Thriller

Stoker (2013)

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(Originally from Facebook – December 28, 2013)

When does “homage” become plagiarism? Wentworth Miller (yes, from “Prison Break”) walks a very fine line, I think, with his script. It draws heavily from Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt and Shirley Jackson’s novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and then Director Chan-Wook Park throws in nods to other Hitch films, most notably Psycho. There’s also a little of a famous Showtime series, but I don’t want to reveal too much. It was hard to put all of that aside, but I did and found it to be a fairly well-done, if derivative, thriller. Continue reading →

Dark Skies (2013)

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(originally from Facebook – July 27. 2013)

The second film could have been one of the scariest films in recent years, if not for some dragging in the second act. And even then, I found the hair on the back of my neck rising more than once. It’s one of those “slow-burn” films, where everything just builds and builds. It could have been better in spots, for sure, but c’mon–Kerri Russell! Decent performances, and good use of sound. It’s heavy on the atmosphere, and light on the special effects. If this kind of movie creeps you out, and you don’t mind the pacing, definitely watch this one. IMDB gives it a 6.2, but I’d give it a 6.5, and even be persuaded to go to a 7 if you told me you’re freaked out by…well, I better not ruin anything. (running time 1:37)

The Belko Experiment (2016)

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I’m sure that there are people out there who are going to like this film. I’m going to tell you right up front that I’m not one of them. It’s not that I dislike the gore (and there is PLENTY of gore). I don’t have a problem with that. It’s not that the performances weren’t good. (You’ll recognize most of the major character faces, even if you don’t know their names.) They weren’t spectacular, but the actors did the best with what they had to work with. Nope, the sin here, what really soured me on the film, was its complete and utter lack of originality. Continue reading →

The Girl on the Train (2016)

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I guess I should start by saying that I didn’t care for the novel the film is based on. But it’s still a damn sight better than the film. The internal monologues present in the book at least give some measure of breath (and breadth) to the lives of these characters. Those who have read it will, no doubt, recognize the wisps of backstory left intact that made the novel readable, if somewhat predictable. They also should be able to follow the convoluted plot a lot better. The compression from novel to screenplay didn’t do this story any favors. Continue reading →

Tower (2016)

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I hadn’t heard much about this film, and I was skeptical—rotoscopic animation always seems a bit “gimmicky” to me. I shouldn’t have been. This is one of the best films I’ve seen all year. It is, at various moments, tense, hopeful, uplifting, and heartbreakingly sad. Continue reading →

Enemy (2013)

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Wow. This is my favorite movie of the year so far, which is really surprising because—and I say this in all seriousness—I’m not sure I understand it. It’s like a Hitchcockian thriller, if Hitch was a huge fan of Kafka. It is a marvelous, mysterious, psychological thriller, and it really did remind me of Hitchcock’s psychological thrillers. The one thing that really sealed the comparison for me was the score. Continue reading →

The Treatment (2014)

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A really solid police thriller from Belgium that borders on horror. It doesn’t quite have the atmosphere of a Se7en or Prisoners, but it reminds me a little of those films (especially the latter).  I won’t lie to you—the subject matter is dark, which makes it hard to watch, but it’s not overly gory. Think of it as something along the lines of some of the British three-episode dramas out there.

The story seems fairly simple: a detective investigates the abduction of a young boy, but there are a number of twists and turns along the way to keep it interesting, and to keep you guessing. And to complicate matters, the detective himself watched his brother abducted before his eyes as a child, so his judgment is questionable.

Geert Van Rampelberg does a decent job as the haunted investigator, and the villain—the “Troll”—is one of the most unhinged since John Doe. You may think you know where this one is going, but it will spin you a couple of times before you get there.

IMDB gives it a 7.5, but I’m inclined to bump it up to an 8.0, as I could see this one being a contender for my “best of” list. (running time 2:11)

Memories of Murder (2003)

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Thanks to my friend Lacey for the hat tip on this one. I thought I had seen it, but turns out I was thinking of a different film. Another South Korean film that really illustrates the level of talent they have. This one is a police thriller based on a real-life series of killings, although I’ve read that it can also be seen as a metaphor for the competing political parties in Korea during the period in which the film is set. I must admit to being ignorant of that connection, but I might have to watch it again after I read up on it a bit.

The film deals with a series of killings in a small Korean town (city?). The local police are uneducated thugs, who care more about prosecuting someone than whether or not that someone is the right one. Continue reading →

Black Fly (2014)

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I love it when a movie catches me off guard. Black Fly was made on a shoestring budget (in Hollywood terms, anyway: less than a million), and shot in 14 days. I noticed some glowing reviews on IMDB, but the lack of overall votes and the fact that the same guy (Jason Borque) wrote and directed is more often than not a sign of a low-quality film made on the cheap, and promoted by having people associated with the film post over the top reviews for it. That way, they can make a few bucks on it before word of mouth catches up with them. As it turns out, that is not this film. Not by a long shot. Continue reading →

Criminal (2016)

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In the cinema world, there’s one thing you can be sure of—any film that stars Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, or Bruce Willis is going to take some (in my opinion) undeserved shots by the critics. I don’t know why, but they always seem to pick a few more nits or look a little harder to find something to harangue. Criminal has two of the three thespians, so you can just imagine the critics sharpening up their pens, ready to draw blood. It’s a good thing you guys have me around to set you straight. Continue reading →