Double-shot of good movies!
WEEK FOUR (Oct 20): THE LAND (WAY) DOWN UNDER
One of the pull-quotes for
The Loved Ones described it as "
Sixteen Candles meets
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Prom-set horror films aren't exactly new news, but I don't think I've ever seen one that mixes a film like that in the mix. While I certainly wouldn't expect a film to live up to that one (it is
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, after all), I was intrigued enough to check it out, as well as being persuaded by generally strong, favorable impressions. Good thing I did, since
The Loved Ones is a hell of a ride.
Wondering aloud what would happen if that one person you said no to when they asked you to the prom decided to kidnap, torture, and do worse things that amazingly don't involve killing you,
The Loved Ones finds a strong pulse in the uncertainty of those late teen years, where you think you have things figured out, but aren't quite expecting and certainly aren't prepared to handle life's curve balls that strap you to a chair with improperly-used kitchenware. Hitting the grounding running right away, the film makes excellent use of its short running time by not letting up for a second. In a lot of ways, the comparison to
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre makes a lot of sense, since it does play out like an extended version of the notorious dinner table scene, maintaining its sense of depraved chaos without feeling like it's aping from it at all. Make no mistake that this is one unpredictable film that isn't afraid to go into some really crazy places, but it's also clear-headed about where it wants to go and how it gets there, so it's never crazy for the sake of crazy.
A surprising element to it is the storytelling has a strong sense of continuity to it. It throws a few balls up in the air at the start, not making it obvious what they have to do with one another, but an involved plot quickly emerges and you can finally see where they're going with it. With the emphasis on capturing the hardships of being a teen, among them being in love and not being too sure if it is L-O-V-E love, as well as navigating the challenging relationships with parents, the John Hughes vibe is in place as well, so it's not all power tools and fleshy bits. Much appreciated is that the actors actually look like normal teenagers, which is a rare feat in any medium. There's enough there where if it was entirely about normal teenagers, there would be a nice dramedy in the making.
However, there is one very abnormal teenager in the mix, and she's making sure her prom night is as perfect as possible, even if it does involve the aforementioned kidnapping, torturing, and other unspeakable things. Simply put, Lola is one of the great horror movie villains, as her extreme personality is frequently at odds with her pleasant looks. If she knew what she was doing was really, really wrong, she doesn't care, and isn't above embarrassing her accomplices in her pursuit for what she feels is how things should be. Actress Robin McLeavy finds a great medium between insane and sinister, and she's just as unpredictable as the twists and turns.
It's a terrific film from a technical point of view, too. I'm not sure why writer/director Sean Byrne hasn't had more of a career at this, but he's definitely a huge talent in the making. He's got a great eye for photography and production design, and he's got an inspired taste in musical selections, too. I hope he works on something big again soon, since I'm sure to be there whenever it's ready.
I'm honestly struggling to find bad things to say about the film, which is a good sign. It's definitely an extreme-enough film to not be for all tastes, but for the slightly deranged, strap yourselves in a bumpy ride that will leave you a bit roughed up, but feeling pretty good about yourself at the end. Word of advice, though: go to the bathroom before watching this. Trust me on that one.
Oct 21
This month, I've seen
Jaws with a bear, and I've seen
Jaws with a boar. While both had their merits (minor and often unintentional ones, I must emphasize), neither one was going to be making me clear room for them even among the better ripoffs in the near and distant future. Shoddy filmmaking tends to do that.
Proving that, sometimes, the third time is the charm,
Rogue breaks the streak of bad
Jaws ripoffs this month by being a rather good one. Far less showy and gory than you might expect,
Rogue acquits itself well by being more of a slow burn (rather than slow), building more and more to the uncertainty of when the croc will strike next, rather than trying to show you just what it looks like or how it's going to rip apart its victims next. Writer/director Greg McLean has a really firm grasp on what he's setting out to do, which doesn't sound that impressive given the mold he's working with, but given the batting average of similar films, it sticks out quite a bit. Who knew that doing the things that
Jaws did really well would work again?
The biggest part of the equation is that the characters in the film feel like actual human beings. McLean does such a good job with the characters, it feels really painful when any of them get dragged away by the croc. Any guy that can make the likes of Sam Worthington pretty likable must be doing something right. The cast, while hardly master thespians, do well with their roles and they manage believable relationships with one another when their numbers start falling, and they never once treat the film as a joke, or being above the material.
Working with a limited budget, McLean manages to stage some really strong sequences together, particularly the scene involving a plan to get away from the island the tourists are trapped on with rope and someone brave and/or stupid enough to get across the water to make it work, as well as the extended final showdown. McLean shoots a lot of the scenery much like a nature documentary, which gives the film an interesting visual appeal to it, where you almost would want to visit there if there wasn't a man-eating crocodile in the way. It's a remarkably restrained film, all things considered, and despite the big UNRATED lettering on the DVD box, I'd suggest that
Jaws is much more uncomfortably violent at times than
Rogue ever is.
If there's a big flaw, the budget was definitely not big enough to support a believable rendering of the villainous crocodile, which often looks about as good as your average Syfy Channel monster of the week. This isn't a big problem until the finale, where it's featured quite prominently, but McLean does well to direct around it by emphasizing its slow, realistic movements, complete with some great sound design work, as well limiting time that it spends in frame with the actors. With how well he handles those aspect that, you almost don't notice it. At this risk of overpraising the film, even
Jaws couldn't pull off a realistic-looking shark to save its life, and that turned out pretty damn OK in the end.