SIX FILMS - TOKYO TRIBE, DIGGING UP THE MARROW, FRANKENSTEIN VS THE MUMMY, THROWBACK, ATROCITY, JULIA

TOKYO TRIBE

This film is so overdone, gloriously weird, and full of odd sets, costumes, and situations, that I liked it despite my dislike of rapping - Almost all of this film is rapped (in Japanese no less). This tale of fighting gangs in Tokyo (which consists of constructed sets mostly) has echoes of WEST SIDE STORY (in the overall look and mood) and THE WARRIORS (scenes where a gang has to travel trough enemy turf) but overall this film is highly original, entertaining and does not go overboard on either sex or gore. Every few seconds you are hit with some bizarre visual or character or plot development. Really good film all around. Maybe tied with COLD FISH as director Sion Sono's best film.

DIGGING UP THE MARROW

Another found footage/documentary hybrid directed by Adam Green of HATCHET fame and  centered around a theory that monsters (actually deformed humans) inhabit cities underground without human knowledge. A so so film - decent build-up and good premise but a very disappointing, deflated ending and also very obvious in places.   It's elevated by the presence of Ray Wise. Like Bruce Campbell and AJ Bowen, he is one of those actors whose heavy presence and superior acting chops raises the level of any film he is in and he is great here. 

  

FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE MUMMY

The makers of this film clearly love the old universal horror movies and the long build-up to the titular fight (which doesn’t occur until the last ten minutes) actually make sense.  However, neither monster looks that great especially the Frankenstein monster who smokes cigarettes and attempts to assault women.  I do appreciate the effort and the characters and dialogue are competent but the monsters are a bit of a letdown.  

THROWBACK

Energetic direction and a good script hide the fact that is a grade Z  horror movie with a limited plot.  It’s got enough scares and the pacing is handled well.  I also give them credit for not showing the Yowie (the Australian bigfoot) too closely as it is obviously a bad gorilla suit.  I’d like to see what this director could do with a better script and higher budget.

ATROCITY

Partly found footage, partly documentary that has one twist too many.  Could have been paced better but I did like how the filmmaker laid out the plot at the beginning and introduced the characters.   The ending could have been written so as to have more dramatic impact.

  

JULIA

With movies, you have to have an entrance point, a place where the audience connects with the movie.   I couldn’t find any point of interest or understanding in this tale of a rape victim joining a strange type of therapy.  It’s sort of a revenge for rape horror movie but much of it did not make any sense.  A stupid story told badly.

GREATFUL DEAD

Kumi Takiuchi, who plays the female lead in GREATFUL DEAD , has one of the most terrifying smiles I have ever seen.  It is bursting with enthusiasm, filled with joy, and deeply psychotic.  Takiuchi drives DEAD with her scary performance although it is not the only thing worthwhile about this film.

As good a portrayal of a psychopath as I’ve seen in  a long, long time, DEAD gives us a female character who was immoral and sociopathic from the beginning due to a combination of bad parenting and too much television.  Her older sister praises the ordinary while Takiuchi’s Nami who is independently wealthy due to an inheritance spends her days documenting lonely people whom she labels “solitarians”.  In order to be classified as such, the people in question must be completely alone in life.  Nami spies on them and documents their activities in a journal.

One such solitarian ,played by Takashi Sasano, is a has been celebrity who lives alone and has a quarrelsome relationship with his married son.  Nami is content to live in her own world and spy on him until he is befriended by a young female missionary.  At this point, Nami loses it and all hell breaks loose.

The violence in the second half of this film is a lot wilder than I expected after a more sedate first half.  There is a body count and Takiuchi is a genuinely scary presence.  There is a bit of a trick ending that brings to mind both REPULSION and the French thriller INSIDE in which we find out more about her inspiration.

One other thing I liked about this film is its direct criticism of consumerism.  As a kid, Nami ordered all kinds of products which was her way of dealing with family strife and lonliness.  This carries into her adult life in ways that are not fully revealed until the end.

A really unique film that is plenty terrifying as well as shocking and gory but also clever and well acted. 

THE OVERNIGHTERS

THE OVERNIGHTERS is gifted from the start with something that many great documentaries have at their disposal or at least stumble in on and that is an environment in a particular time frame that is just looking for its story to be told.

The setting here is North Dakota whose economy is suddenly booming due to fracking which increases the ability to drill for oil.  This resulting boom has created a migration from other states of those seeking work. THE OVERNIGHTERS deals with one small ND town Williston and the pastor of the local Lutheran church Jay Reinke as he attempts to give temporary shelter to those who don’t have a place to live either inside the church itself or in the church parking lot until finally he is tripped up by scandal and by the city using various mean (fire code violations for one) to shut him down. 

This is told through following Reinke around as he cajoles, lobbies, ministers, pleads, argues all towards keeping his charitable endeavours afloat.  We also meet some of the people who emigrated here and find out the reasons why and what their goals and aspirations are.  We get background information about the views of the Williston permanent community towards those they say are criminal vagabonds.

I was left with negative feelings towards the town people the same thing I feel towards towns in America that criminalize feeding the homeless.  I wrote about one such town in Florida and a very brave man named Arnold Abbott here http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2014/11/i-support-arnold-abbott.html  “There are but for the grace of God go I”

Underneath this modern day updating of the Grapes of Wrath (North Dakota is like California for the wretched people here) is a bigger story about income inequality in America and everything unfair about present day America is here from drug abuse to unfair sexual offender laws to even a little about racism and age discrimination.

Director Jesse Moss does something that only a seasoned documentarian knows how to do.  He takes this story and turns into a gripping tale, almost a thriller in that you are on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next.

My only complaint is the revelation about Pastor Rienke that comes in the last ten minutes.  It is dramatic and shocking but to me seems unrelated other than the pastor continually repeating “everyone is broken” and a few people he has fallen out with attacking him as “not honest”.  It detracts and distracts from the overall story – should be another movie, it’s a big enough topic.  Maybe only those who are aware of their imperfections can minister to the imperfect masses?

THE VOICES

This movie has so many moments of lunacy in it that it was impossible to dislike.

The story of a mentally ill man who hears voices most prominently his dog (playing the angel role) and his cat (playing the devil role) and commits murderous mayhem was comedic at times and a horror film at other times.   The juxtaposition between the humor and the darkness was awkward at time but overall it worked. Some aspects of the main character's mental state and decisions he made were left to the audience's judgment but there's nothing wrong with that IMO. 

Never cared for Ryan Reynolds, never took him seriously but I'll give him some credit for doing a film like this.

Filled with WTF moments especially that musical number at the end with Jesus - literally WTF.

An original and entertaining and crazy film that overall successfully spanned different genres and moods.