AS-69 Reviews

The Ninth Gate (1999)

Much too tame.

[4/10 · 16 December 2003]

Spoilers

The "Ninth Gate" is an undistinguished and unspectacular movie. If it had not been directed by Roman Polanski and had not featured Johnny Depp, it would have passed completely unnoticed and received ratings between 3 and 5. Of course, you can see that the movie had some budget and was realized by a competent director, but the rest is an old hat. The plot evolves around an antique book about the devil, and most of the people related to it get killed (mostly in unspectacular ways). The mystery is quickly resolved: Already when Johnny Depp studies the book the first time in a library, you can see a woodcut depicting a woman resembling very much Emmanuelle Seigner (so she is related to the devil). The fact that she turns into a guardian "angel" for Johnny Depp makes it clear that he is a "chosen one" of some kind. When Johnny Depp examines the second copy of the book, he discovers the main secret about the woodcuts, and then we do not hear anything new about them until at the end Frank Langella briefly summarizes the meaning of each one. The devil is also the same as usual: He comes in a beautiful guise (Emmanuelle Seigner, bright light), but at the end he betrays those worshipping him. The main problem about this movie is that it is filmed completely without passion. It never becomes exciting or even shocking. The spectator remains as unaffected by the events as Johnny Depp (who keeps the same ice cold uninterested expression during the whole movie). For a film about the devil and hell, this is particularly strange. If you want to watch a movie where hell really breaks loose, I recommend Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond". In my opinion, Polanski made this movie without any personal involvement, just for earning some money.

Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

Bugs Bunny at the Low Point of his Career

[3/10 · 15 December 2003]

This movie is just another example of a loveless attempt to cash in on a successful trademark. It is simply a crude collage of recycled gags from the old looney tunes cartoons and maybe hundreds of other movies without a spark of originality (e.g., the light swords of Star Wars are quoted for the hundredth time, who can call this "intellectual"?). Even technically, the movie is weak. Mediocre actors are overcharged with imagining the later inserted animated characters (just look at Jenna Elfman holding Duffy Duck in the first scene). It is by far more rewarding to watch the old "Looney Tunes" cartoons (Tex Avery, Chuck Jones's Wile E. Coyote, ...), or "Who framed Roger Rabbit" (so far, the masterpiece in the mixture of life action and animation), or some episodes of "The Simpsons" (to see how one can cleverly quote other movies - not just for hiding one's lack of imagination). Well, the fact that the theater was empty at a Sunday afternoon during the first week of the movie's screening and that even the kids stopped laughing after a few minutes is the only hope that this kind of movie will not be repeated too many times.

Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula (1998 Video)

Lesbian sex in the old people's home

[3/10 · 20 August 2002]

With One Shot Productions, Jess Franco has found somebody who finances and distributes his home videos.

In Franco's filmography, Mari-Cookie follows Tender Flesh. Whereas the latter was quite a good effort, Mari-Cookie is barely watchable. As so often, Franco stretches material which would be good for 5-10 minutes of film to a full length movie. There are some elements which only a director like Jess Franco could conceive: A shot from inside a vagina (extremely badly executed), an exaggeratedly phony toy spider provided by a digital special effect with a living human face, and the usual extended scenes of voyeurism and exhibitionism, as well as a good musical score. The final showdown where all the trashy elements of the movie (the singing male captive, the toy spider, and so on) dissolve in abstraction is of some interest.

But for the most part, the film is really on the level of an amateur's home video (there is one scene where the microphone is not properly adjusted) obsessed with exhibiting Franco's aging wife having sex with other not so fresh women (except for Amber Newman). I have rarely witnessed such disregard for the audience.

By the way, the Spanish soundtrack is slightly better. E.g., it features Jess Franco as the voice of the tarantula in the opening scene.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Void of content - but perfect animation

[7/10 · 17 December 2001]

With "Atlantis", Disney is experimenting with its techniques in a new genre, an action movie, probably in order to win a more general audience. Of course, on the level of the plot, you wouldn't expect anything original or novel from Disney, and, in fact, the story of "Atlantis" is as flat and trivial as could be. The events are haphazard and barely motivated and much has been seen somewhere else (e.g., Milo manages to speak a language which has been dead for thousands of years even faster than James Spader did in "Stargate"; with a short moralistic appeal he manages to win tough mercenaries for his cause ... you get the idea). At the beginning, the film is filled with annoying silly and corny gags. Finally, the characters are extremely poorly developed, even for a Disney movie.

This said, "Atlantis" is still a movie worth watching, because of its fantastic visual style. From the design of the characters to the beautiful landscapes, the look of "Atlantis" is almost overwhelming. This makes "Atlantis" an experience despite its non-existing story.

Certainly, Disney's animation department is in full possession of state of the art artistic and technical means, but the studio is still lacking a unifying spirit like Walt Disney who has a vision of the whole and brings together all the talents in order to create a lasting masterpiece. Since "Aladdin", Disney has failed to create another classic, and I am afraid "Atlantis" won't be one either. For this, its story and characters are simply too undistinguished.

eXistenZ (1999)

Tame and repetitive Cronenberg

[6/10 · 17 December 2001]

After his almost disastrous "Crash", Cronenberg returns to more familiar terrain with "eXistenZ". After "Videodrome" and "Naked Lunch", this is now his third movie featuring different levels of reality which gradually mix with each other until at the end, you don't know any more what reality is. Nowadays, you cannot say any more that this is a novel concept and, in addition, "eXistenZ" is much tamer, much more mainstream, and much weaker than "Naked Lunch" and, especially, Cronenberg's masterpiece "Videodrome". There simply isn't anything new which Cronenberg has to add to the subject.

Moreover, the fact that the movie deals with computer gaming is misleading. First, the subject was probably chosen to attract a new audience (which isn't familiar with his previous movies). Second, Cronenberg's visions aren't very much based on what modern computer gaming really is, except, maybe, for adventure games. In Cronenberg's movie, the computer game allows you to enter another reality which, however, looks very much like the reality you know, except that there seem to be other rules. Modern computer gaming, in turn, has already created a new reality which differs in its very characteristics from the world we know. This world is aggressive, fast paced, and the player as individual is reduced to its capability of reacting as fast as possible (this aspect is indeed captured much more appropriately in the - much weaker movie - "The Matrix"). Thus, Cronenberg's movie is more a surrealist dream than a serious discussion of the dangers of computer gaming. Of course, this is prefectly legal. The game console is a means of changing into another reality, just like the drugs were in "Naked Lunch" and video tapes were in "Videodrome". At other times, the console appears more like a sexual fetish.

"eXistenZ" has some interesting and remarkable scenes such as the whole part in the "Trout Farm" and the Chinese restaurant, but there are also involuntarily ridicolous scenes such as the character being stuck in a game loop. Overall, the images which Cronenberg chooses do not have the strength and impact of his older movies: The central element, the organic console, just looks like what it is: a piece of rubber. It is directly hooked up to the spinal chord, an unpleasant idea, but how much more impressive was the scene when James Woods inserted the video tape into his own stomach in "Videodrome".

All in all, "eXistenZ" is another trip into the weird world of David Cronenberg but into the more civilized regions which doesn't give you many surprises.

The Pledge (I) (2001)

Not exceptional

[7/10 · 14 December 2001]

The movie "The Pledge" lives mostly on its excellent story which is due to the Swiss novelist Friedrich Duerrenmatt (so much for "great AMERICAN cinema"). And because the story is so good, it has already been filmed several times. Personally, I know two versions besides "The Pledge". The first one is the classical one with Gerd Froebe and Heinz Ruehmann and has a happy ending. The second one is a Swiss one with more or less the same action and ending (except that the little girl turned into a whore - but this appearantly would have been too strong for an American major production). If I remember correctly, the tone of the latter movie was very much like the one in "The Pledge".

Sean Penn's movie is quite well done. The direction is good. The movie has a dark undertone and the cast is, of course, excellent. For anyone who hasn't seen any version based on that novel (as probably most of the American audience), the movie will definitely appear as one of the outstanding movies of 2001. If you have, however, seen one or more versions of that material, you will notice that Sean Penn really didn't have anything new to contribute to the interpretation of the story but just made a relatively tame adaptation. His only merit is that he has successfully transplanted it to the United States without spoiling it.

Jack the Ripper (1976)

Fairly good movie.

[8/10 · 3 December 2001]

In several respects, this movie seems to be a little untypical for a Franco movie. Since Franco proposed the subject himself, the film seems to be a rather personal project. Nevertheless, it is one of his most conventional movies. One could say that it is a rather tame slasher movie.

Sexual perversion is still a subject, but in "Jack the Ripper" it is confined to the madmen and is not the general background. There is also some gore which - at least on some occasions - would have better been left out.

What is equally untypical for a Franco movie are the production values. One can see that Franco worked on a higher budget. The film plays most of the time during the night, and the night photography is carried out in an excellent way. The scene when Lina Romay is killed in a foggy park is certainly one of the best Franco has ever filmed. A funny fact here is that apart from a few exteriors (like Big Ben), all the movie was shot in Zuerich Switzerland. It is much fun to see how Franco has transformed this into London (especially if you know the places in Zuerich Franco used). The interiors are also nice and colourful, and this is complemented by the costumes. Finally, the great plus of the movie is that is has Klaus Kinsky in it. Kinsky was one of the few actors who could create a certain ambiance by their mere presence. Of course, Kinsky's acting is also very subtle. Especially, his transformations from philanthrop into madman and back.

The only thing which spoiled my viewing of "Jack the Ripper" a bit where some stupid beginner's mistakes by Franco. The two most obvious ones are: 1) Klaus Kinsky standing at the wrong side of the car when he "meets" the inspector's girl friend; 2) When Lina Romay is killed, the puppet used for the (cheap looking) gore effect is lit in a completely false color (maybe this is the producer's fault who might have insisted on including some gore). One less obvious mistake occurs at the beginning: The first hooker which is killed walks (on her way home!) back half the way she came.

All in all, "Jack the Ripper" is an atmospheric, unpretentious, and well directed slasher movie with a formidable Klaus Kinsky as the madman.

Peeping Tom (1960)

Timeless Masterpiece!

[9/10 · 3 December 2001]

Watching this movie over 40 years after it was made, I still found it a very disturbing movie. It is definitely not dated (as some people have claimed). For this, it is much too well crafted and too multilayered.

It is almost perfect in every respect. It is very well shot in brilliant colours. Boehm as the mad serial killer is very convincing. Certainly, the movie's lack of gore and the handling of sexuality might make it appear dated. But there is still much more to it. First, there is the scene when Lewis shows his child memories to Vivian, as recorded by his father for his studies. This scene builds a very intense atmosphere of terror and madness, and its subject, parental violence against children and its effects on them, is as actual as ever. Second, the final scene when Lewis explains in detail his perverse technique of filming his victims by reflecting their own image to them is again one of the most memorable scenes I have seen, especially when we watch Vivian's distorted image in the mirror. By the way, the idea of making the victims watch their own death has been copied in the more recent "Strange Days". Third, the movie shows a differentiated picture of the serial killer. In this respect, it is much more advanced than some recent (gory) serial killer movies. Once, Lewis is freed from his camera (on his first date with Vivian), he becomes a charming and normal boy. Fourth, the murders are depicted in such a way that gore simply isn't necessary. In this respect, the work of Powell is most reminiscent of Hitchcock. For example, when Lewis kills his second victim, the preparations for the murder are presented in so much detail that the audience starts longing for the act of killing. In this way, Powell not only transfers some of Lewis's guilt to the spectator (probably one of the reasons for the critics' reactions) but the killing itself just becomes the moment of relief and no gore is needed to create emotions. At another occasion, Powell varies the technique when Lewis meets Vivians's mother. This time no killing occurs (and not for the reason of some lucky intervention). Just one more evidence of how well crafted that movie is. Last but not least, the movie is not only concerned with the serial killer motif but also with voyeurism in general and in connection with cinema itself. After all, Lewis not only strives to capture the expression of fear on film, but his project is a complete documentary about the killing: he wants to be a director. In a cynic way, this approach to cinema is confirmed by the experience on the set of the movie on which Lewis works as the focus puller: the main actress cannot produce an accurate fainting unless she discovers the body. Moreover, Powell's direction invites the spectator on various occasions to become the voyeur himself.

The only thing which annoyed me in "Peeping Tom" where the pathetic role of Vivian's mother and the equally pathetic suicide of Lewis at the end.

"Peeping Tom" is a highly recommended movie which by its intricate script and great production values contains enough material to enjoy on repeated viewings.

L'éventreur de Notre-Dame (1975)

Why can't he just finish his movies?

[6/10 · 29 November 2001]

There are reportedly at least three very different versions of "Exorcism" around. I am reporting here on Eurocine's original version as recently released by Anchor Bay.

Jess Franco surely is a gifted director. Although most of the few movies I know from his immense production are below average, they often include some ingenious scenes and a good soundtrack which largely saves the movie. Nevertheless, I start to get disappointed when the movie does not develop its potential because the director just didn't take the pain to think a little about constructing some tension and a climax.

This applies, e.g., to "Female Vampire" and to "Exorcism". The first part of the movie brings us to a strange world. People are visiting phony black masses featuring the slaughter of a pidgeon and sadomasochistic rituals in order to get sexually aroused. Jess Franco plays an ex-priest who writes S/M-stories for a magazine "based on true experience" stating that "you have to know evil in order to fight it". He is attracted to the lesbian S/M-performer Anna and on the other hand pursues the participators of the black masses with bloody and deadly exocirsm rituals. There are nice interiors which were shot in a beautifully decorated "day time hotel" near Paris.Unfortunately, after having introduced all this material, the movie gets completly stuck. Instead of developing, e.g., the character of the priest, his madness (as he did for example in "Jack the Ripper"), Franco just repeats the shots of black masses and exorcism over and over again or fills the movie with extended sex scenes. This leads utterly to boredom and the ending lacks any interest to justify the waiting.

As usual, Franco has trouble to keep his camera in focus and the editing is crude. Take for instance the ending. Franco brings Anna to his castle outside of Paris. Then, Anna phones somehow her friend to tell her that she is alright. A few seconds later, we see Franco back in his Paris appartment and then driving back to the castle (so that his pursuers have the chance to follow him). Although the timing might be possible, I found this unnecessarily confusing.

So the movie is just another unfulfilled promise by the director. It is without technical merits and doesn't deserve much attention.

Massacre Time (1966)

Very remarkable Western

[8/10 · 29 November 2001]

Minor spoilers

As probably most of us, I started to learn Fulci's work "backwards", i.e., the first movies I saw of him were his gory masterpieces of the 70's and early 80's. Only afterwards, I became interested in his whole work. Although I am not a great fan of Westerns, I really like "Massacre Time" and would rate it as one of Fulci's masterpieces and one of the best Spaghetti Westerns. Knowing his later work, you will easily recognize that he employed several shots, camera tricks, and so on, already in this early stage of his career.

For instance, the opening sequence sets the tone: We see Scott's demented son and by the way he is sitting on his horse, we immediately notice that something is wrong with him. And then a man is chased to death by dogs. What follows is an atmospheric, very well shot movie which builds a more and more intense feeling of terror and madness, creating at times almost unreal settings. A highlight is Franco Nero being whipped by his half brother at a party. All this culminates in an bullet laden shoot out. The movie is also graced with an excellent musical score.

As Fulci stated himself, the story has been reduced to a minimum, namely the conflict between three half brothers: one totally demented, the other a drunkard, and only Nero is a superhero.

On the other hand, you can tell that Fulci has not yet developed full maturity. There are some clumsy cuts and Fulci often sticks to the stereotypes of a Western. For example, Franco Nero is the just a little too much the undistinguished hero.

This excellent movie deserves to be more widely known and should help everybody to reevaluate Fulci's work. With "Massacre Time", "Don't torture a duckling" and "The Beyond", he has delivered at least three outstanding movies in totally different genres.

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Probably the worst movie of the year.

[3/10 · 19 November 2001]

"Moulin Rouge!" tries to narrate its meager story via a sequence of (mock versions of) various well known pop songs. This technique is appearantly borrowed from the commercials. Whether it might work in a feature film is questionable, but worth a try. "Moulin Rouge!" is such a try and a complete failure. Its lack of style, content, and originality and the awful video clip style cutting which ruins the occasionally nice decors make it hardly watchable. In my opinion, two hours of watching MTV would have been a more rewarding experience. They would have offered better music and more change. The fact that this movie received so much attention is just another evidence of the continuing decline of major studio's film making.

I guerrieri dell'anno 2072 (1984)

Better than I expected

[7/10 · 15 November 2001]

During his career , Fulci contributed to many different genres. It is a bid sad that he is remembered only for his gore movies, though they are classics.

But Fulci making a sci-fi movie still sounded like a disaster, especially given the low budgets with which Fulci worked during the period when he made "New gladiators". Nevertheless, I was quite pleased with the result. Clearly, one cannot call the movie a good movie. For this, it is far too uneven: It has a fairly good opening, but step by step degrades into plain silliness culminating into Drake swallowing a device which allows him to manipulate all electronic equipment and even melt metal walls. At the end, the movie resumes pace again for a rather satisfying ending.

As often noted, even by Fulci's daughter Antonella, the "New gladiators" is highly reminiscent of "Rollerball" and of other classic American sci-fi-movies such as "Logan's run". Fulci manages to use some of his trademark elements to enhance the familiar motives: First, there is the overall dark atmosphere of the movie. Second, there are some almost surreal sequences such as the killing of Drake's wife. Third, there is the juxtapposition of antique and future Rome. At this point, I would like to mention that the often criticized toy models are filmed quite effectively and help to create an illusion, though not a perfect one. Fulci and the scriptwriters get an extra credit for managing to incorporate a throat slashing with Poe's pendulum into this movie!

All in all, "New Gladiators" is a slightly messed up movie with interesting details to keep you amused. As such, it is much more entertaining than recent Hollywood big budget sci-fis which feature even less story and more silly plot elements than the worst Fulci movie and are completely brainless.

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror (1981)

Pure Zombie terror!

[6/10 · 9 October 2001]

Spoilers below!

"Le notti del terrore" is indeed a very pure Zombie movie in the sense that it really has no plot. Whereas even the lesser Italian Zombie movies such as Lenzi's "Nightmare city" or Fulci's disastrous "Zombi3" pack the Zombie mayhem into some phony criticism of military or ecological catastrophies, Bianchi's movie gets rid of the necessary background story just before the opening titles when Professor Ayres somehow raises the dead and immediately falls victim to them. The rest of the movie then focuses on people on the run from fairly intelligent, vicious, blood thirsty zombies. This refreshingly honest concept allows you to sit back for the remaining 80 odd minutes and watch what zombies have to do: eat people in the most disgusting way. Besides some references to Fulci's work, including a pale copy of the "splinter in the eye"-scene, there are also some genuinely macabre scenes. Two examples: The zombies throw a nail from afar to a women leaning out of the window, thereby fastening her to the window shutter. Then, they use a scythe to decapitate her (sophisticated, isn't it?). When one of her friends enters the scene and captures what has happened, he throws the remains of her body to the zombies to save his own skin. An oedipal child wants to touch his mother's breasts. He is only granted that wish after he is zombified. Then, he abuses this opportunity for ripping off his mother's breasts.

The special effects are not on the level of Romero's and Fulci's movies, but still work well enough.

All in all, not a great movie but recommended to friends of Italian low budget gore movies.

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972)

Not a horror movie at all!

[6/10 · 9 October 2001]

For me it is hard to believe that this movie can scare anybody. When I watched the movie, I was only surprised by the technical aspects of the movie. For a first time effort, the camera work is surprisingly good, and the outside locations convey a dark and threatening mood. This is complemented by the weird musical score which adds further entertainment. But, unfortunately, the script of CSPWDT is extremely meager and weak. More than one hour is dedicated to the theater group exchanging jokes with each other and teasing the dead. Some minor but unconvincing conflicts within the group are added to enliven the story. More interesting points would have been the necrophilic relationship of Alan and Orville or Anya's strange attraction to the dead, but these are spoiled by incompetent acting. The final zombie attack is very derivative of Romero's Night of the Living Dead and by no means a compensation for the rather tedious first 60 minutes.

Sam Raimi has proved with his "Evil Dead" that even beginners can produce a much more intense and skilled horror movie on the available resources. So, CSPWDT deserves an honorary mention as a rookie's effort, but that's it. By no means a classic, and it definitely never comes close to Romero's multilayered Night of the Living Dead, neither in style nor in content.

Night of the Skull (1974)

"Thoroughly average"

[5/10 · 2 October 2001]

The label "thoroughly average" is borrowed from the Aurum Horror Encyclopaedia and, for once, describes the movie very well.

That does not imply that the movie is without interest. There are nice decors and several interesting scenes, e.g., a man is buried alive with only his hands, which are tied to the back, sticking out of the ground like a cry for help or a women is tied to the rocks and left to the tides. Of course, the movie features also Franco's usual dilettantism such as badly focussed shots.

All in all, it is worth a try. No suspense or blood, though. So, watch it only if your are fully awake.

The already quoted horror encyclopaedia contains a plot summary which differs slightly from what I have seen. This could mean that, as so often, there exist several different versions of the movie.

Female Vampire (1973)

Diasppointing!

[5/10 · 1 October 2001]

Phil Hardy's Horror encyclopaedia calls "Les Avaleuses" one of Franco's better efforts which "outclasses ... Vampiros lesbos" and is filmed with "unusual care". Personnally, I cannot confirm any of these assertions. This movie is a rather mediocre product not developing its potential.

Certainly, it contains some nice shots, e.g., the half naked countess Irina wandering through the foggy forest (at least when she is not bumping into the camera) or the final "blood bath". There are also interesting plot elements, namely, Irina's misery, as reflected by herself, and her relationship to Baron Von Rathony, but they haven't been satisfactorily developed. Therefore, what remains is a shallow though strange porn movie. Whatever atmosphere Franco might have wished to create, it is ruined by the sloppy editing and camera work. In fact, the camera, when not out of focus, is helplessly zooming back and forth or meandering around to no avail. Needless to say that Franco didn't take the pain of removing the failed shots. In this light, an occasionally well composed frame appears to be the result of sheer luck. The editing, too, is amateurish. Transitions between scenes are sometimes so brutal that you remain puzzled with what has happened.

Well, do it like Don Sleazo himself, quickly forget about this movie and proceed to the next one!

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Messed up movie providing a glimpse into he future

[5/10 · 12 September 2001]

Being in some way the first of its kind, "Final Fantasy" might take a peculiar place in film history. The only domain in which it can score is, however, its technical merit. Although the digital actors in "Final Fantasy" are by no means a convincing replacement for real life actors and the whole movie in fact looks like a computer game, it is the state of the art and makes it clear that, as technique will progress, the complete digital illusion will soon be feasible and provide directors with complete freedom to realize even their wildest ideas - provided they have some.

Unfortunately, as was to be feared, the creators of "Final Fantasy" are intellectual low riders with not the slightest idea of what a credible, well-narrated story should be. Apart from the technical perfection, there isn't anything in the movie you haven't seen thousands of times in other movies or computer games. The story is extremely meager and just plain silly (shooting at ghosts, he?). It might have been sufficient to get a computer action game going, but as the basis of a full length feature film it is simply a bad joke.

The movie starts out as an interesting albeit routine adventure story with captivating visuals but step by step degenerates into a complete mess, until at the end there remains nothing but awful kitsch and just noise - both acoustic and optical. If this movie makes any impression on you, it will be a headache.

Well, the new techniques are there, awaiting somebody to make proper use of them. "Final Fantasy" definitely provided them with the worst possible start.

Sleepless (2001)

He's back!

[8/10 · 3 September 2001]

It has become apparent that Dario Argento has lost much of his inspiration in recent years. His experiments to find new content for his movies have failed. Now, he has returned to the genre he masters best, the "giallo". Argento works always in trilogies as he states himself. "No ho sonno" is his first entry to a trilogy of three "gialli" for Medusa films. The second entry will be "Occhiali Neri".

As Argento explains in an interview, the "giallo" has strict ruled to which he meticulously sticks in "Non ho sonno". This means in particular that "Non ho sonno" isn't very modern or innovative, one could even say that it is a little out of date. In fact, it seems that Argento, like inspector Moretti in the movie, continues to work "the old way". The movie is produced by his brother Claudio Argento, the score comes from the Goblin, just like in the good old days. In addition, if you are familiar with Argento's work, you will find many references to his previous work (e.g., attack by a puppet).

This said, "Non ho sonno" is a fairly good thriller not paling in comparison with his classics. Max von Sydow's performance is excellent, the rest is, say, as ever. The score of the "Goblin" is appropriate though not as marvelous as before.

Argento's style has changed a lot. In movies like "Deep Red", Argento created an ambience of its own, a little unreal, pieced together from various locations (in Rome, in the case of "Deep Red"). In "Non ho sonno", he works with the given realistic ambience of the city of Turin. The whole movie is indeed more in the American style. Argento's use of colour is more discreet than in former times, but this doesn't mean that artificial colours aren't present. They are just a little more hidden. Argento's use of the camera in "Non ho sonno", especially the subjective camera, is as excellent as in his best work. Moreover, in "Non ho sonno", Argento offers us some scenes, just his genius could have contrived, like the hilarious first 20 minutes, especially the scene in the train, or just shots of feet and a vacuum cleaner on a carpet. Another surprising fact is that "Non ho sonno" is quite gory, much more so than "Trauma" or "The Stendhal Syndrome", like he had to fill the gap caused by Fulci's death.

As a summary, don't expect much surprises in "Non ho sonno", but if you like Argento's work and are accustomed to his flaws, this movie won't let you down.

Hannibal (2001)

Disappointing!

[6/10 · 31 August 2001]

Being a gifted director, Ridley Scott delivers with "Hannibal" a technically perfect movie with extremely macabre scenes. Unfortunately, the movie is completely void of content. Scott has succeeded in making the character of Hannibal Lecter and his relationship with Clarice Starling totally incredible. The emptiness of the movie is filled with extremely violent scenes.

At least, this shows how ridiculous censorship has always been and always will be. Being a fan of Italian horror movies, my list of favourite movies in this genre is almost identical to the one of movies banned in Germany. Now, I am sitting in a movie theatre watching Anthony Hopkins performing surgery on an open brain and frying part of the brain in a pan, and this is now allowed, just because a big studio is behind it.

The Cell (2000)

Why so many different cuts?

[8/10 · 31 August 2001]

I do not want to go into a criticism of the movie which I think is - for a big budget movie - quite exceptional and daring.

I just wanted to remark that I am really fed up with the studios policies and the laws of different states which treat their viewers like children. In the database we find at least 4 different versions of the movie according to running time. But, of course, it is likely that there are much more different cuts.

The result is complete confusion and you can never be sure to talk about the same movie (unless you live in Argentina where the movie runs 115 minutes which sounds quite complete).

Later on DVD and Video, the studios try to rob us further by selling us a presumable director's cut (in Germany, there is already such a version around, running approx. 110 minutes).

It would be nice, if the studios would not only think of the cash they make with their movies but also think of their products as a work of art, even at the risk of an unfavourable rating, so that I as a viewer don't have to feel cheated and am taken seriously, not only as a resource of money.

The Mexican (2001)

So, so

[8/10 · 22 August 2001]

I must admit that I felt entertained by the movie, though after 90 or 100 minutes I started to feel slightly bored. Thinking a little about it, I must say that it is rather a bad than a good movie.

The movie apparantly tries to revive the style of the early Tarantino movies, but it is much weaker.

There are simply no intriguing plot twists, Jerry is just running after the gun until at some point you don't care anymore how the movie will end. How hard you try, you won't find out why all these people were after the gun, especially since most of them were working for Margoles. Most of the characters are pale and undistinguished. Only the Leroy-Winston character and his relation with Samantha was sufficiently absurd and of some interest, though also not highly original.

Probably the makers ripped off quite a lot of their jokes from other movies. Even the old Warner Looney Tunes were used, namely, Jerry waits at the apparantly empty crossing in the desert and when he finally decides to cross he is almost hit by a (skeleton of a) truck.

In the good old times, the truck would have run over him.

Crash (1996)

Sex with James Spader in a car wreck - can there be anything worse?

[6/10 · 17 August 2001]

"Crash" is probably David Cronenberg's worst movie to date. Cronenberg's merit is simply that he stays away from mainstream cinema and continues to make utterly bizarre movies.

"Crash" however is completely pointless, without tension or development of a climax. It centers around a group of people fascinated by car accidents and sex. Half of the movie deals with every possible couple in the group having sex with each other in the vicinity of car wreckage. The scene in which the company is sitting in front of the TV touching each others genitals (though dressed) is probably the most ridiculous scene Cronenberg has ever filmed. James Spader is annoying as usual.

The film is only saved by its dark atmosphere and Howard Shore's excellent-as-usual score.

Shivers (1975)

Night of the slimy sex-monsters

[6/10 · 17 August 2001]

Cronenberg's variation on the Zombie theme was his first full length feature film and for this it is surprisingly good.

From the technical point of view, it is very amateurish. The lighting and camera work are highly reminiscent of home made Super 8, and the sound is bad beyond belief.

Although the mindless creatures attacking anything that moves immediately recall the Zombies, Cronenberg's movie has some original ideas. In fact, watching German television these days, the subject of bored middle class diving into sex orgies (at least in their fantasy) seems more up to date than ever. Unlike Romero's Zombies, Cronenberg's creatures simply embark into endless sexual excesses, including minors. Indeed, one of the most scandalous scene shows two young girls on dog leashes, climbing up a stair and barking - unexcusable image!

The special effects in "Shivers" work very well and are more slimy, organic, and visceral than say Romero's, and give better testimony of the vulnerability of the human body. They set the tone for Cronenberg's use of gore in his subsequent films.

"Shivers" earned Cronenberg immediately the title of the "reigning king of shlock horror" - very appropriate.

Promenons-nous dans les bois (2000)

Deja vu

[6/10 · 13 August 2001]

Though this movie is way better than films like "Scream" or "I know what you did last summer", it is far from being convincing.

The strongest point of the movie is its photography. Some scenes are in fact nicely shot. I liked especially when the girl whose name I don't remember came out of the shower. Nevertheless, the photography is largely reminiscent of other horror classics such as "Evil Dead".

The story is non existent. Just the old teenagers-in-haunted-house stuff with characters disappearing in the most unsuitable moments (yawn!). The events are a little enhanced by the presence of Nicolas. The ending is a complete failure, especially in the way it is presented.

Hopefully, the makers will be given the opportunity to work on a good script next time. They seem to have the talent of making an atmospheric thriller or horror movie.

The Score (2001)

Just to see Marlon Brando

[8/10 · 13 August 2001]

Not being a fan of Robert de Niro, I went to watch "The Score" just because of Marlon Brando. I must say that he still is an impressive personality and his mere presence lifts the quality of the movie.

The rest is just an average though entertaining safe cracker story, far from being anything like inventive. Without its superb cast, it would probably pass completely unnoticed.