Hey folks, Harry here with Quint's look at two of the most hotly received films of SXSW... One (AMORES PERROS) is nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's Academy Awards... and the other... GINGER SNAPS had better damn well be coming to a theater near you or else horror is just dead as we know it! Enough of me on with the seaman...
Ahoy there, squirts. 'Tis I the howlingly crusty seaman, Quint, here once more, this time with a look at two really cool dog movies that played at SXSW this year. The first, Ginger Snaps, has already been talked about quite a lot here, so I'll try to keep it short.
It's a hardcore, bloody, gory, non-CGI'ed out horror film the likes of which we haven't seen in a while. The story revolves around two sisters who are the only people in the world that matter to each other. They are the nonconformists, the girls that go against the grain. They dig gore, hate beauty queens and have a fairly twisted, yet totally understandable view on life.
Their quiet little neighborhood is being shaken by the "Beast of Bailey Downs," an animal that has killed numerous dogs. No one has seen this beast, but the dog corpses are piling up. One of the sisters ends up getting attacked and starts changing. That is all you need to know going into this sucker.
The two sisters have amazing chemistry. Emily Perkins (Young Beverly Marsh in the TV adaptation of Stephen King's It) and Katherine Isabelle play the sisters and are perfect together. You feel a real kinship between them which makes the movie that much better. It's always a good thing when you care about what happens to the lead characters in a horror movie. The scares in this film are frequent and well placed. The gore is terrific. The non-CGI monsters are a sight for sore eyes.
Mimi Rogers has her best role that I've seen in this film as the eccentric mother of the two girls. She has one of the best lines towards the end of the movie... when you'll see it you'll know. The guy that plays the father is equally good, but not given the same screentime as Rogers.
The movie is a love letter to fans of '80s hardcore horror, like American Werewolf in London and the Howling with a touch of the fun horror films of that era like Night of the Creeps. As a warped out goonie freak for '80s horror (my room has original theatrical posters for Sleepaway Camp, Night of the Creeps and Critters covering the walls) I loved this movie. If you're a fan of that era of horror, if you like your monsters made out of rubber and your blood to flow like water from the tap, then you're going to eat this movie up.
If you're not a fan of horror films, or of the horror films of the '70s and '80s then I don't think you'll like this movie too much. Those that I've met that were iffy on or hated Ginger Snaps didn't like that era of horror to begin with. I could be wrong, but if you just don't dig hardcore horror, then this movie will probably be lost on you. But if you do dig hardcore horror and are tired of your horror being crap like Valentine with a WB cast, Ginger Snaps is going to be a breath of fresh air.
This movie is edgy. It goes places you don't think it's going to go. They don't hold back or follow most of the conventions of the genre. I hear the film is going to be released in Canada at the end of the month and will possibly be released in the US soon after. Let's hope so.
The other dog film of SXSW was Amores Perros. Other than having a huge dog carcass count, this film has nothing in common with Ginger Snaps. Amores Perros (translated: Love's a Bitch) is a 2 1/2 hour film told with three different stories that intertwine with each other. Very Pulp Fiction in the storytelling. All three stories involve a love (two sexual relationships, one father/daughter relationship), a tragedy (sometimes the same as the love) and at least one dog.
The first story is of a guy who pines after his brother's wife. He also gets into trouble with the local badboys when he starts dipping into the seedy world of dog fights with his mean-ass Rotty. The second story is about a guy that leaves his wife for a famous supermodel who gets in an accident and has to cope with losing jobs by being stuck in a wheelchair while healing. She has a dog that ultimately is the cause for something very bad that happens in the story, which I won't ruin here. The third story is of a homeless guy who use to be a guerilla and is sometimes employed by the police to assassinate people. When he was imprisoned for his many guerilla acts, he and his wife decided it would be better if their young daughter thought he was dead than find out he was a criminal. He has a group of dogs that he loves and cares for.
So, all three of those storylines connect in at least 1 or 2 major places. The film is very well done and moving. The characters are drawn out and 3 dimensional, which is always a good thing. I don't know. I recognize the movie as being good, I really got into it while watching it and still like the movie a lot, but it's just not one that I really want to revisit anytime soon. It is a kind of a downer movie, but I don't think that's the reason... I think it's more that after I saw the outcome of everything, I just don't feel the need to watch it unfold again.
Don't let that persuade you from seeing the film, though. From those that I've talked to, I am in the vast minority on that above opinion. I really did like the movie and was entertained by it. I even still really like the movie, I just don't think it has the rewatchability factor that some of the other dramas of the fest, like Memento, for example.
There you go, squirts. I know the Amores Perros one came up a bit short, but fuck it. Donger is tired. I'll hit you guys with a few more reviews before my SXSW coverage concludes, including my look at the two funniest films of the fest. Also comin' up on the horizon are some interviews I got to share with ye'.
Until then, this is Quint bidding you all a fine farewell and adieu.
-Quint
Stop humping my leg you filthy mutt, get to writing!
