Hey folks, Harry here with a second report from Brussels from whence sprouts cool news about Fantasy Films from their Film Fest there. This time, the main film to take note of is PERFECT STRANGER with Sam Neill - that's a film we haven't covered before and it's pretty darn cool. Personally, I really dig Stuart Gordon's KING OF THE ANTS, but then I tend to like most everything Stuart does... he has an aesthetic that I like, even if he never has the budgets I wish he had to get the talent to fully realize the potential his direction and stories have. Here ya go...
Morning Harry and crew,
LoneWolf here with another little update from the Brussels Fantasy
FilmFest. After missing out on the Sunday films (not due to it being a
day of rest or anything, was just too tired to leave the house...) it
was time to go for the full monty on Monday evening. And it was a bit
of a mixed bag in atmosphere and unfortunately in quality too.
SOULS
Lets start with the not so good and the Italian 'Souls' written and
directed by Mariantonia Avanti. This one is filmed in black and white
on DV and projected from DVD (you'd think they were doing it on purpose
to show how 'indie' they are...). We get an intro involving body
snatching and the murder of a priest backed by some of the worst music
in film history. Things do improve somewhat though as we enter a pretty
classic ghost story set-up. A priest who has no memory of anything
before the age of ten is moved to a remote village where there is a
mystery surrounding a family who's son supposedly drowned years before
(despite no body being found) followed by which the mother killed
herself. The priest has barely stepped though the door of his new home
before he is hearing noises in the night etc. Can you guess what the
'twist' is yet? Uh-huh, thought so.... (By the way, I am not giving
too much away, you find out all of the above in the first ten minutes of
the film...). So nothing too special, although the director does pull
off a couple of relatively creepy scenes and it must be said that the
final sequence is very nicely handled. So, some promise there, but she
really needs to work from a more original script next time.
KING OF THE ANTS
Next up, we saw Stuart Gordon take the stage. Gordon has been to the
festival on numerous occasions and has presented almost all of his films
here. He was given a heroes welcome by the usual excitable crowd who
shouted out their usual request to anybody who takes the stage to sing a
song. Which he did. He came across as very likable and certainly was
into the spirit of the festival. Having been excited to see him back on
form with his previous film 'Dagon' I was really looking forward to
seeing this one 'King of the Ants'. And I was not disappointed. Gordon
is at the top of his game with this brutal, nihilistic and yes, pitch
black funny sledge-hammer of a film. Sean Crawley (Chris McKenna) is
living a fairly meaningless existence doing odd jobs when he runs into
Duke (George Wendt (yup, ole Norm. Although I will have difficulty
seeing him as that again after this film). Duke in turn introduces him
to Ray (Daniel Baldwin) who asks him to follow an accountant from city
hall. Sean jumps at the occasion to do something to add just a little
excitement to his life but soon Ray is asking him to kill the accountant
which he does in a scene that manages to be both funny and sickening at
the same time. The consequences of this act then start to take their
toll on Sean. This is a film where the violence hurts. A lot. Gordon
uses extreme close-ups so that it is in your face and there is no
avoiding it. And this violence also has consequences, both physical and
moral. Baldwin looks like he has eaten all the pies (or possibly a
lesser known brother or two) but damn if he isn't actually pretty damn
effective here. George Wendt plays an amoral old so and so and does so
incredibly well. Mckenna also does an excellent job of showing a man
going to the edge and back and realising that people are no better than
ants and that nothing is ever going to change. Oh, and Kari Wuhrer is
excellent as always. And takes all of her clothes off.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... Sorry, drifted off for a second there. But the
real stars of this one are Gordon's direction and especially Charlie
Higson's script. This is not a film for every taste, but if you get a
chance, have a strong stomach and a twisted sense of humour then this is
well worth checking out.
PERFECT STRANGERS
Finally I would like to send a message to the people of New Zealand: Can you please stop making such damn good films? It's putting the rest of the world to shame.... The latest little gem to come from down-under is 'Perfect Strangers' by Gaylene Preston starring Sam Neill and Rachael Blake. Out for the night with the girls, Melanie, beautifully played by Blake, is looking for a little male company to fill up her life, even if just for the night. There she meets an enigmatic stranger played by Neill who whisks her away by boat to a remote island. Mel is a little upset to say the least when she wakes up with a hangover to find herself alone on an island with a man that she barely knows (she does not even know his name). Especially when this man keeps telling her that he loves her and that they will live there together forever. It's nice to see Neill playing a creepy bad guy as he does it very well and the script keeps his back-ground in the dark so that we are as unaware of his true motives as Mel is. I know, you are probably saying that you can see where this is going. Woman alone on island fights for her survival against physcho. Well, erm, no actually. This film quickly takes a fairly unexpected turn and becomes something strange and altogether wonderful. I really don;t want to spoil this one as Preston has written a beautiful script that plays with our preconceptions and gives Blake a chance to shine as the complex and ultimately lonely Mel. Preston also has a great eye for shots and gives the film a slightly off-kilter feel all the while making the most of the spectacular scenery (are there no ugly bits of New Zealand?). So, another winner there, highly recommended.
That's it for today. Will be back soon with more updates from the land of great beer. and wonderful movies.
