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Berberian Sound Studio (2012)
You could write a better script on the ground, drunk, on an ink-dipped pogo stick
I never agree with Roger Ebert on film verdicts. Perhaps I will this time, I'll check afterwards. From a writing perspective, this taught me things about making a horror movie. It taught me of the importance of defining the environment. And delimiting the involvement of the characters. I wasnt expecting Italian dialogue, and admittedly didnt have subtitles for the other characters. Whether thats intentional or not, I dont know.
What I do know is, things must *develop* to make a story. There is no explanation - most annoying of all no reaction - for when the lead character finds himself in an unexpected place. Without being too specific for those misguided enough to want to watch it... there is no explanation or resolution to almost anything that happens in this film. Not to through-window shots, door knocking, mum's letters, voice actor 'plotlines', character relationships, complaints about the lack of reimbursement, the lead character's later dubbing into Italian, bloody anything!! Nothing has a resolution, and every scene is incredibly slow.
It is also far too long. I kept watching because I thought 'no film can be this meaningless, there must be a massive twist or reveal at the end. There wasnt - and the end was as indecisive as every other sequence. The only scary parts were with a spider. They basically filmed a spider for scares. The rest is the same entirely surface scare formula - and a recording studio is perhaps the least scary place to watch people scream for a movie - as theyre doing it to create a film.
Toby Jones is clearly a good actor, and can play reactions at several levels of subtlety, and its fleetingly interesting to see how sound effects are made. Otherwise, terrible. The 'multicultural' British pretentiousness school that has created so much horrible dreary rubbish.
Is it that type of ridiculously badly-written nonsense that film critics choose to 'reinterpret' as a subtle, nuanced relationship-atmosphere interplay with beautiful cinematography? Almost certainly, judging by any ratings above a 3/10. Which is really, really stretching it. Berbarian Sound Studio wills the viewer to do some editing of their own - turning the damned thing off is strongly yearned for after what feels like two and a half hours, when in fact it is only less than one.
Of all attributes to a film, i find Pretentiousness to be one of the most common in terrible movies.
30 Days of Night (2007)
Fairly decent isolation-horror that makes you appreciate a nice warm cup of tea
Niles and Beattie certainly aren't top writers, having between them written some misandric trash extending to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. But Niles' involvement in 28 Days Later: Aftermath seems to have drawn the good from it - the 'covering open spaces to get to stronghold sans vampire death' theme is welcome here.
The film is largely based on a family-run sherrifs office, taking the deputy or sherrif's day responding to cases as the way to present the growing number of perculiar happenings in the leadup to the onslaught. The number of suspects could have broadened after rather than before meeting one of them, but theres still enough mystery there all the same. I also like that such rare places do nonetheless exist on this planet, and it's nice to ponder how they live for an hour or two.
One thing I really like is the vulnerability of the sherrif, inasmuch as he doesnt try to pretend that hes any less in the dark than the villagers are. And the dark is the pretext here - 'meat' and darkness soon make for a disaster where surprisingly few survivors are scampering about between corners of the same unforgiving confines.
I dont think romantic plotlines are neccessary in any story, least of all horror, and that slows the warmup somewhat, but there is always a new development, and its a fairly enjoyable watch. The most heroic moment is actually from a character who is a relative outcast from the rest, and that is the warmest feeling one gets in this movie - that an outcast can be as worthy as anyone.
I am a bit at a loss though how two main characters at the start of the film disappear by the end of it - the sherrif/deputy colleague of the protagonist, and a careless driver who - I think - appears only then. The other thing I'm not crazy on is the movie trope of the repeatedly-happy-looking-scream from one of the female killers, which gets a bit repetitive.
Like Blood Glacier, its perfectly watchable, entertaining, set in snow, dogs sadly die, and its a decent average thrill if youre working through a list of horror films.
Blutgletscher (2013)
It's a fairly good horror film, nothing more, nothing less
This is a fun horror, which has found a simple scenario (combining different rabid creatures that grow inside the victim) that allows the threat of the story to appear and mutate freely. The lead role is driven excellently and believably by Gerhard Liebmann, a heroic character set somewhat apart from his biologist visitors. It is mostly well-paced (unlike many here I have a mental age that developed before the Marvel franchise), suspenseful, and has just enough brooding tension between the characters to keep the plot occupied.
The special effects are organic and generally excellent. The cinematography seems to me to be decent as well, and the setting is the Austrian mountain range.
The only real slip-up is the strange timing that the Liebmann character's love interest makes in delivering heavy news after a sad loss. And perhaps at the end where she decides to take something with them that should definitely be left there. Otherwise the film is fun and the minister who arrives is a strong character too. The acting is good almost all round.
There seem to be some pretentious, Ebert-disciple types here who think that monster horror films are sophisticated enough to be judged by their subtlety and the cohesion of character nuances with political messages, but theyre not - this film has scary creatures, good acting, suspicion and a decent pace, in an isolated setting where the helplessness of the characters is well-expressed. Its a 5.9 out of 10 for me, and while the dubbing was noticably not very well matched with the original speech, that was fairly easy to overlook, for a film that, ultimately, is a mutant-horror, not a treatise on how to consolidate the The Matrix's and Fight Club's Anarcho-primitivism for a political solution to the struggle for autonomy. Save your battles!
Circle (2015)
Intelligent premise of human sadism, but regresses to emotion - still tense, well-paced and very absorbing, I love horrors that are named after shapes!
The most interesting stories for me are based on scenarios that reflect our lives in this absurd society, and the all too overrated human nature we are programmed with.
In a century of ignorance, denial, mass brainwashing and baseless optimism, it is all the more refreshing for humans to be presented as almost as ugly as they actually are. This film achieves that, and posits questions of the viewer, who is welcomed by the writers to 'think' like these characters. One is drawn into making perverse judgements, which all but one of the later survivors does, becoming more and more desensitized to each death - though against the clock their reactions must also be economised.
Game theory may form the inspiration for this plot. I was expecting there to be a twist at the end revealing how the sole survivor picked the correct play in the correct Nash game, though the film stays with the more visceral emotional behaviour for the most part.
This film was always going to score highly with me as it deals with the ugly and flawed human condition - its gang tendencies, outsider persecution, zero sum sadism, job-as-life- value bigotry, and a few of what Wikipedia lists as human biases (important list that all should have to study at school, search for 'list of human biases' or 'heuristics' or similar.
Due to the need for the audience to follow, the development isn't quite how it would actually go - there is a charming notion that people would try to work together in such a situation, when many would try to work it out for themselves and keep their 'strategy' secret.
Due to the lack of realism in the gang's decisions, which could have addressed some very real current tendencies such as feminazism or misandry, Circle isn't going to score a 10 or 9. What would actually happen here is that people would vote on their prejudices - namely, 'women and children first' and 'kill the younger males' - which would leave the group with just the people you see on all mass media and corporate materials - white female, black female, Asian female, black male, pensionist - and so the long-haired caucasian man with a beard would be the first to be killed by the others - due to societies prejudices. But the ambiguity and lack of these schemas does render Circle unpredictable and with a tense, organic, fresh-reset feel throughout.
Like human nature, the scenario is deliciously sick, and sadistically ironic. The turning point of the film, for example, is when one of the characters announces how to play. And the time limit. Instead they could have refused to play the murderers game and thus buy themselves more time - but all bar one - the smartest, who neither speaks nor votes - overlook this.
The ending is ambiguous. The survivor, with his words during the game overdubbed as he gathers himself - joins a new group of people. Is he going to play again? What would that make him?
Though there are missed opportunities - a review with Game Theory would give it a 9/10, and a review and lesson on the sickness and sadism of human nature or modern feminazi prejudices would give it a 10 - the writers make all these opportunities themselves. They have taken many of them too, and it just goes to show how dialogue, not visuals, are more important for an engaging plot. The acting is also pretty phenomenal, and rarely have I been compelled to want a character to die more than the banker! It does draw you in. Three of my favourite horror/psych thriller films are now named after shapes! Triangle, the Cube, and Circle. Definitely recommended.
Note: also recommended in the non-horror genre: The Invention of Lying, due to its wonderful twist on human nature, with a very positive, 'feel-good' vibe and very intelligent writing.