21st December 2012, 10:04 PM
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 | Cultist on the Rampage | | Join Date: May 2011 Location: Leeds, UK | |
CHOOSE - Pretty good thriller which takes aim from a kind of post-'Saw' angle. It mostly succeeds on its own terms, being well made and in places very atmospheric despite a sense of 'same old' kicking in around the halfway point. If it weighs in on the detective drama side of things at times, at least it carries a sinister and uncomfortable undertow beyond its derivative mid-way sag. Basically, a killer is doing the rounds and forcing some pretty heavy existential moves on his victims. The latter share connections to a juvenile facility where a disturbing and potentially abusive psychological 'therapy' rolled out. Will the sassy heroine uncover some dark truths about her own past? Not earth shattering, but certainly worth a watch.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK - Sinister pasts also haunt this turn of the century ghost story. It's well imagined, and builds a really strong atmosphere partly through the constant layering of decrepit period detail, although it falls down on the too obviously rendered jumps. Aside from the attempts at jump-scare which feature later in the film, there are some really disturbing scenes, not least the opener. Despite its setting, I thought it owed a lot to more contemporary Japanese supernatural horror. Good performances and production ensure this will linger in the memory for years to come.
RED TO KILL - Bonkers HK sleaze of really questionable taste. A social worker lands a job at a centre for learning disabled adolescents. There's a rapist "sex lupine" on the prowl in the same building. A schizophrenic concoction which veers moment to moment from tasteless schlock to cloying sentimentality to offensively misjudged humour to excruciating intensity. These variations in tone are partially levelled by the slick early nineties production, which in itself adds another level of bizarreness to the proceedings, with its stylised lighting and rock video cum 'Taboo' advert moments. The English subtitles are another matter. They're so strange they almost contain another film within themselves - "So, I've cut off your cock to go to make soup - this is the result!" A cod-Situationist back in the sixties would have a field day projecting these onto a blank screen with no visuals, which would be more entertaining than watching a screaming idiot girl slash her pubis with a razor in the aftermath of a brutal rape. Maybe a bad taste classic, although I waver at the 'classic' bit. Do I actually like watching this stuff? Apparently, yes.
Last edited by Frankie Teardrop; 21st December 2012 at 10:17 PM.
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