They Made Me do It Again #6 : Evil Dead (2013)

Evil Dead is a 2013 horror remake of the 1981 film of the same name. Directed by  Fede Alvarez (Panic Attack) starring Jane Levy (Suburgatory), Shiloh Fernandez (Dead Girl) and Jessica Lucas (Cloverfield). The film was also produced by original Evil Dead director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell.

Evil Dead follows the same basic plot as the original in that it follows a group of young adults as they head out to an ominous cabin in the woods for the weekend but end up finding the Necronomicon, read from it and summon the forces of evil. The slight twist to the remake is that Mia (Levy) is a a drug addict willingly participating in an intervention staged by her brother David (Fernandez), friend Olivia (Lucas) and other buddies as she attempts to go cold turkey once again. As the effects of drug withdrawal can be markedly similar to demonic possession it takes the group a while to realise that they've accidentally summoned the evil dead and as the events in the Necronomicon unfold before there eyes, they must sacrifice Mia if they have any hope of surviving the night.

The flaws of The Evil Dead are as obvious as they are frustrating, for the most part it's a shoddy script given to shoddy actors. I can't tell you the last time I squirmed so much at movie dialogue and it's delivery but it was probably in a sy-fy movie and ultimately gave me a laugh. This didn't make me laugh and I expected a lot more from such a big budget movie that had supposedly been in the works for years and been worked on by several screenwriters (including Cody Diablo of Juno/Jennifer's Body acclaim). By the same token I felt horribly misled by the film's marketing and statements from Alvarez himself stating that this would be a serious take on the premise. The action and tropes on display in the movie are as hokey and cliched as anything you'd find in an 80s horror film and nothing makes my eyes roll more than a possessed character spouting profanity complete with awful "demon-voice" effects.

That being said, there are a lot of things to like here as well. Alvarez's direction is excellent from the opening upside down vista to the immersive crash zooms and fantastic lighting  he really knows how to create atmosphere and has a bright future in filmmaking. Couple this with the excellent score and sound effects department and you get an intense, visceral cinema experience that is best experienced either in the cinema or with a good pair of headphones for maximum effect. Speaking of viscera, this is easily the goriest film of the year and could be the goriest of the decade. Taking into account that the stomach churning, ultraviolent action was achieved almost entirely with practical effects you really get the sense that these are traditional horror filmmakers with a passion and respect for the pioneering work of Sam Raimi.

Once you get over the clunky first act, overripe with cliches and wooden performances aplenty, Evil Dead really starts to become a fun horror movie with buckets of blood to please any true genre fan. The action and well crafted set pieces perhaps indicate a style over substance approach but every time I started to get on board with the movie one of the idiotic characters would open their mouths and say something, well...idiotic! If you can switch off your brain and adjust your expectations from the posters hyperbolic claims of near perfection and being "the most terrifying film you will ever experience" then you'll enjoy yourself but for me this has to go down as a missed opportunity for something truly great.

*** 3 Stars

What do you think of the film? How does it compare to the original?

They Made Me Do It...Again! #5 : Grave Encounters 2 (2012)

Grave Encounters 2 is a 2012 mockumentary horror film. Directed by John Poliquin and starring Richard Harman (Bates Motel), Dylan Playfair and Leanne Lapp. The film was written by the Vicious Brothers, who directed the first film.

The film picks up straight away from the first film in extremely meta fashion by featuring Internet nerds reviewing the movie on you tube. One of these nerds is amateur horror film maker Alex (Harman) who starts to become obsessed with the events of the first film. Being encouraged by a contact named “death awaits” Alex starts to believe that the footage was all legitimate and the cast of the first film perished in the Collingwood mental asylum. He is able to convince his fellow students to join him in making a documentary to get to the bottom of what happened to the cast of Grave encounters but discovers that the supernatural powers of the Collingwood asylum are far greater than even portrayed in the original film.

Grave Encounters 2 is that most bold and ambitious of sequels in that it seeks to simultaneously expand on the mythology of the original whilst also sending up it’s predecessor. That’s not to say that the first film didn’t have the wink and the nudge, the whole concept of the film was to lampoon ludicrous ghost hunting TV shows whilst slowly introducing some scares of it’s own, which was deftly accomplished.  Right from the get-go the film establishes that the emphasis will be on MOCKumentary with the characters cracking wise about other horror films and clichéd tropes of the genre. However, after a visit to the asylum and a quick retread of the same events as the first film, the story starts to focus on it’s most fascinating element….the sentient nature of the asylum itself. This was hinted at in the first film with doors shifting, corridors appearing from nowhere and the unusual passage of time but this entry really emphasises the concept of the hospital being a parallel dimension.

This signifies a strange (but enjoyable) genre shift from post modern horror comedy to a more sci-fi/fantasy element and although it all became rather overblown and ridiculous at times there was always a character with a witty riposte to remind us not to take the film too seriously. You could say one of the main strengths of the film is its genre-literacy and the Vicious Brothers certainly know when to play it scary, funny or fantastical and this keeps things consistently fresh and entertaining were it would otherwise seem too smug and referential. My only criticism of the film would be a fairly slow first act and what I felt was some way too hammy acting from the returning Lance Preston character channelling some sort of insane hobo let loose in the madhouse

Perhaps this entry is only for fans of the first film (which I definitely was) as it leans very heavily on the tone set and goes for gags over scares more often than the original movie. Fans of meta-horror will relish the nods and winks to so many horror and sci fi clichés but may find that the final act tends to veer into unchecked cliché itself. I get the strange urge to see Grave Encounters turned into a trilogy but perhaps after this entry there really isn’t anywhere left to go but I have to highly recommend both films as a double bill, found footage rarely gets this clever.

**** 4 Stars

What did you think of Grave Encounters 2? Did you see the first film?

They Made Me Do It...Again! #4: Pacific Rim (2013)

Pacific Rim is a 2013 Sci-fi Kaiju film. Directed by Guillermo Del Torro (Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone) starring Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy, Green Street), Idris Elba (Prometheus, The Wire) and Rinko Kikuchi. The film is inspired by many of the Japanese and Mecha works of the 20th Century.

The plot actually begins not with the emergence of the Kaiju but rather several years into the war between the Kaiju and the man made giant robots known as the Jaegers, with a nifty prologue to get you up to speed. Our protagonist, and Jaeger operator, Raleigh Beckett (Hunnam) has recently lost his brother in an epic sea battle with the knifehead Kaiju and has resigned himself to a career in steelworking when he receives a visit from the excellently titled Stacker Pentecost (Elba). Pentecost, along with trainee Jaeger pilot Mako (Kikuchi), is able to convince Beckett to get back in the saddle as the Pan Pacific Defence Corps stage their last stand against the invading Kaiju spilling out of the trans dimensional rift at the bottom of the ocean.

I'm a huge Kaiju and Godzilla fan and right off the bat I can tell you that I wasn't disappointed by the delivery of giant robots scrapping with giant monsters and the film followed through on it's promise in every sense. The special effects are superb and not once did I doubt that the human and digital characters existed in the same space. There is also great effort and attention to detail that has been poured into the Kaiju lore which is explored through the slightly grating scientist double act and more entertaining turn from Ron Perlman as black market Kaiju organ dealer Hannibal Chau (a not so subtle Blade Runner reference). Aside from the digital effects there is also a lush visual design on display from Del Torro with the Hong Kong sequence providing a particular rainy, neon feast for the eyes that transports you straight to Los Angeles 2019.

The only thing that undermines the plot and high drama is the shoddy script and inconsistent performances from Elba and Hunnam. Whereas the Kaiju and Jaegers have had a lot of thought put into them the same cannot be said for the human characters and I found it difficult to get behind humanity when we have been provided with such insincere heroes. My expectations had been somewhat set by the trailers and for my money Hunnam and Elba have some pretty poor performances in their filmography but the ultra cheesy action movie dialogue and notorious "cancelling the apocalypse" speech made me wince. It also bothered me that the only Jaeger given the proper screen time was Gipsy Danger, the American robot of course, and other nation's Jaegers were quickly disposed of and I also felt there could have been a little more variety in the Kaiju design.

Pacific Rim is best enjoyed as an overblown, melodramatic homage to the Kaiju genre peppered with cartoonish protagonists and action bravado. A sort of Top Gun with giant monsters and you can't help but feel if there was a Pan Pacific Defence Corps impressionable young military types would be queuing up round the block. Smarter and fresher than most summer blockbusters a solid foundation has been laid and a good time has been had by all, but for me, I can't wait to see what they do with the concept next.

**** 4 Stars

What did you think of Pacific Rim? Are you on board for a sequel?

They Made Me Do It...Again! #3: Sinister (2012)

Sinister is a 2012 serial killer/supernatural horror film. Directed by Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) starring Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Assault on Precinct 13), Juliet Rylance and James Ransone. The film was produced by Jason Blum whose prolific credits include the Paranormal Activity and Insidious franchises.

The plot centres around washed up true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Hawke) who has just moved his wife (Rylance) and two kids into a new house quickly revealed to be the scene of a grisly mass murder with the intention of writing a new book and regaining his fame and fortune. Once settled into the house Ellison discovers the most grim collection of home movies detailing a series of murders stretching back to the 1960s all linked together by a mysterious figure. Furthermore each case features a missing child not included in the ritualistic killings which ultimately turn out to be the doing of Baghuul, a pagan deity who eats children and is able to take them from this world into the netherworld. It then falls to Ellison to crack the case and figure out how to escape Baghuul before it's too late.

Sinister is very much a film of two halves and two styles, the gritty disturbing true crime serial killer film and the far fetched supernatural demon film. The first half is by far the strongest and the grainy snuff-like super 8 films that depicts the previous murders are the most terrifying, and therefore best, parts of the film. Cut this with Ellisons suspenseful night time patrols, armed usually with a baseball bat, and you have an extremely tense and atmospheric horror film. This is made all the more stronger by the excellent sound design, particularly in the super 8 films, where strange reversed voices and eery static combine with horrific imagery to create some of the most unsettling scenes in the history of horror.

The tipping point from this impeccable first half into the jarring supernatural second half is signalled by the clumsiest of exposition as Ellison's contact in the occult world professor Jonas frankly states "The symbol is associated with a Pagan deity named Bhaguul. He consumes the souls of human children". For me this deflated much of the fantastic tension built up in the first half and whilst it's never easy to combine realistic and supernatural elements I felt this element was simply too far fetched to gel with the tone of the rest of the film. Another drawback of the film is that Hawke, a fairly competent actor, is surrounded by terrible actors. Juliet Rylance's performance as Ellison's wife is shockingly cringe worthy and quite why she needed to be English I'm not sure as the accent made her sound all the more wooden and out of place in this film. The film also tries to shoehorn comic relief into the plot via "Deputy so and so" (Ransone) and falls flat every time, I appreciate the writers probably felt the film would benefit from some occasional light hearted banter but it just doesn't fit.

Every time I think about Sinister I have mixed feelings and have changed my mind back and forth a few times since the film was released. Is it an over hyped mess of styles that veers into the ridiculous one too many times? Or is it an intensely terrifying horror film that tries to do something different by creating an original horror character but loses control in it's third act? I feel more than anything that it was likely a horror film designed by committee and stumbled over it's own ambition, I'm reluctant to say that it completely wasted it's potential but with some personnel changes and a little restraint in the script it could have been an instant modern classic. As it stands Sinister is definitely a very scary film, an original property and one to watch on your own in the dark but when all is said and done it is unable to deliver on its own promises.

*** 3 Stars

What did you think of Sinister? Would you have changed any of the supernatural elements?

They Made Me Do It...Again! July 12-July 13 #2: The Possession (2012)

The Possession is a 2012 possession/exorcism film. Directed by Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch) starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Resident), Natasha Calis and Matisyahu. The film was produced by Sam Raimi's Ghost House pictures.The plot of The Possession is based on the infamous "Dybbuk box" eBay hoax in which Kevin Mannis claimed that the box was haunted by a Dybbuk (Hebrew for dislocated spirit) and had caused violent phenomena to all who owned it. 

In the film the box is purchased by recent divorcee Clyde Brenek (Morgan) for his daughter Emily (Calis) in order to win brownie points and settle his daughters into his new home in a suburb right out of Poltergeist (1982). However soon after opening the box Emily begins to feel "not herself" and this soon develops into full blown possession, complete with accompanying moth swarms and violent outbursts. Clyde soon discovers the box's Hebrew origins and so enlists the help of Tzadok (Matisyahu), an Hasidic Jew and seemingly qualified exorcist, to drive the Dybbuk out of Emily's body.

The film has been described by many as the Jewish version of The Exorcist (1973) and although this seems a lazy description, it is a fairly accurate one. The Jewish/Hebrew take on the sub-genre, with accompanying mythology, is certainly a somewhat fresh approach to a very tired format and the creature design, much less the fact that you actually get to see the demon leave the body, is something rarely seen in cinema exorcisms. That being said, The Possession is a deeply generic film. All the possession tropes are there, little girl in a nightie, insect infestation and the always cheesy demon voice. If you like all those tropes then they're certainly employed to good effect and the film keeps within the strong tradition established by The Exorcist but personally I hoped for slightly more.

The film's main strength is it's high production values, particularly the special effects and excellent score, and it is a very slick, mainstream film in the best possible way. Standout use of effects include the fingers coming out of the throat (spoiled in the trailer) and the creepy, yet faintly ridiculous, appearance of the Dybbuk in the MRI scan. The score is utilised well to build tension through simple piano patterns and booming strings and scenes often begin with an eery Kubrick-esque ariel shot showing Bornedal's flare for creeping atmosphere.

All in all The Possession doesn't reinvent the wheel but plays as a solid possession/exorcist movie that is true to the sub genre while incorporating fresh elements of Jewish folklore and impressive special effects set pieces. Will be best enjoyed by people who really love or, conversely, have never seen a possession film but personally i don't fall into either camp.

*** 3 Stars

What did you think of The Possession? How do you think it ranks amongst other possession films?

They Made Me Do It...Again! July 12-July 13 #1: The Purge (2013)

The Purge is a 2013 dystopian home invasion film. Directed and written by James DeMonaco (writer of Skinwalkers and Assault on Precinct 13 remake) starring Ethan Hawke (Sinister, Training Day), Lena Heady (Dredd, 300) and Rhys Wakefield (Home & Away).

The premise of the The Purge is as simple as it is genius. In the year 2022 America has been so ravaged by crime & poverty that the right wing political party known as "the founding fathers" have introduced the annual purge, a 12 hour period with no laws and no consequences during which citizens can maim and murder to their heart's content. However, ostentatious security salesman James Sandin (Hawke), wife Mary (Headey) and their two children only want to hunker down for the night in their enormous house and let the "purgers" get on with it. This goes slightly awry when their son has a crisis of conscience and decides to give shelter to a fleeing homeless man drawing the ire of a group of ultra-violent rich kids and their "polite leader" who only wish to exercise their right to purge and give the Sandins an ultimatum....send the fugitive out, or we're coming in!

The most fascinating aspect of The Purge is the social satire and back story behind the main concept, it instantly demands that the audience put their selves in the shoes of the protagonists, would such a system really be for the greater good? Would you protect the life of a stranger wagered against the lives of your family? The film raises several interesting questions of ethics and morality and even though the Sandins begin the movie as affluent pacifists they too become forced to play the game and by the end of the film you really wonder whether the protagonists were really protagonists at all.

By stark contrast the antagonists of the film are clearly so, representing the rich oligarchy desperate to eradicate the poor and hungry who place such a burden on the nation they clearly see it as their right to purge and enact their twisted agenda. The best performance of the film has to go to Rhys Wakefield as the polite leader, with well spoken, charming delivery of the terrifying threats he channels the same kind of "polite terrorism" employed so effectively in Funny Games (1997). Although I must say the rubber masks worn by the purgers are cliched in the extreme, once the polite leader takes his off he's able to convey a genuinely psychotic character that I found incredibly effective.

I was very pleasantly surprised by The Purge as I had mixed expectations based on Ethan Hawke's other recent horror film (don't worry we'll get to that one) and I had assumed that once you knew the premise you didn't necessarily need to see the film. I was wrong, it becomes ever more compelling as you see how the characters are affected by the purge and how the night plays out and although I could see the final twist coming from a mile off it left me no less satisfied with the film.

**** 4 Stars

What did you think of The Purge? What would you do in an actual purge?

TMMDI Top Ten of 2012

So 2012 was a good year for movies about cults (Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene didn't quite make the cut) Zom-coms (Cockneys VS Zombies deserves an honourable mention) and the long awaited return to prominence of the mighty Hammer productions. Some of these movies have already been reviewed, some are yet to be reviewed, but for now here's the best of 2012!

1. Sightseers

2. The Dark Knight Rises

3. Looper

4. Shame

5. The Woman in Black

6. The Master

7. Harold's Going Stiff

8. Sound of my Voice

9. Killer Joe

10. Take This Waltz

Did you have a favourite film in 2012 that isn't here? Which of these movies was your favourite last year?