Movie magic in the straight to DVD section -latest DVDs reviewed
Paignton film critic Tom Leins goes straight-to-DVD in search of movie magic!
Based on the fondly remembered 1970 British movie of the same name, And Soon The Darkness (Optimum) is the slick debut feature from director Marcus Efron.
Stephanie (Amber Heard) and Ellie (Odette Yustman) are in Argentina on an organised cycling holiday. However, frustrated by the staid nature of the trip, the girls decide to head off the beaten track and explore the delights of rural Argentina for themselves. After stumbling across a pretty village, they quickly attract the attentions of the locals, and provocative Ellie picks up a hunky local, only to regret it when his aggressive flirtations get out of hand. The following day, after a heated argument about Ellie’s promiscuity, Stephanie abandons her friend at a local beauty spot, and heads back to the hotel alone. Unfortunately, before they can bury the hatchet, Ellie is snatched by depraved sex-traffickers, forcing Stephanie into a desperate quest to track down her best friend. But can she trust enigmatic expatriate Michael (Karl Urban), or should she leave the investigation to the nonchalant local police force?
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Leading lady Amber Heard (All The Boys Love Mandy Lane) gives one of the best performances of her career thus far, and interestingly, she also serves as one of the film’s producers -suggesting that the investment was money well spent. However, despite a nice array of performances from the lead actors, And Soon The Darkness’ trump card is arguably its mesmerising use of location, which boosts it to the next level. The ravaged backdrop where the second half of the film unfolds is particularly awesome, and the movie exhibits some of the most unsettling post-apocalyptic terrain this side of The Road. Impressively brought to life by Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Beristain (Blade 2 and 3), And Soon The Darkness is a superior straight-to-DVD thriller full of memorable moments.
If ever proof were needed of how fickle Hollywood can be, the dwindling fortunes of Edward Norton are a prime example. Ten years ago he was the toast of Tinseltown following awesome performances in American History X and Fight Club, and now, after being ignominiously stripped of the role of the Incredible Hulk in the ongoing Marvel franchise, his movies are going straight-to-DVD. Not that Leaves of Grass (Lionsgate) deserves to languish in the bargain bins -it doesn’t -but Norton’s fall from grace is disturbing nevertheless. The movie, written and directed by character actor Tim Blake Nelson, sees Norton play dual roles, a gimmick previously reserved for ’90s Jean-Claude Van Damme and fat-suit-clad Eddie Murphy. While Ivy League professor Bill Kincaid (Norton) is a legend in his field, his twin brother Brady’s (also Norton) career path is far less salubrious -he’s one of Oklahoma’s most notorious drug dealers.
Lured back to Oklahoma after his brother’s drug-related death, Bill encounters a surreal, off-kilter landscape where backwoods drug dealers enact bloody vendettas over petty turf wars. To Bill’s astonishment, Brady isn’t actually dead, he merely wants to use his identical twin’s presence as an alibi as he embarks on his latest scheme. Writer/director Tim Blake Nelson is well known for his starring role in the Coen Brothers’ O, Brother Where Art Thou, and the Coens are a useful reference point for anyone keen to get to grips with Leaves of Grass. Much like mid-period Coen Brothers material, Leaves of Grass is crammed with oddball characters, and veers between screwball comedy and bloody violence at the drop of a hat. With well-judged supporting turns from Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss and Tim Blake Nelson himself, Leaves of Grass is never less than watchable, but it never quite hits the comedic heights it aspires to either. Quirky stuff.
Do you remember 2007 horror movie Vacancy? It’s a safe bet that filmmaker Dan Garcia does, as his new film Terror Trap (Anchor Bay) explores almost identical territory. After a late night car crash leaves them stranded in the middle of redneck country, bickering couple Don (David James Elliot) and Nancy (Heather Marie Marsden) are given a lift to a sleazy motel by helpful cop Cleveland (Jeff Fahey). Unfortunately for them, the motel is run by a greasy degenerate known as Carter (Michael Madsen), who earns big bucks through his sideline as a snuff movie producer. Naturally, his hapless guests have been lined up as the unwitting stars of his next sadistic film.
Whereas Vacancy was taut and brutal, Terror Trap is aimless and overcrowded, and despite some nicely depraved touches and some appealing flashes of black humour, the film brings nothing new to the party. Although Michael Madsen’s name looms large on the packaging, the former Reservoir Dogs star flits in and out of the film like a swollen B-movie overlord -with one eye on the grisly theatrics and the other eye on his pay-cheque. Although the producers presumably felt as though they needed a marquee name to boost the film’s prospects, Madsen’s presence is more distracting than anything, and many of his scenes feel tacked on. Happily, help is at hand in the form of the ever-enthusiastic Jeff Fahey, whose appetite for making straight-to-DVD nonsense hasn’t been adversely affected by his memorable stint in hit TV show Lost. In conclusion: not as bad as it could have been, but not as good as Vacancy either.
Vicious South Korean drama Bedevilled (Optimum) follows uptight career woman Hae-won (Ji Sung-won) as she flees from gang-stricken Seoul to take a vacation on the remote island where she once spent time as a child. After a happy reminiscence with childhood friend Bok-nam (Yeong-Hie So) , Hae-won realises that the island isn’t quite the idyllic retreat that she remembers, and does her best to ignore the relentless humiliation heaped on her long-lost friend. However, when the ritualistic rapes and brutal beatings finally get too much for Bok-nam, she snaps and wreaks blood vengeance against the sadistic locals who have tormented her since she was a child.
After a solid hour of degradation, Bedevilled mutates into the grisly revenge movie that it always threatened to become during the second half, and the film improves dramatically. While it isn’t particularly enjoyable to watch, it is undeniably unsettling throughout, although a vein of dark humour would make the nastiness easier to endure. With some vigorous editing, the over-long Bedevilled could have been a horribly compelling psychological thriller. Regrettably, for long spells it’s merely horrible, and director Jang Cheol-So’s transgressive technique is almost totally devoid of subtlety. Queasy stuff.
- Interview: Billy O’Brien and William Todd-Jones - March 2, 2017
- The Childhood of a Leader: the birth of a terrifying ego - February 10, 2017
- Hold your breath: Don’t Breathe, and more reviews - January 26, 2017
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