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In My Skin (2002) ★★★★ At a party, Esther notices a trail of blood behind her on the floor and realises she has somehow sustained serious injuries to the skin on her lower leg. Wanting to tell her best friend but not having the opportunity for a one-to-one conversation, she keeps the information to herself and only later seeks medical attention. Realising she is unusual in having inconsistent sensation in her skin, Esther begins to explore her body, firstly pulling the skin when in the bath and then, when bored at work, taking a sharp corner of a hinge to her leg. From there, she seemingly feels alienated from her own body, once (during a meal with her boss and a couple of business connections) observes her left arm as an entirely foreign object with which she has no connection, a connection she seeks to establish with an knife and then a fork under the restaurant table. Disturbing and compelling, this is a fascinating look at a woman's journey into self-mutilation, a bloody and dangerous method of feeling something in a mundane life of office work. Similar in some respects to Roman Polanski's Repulsion and David Cronenberg's Crash, this is a phenomenal achievement by writer/director/actor Marina de Van and a film which is both tough to watch and utterly gripping.
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Dark Was the Night (2014) Released in the UK in it's correct title and also back in 2014 as Monster Hunter, Dark Was the Night is an excellent beautifully paced, creature feature. Wisely keeping the creature off screen for the most part enables the film to ratchet up tension levels and allow for some excellent characterisation thanks to a nicely written script and great performances from Kevin Durand (Whom i last saw out gurning Nic Cage in last years fun Primal) and Lukas Haas as two local sheriffs trying to piece together disturbing happening as horses go missing, large footprints are seen in town, and bodies are discovered high up in trees in nearby woods. What is commendable for a movie of this ilk is how well written the secondary characters are, even the smaller roles are nicely rounded and three dimensional making you invest in them when Durand isn't on screen. Working the English folkloric myth of the Devil's Footprint's into the movie works in it's favour as the mystery deepens and atmosphere builds before we arrive at a climax in a Carpenter esq base under siege final twenty minutes when we do get to see the beast in all it's glory culminating in a quite surprising final shot which i didn't see coming. |
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mysteriousislandposter005.jpg MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961) Entertaining adventure based on a novel by Jules Verne and featuring Captain Nemo. Some more great stuff from Ray including a giant crab and giant bees. s-l1600 (2).jpg STRAW DOGS (1971) Great movie by Sam Peckinpah. The film is one of those that still sticks in the mind long after the movie has ended. The UK quad poster.. No one would allow that now! 20200719_152336.jpg |
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__________________ Last edited by Nosferatu@Cult Labs; 19th July 2020 at 03:22 PM. |
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