Final Destination 3 (James Wong, USA, 2006) September 2, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 2000s, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a commentDir. James Wong; screenplay by James Wong and Glen Morgan; starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead
The third instalment of the ‘Final Destination’ franchise is great fun, killing off its characters in suitably obscure and inventive ways. It doesn’t have an ending which lets it down; perhaps writer/director Wong (who created the original film) just wanted to end the series at this point, but the film has plenty to offer those who enjoyed the first two films.
Sisters (Brian De Palma, USA, 1973)
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 1970s, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense , add a commentDir. Brian De Palma; screenplay by Brian De Palma; starring Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley
Before De Palma’s 1973 psycho-thriller turns into a dreamy hallucinatory diversion into madness and hysteria, it’s a very effective film. Margot Kidder gives a good performance as Danielle Breton – a woman haunted by her twin sister. De Palma uses split-screen photography beautifully but his stylish flare isn’t as refined as it would become later in his career.
Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, USA, 2001)
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 2000s, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, War , add a commentDir. Ridley Scott; screenplay by Ken Nolan; starring Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore et al
I was left a little cold by Ridley Scott’s 2001 film about the real life crisis in Somalia. Yes, the visuals are nice, the action set-pieces are well-drilled and the very real sense that ‘war is not a good thing’ is obvious, but the lack of characterisation left the movie as a vacuous excursion in the trenches of the bloody battlefield.
I did, however, like one of the final scenes where the American soldier’s are running away from the gun-waving Somali militia. This was a very powerful sequence, beautiful photographed by Scott.
Carrie (Brian De Palma, USA, 1976)
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 1970s, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a commentDir. Brian De Palma, screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen; starring Sissy Spacek, Nancy Allen, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, P.J. Soles, John Travolta
Brian De Palma expertly adapts Stephen King’s novel about a shy, young girl who discovers her telekinetic ability is a perfect deterrent against her religiously fanatical mother, and the school bullies.
De Palma utilises his cinematic qualities to bring King’s story to the screen with great effect, culminating in a devastatingly frightening ending, where the director makes brilliant use of lighting, split-screen photography, and special-effects. Sissy Spacek provides a strong performance as the timid Carrie, but it’s Piper Laurie as her mother, who commands the screen with her portrayal of the crazed mother.
The Descent (Neil Marshall, UK, 2005) August 22, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 2000s, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a commentDir. Neil Marshall; screenplay by Neil Marshall; starring Shauna MacDonald
On my second viewing of Neil Marshall’s brilliant horror film ‘The Descent’, I was left spotting the various homage elements he’d infused into the script and direction. Not that this was a bad thing – there’s a sense of warm, exhilaration every time one of your favourite movies is referenced. In Marshall’s previous ‘Dog Soldiers’, at first, I was felt the references to other films were too clichéd, stealing plot details from the likes of ‘Aliens’, to the point where the film wasn’t anything more than a copy. But, Marshall’s sense of humour and glee in mocking convention, comes to the fore, making for a very enjoyable film.
In ‘The Descent’, Marshall has some lovely references to Alien, Aliens and Carrie, to name just three. However, what makes this film a more rounded, well-oiled effort is the fact he doesn’t borrow as many plot details as he did for ‘Dog Soldiers’. This film just feels more original than his previous effort. Plus, his technique has matured to produce a thrilling, claustrophobic horror film that utilises excellent camerawork and photography with particularly good production design. Marshall can’t escape unoriginality completely, as his characterisation and story arc are nothing more than predictable, but he makes up for it with stylish direction, milking the entombed nature of caving to its full, (gory) potential.
Spider (David Cronenberg, Canada/UK, 2002)
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 1970s, Drama, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a commentDir. David Cronenberg, screenplay by Patrick McGrath, starring Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne
The most interesting thing about Cronenberg’s 2002 film is how he captivates the viewer with little to no dialogue. This, coupled with a strong performance from Ralph Fiennes, makes for an enthralling examination of childhood devastation, familial conflict, and the trials and tribulations of a mentally disturbed man. Of course, it doesn’t always work – the lack of dialogue at times makes the film a difficult proposition, asking a lot of investment from the audience. Yet, Cronenberg uses subtle references to imply certain events in Fiennes’ character’s past, gradually bringing forth a mysterious history that has made him what he is. The film is less commercial than the director’s 2005 ‘A History Of Violence’, but it rewards the intuitive viewer.
Frenzy (Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1972) August 20, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Drama, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, Crime , add a commentDir. Alfred Hitchcock; screenplay by Anthony Shaffer; starring Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster
Hitchcock returned to England to shoot this, his second to last film, about the ‘Necktie murderer’ who is on the loose in London. It’s a down and dirty Hitchcock film that loses the grandiose trappings of big-star leads, beautiful women, and exotic locations, that made some of his well-known classics so iconic. ‘Frenzy’ however is still a well-crafted, effective thriller, set against the backdrop of seventies London with all its changing sexual politics and the affects of globalisation.
Hitchcock is much more explicit in his depiction of the murders here, at times hinting at the exploitation films that would later arrive in the decade. While this isn’t his best work – the coincidental plot is far from the strongest he’s worked with, and the unsympathetic lead character makes it difficult to fully immerse oneself within the mystery – the film is constantly very amusing (Hitchcock’s wry humour is beautifully layered into the film), and some flashes of technical genius remind us that this is indeed the maestro of suspense’s movie. The first revelation and consequent murder is a brilliantly directed piece of film, prolonging the audience to some very real terror. When Hitchcock takes his camera to the murderer’s room as he ushers another victim into it, and then, as the door closes, slowly pulls back, down the stairs and out into the street, the shot really could be from one of his very best films. Sadly, ‘Frenzy’ is a very well-made thriller, but it will be remembered more for the odd piece of stylistic genius than as a whole package.
Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon, USA, 1985)
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, Comedy, 1980s, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a commentDir. Stuart Gordon; screenplay by Dennis Paoli; starring Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott
A cult favourite from the eighties, this gory, gratuitous comic-horror sees Combs’ Herbert Ross devise a method of bringing dead bodies back to life. It’s silly fun, never taking itself seriously, and has a brilliantly black-humoured conclusion. Jeffrey Combs is great as the ‘mad scientist’, and the special effects crew have a ball creating some of the excellent visual effects.
Along Came A Spider (Lee Tamahori, USA, 2001) August 17, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 2000s, Drama, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, Crime , add a commentDir. Lee Tamahori; screenplay by Marc Moss; starring Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Wincott
Oh dear! Watching a clearly bored Morgan Freeman reprise his role as James Patterson’s Alex Cross is one thing, but watching him in a clichéd, predictable, so-called thriller, with a support cast of equally bored actors, is ten times worse.
The first film ‘Kiss The Girls’ was average at best, but I was expecting more from this one. It’s so predictable you just want to do what the Futureheads have been telling us lately – Skip To The End. When does Micheal Wincott ever play a good guy? We meet him wearing a disguise but immediately you know to point your finger and say – he did it! Don’t worry I’m not spoiling the film for you – it alludes to who the criminal is early on, it’s what happens then that is supposed to be the mystery. Yet, the plot twist towards the end is so ludicrous it feels like the writer (maybe James Patterson, I wouldn’t know, as I haven’t read this particular Cross novel) knows that he’s written a clichéd story and needs to add some suspense. He appears to do this by simply picking a character at random and saying: well, actually there’s more to it.
Joyride (John Dahl, USA, 2001) August 16, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 2000s, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense , add a commentDir. John Dahl; screenplay Clay Tarver, J.J. Abrahams; starring Steve Zahn, Pete Walker
John Dahl’s excellent thriller uses some old-style Hollywood techniques to make its suspense really work, building real psychological terror on the similar premise that Steven Spielberg’s Duel and Robert Harmon’s The Hitcher used so expertly. Both previous films are slightly better examples of the genre, but Dahl updates the story for the 21st century audience, making for what is a very stylised, edgy thriller with excellent direction and some surprisingly good performances.