Saturday, January 10, 2015

FOUR FILMS - THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE, PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH, & SUPERMARKETS, PRESERVATION, FEED THE GODS


THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE

First and foremost what worked for me with this exorcism related horror movie was the documentary format.  Much better than irritating found footage.  It’s a good framing device for a story that breaks no new ground but is suitably creepy enough to make me feel like looking over my shoulder when it was done.  The director made good choices in how much to show and what not to show.  The ending was predictable but I still liked it and it still hit hard.  A good horror film.

  
PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH, & SUPERMARKETS

Less a ”behind the music” documentary about Pulp and more about how music reflects where people live and what they go through – shared experiences. Something British music does a better job of having as a subject than American music IMO.  A fascinating cross section of fans and other everyday people expound on different Pulp topics and Pulp frontman/ founder Jarvis Cocker is his usual witty self.  Quite insightful on a sociological level about a band whose music I really enjoy.


PRESERVATION

When you are stuck with only three main characters (of whom at least one or more will die) in a horror film that is going to involve a chase, some degree of cat and mouse, the challenge of the director is to make the film interesting enough that you’ll stick around for the conversation and character development bits in between the action.  Mostly, that works in this tale of three campers menaced by people who hunt human beings for fun.  The female lead’s development into a vengeful killing machine was perhaps too quick but the rest of it was competent with effective scenes of fighting and violence.  Also liked the way they slipped in an anti-video game message into the proceedings.  Nothing new but a decent thriller.


FEED THE GODS

A textbook example of how not to make a decent movie.  Hardly anything happens.  A lot of the story occurs at night and the movie is not shot well so we can’t see anything.  Generally speaking there’s a lot of confusion and a low budget stops them from doing much.  The plot is something about two adopted brothers searching for their birth parents and a town that sacrifices people to Bigfoot who by the way looks like one of those masks people buy in K Mart for Halloween.  Don’t waste your time on this film.

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