WARNING: There's some discussion of the subject matter of M.F.A. below. It isn't particularly explicit but if you feel it's going to upset you then I wholeheartedly support your decision not to read on.
TAG
Schoolgirl Mitsuko is on a coach trip with her classmates when something very strange (not to mention very gory) happens, leaving her to escape to another area where she finds another school and a totally different set of classmates, all of whom know who she is. So what's going on? Something that I would never be able to sum up in a paragraph, that's what.
As far as Japanese horror goes I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan but Tag was a unexpected delight, constantly re-inventing itself in a series of increasingly batshit insane sequences. If you're not willing to go with it, I can see how it would be a frustrating experience. However, I'm here to tell you that Tag is worth sticking with, primarily because it's terrifically inventive and entertaining but also because it achieves two particular objectives which other J-Horrors don't or (as is probably more common) won't.
One - it actually explains what the hell's going on. Not only that, the explanation is canny and taps into a specific cultural phenomenon. Yes, for 70 minutes you're probably going to sit there with a bewildered look on your face but Tag eventually lets you in on why all of the crazy stuff's been happening.
Two - it ends. It doesn't stop dead just as something apocalyptic is about to happen, it doesn't reveal that the movie you just watched is just the set-up for another movie, it actually ends. That's not to say there couldn't be a continuation of the action here but the story concludes in a rather affecting and satisfying way.
MAYHEM
Blamed for a corporate screw-up which is none of his doing, attorney Derek Saunders (Steven Yeun) is fired. Aftering clearing his desk, he heads for the lobby but before he can make it out of the building the place is quarantined due to an infection being discovered. This infection causes the affected to lose their inhibitions which leads to them acting on their most outrageous impulses - some violent, some just plain bonkers.
With the office on lockdown for the next eight hours, Derek sees a chance to clear his name and be re-instated but he must work his way up to the top in order to confront the highest levels of management, aided by Melanie Cross (Samara Weaving), a civilian with a particular axe to grind - or, in Melanie's case, nailgun to shoot - where this organisation is concerned.
Sharing some DNA with the recent office-block shocker The Belko Experiment but throwing a virus into the mix rather than a Battle Royale-style contest, Mayhem is a bloody, amusing slice of office politics pushed to the extreme. Ruthless corporate types turn out to be just as cold and murderous as you think they're going to be and it's easy to side with Derek in his quest to literally stick it to The Man.
Most, if not at all, of the corporate stereotypes are deployed here, whether it's the procedure-obsessed guy from Human Resources, the downtrodden personal assistant or the geeky IT dude in the basement. It's meant to be fun and it certainly is. Arguably it may take one too many detours between its claret-splattered scraps and you may not enjoy the discussion about 90s bands as much as I did. Even so, Mayhem is an engaging, lively lark which delivers the gory goods.
M.F.A.
When art student Noelle (Francesca Eastwood) is raped at a college party she vows not to become a victim. Not only does she channel the experience into her creative projects but also becomes an avenger for other college girls in similar situations who have been failed by the justice system.
Natalia Leita's film is uncompromising and difficult to watch in places (as it should be) but the issues raised here are handled with skill and sensitivity, resulting in a piece of cinema which is bold, thought-provoking yet resolutely unexploitative.
Francesca Eastwood's performance is astonishing and she's ably supported by a superb cast, most notably the excellent Leah McKendrick as Noelle's neighbour Skye. McKendrick also wrote the screenplay which makes salient points about how survivors of sexual assault are treated, also raising pertinent, vital questions about how society creates an environment which enables these horrendous crimes to take place, moving on to deal with the concept of second chances for the perpetrators.
This film deserves as wide an audience as possible and, as new allegations of sexual abuse and harassment committed by those in positions of power surface almost daily, M.F.A. is a timely, important statement on a subject which we must all confront. It's a courageous movie which needs to be seen.
HELLRAISER (30TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING)
Yeah, okay, I'll admit that at this point in the festival I ducked out to take a strategic break, having seen Hellraiser just a couple of weeks before. And yeah, okay, I'll admit that "strategic break" meant me having a couple of beers in the bar and talking about the previous movies with anyone who'd listen.
Still, on the strength of my recent viewing I can say that on the whole it hasn't aged too badly over its three decades. In an age of CGI, the practical effects in this are terrifically icky and the hammers to the head and hooks to the flesh may be even more effective now when set against animated dismemberings and rivers of digitally-created blood.
Effects aside, there's so much in Hellraiser which is impressive. It's the ice-cold brilliance of Claire Higgins as Julia. It's the genius of casting Andrew Robinson in a role where you're expecting him to channel Scorpio from Dirty Harry and go full-on psycho and there's a wonderful background game going on as you wait to see when - or if - it will happen. It's the Cenobites themselves, four wonderfully realised creations which have cemented themselves into horror folklore. It's Clive Barker's sly, twisted, fantastic story. It's all these and so much more besides but I'll never finish this blog if I carry on waxing lyrical about it.
Thirty years on, Hellraiser still stands (pin)head and shoulders above most films in the genre. As someone who saw it on its original cinema release (good grief, I'm old) it's an enduring classic. Also, the Celluloid Screams audience was treated to a Q&A with special effects supervisor Geoff Portass and the "Chatterer" Cenobite himself, the genial and unrelentingly smashing Nicholas Vince (was absolutely lovely to chat to him at various points across the weekend).
CREEP 2
And so it's on to my favourite of the festival, which picks up after the events of Creep and finds Mark Duplass' serial killer still living out in the wilderness but now going by the name of Aaron and once more advertising for videographers to document his life. Enter Sara (Desiree Akhavan), considering whether to change career after becoming disillusioned with her unsuccessful web series but agreeing to meet with Aaron, who tells her the two of them will make a great piece of art...
Normally the prospect of a sequel would hardly fill me with joy but in this case I'd enjoyed the first Creep film so much that I thought a second helping would stand a reasonable chance of being half-decent. It's much more than that, it's a follow-up that delivers, taking everything that made its predecessor such a grimly comic surprise and sending it off in a number of directions I really didn't expect.
Again, Mark Duplass is astounding, giving us a well-rounded character who's disturbingly real with all of his tics and tantrums. He's so much fun, not to mention unnerving, to watch as you never know quite what he's going to do or say next. Huge credit must also go to Desiree Akhavan who is a match for Duplass in both performance and plot.
Considering the bulk of Creep 2 is a two-hander between Aaron and Sara the potential was there for certain longueurs in the story to pad out the running time but there's nothing of that ilk here. The plot twists and turns agreeably and the battle of wits is thrilling, unpredictable and very, very funny. It's that most uncommon of horror beasts, the flick that I could have watched again the moment it finished.
Thank you to Messrs Duplass and Brice, I was left thoroughly entertained and Creep-ed out (okay, I apologise for that). Its 78 minutes went by in a blink and if there's a Creep 3 on the horizon you can definitely count me in.
BETTER WATCH OUT
The 2017 festival ended with a movie which can be described as Home Alone put through a Michael Haneke mini-juicer. When Babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge) is left in charge of twelve-year-old Luke (Levi Miller), the house comes under attack and she must use all of her wits to deal with the situation. However, things take a strange and even deadlier turn...
How much you enjoy this movie more or less hinges or how you react to the twist which is thrown in quite early on. For some, this will be a real showstopper and the sheer enjoyment of seeing the plot shift into unexpected territory will lift Chris Peckover's flick way out of the norm.
Me? Okay, so the twist is a very good one, no doubt about that, but it immediately causes a number of problems, most notably that the mystery is resolved and any suspense has to be generated in a completely different way. It's a brave move but unfortunately it's here that the plot is less sure-footed and although there are a couple of unnerving moments I couldn't shake the feeling that the biggest villain of the piece wasn't so much scary as just plain annoying.
The issues continue into the last half hour, where one particularly stupid character goes nuclear in terms of idiocy (even by genre standards) and it all runs the risk of becoming faintly ridiculous. It also has the problem of being distasteful but not distasteful enough. Having set up a pretty creepy premise, the script pulls back at times and I never felt as uncomfortable as I should have been considering the possible ramifications of the sharp turn the plot takes. Oddly, it's a little too mannered to succeed.
However, there's still much to give Christmas cheer. A number of the performances are hugely enjoyable - DeJonge is a smart, amiable heroine and Luke's parents, played by Virginia Madsen and Patrick Warburton, are wonderfully droll, providing the ho-ho-ho's with some nicely-timed zingers. As the denouement is unwrapped, there's a cracking little gift inside too.
Better Watch Out is a movie which I think will prove particularly divisive and I can't predict on which side of the love/hate field you'll end up. Or you could sit with me on the "unsure" bench.
As is customary, no Celluloid Screams Day Three review would be complete without thanking the people behind the festival, without whom I would not be delighting in (or, very occasionally, ranting about) such a diverse selection of horror movies.
To the festival director Rob Nevitt - you did it again. Every year I wonder how you're going to pull together such a marvellous selection of films and every year I'm blown away with what I see. Celluloid Screams sets the bar incredibly high in terms of content and this year's crop of movies didn't disappoint. I will keep buying that weekend pass as soon as it's available.
Thanks also to festival programmers Polly and Lucy and to the rest of the Celluloid Screams team. I know a huge amount of work goes into making the event what it is but trust me, it's appreciated by all of us. It's always a highlight of the year which we'll talk about for weeks before and afterwards.
Finally, a big shout out must to go to the "horror family", that dedicated band who comes together to sit in a darkened room for two and a half days - and loves it. To everyone I met for the first time at this year's festival, it was a pleasure to chat to you and proves that horror fans are the nicest, friendliest people you'll ever meet. To those I already know, you guys know you're the best. To those of you there who haven't experienced Celluloid Screams - COME TO SHEFFIELD! YOU'LL LOVE IT!
As is customary, no Celluloid Screams Day Three review would be complete without thanking the people behind the festival, without whom I would not be delighting in (or, very occasionally, ranting about) such a diverse selection of horror movies.
To the festival director Rob Nevitt - you did it again. Every year I wonder how you're going to pull together such a marvellous selection of films and every year I'm blown away with what I see. Celluloid Screams sets the bar incredibly high in terms of content and this year's crop of movies didn't disappoint. I will keep buying that weekend pass as soon as it's available.
Thanks also to festival programmers Polly and Lucy and to the rest of the Celluloid Screams team. I know a huge amount of work goes into making the event what it is but trust me, it's appreciated by all of us. It's always a highlight of the year which we'll talk about for weeks before and afterwards.
Finally, a big shout out must to go to the "horror family", that dedicated band who comes together to sit in a darkened room for two and a half days - and loves it. To everyone I met for the first time at this year's festival, it was a pleasure to chat to you and proves that horror fans are the nicest, friendliest people you'll ever meet. To those I already know, you guys know you're the best. To those of you there who haven't experienced Celluloid Screams - COME TO SHEFFIELD! YOU'LL LOVE IT!
No comments:
Post a Comment