BYZANTIUM

Byzantium (15)

Director: Neil Jordan
Screenplay: Moira Buffini
Starring: Soairse Ronan, Gemma Arterton

Irresistable. Immoral. Immortal

Accomplished film director Neil Jordan has flitted in and out of the horror genre throughout his varied career. He started with the sublime and gory fairy-tale that was “The Company of Wolves” (1984). Then there was the oddly old-fashioned comedy spook story that was “High Spirits” (1988). Most of all though, there was his ambitious and successful take on Anne Rice’s novel “Interview with the Vampire”(1994), within which Tom Cruise proved everybody wrong (including Anne Rice!) and produced a credible performance as the iconic vampire  Lestat . Time has moved on, and he has now returned to the horror genre with “Byzantium”. The screenplay is based on a play/story from playwright Moira Buffini called “A Vampire Story”. Released in UK cinemas on May 31st, and due for release in the USA on June 28th, we take a look at the film.

“Byzantium” opens with Clara Webb (Gemma Arterton) giving a punter in a club, a comely lap-dance, before belting him in the face and stealing his money. Meanwhile, Eleanor Webb (Saoirse Ronan) has been writing her memoirs and (literally) throwing the pages into the wind. Having seen the secret pages, an old man has surmised her secret and asked her back to his home. There Eleanor draws his blood as per his wishes, and drinks from his wound until he dies. When she returns to the flat she shares with Clara, she finds the bloody aftermath of a battle between her and a stranger. They both realise that they must find a new home. It soon becomes apparent (if you haven’t guessed, or read the film synopsis anywhere), that these two women are vampires. Although posing as a 24 year old (Clara) and a 16 year old (Eleanor), and pretending to be sisters, they are in fact mother and daughter, and are hundreds of years old. These are not “Hammer”-type vampires though, which is neatly demonstrated when they sit watching “Dracula – Prince of Darkness”. Neither exhibiting super-strength nor an aversion to sunlight, their only real inhuman quality is to remain ageless and immortal. The fangs aren’t in evidence either, as they rely on talon-like protuberances from their fingers, to perforate skin and sup on the juices therein. As they reach a seaside town, the difference between Mother and Daughter becomes more obvious.

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Clara is obsessed with using her “talents” to prey on those that she deems to be deserving of death, and she’s not averse to using her sexuality to do so. Eleanor is more of a reclusive individual, tortured by keeping her secret; she only preys on those that actually “ask” for the release of death. After running into Noel (Daniel Mays), a troubled man who has just lost his Mother and owns a local run-down Hotel (well, it’s described as run-down, but it looks pretty lush to me!) called “Byzantium”. Clara is used to selling her body, and saving others from the clutches of degenerate pimps so they open a make-shift brothel. Eleanor meanwhile, falls in love with a sick (as in ill, not psycho) young student called Frank (Caleb Landry Jones from “Anti-Viral”), and tries to tell him her story. As we experience flashbacks to their past, we realise that the two women are not the only vampires, and they face a constant threat that has nearly caught up to them…

This is a gorgeous and sumptuous looking movie. The cinematography constantly juggles moody grey skylines and buildings, with blood-red colours and eye-catching orange set designs. This is none-more evident than the blood-waterfall that occurs intermittently in the story.  Many scenes really capture the beauty of the Irish landscape, and that strange, melancholic quality that English seaside towns seem to have (it’s Hastings, in case you were wondering…).

The performances are all uniformly good, but the film really belongs (and revolves around) to Saoirse Ronan. With her soulful electric-blue eyes, she manages that uncanny quality to appear young and vulnerable, and yet possessed of an older soul with unnatural wisdom. Gemma Arterton is good, but with her overbearing attitude, her cockney brogue, and her annoying habit for breaking into music-hall songs, you’d swear she’d be at home in the Queen Vic in BBC’s “Eastenders”! (I’m allowed to say that, as I’m a Cockney myself...). Incidentally, between the fruity language in this and “Hansel & Gretel”, I’m beginning to think that Arterton has Tourette’s syndrome or something...  Another cast member worthy of mention is (a completely unrecognisable) Jonny Lee Miller as a complete bastard who “introduces” Clara to prostitution. However the character of Frank (Jones) just seems far too drippy and needy to attract Eleanor. I’m afraid I tend agree with Clara who states he is; “Earnest, clueless, and about as sexy as a pair of shoes!”

There are some frustrating things about the movie though. For a start the origin of the vampirism is startlingly vague and surreal. Even though you see several people “turned” you won’t be none the wiser as to how/why it happens. Elements of the “condition” are annoyingly random as well. For instance, it’s hinted that vampires still have to be “invited” into a home to enter it, but not elaborated on. What happens if they don’t drink blood regularly? Why do they need a map for somewhere they’ve been before? The idea of a vampiric illuminati is intriguing and yet goes absolutely nowhere.  For me, the most annoying element was that, although these two women have lived for at least 200 years, why do they still act as though they’ve only been this way for a few years? Eleanor even says that her attitude is influence by her 16 years in an orphanage. 16 years out of 200? And she’s still acting like a bit of a stroppy teenager? And her Mum still speaks like a cockney strumpet? Doesn’t ring true. The speech is over-flowery as well, in the type of stage-speak that nobody uses in real-life. “Kiss me and celebrate my wickedness” says Clara to a bemused fairground pimp.

Overall, the film is more about style than substance. The plot revolves more around the opposing values and relationships of the mother and daughter than the vampire element. Some may find the pace of the story a little too languid and slow-moving to be really involving. There are moments of brutal violence (including some graphic decapitations), but for me the movie only really hit the perfect stride during the flash-backs to Clara’s origins, and the climatic scenes between the duo and … well … some other like-minded individuals.

Your enjoyment of the film will depend on what you expect to get from it. Some genre fans will find themselves looking at their watches, but others may be caught up in the style and beauty of the film. In my humble opinion, it is a worthy film, but there was so much more that could have been done with the genre side, without impacting upon the human story. But at the very least it does prove that “Twilight” hasn’t irreversibly destroyed the vamp and they don’t have to bloody sparkle to make an impact!

Lovely cinematography and a great central performance from the ever- excellent Saoirse Ronan bolster the storyline. It’s slightly too ponderous for its own good though and it only really comes alive in the flashbacks and climatic scenes. Worth seeing, but don’t expect a thrill-ride or an exciting new concept for vampire-films.

THE PURGE

The Purge (15)

Director: James De Monaco
Screenplay: James De Monaco
Starring: Selma Blair, James D'Arcy

How far would you go to be perfect?

It seems that Ethan Hawke got a taste for genre films after“Daybreakers” (2009) and the highly successful “Insidious”(2012). He’s back again for this science-fiction psycho-thriller.This time he’s got genre vet Lena Headey (“Dredd”, “Game of Thrones”, etc.) as company. Written and directed by James DeMonaco,whose only previous film as director was a New York crime film called“Staten Island” (2009), which also starred Ethan Hawke. Basedaround a high-concept future version of the USA, the movie has just been released in the UK on May 31st,and is due shortly afterwards in America (where it might just ruffle a few more feathers than it will here...)

The film is set in 2022 in the USA. But this isn’t the same good ol’ America that we know at the moment. At some time between now and then, there seems to have been some kind of governmental and religious overthrow, and the country has been announced as being“reborn” with stark new rules in place to reduce the unemployment and crime levels, as well as creating prosperity. As the popular Internet meme has it … well, that escalated quickly! The main lynch-pin for this reform is an annual event known as “The Purge”.This is a 12 hour amnesty on crime itself. Anybody can commit acrime, including murder, without fear of prosecution or intervention by the emergency services from 7pm on June 7thto 7am on June 8th.To get through the night, the rich obtain state-of-the-art security systems and hunker down to watch live coverage … or they join in“the hunt”. The poor … well, let’s just say they get the burnt end of life’s pizza. The plot centres on one upper class and successful family called the Sandins. James (Hawke) is the father and making a bundle out of (you’ve guessed it) selling security systems. Mum Mary (Headey), Daughter Zoey (played by Adelaide Kane)and son Charlie (played by Max Burkholder) make up the rest of the family. Safe in a gated community, they “lock-up” for the night,and only Charlie seems upset by the forthcoming events, with the rest pre-occupied by their own problems. Of course this comes to bear later on, when a homeless man barrels down their street begging for help. Charlie impulsively lets him in, and sets in motion a set of incidents that will rock the safe little world of the Sandins, as they realise what the world is truly like now…

It’s a great concept for a film, but it is inherently daft, and it gets dafter the more you think of it. Would a mere 12 hour annual event really have the impact that is suggested here, with unemployment down to 1%, a flourishing economy, and a total lack of crime. Of course it’s really an excuse to hammer home that a “survival of the fittest” environment would lead to the impoverished and destitute being picked off, by those with the cash to buy sufficient weapons and the fortitude to use them, In reality it would probably be the tooled up psychos and survivalists that would wipe out whole neighbourhoods, whatever their financial state was. And would such a majority of a country allow it to happen? Mind you, with the current attitudes towards gun control … Nope! Not going there! Anyway, how the hell would they deal with home insurance claims?

Suffice to say, it is an intriguing basis for a film, even if it doesn’t bear real scrutiny. The trouble is that, despite this being a nationwide event, we experience the whole night from within the house of the Sandins. The whole premise is really just a set-up for a home invasion scenario. As a group of creepy masked individuals congregate outside their residence, the Sandins discover that they REALLY want the homeless guy and they have to make a moral choice between sending him out to certain death, or becoming victims of the purge themselves.

Because of this (and an unfortunate incident with Zoey’s boyfriend) there’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in the house, with moral decisions (for which the kid’s seem miles better suited to than the adults!), and some really tedious searching for the homeless guy and family members themselves. Seriously, I lost count of the number of times that the parents lost track of the kids and frantically shouted “Where’s Zoey/Charlie/Zoey & Charlie”. Put ‘em on a leash guys!

Therewere a couple of other things that irked me. Would you really be ok with your boyfriend breaking into your house, and moodily insisting on seeing your father, on the VERY night that murder is legal?HELLO!? *raps knuckles on daughter’s head*. Towards the end, there is also the cheesiest (and most inappropriate) use EVER, for a wrist heart-monitor.

Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey are very fine actors, but here they’re saddled with making some very dislikeable people into protagonists that you can root for. Admittedly, they do pull it off with some very cool moments towards the later parts of the film. Making a better overall impression is the un-named “polite stranger” who leads the gang invading the house. Played with a huge shit-eating grin, and a bucket-full of well-mannered menace, by Rhys Wakefield, he makes a fine villain. Just watch how he deals with a friend who interrupts his monologue at one point!
But even so, with all my previous negative comments, why did I still give it a 3-star rating? Well once the morale decisions are out of the way, and the strangers make good on their threats, there are some wonderfully tight fight scenes, and some real suspense. Hawke and Headey get their real chance to shine and strut their action/acting muscles. A couple of moments actually had the audience I saw it with,clapping and cheering. Towards the end, the plot takes some turns which are extremely satisfying, if not really unexpected. There’s also an eye-watering scene with an open wound and a letter opener.*ouch*.

At the end of the day it's a tight little film, but the“high-concept” and Science-Fiction components really add very little to the movie, and don’t necessarily raise it above other existing “home-invasion” flicks.
I just hope it doesn’t give anyone currently in US government any ideas… What did happen to Sarah Palin?

Starts as a promising sci-fi/horror concept and devolves into a singular home-invasion flick. Some good n’ punchy scenes towards the end provide some fine redemption, but the capable leads and intriguing core ideas are wasted. A good time-waster, but it could have, and should have, been so much more.

THE HAUNTING OF WHALEY HOUSE

The Haunting of Whaley House (18)

Director: Jose Prendes
Screenplay: Jose Prendes
Starring: Alex Arleo, Arielle Brachfeld

Just because you don't believe in ghosts, doesn't mean they don't believe in you!

There is nothing so stomach-churning and horror-inducing as looking at the box of a DVD, and discovering that it’s been … *gulp* … produced and/or distributed by “The Asylum”! These guys single-handily invented and introduced the “mock-buster” genre to the world with such films as “Snakes on a train”(2006), “Paranormal Entity” (2009), and “30,000 Leagues under the Sea”(2007). You didn’t need a master’s degree in cinema history to know who these films were aping! Along with that, they also created the pinnacle of high-concept/low-budget guilty pleasures such as the monumental “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus” (2009), “2-Headed Shark Attack” (2012), and the forthcoming bound-to-be-epic “Sharknado” (Tag Line: “Enough said!”). These are the films that prop up the film schedules for the SyFy channel and provide surprises for the unwary on DVD shelves. Apart from a serious shark fetish, the studio has also been responsible for distributing occasional critical successes like Stuart Gordon’s “King of the Ants” (2003). “The Haunting of Whaley House” is the latest Asylum studios film to be released on UK DVD. Directed and written by Jose Prendes, this film is based around a real location (more on that later) and several true experiences … albeit in the loosest possible sense.

Seemingly starting with some rejects from a Nickelodeon kid’s series, performing some anti-social behaviour outside the aforementioned property. Queue a silhouetted spook, and the umpteenth outing for the old “Final-Destination” chestnut of a truck appearing from nowhere and squelching a character. (Note to filmmakers: Please stop using this gag in genre films. It was jarring and effective in the first F-D film, but is just boring and over-used now!). Following this the opening credits roll, complete with “Danse Macabre” by Saint-Saens playing over the top, culture lovers! We then meet Penny Abbott (Stephanie Greco), who is the teenage tour guide to the Whaley House, showing visitors all the haunted “hot-spots”. When she leaves on this particular day, the owner of the house reminds her of the primary rules; don’t call out the Ghosts, don’t damage the house in any way, and NEVER go inside after nightfall. Penny meets up with her four friends and all those rules are broken in precisely three Nano-seconds! They’re also joined by a ghost-hunting buddy and his psychic acquaintance Keith Drummond (Howard McNair – just awful, but he does a lot of charity work, so I’ll be nice). They all fancy a bit of amateur Ghost-Busting, and it’s not long before the old Ouija shenanigans start. Of course, it all starts to go awry. Some deaths inside and outside the house apparently super-charge the resident spirits in the house. They take an apparent interest in Penny and members of the group start to drop like flies…

I had my fingers crossed that this might be a cut above the usual “Asylum” fare, and in some ways it is, but just not enough ways. For a start the script judders from some inspired lines (such as “What’s up with Seal?”, when the British psychic is taken ill) to a smorgasbord of clunkers. “This house is as haunted as fuck!” is used three times in the movie, and “I’ve had it with this shit Man!” is used five! Couple this with nonsensical lines such as “Just because you don’t believe in Ghosts, it doesn’t mean that they don’t believe in you”. I mean, seriously, what does that even mean? The line “This is a terrible way to spend a Saturday night” doesn’t help matters either… I must give plus points though, for the reference to Fulci and Argento in an argument between two characters.

With the exception of Stephanie Greco and Arielle Brachfeld (who plays Vanessa and has a couple of effective scenes towards the end), the performances are a bit duff. In particular, and I don’t like picking on a fellow Brit, Howard Mcnair creeps around the house being cryptic and spouting guff about “the vortex” and suchlike. Tiptoeing after spooks, saying “I know you’re here sweetie”, he is an awfully English character and an englishly awful actor.

The main spooks themselves are generic chalk-faced old codgers, who make sudden appearances via jump-cuts and camera angles. There is some variety introduced when “Santiago” is introduced. An old villain and the victim of a botched execution, his ghost is skeletal and slimy, but then he is just a re-run of “Tar-man” from “Return of the Living Dead”. He even walks the same! Much better is the possession sequence, with nods to “The Evil Dead”; this is a genuinely effective sequence with good make-up and acting. Pity nothing else really matches up to it…

In some respects, getting back to the analogy of Nickelodeon, it does feel like a kid’s ghost story, with extra added profanities and gore. There is a fair amount of blood splattered about, with an especially ripe arm-mangling and decapitation at the climax. Some of the gore scenes are ludicrous though. Would walking into a water pump really result in bloody impalement? I think not…

As mentioned previously, and I didn’t know this until I searched on the net (sorry for my ignorance, US readers…), but Whaley House is a genuine building and widely recognised in some areas as “the most haunted house in America” (according to “Life” magazine). Oddly enough the history and ghosts used in this film are all true to the history of the place (even if it was filmed at a different location). Of course the plot and the non-Whaley characters in the movie are absolute nonsense. For UK comparison, imagine if a Brit film was made about the Tower of London, with teens breaking into the bloody tower. The ghost of Henry VIII would be goosing all the ladies, and the ghost of Anne Boleyn would be attempting to lop off the heads of all and sundry. Just saying…

In retrospect, it’s nice seeing Asylum try something different like this, but future efforts would need more polish on the script and more originality around the concept.

DVD Extras: Trailer & a 10 minute making-of documentary.

 

It’s pretty awful and derivative. It does have a few redeeming scenes involving possession and gore, and the odd inspired line, but its best viewed with a belly-full of alcohol and a head-full of irony. File under “guilty pleasure for those easily pleased”…

IN THEIR SKIN

In Their Skin (15)

Director: Jeremy Power Regimbal
Screenplay: Joshua Close, Justin Tyler Close
Starring: Selma Blair, James D'Arcy

How far would you go to be perfect?

Suburban horror and “home-invasion” movies seem to be a popular flavour within the genre at the moment. There have been recent notable films such as the nihilistic “The Strangers” (2008), and the UK hoodie-horror of “Cherry Tree Lane” (2010). The benchmark is probably both of the versions of Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games” (1997 / 2007). It’s a subject that seems to be constantly re-invigorating itself with the much-anticipated “You’re Next” (2013) due for release shortly. More than many sub-genres, there’s something instinctively disturbing about innocent families, secure within their own properties, either being terrorised by violent intruders or betrayed by those they take into their homes. It’s the element of randomness that surround the crimes, the feeling of never being totally protected from the world’s evils, and the feeling that it’s entirely plausible that it could happen to you … we’ve all seen the news headlines. Shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and released in the USA in late 2012, “In Their Skin” is a new addition to this sub-genre. Directed by Jeremy Power Regimbal, and starring Selma Blair and James D’Arcy, it is now available on UK (region 2) DVD.

The film opens with a car pursuing a half-dressed (and seemingly injured) man across a bridge, culminating with a figure leaving the car and apparently killing him. The narrative then switches to the Hughes family, driving to their secluded backwoods residence.  Mary (Selma Blair), Mark (Josh Close), and their son (Brendan) are also withdrawing from their city home to escape the grief of losing their daughter in a car accident. Understandably, the parents are united in grief, but seemingly divided in other ways. Mary particularly is withdrawn and seems over-protective of Brendan. As they settle into their luxury cottage, they are spooked by a mystery car driving past, and then awoken in the morning by a family of strangers. Bizarrely replenishing their firewood at 5am (!), they introduce themselves as the Sakowskis and consist of parents Bobby (James D’Arcy) and Jane (Rachel Miner), as well as (way-too-big-for-his-age) Jared (Alex Ferris). From that point onwards the Sakowskis try to ingratiate themselves into the home of the Hughes. Unwisely perhaps, Mark invites them for an evening meal. During the meal, Bobby makes reference to a previous family living in the area, and constantly quizzes Mark on his lifestyle and relations. Freaked out enough, a violent altercation between the boys is the last straw, and the Hughes throw them out. But that’s only the beginning of their troubles and a long night awaits them …

This is a cold film and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. The story is set at the end of winter, the colours (the brightest of which is probably dull orange) are muted throughout the film, and the relationships between all the leading players are frosty to say the least. In terms of content and style, this movie is probably closest to “Funny Games”, a film I’ll admit I’m not particularly fond of. However, it does differ in a number of certain ways, and is a good genre film in its own right.
There’s not a lot of the “red stuff” or huge amounts of violence in the film, but what it does do to an exemplary manner is suspense and tension. Although obviously slightly “off”, it’s halfway through the film before the Sakowskis get overtly confrontational. Up until then, the film crackles with understated menace. James D’Arcy in particular gives a storming performance as “Bob”. Part Joe Pesci (he even says “do you find it funny” and takes umbrage to being called “crazy”) and part Jack Nicholson, he constantly simmers with indignation and rage over perceived slights, even when he’s turning on the charm. When he does let rip, you can pretty much believe that he’ll do anything to achieve his goal.

The reason for the Hughes being targeted (*slight spoiler* - It’s not really a random attack), and the true nature of Bob’s “family” account for some of the best parts of the film. It’s especially skin-crawling to see Jane attempt to mimic Mary’s actions and posture at particular points in the film. This is further amplified when “Bob” starts to “mix” their names up and visually changes himself. In some respects the whole film could be seen as rumination on the American family culture; what separates the classes, the unfairness of poverty gaps, and what the nature of a perfect family actually is. Nonetheless the threatened sexual violence towards Mary and the very real threat of death to Brendan makes for some tension-filled scenes.
It must be said though, that despite the “art-house” sheen and cinematography, and the effective performances, there isn’t anything here that’s massively original or different to like-minded films. Yes, the Sakowskis DO have a motive for their actions, but their back-story is never really elaborated on, bar some single-line synopses. Also, there are several dark secrets hinted at for the Hughes but that is never really filled out either. And sometimes plausibility is a little stretched, after all if your child was threatened with a knife, wouldn’t you call the police straight away or high-tail it outta there? In one strange moment as well, Mary reminisces about her first meeting with Mark, that occurs at such an inappropriate time it reminded me of Phoebe Cate’s and her Santa Claus story in “Gremlins”!

As a whole though, this is a good effective film worthy of your time. I’m not aware of a theatrical release in the UK, which seems a shame.  All the cast give good performances alongside D’Arcy, especially Alex Ferris, who plays such an evil little git, that you’d happily slam him with a crowbar, let alone an ASBO!  And I have to admit that Jeremy Power Regimbal does a very good job of tightening the tension with the climatic scenes.

If nothing else, this is a timely reminder to kids, as to why you should NEVER rub someone’s face in it, when you beat them at “Call of Duty”!

DVD Extras: Skin-less. No extras.

 

A very effective twist on the “home-invasion” sub-genre. With moments of high tension and suspense, coupled with a killer performance from James D’Arcy, this is well worth viewing.