This film works on so many levels - As a parody of 80's low budget horror/sci fi films complete with the theme music, as horror film with ridiculous gore, as comedy with funny characters and absurd scenes and characters, and as just a good grade z movie adventure that is great fun. So many cool details fill the screen - Burning videotapes for heat, the great Michael Ironside as the main villain, the crazy robot Apple, the nod to SOYLENT GREEN, their bikes, and the clothes they wear - A lot of leftover football jerseys!
BAIT
This tough taut thriller balances its two best parts ( 1.) Jonathan Slinger, perfectly written for, perfectly performed as the villain Jeremy - scary because he's controlled and knows when to explode 2.) The last 20 minute fight scene which is violent, bloody, absurd, and considering what we've just seen cathartic) with the big question the audience is forced to ask - Why didn't they go to the police sooner and if there weren't comfortable with the police in that town why didn't they go to another town's PD? I liked this film for its tough people speaking tough dialogue, shocking violence and for Slinger's performance but that question bothered me.
This tough taut thriller balances its two best parts ( 1.) Jonathan Slinger, perfectly written for, perfectly performed as the villain Jeremy - scary because he's controlled and knows when to explode 2.) The last 20 minute fight scene which is violent, bloody, absurd, and considering what we've just seen cathartic) with the big question the audience is forced to ask - Why didn't they go to the police sooner and if there weren't comfortable with the police in that town why didn't they go to another town's PD? I liked this film for its tough people speaking tough dialogue, shocking violence and for Slinger's performance but that question bothered me.
QUEEN OF EARTH
The end is open to interpretation but I find this story of two frenemeies whose roles reverse themselves to be Bergmanesque in its dissection of relationships. However, here the characters are not restrained or cold. It doesn't take much to get them giving vent to what irritates them and responding in kind to thinly veiled insults. The setting is one of the friend's parent's cabin. The other friend has recently lost her father to suicide and her boyfriend also left her. The year before the shoe was on the other foot. This brings to mind the films of Neil LaBute as well in the gritted teeth brutally honest exchanges. Almost a horror film at times, I put aside the weird parts that didn't click in favor of the personal exchanges between the two lead actresses. The ending is open to interpretation.
COP CAR
Spare simple thriller that further reinforces something I believe which is that Kevin Bacon with his weasely face, beady eyes, and tight frame makes a better villain than a hero. Two kids come across a police car in the woods with the keys inside and go for a joyride. Bacon, a corrupt murderous sheriff, comes back to find his car (with something incriminating in the trunk) gone. Short, punchy, and lean - Could have added in another ten or fifteen minutes of narrative to better explain events. I did like how the kids talked to each other - The pre-pubescent language of young boys felt totally real here. This is something movies often have a hard time with.
TALE OF TALES
Consisting of three Italian fables by writer Giambattista Basile with extraordinary visuals and epic storylines. It is an entertaining film with a children's story like feel to it(despite the adult scenes). Horror and fantasy elements are balanced throughout. I was left a little cold at the end. I'm not sure why perhaps it was among all the big fantastic effects, the director doesn't really connect to the characters. Still worth seeing though.
Z FOR ZACHARIAH
Ruining the plot of this very good YA novel about a female survivor of an apocalypse by adding a third male character and sex and a romantic triangle is inexcusable. The end result is dumb, illogical, and by cutting up the plot with new and unnecessary elements, they've made a complete mess out of this story.
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