Evil Dead

Evil Dead’s not coming at the best time with horror remakes being Hollywood’s favourite area of decapitation, reminding us of old classics before insulting audiences with blatant lack of care and low grade performances. Hollywood’s newest ‘victim’, the reboot of cult classic 'The Evil Dead' however is bulked with encouraging crew members, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, who previously helmed the original as director and beloved protagonist . With aims to transform the recent malnutrition of horror remakes, Evil Dead steers clear of its humorously dark original instead choosing to follow a far more sadistic narrative aimed to shock rather than entertain.

Differentiating itself from the off, Evil Dead provides a meaning for the characters presence at the, now iconic, ‘cabin in the woods’ being that, Mia, a drug addict is attempting to escape her old ways through a weekend of ‘cold turkey’ treatment. With a pact to keep Mia at the cabin in order to fully carry out her promise to quit, her four friends including her brother, David, encounter a strange smell upon arrival and discover that the source of the pungency is a flesh lined book riddled with a sadistic curse that once read unleashes evil onto the helpless Mia and her subsequent victims. Whilst this recent remake may be similar to its 1980’s counterpart in many ways, it also proves to be wildly different pouring not only a consistent flow of cash into the production but also an excess of blood, guts, sick and bile. Done primarily through practical effects, the film heavily benefits from this feature with every slaughter being whimsically graphic and intense, leading to most of the film being viewed with a quivering hand near to the irritable mouth. Despite this however a huge lack of genuine terror is felt with gratuitous violence seeming to take its place to a frustrating degree. As the film progresses and enough red liquid has splattered onto the screen to last a lifetime, boredom begins to seep in as eagerness to escape the intense theatre clouds your viewing ‘pleasure’.

With a huge influx of violence in comparison to the original, the comedy element has all but vanished being scarcely seen and is ill-managed when it eventually appears. Seen as an intelligent device in the old to balance on screen violence and personal enjoyment, the film suffers from a lack of this rarely poking fun at itself, simply turning to further violence to express its comedic ‘funny-bone’.  That said there are moments of hilarity, despite their clever disguise behind the red veil, with the film more laughing at its genre than its own narrative, working on a contextual level that undoubtedly momentarily entertains.

Being notably more successful than recent horror flops (*cough cough* Texas Chainsaw 3-D) Evil Dead certainly maintains the ‘video nasty’ reputation that the original proudly held, despite its clear faults. The gratuitous, almost slapstick type violence allows for breathing space in-between scenes of conscious decapitation and facial disfigurement, with the intriguing storyline playing out at the hands of satisfactory performances. Evil Dead is at its best, disgusting, dingy and disturbingly realistic, encouraging viewers to undergo a through wash prior to viewing, despite its lack of humour and simple enjoyment.

6.5/10- Furiously demonic Evil Dead is a fun enough ‘slasher flick’ that undoubtedly holds very little re-watch value.

Calum Russell

Robot and frank

 With the increase in popularity of the science fiction genre in recent years, a huge influx of flashing blue lights, flying airships and time travel has been evidently present. Whilst this ‘in your face’ form of sci-fi is exciting and imaginative it’s far from relatable, focusing on an indulgence of convoluted scientific prospects instead of actual prototypes that can (and will) be implemented in the near future. Robot and frank accurately tackles this, equipping its world with… well the same resources as present day, but now with added luxuries of robot butlers and single manned cars using these as a key assets to its humorous, immersive narrative.

Introductions to the world of the future are unflattering and simple, as they should be with its overall lack of technological development as we are immediately introduced to Frank, an elderly man with a criminal past of thievery. Displayed as your everyday man, Frank (Frank Langella) is crucially relatable as well as fittingly witty, frequently criticising the modernisation of the world around him. After concerns from his son due to Frank’s isolation at home, he is brought the gift of a robot butler, programmed to look after him, much to the dismay of the protagonist. As the plot deepens, Frank begins to build a relationship with his new found technological friend as he schemes a plan to pair off and reignite his love for the swiping of high end jewellery. Starting slow in comparison to the engaging finale, the plot picks up momentum quickly once the robot is introduced and relationships between the two protagonists as well as sub-characters Hunter (James Marsden) and Jennifer (Susan Sarandon)  are established. This leads for a fluid and realistic story to play out, using the films helpful sci-fi element to extend possible story arcs as it tells the loving story of the humorous relationship between an old man and his robotic friend.

The comedy present works excellently well, helping the audience to easily sympathise with the character of Frank who’s bantering with the robot one minute and suffering from his old age the next. Proving to be more sentimental than initially clear from its exterior, this narrative is truly deep, tentatively touching on themes relevant to the films protagonist. On occasion these moments are knocked by pieces of ill fitted humour, however for the majority of the time there’re tackled with heart and realism to heart-breaking degrees of accuracy with help from the excellent acting of Frank Langella.

Robot and Frank was a pleasant surprise effortlessly coagulating it’s genres of comedy, drama and sci-fi to seamless degrees using these genres to produce a broad narrative packed with heart. Some story arcs deflate slightly towards the end as others become more poignant, leaving some paths slightly undeveloped, however this can be easily overlooked whilst judging the finished product that gleams with emotion both in its plot and in its performances.

8/10- Proving that Sci-Fi’s don’t need guns and flying cars to be imaginative and emotionally engaging.

Calum Russell

Scary Movie 5

Increasingly becoming the most difficult genre in Hollywood, the opinionated world of comedy will never please everyone, and whilst the Scary Movie franchise has never been famous for highbrow humour it certainly divides audiences in its popularity. With new comer director Malcom D. Lee at the helm, comedy legend David Zucker is in the writing seat making a change to the previous two instalments that he directed. Despite these changes, Scary Movie 5 shows to be just as humorously awful as its predecessors depending solely on pop culture references to carry each waffling gag.

  

With its poignant feature of horror parody being this year’s disappointing ‘Mama’, the fifth instalment of this debatably dying series

had a fair amount of potential with seven years since the previous instalment to make of. Instead however it prefers to bow down to pop culture, inserting countless references to irrelevant films, music and even books with an extremely unfunny reference to ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ as well as dismal cameos from a number of musicians; proceeding to prove that they can’t act, with musician ‘Mac Miller’ providing a diabolical performance with no redeeming qualities. The narrative is as loose as ever, allowing for a handful of nonsensical yet hilarious jokes to be slotted in, as we follow Jody (Ashley Tisdale) and Dan (Simon Rex) who adopt the children of a deceased relative and take them back to their house of paranormal activity whilst Jody continues her aspirations to be the black swan. The amount of references is certainly overwhelming and unnecessary as funnier jokes could’ve been made had there been more focus, however this isn’t to say that they all flop with the reference to the, now dated, inception being one of notable hilarity.  The crutch of pop culture is annoyingly shoehorned into sequences that would have been funnier without its presence, with ultimately the funniest scenes appearing out of nowhere in the form of a bizarre occurrence or a simple inappropriate outburst.

With a knowingly immature fan base the jokes appeal to the slim demographic that find a ‘punch in the face’ to be comedy gold with jokes similar to this being repeated throughout to varying degrees of success. Fans of this humour will bathe in its utter ridiculousness with the knowing of its dampened quality in comparison to its predecessors however lovers of high-brow comedy will recoil in horror, with this film being as scarily bad as some of the best horror films, most notably in the field of acting.

Never has this franchise prized itself on its ‘fantastic performances’, however a certain expectancy of at least a GCSE pass in the subject of Drama is constantly desired and with the lead actress Ashley Tisdale at the helm of course this quality is never delivered, with her performance being as lazy and unimpressive as a bed with no mattress. Her comedic timing is utterly useless, picking up on features of the film that the franchise ‘prides itself on’ (i.e- Random, nonsensical occurrences), constantly putting a downer on the already partially deflated film. The comedy prowess of Anna Farris was desperately missed, with her dippy screen caricature being a source of comedy in itself in the previous 4 instalments.

With an unbalanced ratio of infrequent moments of hilarity to frequent moments of tumbleweed, Scary Movie 5 shows to be by far the weakest film of the dying franchise. Once showing genuine intelligence and humour this franchise is in danger of cinematic death relying too heavily on highly irrelevant pop culture references as well as puerile sight gags to aid its way through the film. Moments of comedy are scarce but are undoubtedly funny when they eventually emerge from the depths of pop culture that consumes this film in smoke.

3/10- Lovers of nonsensical parodies will enjoy occasional laughs, but inconsistent references delivered with awful performances leave for a low-brow slap in the face.

Calum Russell

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

 After a previous year of deflated and unfunny comedies, the genre is becoming as notoriously difficult as the horror genre, proving challenging to capture the universal funny bone. Being already witnessed this year with the gigantic flop of ‘Movie 43’, (putting a burden on the carers of what seems to be the majority of actors in Hollywood) the failsafe of comedy has yet to be cracked, with The Incredible Burt Wonderstone the next participant to ‘step up to the plate’; showing ultimate failure with sporadic humour and a clichéd comedy mould.

Beginning with the predictable ‘troubled childhood’ that is usually immaturely humorous but is instead oddly bland, we are introduced to our young protagonist Burt Wonderstone on his birthday as he escapes the poorly casted bully (Diary of a wimpy kid’s Zachary Gordon). Receiving a magic set that he brings into school the following day paves the way for the plot as he meets his only friend, Anton Marvelton, to share his magic with. Soon enough after a nifty montage of young adult friendship and magic we have our plot, however dull and linear it may be. Much like the generic comedy, Burt Wonderstone occasionally dazzles the audience with quick witted humour one minute only to leave us in silence with puerile ‘ass’ jokes the next. Never leaving the confines of its own comedy comfort, the humour proves to be predictable and boring never differentiating itself from the vast crowd of recent genre failures.

Once however Jim Carrey’s eccentric character Steve Gray, playing the daring modern street magician, is introduced the film picks up and moments of comedy ensue. The most notable moment of witticism is when Carey and Carell hold a magic trick stand -off at a children’s birthday party, allowing each other to bounce their natural comedy timing and prowess off each other, outside of the tightly scheduled script that contains them for the majority.  For the most part this provides for an entertaining hour a

nd a half despite the frustrating lack of screenwriting effort especially considering the promising plot and quality talent involved. As for the seemingly invisible Steve Buscemi (Anton Marvelton) he is clearly outside his comfort zone, with a large majority of his jokes falling flat to the comedy veterans Carell and Carrey, never letting his prestigious acting guard down however giving a realistic and quality performance throughout. Frequently making poor and selfish decisions the characters are deeply unlikeable and when the film attempts to insert a dose of sentimentality the tone is totally lost as it falls into a state of disillusion believing it’s a relatable engrossing comedy when in fact it’s simply another manufactured product of Hollywood.

With a plot which had the consistency of fluid water, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is bland and totally predictable only tossing in some flavour in the dying minutes showing to be a mildly entertaining ‘tv-movie’ instead of the film all but destined for the bargain bin.

5/10- Sporadically entertaining with a cumbersome story and lethargic humour.

Calum Russell

Jack the giant slayer

The dark re-imagining of classic fairy-tales has become a bizarre trend of recent cinema, all sharing the unfortunate traits of inconsistent tones and overall mediocrity. The newest of the bunch is Jack the giant slayer, hoping to scrub off the naff fairy-tale stereotype with its reimagining of the tale ‘Jack and the beanstalk’ by possessing an intelligently advanced narrative and militant towering giants.

  With an imaginative and accomplished tale acting as the baseline plot, Jack the giant slayer does a brilliant job in making the story fresh and original providing an intelligent twist in the tale. Hollywood influence may have given the story an air of predictability throwing in a king, a princess, a blatant villain and the ‘average Joe’ underdog as Jack, however this shows to coagulate with the original tale feeling like a warm and assuring bedtime story. Taking a while to find its feet we find ourselves procrastinating in the human kingdom of Cloister for perhaps a little too long as Jack is introduced, to instant appeal, and the plot is set in stone as the familiar tale plays out with Jack’s purchase of the magic beans. Soon enough once the princess spontaneously and coincidentally

 turns up on Jacks door on a thunderous evening, the bean fertilises and reveals the stories anchor of the beanstalk behemoth as the princess is unwillingly pulled along with it, prompting a rescue.

Once the realistically laborious task of reaching the top is achieved, we are introduced to the giant’s kingdom and the dirty, disgusting giants themselves. Despite aesthetically looking like CGI blobs the giants act in a way which is playful and dumb without being childish and terrifying, providing a handful of laughs as well as moments of surprising disgust. Unlike the dark twist in other recent fairy-tale adaptations, this gritty feature in Jack the giant slayer works to excellent effect acting as a necessary and relevant asset to the story. Marked with a 12A certificate, the violence consistently pushes the boundaries feeling surprisingly grim at times as the knight’s gallop from bloodthirsty giants, ripping bystander’s heads off and discarding their bodies as trash. This however never feels out of place, like an overactive childish imagination nothing is beyond violent reason. This does not excuse however the bombardment of whimsical dialogue that is spoken from the mouths of these stereotypical yet enticing characters. No child let alone adult audience member wants to witness a statement of love to one another as Jack and the princess descend the tumbling beanstalk before they nonsensically and unnecessarily swing to safety on a vine. Scenes such as this one appear sporadically throughout the film momentarily disrupting the even tone for something more undeniably idiotic.

 Jack the giant slayer should certainly not be compared to its dismal cinematic fairy-tale counterparts proving to be far more original and creative in its narrative, paving the way for a thoroughly enjoyable family romp. Its chances of success are squandered by a perhaps expected whimsical shroud of dialogue and slap-stick scenes of action, however this doesn't distract from the heavily immersive and entertaining story at hand.

6.5/10- A simple yet delightful twist on the classic tale.

Calum Russell

Compliance

It’s a difficult feat to make a film which is a cinematic immersion whilst also being an informative speech to audiences, perhaps the most poignant film to have done this is the shocking ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ which in some ways Compliance attempts to replicate, but unfortunately falls short.  

Based on the disturbingly incredible true story, Compliance tells the story of a prank caller who rings up a fast food store and convinces the manager to interrogate a young innocent employee. As the ‘severity’ of the situation grows, events transpire to startling extents to the point of utter discomfort. If it wasn't for this films ‘true story’ element little would be foraged in the rubble to credit it, however as we are reminded at the start with pacey subtitles that ‘nothing has been exaggerated’ the film thrills to shock and disgust the audience showing  the extent society  goes to to conform to authority. The story may not have been exaggerated however no one can justify the speed and intensity that occurs in this film to transition to real events. With the films rapid pace working both for and against it, Compliance feels more like a reconstruction on ‘crimewatch’ rather than the tense drama that it should be and is for a minority of the films 90 minutes running time. The film almost becomes laughable at times when one wonders why quite so much dramatic classical music must be played whilst experiencing the frying of chips behind the scenes of the fast food chain, becoming so dramatized it often felt like fiction.

It seems as though Compliance becomes so caught up in its own gloriously disturbing narrative that it simply forgets its aims instead focusing on the heavily uncomfortable events at hand. This leads to an ending which is not only disappointingly unexplained but also carries the tone of a ‘secondary school’ lecture on the dangers of society, feeling totally out of place acting as an unnecessary signpost to the blatant message. At least however the message is present and poignant being so bizarre it grips doing an admirable job in maintaining suspense even in similar scenes of repeated discomfort. This is helped by the brilliant acting of the two main protagonists, the boss and employee, played by Ann Dowd and Dreama Walker who bind the plot together giving the cinematic realism that a narrative, so delicate as this, desperately deserves.

 Although Compliance is an achievement on a number of levels it works more as a satisfying (if hugely unsettling) view into the rusty working cogs of society rather than a pleasing and well-rounded cinematic experience. Being such an unbelievable yet interesting true story this film would've been more engrossing in a documentary format where the psychological study of Conformity could be analysed and implemented on the fascinating story of Compliance.

6/10- Grips initially but falls flat with an unhelpful climax.

Calum Russell

Mama

Despite Guillermo Del Toro producing a handful of notable horror success, the majority of his work (although insidiously stylised) almost inevitably become destined for the ‘bargain bucket’; and with an odd advertising ploy many would mistake him for the director of his newly produced film, Mama.  Based on the deeply unsettling properties of the short film, Mama follows the tale of two young girls found after years of living in the woods being protected by a ghostly figure, as there’re adopted into their uncle’s life. Del Toro’s print proves to be prominent throughout as a dark, unusual tale sustains horror for the minority of the film until ‘Mama’ is introduced and things get embarrassingly laughable.

Starting effectively showing the beginnings of the sinister relationship between the children and their newly claimed (but sparingly seen) ‘Mama’, the film manages to maintain audience interest through the actions of the soon feral and seemingly possessed children. After through tests and psychological examinations there’re soon shown to their uncle and aunt who take on the ambitious task of attempting to control them, as events transpire and horror ensues. This is until a notable moment where the uncle and most probably the director is hit on the head and idiocy follows. After a good third of the film chilled the spine, turned the thinking cogs and put the viewer off having children for a good few hours, the film totally falls apart with plot strands failing to connect and scenes of horror failing to scare. The desperate attempts to anchor the film down made by the performances of both the unsettling children as well as auntie and uncle (Chastain and Coster-Waldau) had been quelled by the pitiful attempts of the poorly constructed, laughable appearance CGI disgrace that is ‘Mama’.

With ‘Mama’ being the source of this films horror it came with great disappointment as well as unintended hilarity to see her being revealed in full frequently throughout the film. Once she was shown she no longer was a character of horror instead becoming a tiresome tool of consistent ‘jump-scares’ that never fail to momentarily scare yet always prove to be monotonously predictable. With her appearance also came the spark setting of a chain of totally nonsensical plot lines that seemingly lead to an inevitable twist which unfortunately never comes as plots pathetically sizzle out of sight. This soon leads to the conclusion which shows to follow in disappointing suite being nonsensical, idiotic and frustratingly sentimental. Consisting of a supposedly ‘terrifying’ CGI being, and a shroud of bizarre sentimentality, Mama’s conclusion feels dismally underwhelming and moronic, providing a raw tasting ‘icing’ on an already fowl tasting ‘cake’.

 For a film based on such a horrifying and unsettling premise, Mama shows to be quite the opposite displaying more style than substance giving the undesired Hollywood touch of overused CGI, pathetic story arcs and typical ‘jump-scares’. Rarely did the tension reach unbearable heights, despite their being some moments of originality, and ultimately this films intriguing premise is destroyed by its only horror device, a 5 foot, hovering CGI mother.

4/10- The stubborn, tame, irritating and fake attributes of Mama makes this an ugly sight.

Calum Russell