15th October 2016, 12:06 PM
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 | Cultist on the Rampage | | Join Date: May 2011 Location: Leeds, UK | |
DANGEROUS MEN – Takes us into a realm of cinema where sheer badness gives way to total madness, and, in this case, extreme radness. Note that the last sentence only works because the director is / was known by the name of John Rad... what I'm trying to say, dewd, is that 'Dangerous Men' is really quite far from most people's idea of 'rad' and much closer to their sense of 'a film so incoherent even Godfrey Ho would piss on it'. That still makes it great in my book. Can I even summarise what it's about? Some cop guy is killed on a beach by two hoods, leaving his bereft gf with a lust for vengeance against all sleazy men. So for about an hour it plays out as a wonkily put together revenge flick which looks like it was shot in different time zones (because it was, some sequences were filmed decades apart with very detectable effects on the ageing players etc). Then it changes, and becomes some confused search for a villain who looks like a WWE reject. It all ends on a perfectly underwhelming note. 'Dangerous Men', it has to be said, is paraquat for the mind, and you will emerge from a viewing either with white light shining in your eyes or drooling and clutching a rag doll. If you were to watch a triple bill including it and its nearest blood relatives, 'Samurai Cop' and 'The Miami Connection', well I don't know what would happen but you might never be the same again. Then again, you might just feel you've watched a bunch of really badly made late eighties action flicks. If the thought of the latter turns you on, then get it now.
THE WITCH – Kind of the antithesis of the film I've just written about, 'The Witch' is a really well made, pitch perfect excursion into minds beleaguered by grief, loss and maybe the supernatural. You probably all know that it's about a family who, in exile from their New England community, take refuge in a forest in the belief that it will sustain them in isolation. Various tragedies happen, mostly befalling the kids, and the family increasingly come to believe that witchcraft is being used against them. Quite a lot of the reviews focussed on the “is this supernatural stuff really happening, or is it all psychological” aspect of 'The Witch', but in a way this is its least interesting side. What it does well is really build a sense of foreboding and sustain an ominous feeling throughout. Visually it's great, and achingly Autumnal in look and atmosphere, its imagery really piling on the sense of a morbid change in the season of the heart. Woah, that last bit was pretentious even for me. Don't get too flowery Frankie, remember Chris Finch is in there. I will say this about 'The Witch' – it's a film that needs to be watched carefully, and those expecting a pay-off every few minutes or so might be disappointed. It's slow, rewards patience, and some of it didn't really grab me even though I could see the quality, if you know what I mean. There are subtleties and little clues as to what's going on that that demand attention and immersion, so it's not really a 'just in from the pub' kind of flick. What it is is a highly atmospheric journey into the heart of the woods, where you might just find witches cavorting in the sky. Very good film which I recommend that you check out if you haven't already.
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people seem to concentrate on the puberty metaphors rather than the brilliance of the supernatural themes.
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