THE PURGE - I approached this with caution following some negative reviews, which tended to accuse the film of doing little with its central idea (ie every year, America suspends the legal process and all 'crime' goes unpunished) beyond laying on a standard home invasion scenario. There's some truth in this, but I thought 'The Purge' was very effective and enjoyable, providing suspense and a satisfying whack of violence in place of truly engaging social commentary (which it seems to want to attempt, but like may mainstream efforts, it hedges and bungles when it comes to the cards on the table). Maybe it's not a "Death Race 2000" type critique of American brutality - a broader canvas and steelier resolve would've helped - but as far as multiplex exploitation goes, you could do way worse.
RED LIGHTS - I liked it. Two parapsychologists tangle with psychic Robert De Niro and weird shit happens. There's a great atmosphere throughout, full of portents and ominous foreboding, and some ace dream-like sequences (a weird, threatening TV interview - scenes in psychic Bob's layer). A lot of people have maybe come away from the 'twist' at the end with a sense of 'erm... OK...', but, whether a bad decision or not, the last five minutes are probably the only way of making sense of the film without going a more obvious route. I say, give it a go.
HIDDEN IN THE WOODS - Chilean nasty which has two sisters and their deformed brother hiding out in, yep, some woods in an attempt to evade drug dealing gangsters. It's quite intense and oppressive, filmed in tight, close sequences, and moves along pretty quickly and gorily. Is it being remade in America or something? If so, I bet they handle some uncomfortable aspects (ie relationship between bad dad and his daughters) with slightly more 'tenderness'. If you're up for something sleazy and unremittingly brutal (which I imagine you possibly are), then 'Hidden In The Woods' delivers.
SATAN'S CHILDREN - Seventies exploitation from Florida. A disaffected teen leaves his arsehole family and ends up the unwelcome guest of a hippy-satanic commune (after being brutally raped and left for dead). It's really confusing. Some commentators have pointed to the fact it hosts blatant homophobia alongside obvious homoeroticism - whether the filmmaker was an arch-enigmatic or merely confused himself is probably up for grabs. For those interested in testing this strange riddle of a film, it does glow with that specifically seventies grindhouse aura of queasy, dream-like dread.
ONLY GOD FORGIVES - I loved it, what a triumph - easily contender for last year's best, and certainly IMO the pinnacle of the director's work so far. Yeah, maybe my 'aura of queasy, dream-like dread' line from the last review is better placed here. I liked the ways it pitches a really tranced out contemplative atmosphere against nail biting suspense and visceral kicks. It seems to be the tale of Gosling's oedipalisation and eventual castration at the hands of his symbolic Father, a despicable fascist copper. In fact, everyone in OGF is pretty despicable and almost completely unlikeable, so how it manages to ratchet up so much tension without all that much character identification is a mystery and a testament to Winding Refn's skills. I know it's been really divisive and everyone here has probably seen it and has an opinion on it already, but if not, watch it and get one.
ZOMBIE ASS: TOILET OF THE DEAD - From the heights of 'Only God Forgives' to the depths of 'Zombie Ass's shit pit is quite a journey, but maybe one worth talking about. Well, I just don't know how to take 'Zombie Ass' - it amazes me that films like this are made with commercial intent. Actually, maybe it's not such a bizarre thing - this kind of utter gross-out is only a step away from Troma, although feels much weirder in some ways. Basically, there are some stereotypical J-teens in a forest and there are tapeworms, shit covered zombies, graphic body function gags and endless lunacy. The 'whacky' humour didn't irritate me as much as it normally does because it was undercut by a sheer nastiness and noxiousness which was at least inventive, particularly in the latter half of the flick, when overtures are made towards mild tentacle porn (with excrement smeared tapeworms, nice). This is obviously an example of the kind of extreme Japanese horror which was in vogue five or ten years ago and was typified by the likes of 'The Machine Girl' and 'Tokyo Gore Police' and seems to have oozed along ever since, spewing out bewildering travesties like 'Helldriver' and 'Mutant Girl Squad', each one trying to outdo its forebears in terms of depravity, excess and weirdness. Somehow they often and up being closer to Peter Jackson than anything genuinely mind bending, but, for those into this slimy niche, 'Zombie Ass' is a lavatorial step further.
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