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Two weeks ago we announced you the Brussels Fantasy and Sci-Fi Festival... unfortunately neither Darth Bond or I could go, thankfully Hannibal could (stay away from us you man eater freak !)... Hannibal had the chance (?) to see the new episode in "The Crow" franchise, "New Blood" and "The Convent"... here are his reviews... Edgard
Friday I went to the Filmfestival in Brussels and caught some interesting flicks there. Every years the festival takes place in Cinema Passage 44, and goes on for about three weeks. Although it strictly is a horror festival, they also screen some non-horror movies such as Galaxy Quest (which I missed, darn). The festival closed last saturday with SCREAM 3 and Dying Of Laughter. I missed the latter, but I thought SCREAM 3 was pretty neat. But then that's just me... I've included a short review of the films I did catch in this mail. Hope this is of any use to you, and post what you like.
The Crow: Salvation
This was the first movie of the evening, and I have to say it didn't convince me. It definitely had a sense of style to it, but the storyline (if there was any) was utterly confusing and very hard to follow. Kirsten Dunst is completely wasted in a small and weepy role as the daughter of a corrupt officer, and Eric Mabius as the Crow has a great presence but his dialogue (and not only his...) is quite appalling and cliched. The plot again evolves around the same subject as the previous two films. A guy is wrongfully accused of killing someone, but during his execution something goes wrong and somehow he is revived by a crow. From there on he goes on a quest to kill the men who killed him. So far so good, but aside from a moody beginning the movie rapidly goes downhill. There is some stylish action along the way, a few jokes and a really great 'cop-nearly-abuses-young-girl scene', but apart from that nothing much is going on at all. This franchise should be stone-dead by now... 4/10
New Blood
This was a real stinker. Boring and predictable from beginning to end. And worst of all a complete waste of a great cast including John Hurt, Joe Pantoliano, Carrie-Anne Moss (Cypher and Trinity from The Matrix) and Nick Moran. The center plot evolved around a man (Hurt) whose daughter needs a new heart. They don't seem to be able to find one, until the man's son (Moran) pops up, offering his heart in exchange of his fathers services. The father has to play the part of a kidnapped millionaire who was accidentally killed by Moran's gang. But he can't tell that to his boss and his 'businesspartners' (Pantoliano and Moss). This goes on for a while until the movie wraps up nicely and predictably after a grotesque shootout. 3/10
The Convent
This was the final movie of the evening. The coolest thing about it was that the director Mike Mendez (no relations with a certain Academy Award winning-Mendez, I asked) and lead actress Adrienne Barbeau (well known from some of the early John Carpenter movies) were at the screening. The crowd was amazing, screaming for blood and guts, and cheering at every decapitation and mutilation. And this is probably the only way this movie works. In a full theatre. When you watch this at home it would probably be pretty boring, the dialogue would be lame an the special effects would probably seem fake. But in a jam-packed theatre this doesn't matter. The movie has enough snappiness to be continually interesting, and Adrienne Barbeau kicks mayor ass in a Rambo-sort-of role. The plot evolves around a convent where a couple of nuns and priest were slaughtered 40 years ago by a young woman whose child they had stolen. The convent has been empty ever since, and the woman (Barbeau) had been locked up in the nuthouse for years. After she gets out, she returns to the village and barricades herself in her house, shooting at every trespasser. One night some horny teenagers (are there any other?) break into the abandoned convent to smoke pot and make out. But soon they are captured by some half-assed devilworshippers (one of the many welcome comic-reliefs of this film) who accidentally unleash the forces of evil. One girl escapes, calls upon Barbeau, and together the kick the demons ass. Pretty corny, I know, but it was tremendous fun. 6/10
signing out
Call me Hannibal
