny, charming and friendly old lady!
Apart from this scene at the beginning, though, most of the emotional scenes fell rather flat for me, especially near the end (voice message). I also think it was a little bit too obvious how it would all turn out. Another problem that “Late Phases” shares with werewolf-movies, especially those that are not about the werewolves themselves, but uses them only as a threat (like vampires or zombies), is that they only attack once every moon cycle. Thus, during the middle part, you know that Ambrose is safe, and that nothing will/can happen to him, which drains all tension from the movie. I also thought that the identity of the werewolf was a little obvious. And can someone explain to me why a blind man would turn on the lights at home? Is that really something that blind people do, or was that just movie logic (so that the audience can see what’s going on)? Apart from that, “Late Phases” was ok, but “Bubba Ho-Tep” is most definitely still the king when it comes to horror comedies that are set at a retirement home.
5/10
It Follows
USA 2014
Written by David Robert Mitchell
Directed by David Robert Mitchell
“It Follows” reminded me a little of “The Ring” (or the Japanese original “Ringu”), only that in this case, the threat is not about some video tape, but works more like an STD. You screw, you’re screwed. Which might sound like the most classic and clichéd horror film rule, but here, it comes with a twist: If you have sex with another person, you pass the curse on to them. A nice concept in theory, but I had some problems with the way it was handled here.
First of all: Where “The Ring” spent a huge part of the movie figuring out how the curse works, and what you have to do to break it, “It Follows” presents those facts pretty much from the get-go. Thus, I felt that there wasn’t really any tension – apart from the fact that Jay didn’t believe it at first, which is understandable. But as soon as she did, I started wondering why she didn’t just go and get laid. She’s young and hot, so finding a guy to get biblical with shouldn’t be much of a problem. Thus, it seemed like the only thing holding her back – and the only reason why she’s still threatened by IT – is herself. I get that there are moral considerations that come into play here, since you pass IT along, but the movie didn’t really delve into that. Mind you: It’s not the fact that she doesn’t simply have sex with someone that annoyed me, but rather their failure to address her reluctance to do so.
What also didn’t help the movie is that they later break with a previously established (or at least mentioned) rule. When Jay first learns about the curse, the guy warns her to never ever let IT touch her, implying that one simple touch is already enough to kill her. Which – even though IT moves terribly slow, and you’re pretty much only in danger if you don’t pay attention, or are asleep – is a scary concept. One touch, and you’re done for. But later, IT touches her hair and she still survives (maybe hair and/or clothes don’t count, maybe IT has to touch flesh. But if so, it’s never mentioned). While we’re at IT it: The sex. Does it have to follow the Clinton-definition (e.g. it’s not sex as long as it doesn’t feature penetration), or is a little oral action and/or foreplay already enough? Where is the line drawn exactly? You have to tell us these things, man! I mean, I wouldn’t wanna catch IT! Seriously, though: The fact that I actually thought about things like that already shows you that it didn’t manage to grip me, at least not throughout the entire movie.
It doesn’t help that while the setup is pretty much clear from the beginning, the movie nevertheless makes time for Jay’s search for the guy who infected her, and for another meeting with him where we get bits and pieces of additional information, but mostly, it’s just a repetition of what we already know. Skipping or at least shortening this part would have gone a long way to tighten and thus intensify the movie. That said… it has it’s moments and strengths. As said before, I actually like the concept behind it. Also, even though I may not have found IT particularly frightening, the way Robert David Mitchell shot IT definitely gave it a creepy feel. There are a couple of tense moments. And I especially liked the last third of the movie, after Jay wakes up in the hospital, finally doing what she should have done long ago. The movie takes a nice turn afterwards, and in my opinion, the scene at her neighbour’s house was one of the most effective of the movie. I also quite liked the “showdown” at the indoor swimming pool. Oh, and the performances were very good, especially Maika Monroe. “It Follows” is far from being a bad movie – but in my opinion, it’s also not quite as good as it could have been.
6/10
Jamie Marks Is Dead
USA 2014
Written by Carter Smith, based on the novel by Christopher Barzak
Directed by Carter Smith
“Jamie Marks is Dead” is an exercise in boredom. While the cast may be nice (even though it was quite disheartening to see that Liv Tyler is now getting cast in mom-roles, and of a teenage son at that), I ultimately found this movie to be extremely dull, tedious and utterly pointless. Apart from the cast the only things that I liked were a couple of scenes (especially with the teenage girl-ghost) and the romance between Adam and Gracie (where I especially liked the matter-of-factly way they dealt with sex). Other than that, this did nothing for me. It seemed to drag on forever, I couldn’t relate to any of the characters (who were bland anyway; that I didn’t feel that we really got to know any of them obviously didn’t help), and apart from very few and very short scary moments, it’s void of any tension. It also didn’t help that Jamie Marks looked like a slightly older Harry Potter. Seriously, did no one notice that, or was it intentional? Anyway, that was just extremely distracting. Add to that the fact that the movie offers no real explanation for what’s going on (Why can Adam and Gracie – and only them – see him? And what was up with those words that Adam had to whisper in his ear all the time? Seriously, that was just weird, and also unintentionally funny) and you get one of the most pointless and unnecessary movies that I’ve seen in quite a while. My recommendation: Take some sleeping pills instead. That’s cheaper, quicker, and will ultimately have the same effect.
2/10
Stage Fright
Canada 2014
Written by Jerome Sable & Eli Batalion
Directed by Jerome Sable
“Stage Fright” was a lot of fun. After years and years avoiding them as much as possible, I think I might slowly ease up on musicals. First, there was the pleasant surprise of “Les Misérables”, which completely blew me away (and, in my humble opinion, was one of the very best movies of 2013), then there was the amusing “The Muppets”, which I also quite enjoyed (and yeah, I know, technically that one came before “Les Misérables”, but I was a little late catching up on it), and now there’s this. I really had a very good time with it, and I especially enjoyed the songs. What’s wrong with me? I guess it’s time to catch up on some other well-liked musicals like “Moulin Rouge”. Anyway, back to “The Haunting of the Opera” (which is what this movie should have been called; there are already far too many other movies named “Stage Fright”, which, while I get the double meaning, is a far too generic title for a fun romp like this).
The flashback at the beginning is one of my favorite parts of this movie. It is as much hommage as it is a parody of “The Phantom of the Opera”, and features a nice, bloody kill, and is just overall a very well written and shot scene. However, the next couple of minutes offer some great, good-natured fun, with the arrival of the musical geeks at the camp. You don’t have to love musicals as much as they do to understand and share their joy. Many of us probably have hobbies or interests that we usually can’t celebrate in public and/or in our professional life. Those guys and girls arriving in the camp are just like the people coming together at conventions – or film festivals, for that matter: they share a similar interest, and enjoy being able to pursue it together. The accompanying song is one of my favorite of the movie, and perfectly captures that feeling of excitement, anticipation, and the joy of being able to let go without having to fear to be frowned upon.
While I do believe that “Stage Fright” never really reaches the same heights again that it offers within the first 10-15 minutes, the rest of the movie nevertheless is also very entertaining. Allie MacDonald, whom I never noticed before (and now have a total crush on), proves to be a great leading lady/final girl, and – assuming that she did all her singing (if not, I didn’t notice) – also has a great voice. I hope to see more of her in the future, because for me, she was the standout of the movie. However, Meat Loaf and Minnie Driver were great too; beware however that the latter features far less in the movie than the posters and covers would make you believe [SPOILER] (think Drew Barrymore in “Scream”, and you get the picture) [/SPOILER]. The rest of the cast is great too; I especially enjoyed the gay stage director or whatever his role was. The songs, as mentioned, are great, the movie itself finds a nice balance between funny and scary (even though it might fall rather into the earlier and less into the latter category), is pleasantly self-depreciating, and offers some crazy scenes and nice ideas.
However, the movie also hits a couple of false notes. Even though I get that it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, and that they were making fun of the cliché instead of propagating it, I could have done without the Heavy Metal-loving killer. I’ve seen that far too many times to even find it funny anymore. Also: the identity of the killer(s?) was a little bit too obvious for me. And as much as I loved all the songs, the movie could have used 1-2 more of them, since after a while, it became a little repetitive. I also preferred the first mask of the killer (even though I liked the reason for the change; the idea to interpret the “Haunting of the Opera”-musical in that way was inspired, and quite funny), and the finale was not quite as gripping, exciting and/or spectacular as I might have hoped. And after “Les Misérables” I really wish all musicals would record their songs live, because I’m really starting to notice the lip-syncing (or maybe it was just a little obvious in this case, at least here and there). Other than that, I had a blast.
8/10
Burying the Ex
USA 2014
Written by Alan Trezza
Directed by Joe Dante
I liked Joe Dantes previous movie, “The Hole”, and think it’s a little underrated. Yes, it’s mostly for young adults/teenagers, but I liked the threat, some of the revelations, and thought that despite some funny scenes it was genuinely creepy – something at which Joe Dante usually excels at. However, with “Burying the Ex”, he’s almost totally in comedy-territory, and I really missed the scarier moments of his previous work(s). While entertaining enough, his latest outing is a rather bland affair, and completely harmless. While it features horror elements like curses and zombies, ultimately, this is a pretty lighthearted teenie/twen-comedy that has more in common with romantic comedies than with horror. Which doesn’t make it bad per se, of course – but unfortunately, the humor is just as safe and harmless as the movie itself.
The worst thing about “Burying the Ex” were the extremely bland and clichéd characters. Max is your typical immature, nerdy manchild, Evelyn his oh-so-repressive girlfriend who has no appreciation and/or sympathy for his hobby, is a control freak, and holds him back and keeps him from following his dreams. And on top of that, she’s clingy as hell. And on the other side of the spectrum, there’s Olivia, who shares his interest in horror, and just overall seems more like a fantasy/wish fulfilment for men than a real human being. The worst of them, however, is Max’ one-dimensional half brother Travis, who is just a caricature; the not that good-looking guy who still get’s the hottest girls, and who sleeps with them in Max’ apartment so that they don’t learn where he lives – which is oh-so-funny. Pretty much all the gags surrounding him fell completely flat for me – your mileage may vary.
The explanation for Evelyns return was a little contrived, but I was willing to buy into it for the sake of the movie. However, I hoped for a different conclusion. I think it would have been better if all that Max had to do was to man up, tell her how he feels, and break up with her – and that would then also break the spell. Alas, that’s not the direction “Burying the Ex” is taking, which provides us with a rather generic and unimaginative showdown instead. That said: I found the movie to be entertaining enough. There are a couple of nice gags and allusions to well-known horror movies, the three leads give good performances, and the chemistry between them is nice. And of course I enjoyed the obligatory Dick Miller-cameo. Also: I really liked the fact that Evelyn knows that she is (or was) dead. There definitely is some fun to be had with this movie – but it’s as safe as it gets, and I really missed the bite that made earlier works of Joe Dante so great and special. “Burying the Ex”, on the other hand, is merely ok, and nothing special at all.
5/10
The Midnight After
Hong Kong/China 2014
Written by Fai-hung Chan & Fruit Chan
Directed by Fruit Chan
“The Midnight After” starts off very promising. I love how the various protagonists are intruduced, and for whatever reason find their way unto this specific bus out of Hong Kong. Then, suddenly, after driving through a tunnel, it seems like there’s no one else on the street. Everyone seems to have vanished – expect this one bus and its passengers. What’s going on? Was there some sort of catastrophe? Did they have an accident and are already dead? Does it have something to do with Fukushima? Is the one crazy hand reader-lady right that the end of the world has come? I really digged the setup. I also quite liked the very different characters, and the dynamic between them. And their first approach on how to deal with this – they all go home, but before they do, they exchange contact information just in case there really is no one else around anymore, except them – was actually quite nice and clever. I also liked certain, specific scenes, the great, dreadful mood… and the pictures of a deserted Hong Kong were quite impressive and haunting.
Unfortunately, every mystery is just as good as its resolution, and that’s where “The Midnight After” drops the ball completely. There simply is no resolution. Like, at all. They play around with a couple of possible explanations, but ultimately, this is one of these movies that leave its audience with all questions, and no answers. Why do some of the passengers die in quite mysterious, strange ways? What’s up with the young woman from whom one of them always has visions with her hairs standing up? Who are the people in the gas masks, how did they get there, and what do they want? Who is calling them all the time? And what about the weird phone call that the one young dude receives from his girlfriend, who wasn’t on the bus? What starts off with a nice, clever setup, unfortunately deteriorates more and more into this hodgepodge of ideas that don’t add up to a coherent whole, and which left me completely unsatisfied. Hell, they don’t even [SPOILER]make it to the mountain[/SPOILER], for fuck’s sake. That’s like fading to black afrer Frodo and Sam started their hike up Mount Doom.
Now, even in the later half of the movie there are a couple of nice moments and/or funny scenes. I liked everything about the knifes – first the huge one, then the small one. The way how they deal with an abhorrent crime among their midst was actually quite nice (if not terribly original), especially since even those that don’t agree with that course of action seem compelled to participate (even though that whole sequence went on for far too long). The best scene of the entire movie, however, is the crazy clip when they play “Space Oddity” for the first time. That was hilarious. Unfortunately, over the course of the movie, they play it again and again, until they achieve something that I never would have thought possible: “Space Oddity” actually get’s dull. Which also is some sort of an accomplishment, I guess. Anyway, given the disappointing way the movie progresses and ultimately ends, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” would probably have been a more fitting title song for the movie.
4/10
Killers
Indonesia/Japan 2014
Written by Takuji Ushiyama & Timo Tjahjanto
Directed by Kimo Stamboel & Timo Tjahjanto
What I found most interesting about “Killers” is the way the movie seems to ask its audience which of them is the better person. Is one of them less despicable than the other, even though both are essentially brutal, remorseless killers? Does the fact that one of them at least starts off killing criminals, a child molester and so on make him better then the guy who kills innocent woman? Aren’t both of them completely in the wrong?!?! I really liked this moral ambiguity, and how this movie explores to what extent we’re willing to sympathize with a killer. Whatever that says about me, I have to say that I hoped that Bayu would see the error of his ways sooner or later, and stop killing – even if that would mean that he would get away with the first couple of murders. I just really hoped that he’d relent before he crosses a line.
Not much love was lost between me and Nomura, though, who just seemed like a sadistic psychopath (even though he was still a fleshed-out, complex and fascinating character in his own right). However, I guess that was pretty much the point, and is central for the moral implications of the movie to work, which tries to make you root for the less despicable killer – who nevertheless still is a killer, for fuck’s sake. Ultimately, I found it fascinating and even a little disquieting to notice how I was kinda rooting for Bayu. So in that regard, the movie worked really great. It also was very well-shot and -acted. However, the showdown was a little typical and also quite predictable for me. As soon as I saw where the big, final confrontation took place, I pretty much knew already how it would end, and sure enough, I was right. Also, there’s this one scene where one of Nomuras potential victims actually wakes up and, with the help of another person, tries to escape – and both of them are too stupid to grab one of the many weapons lying around in his dungeon. That was just… no. Otherwise, though, this was a nifty little thriller.
7/10
Alleluia
Belgium/France 2014
Written by Fabrice Du Welz, Romain Protat & Vincent Tavier
Directed by Fabrice Du Welz
“Alleluia” was this years “Hail” for me: The one movie at the festival that while I cannot really call it bad per se, I nevertheless didn’t have any use for, mostly because I – thankfully! – couldn’t relate to the world and/or mindset of these characters. Michel is a manipulating bastard who seduces and fleeces lonely women, and Gloria, while being one of his victims, still falls for him and decides to help him with his scams from now on. I know that there are women like Gloria, who stay with their lying, cheating and sometimes flat-out violent husbands, in real life too, but it’s just something I cannot relate to at all.
If there’s one interesting thing about the movie, it’s how the power starts to shift after the first kill. I have to say that I quite enjoyed that. Also, there are a couple of funny moments and ideas, like the scene where Gloria breaks out laughing while pretending to cry, or the dirty, slutty nun. However, after kinda winning me back again at least a little, “Alleluia” unfortunately completely lost me in the end, when it get’s clear that Michel is just as transfixed with Gloria, as she is with him. Which, at least for me, came out of nowhere. I just couldn’t understand why he would ruin what probably was his first real chance of happiness, just because she asks him to. At least for me, this scene didn’t work for me at all, because the movie simply did nothing to make me understand his decision. Anyway, as said before, I wouldn’t necessarily call “Alleluia” a bad movie, but I just didn’t get any of the characters, and found them to be mostly insufferable.
3/10
Aux yeux des vivants (Among the Living)
France 2014
Written by Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury
Directed by Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury
“Among the Living” is Alexandre Bustillo’s and Julien Maury’s attempt at a Stephen King-like horror movie, featuring a couple of teenagers who accidentaly stumble upon some weird mutant and his father, who then try to kill them. Unfortunately, most of the movie didn’t really work for me. My first issue with “Among the Living” is that I couldn’t relate to the teenagers AT ALL. Bad enough that they decide to burn down a barn for fun (?), but then one of them almost kills the owner with an axe. Ahm… yeah… not the kind of brats I feel sorry for when they are later supposed to get killed off one by one. It also felt a little implausible that none of them would have a cell phone. And what did the man and his son want with they woman that the kids find in the trunk anyway? I mean, yeah, of course I could think of a possible explanation, but wouldn’t it be the job of the movie to tell me? Because the way it stands, I can’t shake the feeling that this was simply an arbitrary, meaningless plot point to get the movie going.
It’s also pretty obvious that the intervening years between “Inside” and this didn’t do anything to conciliate them with the cops. While the first bunch is at least not quite as stupid as the ones in their first feature, later, when the family makes a 911-call, it takes the police forever to get to them. There are also some serious cases of SPAS again. The mum (I purposedly don’t say who’s mum she is so that it’s not too much of a spoiler) is totally useless and just stands idly by while her husband is killed in a prolonged (and a little too weird for my taste, with the foot) death scene. Later, both her and her son struggle for what feels like minutes to open a simple washing machine. Shortly after, the attacker lies on the ground unconscious, but instead of finishing him off (they’re in the fucking kitchen, so I would suspect a lot of knives lying around) or running away they prefer to hide under the table. I mean, come on.
Not that the bad guys are much better. So the little brats find them and inform the cops, and even though the cops didn’t find anything, daddy instructs his son to kill them – because sooner of later someone is bound to believe them. Ahm… seriously? I suspect that if those teenagers get killed off one by one after filing that report, it would raise the heads of even this stupified version of the french police. That just didn’t make any sense at all. That said, I loved the scene at the beginning, which is some kind of mirror image of “Inside”. That really was inspired, and a nice hommage to their earlier work. Also, because it moves rather fast, the movie at least never got dull. However, overall, there just was too much stupid for me to enjoy it.
4/10
WolfCop
A life in 24 fps 