I caught this flick at Fantatsic Fest in Austin. The poster alone made me eager to see it. As most of you are aware it's a throwback to the satanic themed films of the late 70's and early 80's, and it pulls off the look and feel of those films excellently. Having grown up on those films I must say I was loving the tone and slow unsettling pace of the film, although I think most movie audiences of today would find it rather boring. Regardless, I loved what this film was building too, even though some of the performances, most notably Tom Noonan's, were a little stilted. But then the ending came along, and unfolded exactly as you would imagine it doing, with nary an original idea on screen. While I appreciate the director remaking a "lost" 80's film, I expected the end to be a little more unique and powerful. Instead it's a completely clichéd letdown after a long torturous build. Definitely avoidable.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Mandrill
(2008)
Painfully Campy
2 October 2009
I caught this film at Fantastic Film 2009, and was completely surprised by the kudos it got. While I'm all for a good fun ride of a film, this movie was at times so purposely campy & cheesy it was painful to watch. On top of that, the plot was paper thin, and the acting mediocre. The filmmakers stated during the Q&A that they whipped this film together so quickly they didn't have time to write a script - and it shows. The only thing making this film worthwhile to watch is the performance of the lead actor Marco Zaror. His martial arts skills are phenomenal, and under the supervision of a competent director he could become the next big action star. Should you run out and see this film? No. But is it worth a rental on a rainy day when nothing else good is available? Sure.
Sweet Karma
(2009)
Cool Little Film
2 October 2009
I caught this film at Fantastic Fest in Austin, during a sold out screening. Clearly the reason the screening was sold out is that the lead actress was in attendance, days after winning an award for Next Wave Best Actress, so everyone wanted to know what the fuss was about. I won't bother going into the details about the plot since it's covered here by others, but I gotta say this was a cool little film. It's a nice modern take on the old style 70's revenge film. It's got a great energy, an engaging story, some bad-ass, albeit low-rent kill scenes, and yes, the performance from the first-time lead actress is a knock-out. She owns the screen. From the reaction of the audience, and the fact that almost 3/4 of them stuck around for the Q&A, I'd safely say that most others would agree with me. A perfect film? No. But a solid, must-see piece of entertainment? You bet.
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