Silent Hill (2006)

Director: Christophe Gans
Starring: Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden, Sean Bean, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, Alice Krige, Deborah Kara Unger .USA/France/Canada. 2h 5m

Before the massive remake revolution audiences used to get some kind of excitement when their beloved media was about to be revamped into something new and shiny. However over the years we were battered to death by abysmal rehases that missed the plot and we all lost faith that any remake was going to be worth our time… but before we learnt the painful lesson there was some hope that Silent Hill, in the hands of Christophe Gans, might, just might make a decent horror movie. After all the games are fucking terrifying so even if you miss the mark, you’ll still end up with something unsettling and creepy right? Right?

300 (2006)

Director : Zack Snyder
Starring : Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Andrew Plevan, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro . USA | Canada | Bulgaria | Australia. 1h 57m

 

 

Out of all of the graphic novels and comics I’ve read over the years, this was surprisingly one I never considered to be a good candidate for a film adaptation. While I stand divided on if it should have been created, I’m forever blown away by every aspect 300, even with all the campy parodies and piss takes, for me, at least it’s still a rocking stylised story of ultimate bravery and sacrifice, but with so many of the pages from the novel coming to life periodically throughout the action, it seems I was wrong and 300 was made for the big screen.

Deliver Us From Evil (2006)

Director: Amy J. Berg
Starring. Oliver O’Grady. USA. 1h 41m.

There comes a time when people just need to own up to the shit they did, however evil and intense, the humane search in the void for an unbiased look into such confessions from budding director Amy J. Berg is perfect in its direct candid approach but it only makes everything seem so much more sinister, not that it’s a easy subject to view in the first place.

Amy J. Berg conjures up a quiet and peaceful atmosphere for setting her subjects, primarily Irish priest Oliver O’Grady, with lots of shots in churches and decorative offices, the focus is entirely on the person trying to tell their story and this is totally important with docufilms.

Fido (2006)

Director: Andrew Currie.
Starring. K’sun Ray, Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss, Henry Czerny, Tim Blake Nelson, Dylan Baker. Canada. 1h 33m.

For a while the Zombie revival was starting to get rather annoying, every Tom Dick and Harry were making a Zombie Vs [Insert Ludacris foe here] movie and for me it got to the level of almost being insulting to the craft of filmmaking. But every now and again somebody take the initiative to have a solid narrative before filming and thus we have Fido, for me one of the most unusual and genuinely funny comedy horrors for some time.

The Bridge (2006)

Director: Eric Steel.
Starring.Various. USA. 1h m.

Worlds literally end in Eric Steel’s slightly tastefully feature length documentary which focuses solely on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. For one year the iconic bridge was filmed including every suicide that took place on The Bridge that year with candid interviews of the people left behind.

The film opens like a tourist promo, with beautiful scenes of the bridge, the crew setting up hidden cameras, vibrant wildlife is in abundance, the quiant businesses nearby are lit in golden sunshine, then suddenly a body drops, and we are initiated into the Bridge, a bold unwavering look into the jolly suicide spot.

Be afraid of what lies beneath…

Efter Brylluppet / After the Wedding (2006)

Director: Susanne Bier.
Starring. Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Denmark/India/Sweden. 2h 2m.

There’s a strange sense of duty and a unique stiff upper lip with Scandinavian culture, often associated with bravery and wisdom, sometimes things get a little sharp and precise with the Northern European restraint, and it unfolds with a glorious and bitter results.

The film opens with Jacob (Mikkelsen) a good Samaritan who has cast off all the luxuries of Denmark and is running an orphanage in India which is in dire need of funding. A mysterious man Jorgen (Lasagard) insists on giving the a large sum of money to the cause but only if he gets to meet with face to face, at first he’s hesitant but then soon realises the fate of the children rests on his shoulders.

Pelts (2006)

Masters of Horror Collection.
Director : Dario Argento.
Starring: John Saxon, Meatloaf. USA.

Not quite sure where to put this, it’s too long to be a short but not quite a movie either but it was excellent to watch so here goes a quick flick review.

You’ll have to excuse me as I don’t watch television so when I find me series randomly on DVD I kind of go through the missing one movies.

Pelts is a twisted gore episode in the masters of horror collection from Dario Argento. Not necessarily a horror but a thrilling bone crunching, flesh tearing fiesta, starting Meatloaf as a pervy fur trader who is infatuated with a stripper and gets more than he bargained for when he’s offered a set of perfect pelts.

Of course there is a snag.

It’s a brilliant story about well, a set of haunted pelts that eventually get turned into a coat,  killing anyone who comes into contact with it along the manufacturing process and for the most part it’s not a horror but just out to gross and disgust it’s audience, which isn’t a problem at all. Meatloaf is excellent in the lead of a pretty dire cast apart from John Saxon who pretty much starts this ball of terror rolling by trespassing and killing the mystical raccoon’s (pine lights), in the first place, and boy does he have a cute technique “You gotta stamp on their necks”!?!

It’s been ages since I’ve watched any of the masters of horror minis and they do seem to be the perfect length for a horror,  without too much sentimental gumph to fatten it out into a full length feature. It takes forever to warm up and there is a heavy dose of porny scenes but it makes up for that in the later half with tons of gore and nastiness.

Argento’s earlier works are legendary but i lost a lot of respect for his more modern works but this does redeem a little bit of faith that he hasn’t completely lost it, the tension and mystery has gone but this is very watchable if you don’t mind the smut.

Rating 4/10

Seraphim Falls (2006)

A tortuous, violent and heartbreaking revenge film, superbly acted by two of Ireland’s best. This movie was a pivotal point in my life and actually got me watching westerns again.

Starting out in the snowy mountains, Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) is running for his life from a pack of inexperienced bounty hunters headed by the relentless Carver (Liam Neeson). after being shot he evades escape and heads down into the warm valleys while the group are constantly hot on his trails until they encounter a couple of very unusual characters in the hot desert who tempt them into their destruction or salvation. It’s brutal throughout it really doesn’t ever let up the violence apart from some strong dramatic scenes.

Both leads in this film are charismatic in their own rights and seeing them play off powerful emotions was very impressive. Neeson as the quick tempered and domineering Carver was akin to having Captain Ahab on a horse chasing down the one single thing that destroyed his world. in this instance the white whale is a hardened ex soldier, Gideon who got caught up in one mistake and brought down the wrath of Carver. Once you discover the backstory you can understand things from the points of view of both men and it’s a case of righter and wronger neither are right in their actions but both are doing what they feel is right by doing wrong.

Abandoned (2006)

 

 

 

 

Directed: Nacho Cerda
Written: Karim Hussain/Nacho Cerda (screenplay)
Starring: Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden, Valentin Ganev, Carlos Reig. Spain, Bulgaria. 1h 39m.

I must admit that I missed the very beginning of the movie but it was literally 5 minutes or so, and I have been reliably informed that I didn’t miss much!

The epic opening that I missed involved a peasant family who are eating dinner when a truck stops outside, the patriarch of the family goes outside, opens the truck to find a murdered woman and two crying infants. Marie Jones (Anastasia Hille) discovers her Russian roots and returns to the family home to find out more about her past and family after information that she has inherited a property in Russia and the advice that she should visit it. Upon arriving in a alien and hostile land, she eventually gets to the property where she is soon abandoned and has to make the best of a bad situation. With limited supplies she tries to get comfortable in the run down family home, looking for clues about her past, after discovering a few clues to some past violent events, an estranged twin brother, Nicolai (Karel Roden) and a dead version of the siblings who stalk them at night..

The Prestige (2006)

Christopher Nolan, devised this tangible and progressive account of the battle between two ambitious magicians and somehow manages to write in a very real history about a similar battle between Tesla and Edison and an insight into various magic tricks and stage shows of the 19th Century.

The film is based in one of the darkest revenge stories of the year and a novel by Christopher Priest , two young wannabe performers are soon baying for each other’s blood after a mistake is made and a stage assistant and wife of the soon to become Great Danton (Hugh Jackman) drowns on stage. Danton then does everything that he possibly can to destroy Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and his rough English accent…

The workings of various complicated tricks are all brought to life and detailed in lavish sets with beautifully dressed stars, with  the glamorous Scarlett Johansson on the stage and the more refined Rebecca Hall who is perfect in any period piece.There is a great attention to the details of the Victorian craft and apparatus,

“Dark stylish and creative revenge story with a epic twist and many tragedies”

 

As the intensity of hated grows between the two men, they personally attack each other while trying to build a career, Alfred has his secret and family and is trying to his career, while Danton becomes obsessed and travels the world to become the best, and with the help of  John Cutter (Michael Caine) a rugged London ingenieur.

Even though the story is adapted from a novel, it’s so very much in Nolan’s signature style, as with Memento (2008) the story shifts through the timeline showing past and present but doesn’t lose the plot of the viewer, and it successfully adds intrigue and depth.

This consuming movie is abundant with character, bravely filmed and boasts a strong acting cast even David Bowie holds his own as Nikola Tesla (it was great to see my hero play my hero!) and this character adds in more twists as the movie starts to get darker and twisted. Also with the addition of electricity and huge devices, the film takes on a SteamPunk feel which is straight from left field but if you allow Nolan to take you on this mysterious and fantastic ride,   the narrative rewards you with thought-provoking moral and dramatic exploration of the issues raised.

A truly first class movie that has to be watched twice to see the twists and turns. I remember when it first came out it was rivaled between The Illusionist and as far as I’m concerned this wins hands down. There is a lot to take in but you will lap it up.

8/10

full review, post discussion to come.