DARK TOUCH – Marina De Van's latest has attracted some not so great reviews, but this seems a bit unfair. If it doesn't scale the heights of 'In My Skin', 'Dark Touch' is still a creepy and at times intense exploration of a disturbing theme. It follows the difficulties faced by an orphaned girl in the aftermath of the massacre of her family, who, it turns out, were horrible abusers. Worryingly, the dynamics from which she escaped begin to surface in her new foster home... 'Dark Touch' is not pitching from a wholly social realist angle however. Telekinisis is the well worn device by which De Van probes her troubling scenario, so scenes where social workers interview and assess are followed by ones more reminiscent of eg. 'Carrie'. For me, this is the crux of 'Dark Touch's problems – it struggles to juggle the not particularly compatible registers of subdued art-house drama, standard B-movie horror, and imagery which is much more intense and redolent of the transgressions of her first feature. Weirdly though, I was torn between finding these discrepancies a bit grating and actually quite liking them. I mean, I love that king of thing in trashier movies, but here it seemed a little more awkward. Ultimately, 'Dark Touch' may have been better served by downplaying its genre elements or ramping up even further the kind of strange and disturbing imagery of (for example) its climax, but the film overall looks great and manages to convince despite some fragmentation. Interesting and affecting, and worth watching for sure.
THE MIAMI CONNECTION – Thanks to anyone who's mentioned this recently, you have inspired me to track down a reasonably priced copy of the recent Drafthouse refurbishment (which took ages as it seems quite scarce now). 'The Miami Connection' is amazing, and certainly the most fun I've had in the last two years – which is either a testament to the redemptive power of tae-kwon-do as delivered by the awfulness of grade z eighties action moves, or a measure of how sad I am these days. The plot, which is vaguely coherent, is about a martial arts aware synth-rock troupe 'Dragon Sound' and their feud with a narcotics gang and some ninjas. It truly is a joy to behold, a schizophrenic tumble through endless tonal shifts, excruciating performances, mad dialogue and bad mullets. The musical numbers are astounding, as is the manner in which 'Miami Connection' segues a heartbreaking / hilarious subplot involving a dude's search for his long lost father into a climactic ninja massacre. One thing I've noticed when reading a lot of 'Miami Connection's reviews is that many mention the sense of sincerity and warmth on display – the film's mastermind, Y.K Kim, was a Tae Kwon Do evangelist who seemed to really want to convey a message to society (possibly about world peace) through his entirely self-financed B-movie. That's interesting, because watching films from the ultra-bad club, which is where 'Miami Connection' most assuredly belongs, is often quite a cold experience – a possible travelling companion, 'Mad Foxes', is mesmerising but slimy and sometimes jarring for example – but this one doesn't have a nasty bone in its body. It genuinely is a feel-good movie! 'The Miami Connection' is essential viewing. There are plenty of awful movies out there, but how does a film manage to be so, so bad on virtually every level and yet still totally exhilarate? A question worth pondering.
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