It feels very appropriate that the phrase which comes to mind while watching Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest is that of German Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt: ‘the banality of evil’: the idea that evil acts are not always carried out by inherently psychopathic people, or people who are outside of the realms of what might be deemed ‘regular’ psychological makeup.

The Höss in The Zone of Interest epitomise the banality of evil. Rudolph (Christian Friedel) is the Commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp which is located next door to the family’s home. His wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) is the perfect Nazi wife and mother: she has borne five healthy children ranging in age from an infant to a teenager (who is a member of Hitler Youth). Hedwig has cultivated a haven for her family inside and out, including a lush flower and vegetable garden, a small paddling pool, and beehives.

They believe they are living the ideal that Hitler apparently aspired to for the German people: the ideal of ‘Leibensraum’ or ‘Living Space’- German self-sufficiency. That’s the lie that they tell themselves, because in reality Hedwig’s glorious garden benefits from the utilisation of Jewish labour from the camps. Her sparklingly clean house and delightful meals are, again, courtesy of Jewish labour. It’s as far from self-sufficiency as anyone can get, and the family profits from the subjugation of others. Meanwhile, there is the ever-present smoke rising from the chimneys of the camp’s incinerators, bedtime stories punctuated by gunshots and the sounds of screaming prisoners.

But Hedwig’s delusional perfect world has cracks in it. While she is the dutiful wife and mother, her husband seeks out sex workers. Her nanny drinks heavily to cope with Hedwig’s screaming baby so that Hedwig can have a restful night’s sleep. And even though her mother displays a casual cruelty towards the inhabitants of the camp next door, even she will begin to be horrified by the true nature of what’s happening at Auschwitz.

The Zone of Interest is not a visually graphic film. Instead, it’s psychologically graphic. And it’s the banality of evil on display and the casual cruelty and profiteering that renders the audience horrified. For instance, Hedwig receives a bundle of clothing which includes undergarments and a fur coat. She allows her housemaids to choose a garment each, whilst she takes the fur coat. These have all been taken from prisoners upon their arrival at camp. She even tries on the lipstick she finds in the pocket of the coat.

Possibly one of the most upsetting scenes in the film occurs when Rudolph and two of his children go to the river and as the children play on the riverbank and Rudolph fishes, the clear water begins to turn murky downstream. Rudolph finds a pelvic bone and hurriedly attempts to vacate the water when he realises the contamination is ashes and partially burned remains. What makes this scene even more disturbing is that when they arrive home the children are rushed to be vigorously scrubbed clean, leading the viewer to assume that it’s not because they were in contact with human ash that they are being washed… it’s that they were Jewish remains.

The film relies heavily on sound and colour to convey the contrast between life inside and outside Auschwitz. The opening scene is an explosion of green grass and lush trees, wrapped in a soundscape of birdsong. Elements of the Höss house’s interiors are also punctuated with light green elements, helping to unify the outside utopia of Hedwig’s garden with the supposed domestic tranquillity of the home. Mica Levi’s minimalist score is haunting but effective, only being employed where necessary in order to avoid competing with the effectiveness of the nightmarish soundscape of the camp.

There is one major bone to pick with the film, however.

This is to do with the small subplot revolving around a young girl in the village who surreptitiously gathers fallen fruit and hides it where camp prisoners will be doing field work. A black and white negative effect is mostly used for these scenes, and while it implies that this is the polar opposite of what is happening with the Höss family and others like them, it is visually discordant and doesn’t actually add anything to the film. While it may have been a way to show that there are people in the area who are aware of what is happening at Auschwitz and who actively oppose it, it doesn’t actively enhance the film in any significant way.

The Zone of Interest is an example of how powerful cinema can be to re-examine history and remind people of events that shouldn’t be forgotten. It serves as a reminder that there are always people profiting from conflict, possibly why conflicts are still so rife in the twenty-first century. It is a film that needs to be seen and reflected upon so that we may not participate in the banality of evil ourselves.

The post THE ZONE OF INTEREST (Bluray) REVIEW appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The 21st century has been a boom for Australian horror and genre directors.

In the past 24 years have gifted us with classics like The Babadook, Wolf Creek, Hounds of Love, Snowtown and The Loved Ones. Last year saw the overwhelming (and wholly deserved) international success of Talk to Me.

Now, there’s another Australian film that looks set to continue that success internationally: Colin and Cameron Cairnes’ Late Night with the Devil.

Written, edited and directed by the Cairnes Brothers, Late Night with the Devil is an eerie, atmospheric dive into the occult paranoia that loomed large over the 1970s; a foreshadowing of the Satanic Panic that was unleashed in the 1980s.

The film begins with an introduction (voiced by the excellent Michael Ironside) that introduces the world in which the remainder of the film is set. It’s the 1970s and the world is in chaos. The Summer of Love is no more, the Vietnam War is vehemently opposed in the US, oil prices are through the roof. The Manson Family go on trial for their crimes, and David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz is arrested after his reign of terror in NYC. Occult activity is seemingly rife.

It’s amidst this chaos that radio presenter turned late night talk show host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) hopes to make his mark on the lucrative late night TV scene.

He’s facing an uphill battle, however, because this is the era of the undisputed king of late-night TV, The Tonight Show’s Johnny Carson. Jack signs with the UBC network to host Night Owls with Jack Delroy, in direct competition with Carson. Throughout the early 70s he has fair to middling success but takes solace in his loving relationship with his wife, Madeline (Georgina Haig). He also gains entry to The Grove, a shadowy group of elite men in power who indulge in esoteric rituals.

But fate deals Jack a massive blow when Madeline (nicknamed ‘Minnie’) is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and subsequently passes away. Amidst a public outpouring of grief, Jack hides himself away only to bravely re-appear on Night Owls sometime later.

Hopes are high when it comes to Halloween of 1977 which also coincides with sweeps week; the US TV ratings week that determines a show’s standing in the ratings nationally. And thus Night Owls with Jack Delroy is upping the ante with its guest line-up for Halloween Night in the hopes of smashing the ratings ceiling once and for all. It’s this particular episode that forms the basis of the remainder of the film; the footage of which was lost until recently and is combined with footage filmed behind the scenes during ad breaks.

All of this plays out in real time for the viewer.

The evening’s first guest is Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), a psychic medium who clearly fishes for false connections before hitting on what appears to be a genuine connection between a deceased boy and his mother and sister.

But next guest Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss) seeks to make Jack and the audience disavow any notion that Christou is the real deal.

Carmichael is a former magician now turned professional skeptic and offers a handsome fee for anyone who can provide irrefutable proof of paranormal phenomena. Christou’s next psychic connection during this time is more pressing and urgent: he seeks to connect a spirit called Minnie with a man who is unmarried but wears a wedding ring. Jack is unnerved by this, as Madeline’s nickname was ‘Minnie’ and the pair were not legally married. Christou is in physical distress by this point, eventually projectile vomiting an inky black fluid and prompting a commercial break. He subsequently requires medical assistance but dies on the way to the hospital.

Hopes are high for the next two guests, however: parapsychologist Dr June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and her patient and ward, Lilly D’Abo (an exceptional performance from Ingrid Torelli). Lilly was the sole survivor of a Satanic cult that worshipped the demon Abraxas, led by Szandor D’Abo. Lilly was one of the children born into the cult in order to undergo demonic rituals. When the cult is taken siege by the authorities, the cult’s residence is burned to the ground by the members, with only Lilly miraculously surviving. After being transferred into care, Lilly shows signs of eerie mental disturbance.

June is called in and through age regression therapy and hypnosis she uncovers not only Lilly’s experiences in the cult, but that there’s a passenger on board in Lilly’s body: a demonic entity she calls “Mr Wriggles”. June and Lilly are on the show to promote June’s new book, Conversations with the Devil, but Jack thinks it would help with book sales if June could connect with Mr Wriggles live on camera. It’s something she’s vehemently opposed to, but Lilly is completely comfortable with the idea. And that’s when all hell breaks loose… literally.

I won’t go into further detail about what happens subsequently, because Late Night with the Devil is a film that you don’t just watch… you experience it.

While the film could technically be labelled as a ‘found footage film’, that particular subgenre of horror can be hit and miss in terms of quality, and this film transcends that label. It may be found footage, but because it’s set in a TV studio the effect is intensely claustrophobic and atmospheric.

The Cairnes brothers have well and truly done their homework when it comes to the world of the occult during this time and brought it to the film in a way that doesn’t feel contrived. For instance, the character of Carmichael Haig is very much like the late James Randi, a former magician (who went by the stage name ‘The Amazing Randi’) who co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and who famously appeared on the Johnny Carson show. There’s a clever wink to Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey not only in the character of Szandor D’Abo but in the name itself: Szandor was LaVey’s middle name. Nicely played, Colin and Cameron.

There are also the obvious allusions to The Exorcist; first with Christou’s projectile vomiting, then in Lilly’s demonic possession.

Lilly’s possession is enough to give Reagan’s “your mother sucks cocks in Hell” a run for its money.

But what the Cairnes brothers have done magnificently (and very effectively) is to combine demonic possession with the facilitation of demonic possession via a therapist. This feels like a nod to the incident which was ground zero for the Satanic Panic of the 1980’s: the release of the book Michelle Remembers. The book was based on Dr Larry Pazdar’s memory regression sessions with his patient Michelle (whom he would subsequently marry. Violation of ethics, anyone?). Under hypnotic regression Michelle would disclose details of Satanic ritual abuse, all of which were falsely obtained and never happened.

Just like June goes on Night Owls to promote her book, Padzar and Michelle became the darlings of the talk circuit to promote their damaging screed. Again, well played, Colin and Cameron. The Cairnes brothers proved they had the right stuff with splatter horror comedy 100 Bloody Acres, but Late Night With the Devil proves that they can also write and direct more serious horror and genre fare.

As magnificently detailed as the story is, Late Night with the Devil is made all the more compelling by its performances. David Dastmalchian is captivating in his role as Jack Delroy, deftly able to navigate the very nuanced performance style of late night talk show hosts while also reacting to events gone awry both effectively and (most importantly) believably.

Dastmalchian has crafted his performances diligently as a supporting actor in the past, working with directors like Denis Villenueve, David Lynch, James Gunn and Christopher Nolan and that diligent work has paid off- he absolutely is leading man material. Ingrid Torelli is compelling in her role as Lilly. She slides effortlessly between awkward, innocent cult survivor and being menacingly possessed, channelling a 21st century Linda Blair but with her own distinct take. She is most definitely a star on the rise.

Late Night With the Devil will appeal to lovers of old-school scares like The Exorcist and The Omen, but it’s smart and scary enough to appeal more broadly. It reaffirms how much fun it can be to be scared by a film without the need for excessive violence. There’s gore, but the majority is done with obvious practical effects which actually makes the film even more fun. And the last twenty minutes of the film are eerie nightmare fuel that will actually make the hairs on the back of your head stand on end.

This is one film that is well worth all the effusive praise it has been getting so far, and long may it continue.

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Strap yourself in, grab yourself a tasty beverage and a Big Kahuna burger because it’s time to revisit 2007’s Grindhouse, courtesy of the brand-new special edition Bluray.

Directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino bring the Grindhouse genre back to life with their groovy double feature of Planet Terror and Death Proof, complete with faux trailers created by directors like Eli Roth and Rob Zombie. While each respective film may not be considered the best Rodriguez and Tarantino have made, together the double feature is a grimy, delicious thrill-ride with references and easter eggs that the most discerning cinephile will appreciate.

First up in this double feature is Rodgriguez’s Planet Terror, a gooey zombie flick that sees go-go dancer Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) and her assorted posse taking on a town deliberately infected by a bio-weapon discovered during the capture of Osama Bin Laden.

The ragtag group of survivors who join her include Dr Dakota Block (Marley Shelton), who was recently assaulted by her husband (Josh Brolin) using her own anaesthetic needles, Cherry’s mysterious glowering ex-boyfriend Wray (Freddie Rodriguez), and Sheriff Hague (Michael Biehn). The manufacture of the bio-weapon is thanks to Abby (Naveen Andrews), a biochemical engineer who has a penchant for acquiring the testicles of people who have wronged him. And did we mention that Cherry happens to have had her leg ripped off by zombies and replaced with a firearm? Yeah, there’s that too.

But that’s the beauty of Planet Terror and the grindhouse genre itself: it doesn’t have to make sense. It’s there to thrill, titillate and take audiences on a wild ride. When it comes to capturing the essence of grindhouse Rodriguez gets the assignment; right down to fake scratches on the print and missing reels.

That’s another genius move by Rodriguez: the ‘missing reel’ provides the middle act, so when we transition from the first act to the third our protagonists have assembled together and are ready to fight. There’s no need to explain how they got there, and it makes for a shorter runtime as well.

Heightening the Grindhouse experience in Planet Terror are the zombies. Completely sentient, once infected these zombies will morph into gooey, pulsating monsters with infectious pustules. There’s not a single dry husk of a corpse between them. It’s also wonderful to see SFX genius and actor Tom Savini on screen, especially given his own contributions to makeup/SFX in zombie classics Day of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

While Planet Terror and Death Proof are miles away from one another in terms of storylines, there are elements which unite them as a cohesive whole, predominantly through the use of recurring characters. Dr Dakota Block, Earl McGraw and the Babysitter Twins all appear in both films; while Rose McGowan appears as Pam in Death Proof after appearing as Cherry Darling in Planet Terror. Quentin Tarantino is also in front of the camera for both films in separate roles.

To usher the audience into Death Proof we are then treated to fake advertisements and trailers for Rob Zombie’s Werewolf Women of the SS, Edgar Wright’s Don’t and Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, (along with Machete which appeared as a fake trailer before Planet Terror) would go on to become a recent feature film.

But the thrills don’t let up when Planet Terror finishes, as Quentin Tarantino ramps up the adrenaline with his vehicular slasher, Death Proof. A homage to films like Vanishing Point and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, the audience meets the seemingly charming Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), a teetotaller whose stunt car is ‘death proof’, fitted with roll cages and other accoutrements standard for withstanding tumbles and crashes. The caveat? It’s only death proof on the driver’s side, and Stuntman Mike is using his car to kill women.

When local radio DJ Jungle Julia (Sydney Tamiia Poitier) and her friends Butterfly (Vanessa Ferlito) and Shanna (Jordan Ladd) are enjoying a night out, they are targeted by Stuntman Mike. After giving Pam (Rose McGowan) a lift and subsequently using his car to kill her, he successfully obliterates the remaining women. Ending up in hospital after the murders, he cannot be charged as he was found to be sober, whereas the women had been drinking and smoking marijuana. And when he finally recovers, he’s got his sights set on a new group of women. The caveat? He didn’t count on them fighting back.

Death Proof sees stuntwoman / actress Zoe Bell front and centre as herself, not only charming the audience with her very Kiwi manner, but also thrilling viewers with some magnificently heart-stopping vehicular stunts. Zoe Bell was a frequent stuntwoman in Tarantino films including The Hateful Eight and Django Unchained, and would be reunited with Kurt Russell in front of the camera for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (listen closely during that scene and you can hear Russell accidentally picking up Zoe’s Kiwi accent).

There are also some usual Tarantino trademarks thrown into the mix, like lingering foot shots; and Inglourious Basterds cast members Eli Roth, Omar Doom and Michael Bacall appear briefly in the film. Cinephiles will appreciate a generous sprinkling of easter eggs throughout the film; including Shanna’s t-shirt which features the image of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! star Tura Satana.

There’s also a killer (no pun intended) soundtrack. In fact, it’s a particularly good soundtrack, with songs that team up beautifully with certain scenes (for instance, the song Hold Tight! which makes for one of the most thrilling and gruesome parts of the film), rounded out by April March’s infectious Chick Habit to close the film. The extended version of the film also unites the Coaster’s Down in Mexico with Butterfly’s lap dance for Stuntman Mike.

Comparing the two films is like comparing apples to oranges. Some may prefer the gory stylings of Planet Terror to the revenge vibe of Death Proof, but together they are a satisfying duo.

The special edition Bluray is an absolute treat for fans. The first disc features the theatrical version of Grindhouse in 1080p high definition, with additional extras like audio commentary by Robert Rodriguez. The second disc contains the extended version of Planet Terror, also containing a scratch-free version of the film. Disc three contains the extended version of Death Proof, and disc four is the motherlode: a gargantuan amount of bonus features, including the making of the fake trailers. Throw in photo cards and a lenticular slipcase, and it’s a sweet little package.

Grindhouse is a whole lot of ridiculous fun, and the special edition Bluray definitely celebrates that.

The post Grindhouse (Bluray) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

A young woman is getting dressed at night. After bundling her hair into a messy bun, she dons a hijab and kisses her sleeping daughter goodnight, whispering a promise to be back before she wakes.

In a public toilet, she adds makeup and exchanges her flat shoes for high heels. She’s preparing for another night of sex work in Iran’s holy city of Mashhad; preparation that also includes visiting an old woman who deals Afghan opium for a hit. When she accepts an offer from a man on a motorcycle, she has no way of knowing her life is about to end at the hands of a killer. This is how we are introduced to Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider, a world where the night provides the perfect playground for a killer’s thirst.

Entering this scenario for a search for truth is Rahimi (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), a journalist whose reputation was marred by being fired by her former editor for spurning his advances. She immediately finds roadblocks when the hotel she’s booked to stay at will not honor her booking due to being unmarried; but will miraculously ‘solve’ the problem when it’s discovered she’s a journalist. It’s not the last roadblock she will encounter. The killer, dubbed the Spider Killer, has made it clear in anonymous phone calls to a local journalist that he is waging a holy war on vice- something that will come to be seen as a sick kind of public service.

The man waging war on the sex workers of Mashhad is Saeed (Mehdi Bajestani), a war veteran who runs a construction company. He is father to two young daughters and a son on the verge of manhood, and is adored by his faithful wife Fatima (Forouzan Jamshidnejad). It’s apparent from a conversation he has with a friend and fellow veteran that he feels his life is being wasted; that he would have preferred to have died a martyr. So, when his wife and children are with family, he is free to kill.

What he didn’t count on was a relentless journalist aiming to ensure his downfall.

What neither Rahimi or Saeed could envisage is the overwhelming support for Saeed after his capture: citizens coming together to protest his incarceration and claim that he is free, people seeing his actions as a necessary evil. In murdering more than 15 women he may indeed become the martyr he always wanted to become, albeit at the end of a rope.

Astoundingly, the film is based on a true story, that of Saeed Hanaei who lured 16 women to his home (all sex workers and / or drug addicts) and strangled them before being apprehended and hanged for his crimes.

Holy Spider has two very distinct narrative acts: the first is the search for Saeed as the Spider Killer, the second is the aftermath of his arrest. These two distinct acts provide for incredibly rich and detailed character studies. This is not a whodunnit, as we are made acutely aware of who the perpetrator is. But knowing who he is actually allows for more freedom to look at his pathology as a killer. If this were a procedural or a whodunnit, the audience would have to sift through the clues with the protagonist.

Knowing Saeed is the killer at a very early stage means we, as the audience, can question his motives to kill. For instance, we see that he is an incredibly devout Muslim and that he claims to be waging a holy war on vice. He also states later that he gained no pleasure from the killings. However, we can see very clearly that he derives pleasure from the murders when, after murdering a sex worker and rolling her into carpet for disposal, his wife comes home unexpectedly, and they engage in spontaneous sex in the living room.

As he is engaging in intercourse, he looks towards the roll of carpet and sees the sex worker’s foot sticking out. This spurs his efforts on and he climaxes soon after. It’s common for serial killers to target sex workers or those who are vulnerably housed due to them being less likely to be reported to police, so were his claims of ‘cleaning the streets of vice’ a clever justification in a holy city in order to be looked upon more favourably?

In contrast, Rahimi is Saeed’s worst nightmare, not just because she is effectively on his tail (and will be his downfall). She is not meek by any standards, actively advocating for herself when the hotel refuses to honour her booking and chides the clerk for admonishing her hair peeking out from her hijab. Beneath her hijab her hair is short, she smokes cigarettes and even when she does don a chador in public (the long garment commonly worn in public by women), she still wears jeans beneath it.

She won’t tolerate anyone entertaining the false idea that she was fired from her last job due to having an affair with her editor, and she is pointed towards the police and their failure to capture the Spider Killer. She also genuinely cares about the plight of the sex workers in the area- she’s not just there to get the story. When a sex worker she had previously spoken to turns up dead, she has a visceral response to the discovery of the woman’s body. It’s also worth noting that Saeed just so happens to be at that crime scene at the time. While Rahimi does face some adversity, she’s never seen as a victim. There are things that have happened to her, but they are not the entirety of who she is. We never get the sense of victimhood from her at any point during the film, even during the event that will lead to Saeed’s capture.

Adding to the rich character studies contained in the film is the intimate cinematography. There is a plethora of tight shots that focus on characters. For instance, there is the intriguing contrast between tight shots of Saeed travelling with his fellow veteran and friend in a car, discussing his frustration with his life and the wide shots of him travelling with sex workers (both alive and deceased) on his bike. The one convention gives a sense of frustration and constraint, the other gives a sense of freedom and moral abandon. Color and lighting are also key here. Daytime scenes or scenes with family are draped in muted tones and in fairly consistent light. This contrasts with Saeed’s nighttime playground: the deep darkness of night reveals the jewel tones of traffic lights in green and red and other festive lighting; the entire city lit up like a magnificent diamond. There’s also an intriguing and effective lighting contrast that happens in Saeed’s family home at night, which almost acts like a sort of split screen effect: the living room is lit in scarlet, the staging area for his depravity, whereas the bathroom is a cool blue.

The film also boasts an incredibly chilling ending, one which leaves the audience to wonder about the nature of humanity, zealotry, and the legacy a person’s action leaves behind. Not only is it disturbing without being visibly violent, it’s something that will provoke discussion long after the credits have ended.

Holy Spider is triumphant in its ability to use a previously documented true crime and translate it into a rich, chilling study of the nature of depravity.

The post Holy Spider (Bluray) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

This year’s A24-distributed Aussie horror smash Talk to Me brought a lot of new eyes to Australian horror; but Australia has been making exceptional horror for decades.

The vast, often rugged landscape lends itself to terrifying stories of isolation and paranoia. Combined with the landscape is a history of crimes so horrific they make international headlines. These two elements often make for incredibly chilling films that are based on true crimes, such as Justin Kurzel’s Snowtown and Nitram, and films that are a combination of known crimes, like David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom or Ben Young’s House of Love.

Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek falls into the latter category; a frightening melange of the serial murders perpetrated in and around the Belanglo State Forest by Ivan Milat and the 2001 abduction of British backpackers Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio by Bradley John Murdoch. In a terrible twist of fate, another crime would occur in 2016 where German backpacker Lena Rabente and her new Brazillian friend Beatriz would be terrorised by 59-year-old Roman Heinze after they sought out someone on Gumtree to take them to the Great Ocean Road. The most chilling aspect of this was that one month before the crime Lena would watch Wolf Creek with a friend, unable to believe that anything like that could ever happen…

The film centres around a young Aussie, Ben (Nathan Phillips) who has befriended British tourists Liz (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy (Kestie Morassi). After purchasing a second-hand car and having one last night of fun in Broome, the trio set out for a trip to Cairns via the Great Northern Highway. Their trip starts out with all of the carefree frivolity you would expect for people in their early 20s, including budding romance in the air for Liz and Ben.

Things start to take on a more sinister and foreboding tone when the trio sets off to Wolf Creek National Park to walk to the meteor crater. The sky begins to darken and rain begins to fall, and when they return from the crater they find their watches have stopped…and the car won’t start. Fearing they may have to stay the night, they hunker down in the car until they see lights in the distance. Ben had been telling them the previous night about a UFO encounter, and he’s convinced that this is what they’re experiencing (especially given the watches stopping). It might have been safer to have been abducted by aliens, because the lights turn out to be the headlights of a car driven by Mick Taylor (John Jarratt). His blokey, friendly manner disarms the trio and as he looks under the hood of their car he notes that not only can he fix their car, he has the very part they need back at his place. The caveat? They would have to go back with him in a direction that is the complete opposite of where they’re heading.

Mick tows the car (with the trio inside) back to where he is staying: an old, abandoned mining camp. Despite their initial trepidation, Liz, Kristy and Ben are reassured as they sit around a campfire talking with the larger-than-life Mick; gratefully accepting what they think is fresh rainwater. The water has been spiked, causing the trio to become unconscious by the fire. And that’s when all hell breaks loose…

I could detail everything that happens subsequent to this, but if you’ve never seen Wolf Creek before and want to be truly unnerved, it’s best to go in as unprepared as possible. It’s a film which feels a lot like Texas Chainsaw Massacre– the psychological terror is deeply unnerving. There’s also a feeling that the first two Mad Max films also provide a bit of Wolf Creek’s DNA during the highway scenes. The character of Mick Taylor, played so chillingly by Jarratt, is larger than life. His casual cruelty and frightening ability to make jokes during moments of barbarity feels startlingly like an Aussie Freddie Krueger.

The film was primarily filmed via handicam, which gives the film more of an intimate and realistic feel, especially during moments of high tension. One disadvantage of this is that at times when there is a great deal of movement happening (e.g. when the car is being towed), it can be slightly nausea-inducing. Nevertheless, this decision to use handicam gives the viewer a front seat to the action and terror in a way that primarily static and stabilised shots might not have provided.

One of the things that elevates Wolf Creek over standard slasher fare is the quality of the cinematography. In addition to the handicam shots, the scenic shots and b-roll are breathtaking. A full, silvery moon in the sky. Droplets of water beading a spider’s web as Kristy runs away. Shots which display the vast, remote beauty of the Australian outback. The beauty is a stark contrast to the depravity happening in and around Mick’s camp.

This is a 2 Blu-ray set which features the theatrical cut and an ‘unrated’ cut which features additional footage that was excised for what appears to be run time and narrative reasons. If you’re expecting the unrated cut to feature the most terrifying gore you’ve seen in your life you may be disappointed, but if you’re a Wolf Creek fan who wants to have the option to watch either cut then this set will make you incredibly happy. Regardless, Wolf Creek is a film that’s worth revisiting in time for Halloween.

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It was the feature film debut that cemented the directing career of a plucky video store employee who had initially planned to make the film for $30K USD with his friends. His self-written script would land in the hands of Harvey Keitel thanks to his acting teacher’s wife…and the rest is history.

Fans of Quentin Tarantino’s debut Reservoir Dogs can celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary with a brand-new 4K Blu-ray package, featuring a super-cool lenticular cover, complete with 2 discs (the 4K Blu-ray version and the standard definition version) and a set of stills from the film. If you have yet to see the film, now’s a great time to do so.

The film centres around an audacious diamond heist, organized by criminal mastermind Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney). Cabot assembles a group of thieves to pull off the heist and gives them new colour-themed monikers: seasoned thief Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), whiny and curmudgeonly Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), newbie Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) and the psychopathic Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen). When the heist goes horribly wrong, Mr. Orange is shot in the stomach, forcing White and Orange to retreat back to the abandoned warehouse that is to be the team’s meeting point. It’s then that Orange, White and Pink (the next back to the warehouse) realise that there’s a rat in the team, due to the timing of the police reacting to the crime. What follows is the heightened paranoia of a heist gone wrong and trying to ascertain who the rat in their midst is.

While Tarantino received more attention for his subsequent film, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs is an excellent example of an auteur making their mark with their first foray into features. Even though Harvey Keitel would co-produce and the film was signed to Miramax, the film still bears true indie film sensibilities. In order to avoid the logistics of filming the heist (and probably also for budgetary reasons), the details of the heist are explained in a scene where Orange and White run through the plan as they sit outside the diamond wholesaler (cheekily named Karina’s, a reference to French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard’s frequent collaborator and muse, Anna Karina). Locations are minimal, with the warehouse being the main location of storytelling. This sometimes gives the film the feeling of a stage play, something which works incredibly effectively (especially with the Hamlet-esque ending). In addition the film’s most notorious (and most harrowing) scene with Mr. Blonde slicing the ear off of a kidnapped police officer doesn’t actually show the act. Instead, it cuts away and subsequently shows Blonde holding the bloodied ear. This avoids the requirement for an overly complicated (and potentially expensive) ear-slicing special effect. Combined with Blonde’s chilling dancing to Stealer’s Wheel’s Stuck in the Middle With You as he gleefully engages in torture, a visual of the act might have been overkill. No pun intended.

So, how does Reservoir Dogs stand up after 30 years? It’s still a very tight, engaging and at times genuinely surprising film. In a time where violence is commonplace on screen, the violence is not as shocking as it may have been on original release but it still makes an impact. A completely bloodied Mr. Orange, writhing in pain in the back of a getaway car after being shot is still harrowing. The predicament of the kidnapped police officer is still as chilling as a first viewing of the film. The story itself feels timeless. You could replicate the story today and it would still be fresh and exciting.

But there are some elements that do warrant criticism. Tarantino’s frequent use of the ‘N’ word in his script is the first. There’s also an anti-semitic trope expressed during the café scene at the beginning of the film. They sexualize African-American women and there is an innocent female driver who is dragged from her vehicle in order for Pink to hijack her car and escape the blundered heist. You can love this film for its brilliance but still hold it to account for the dated elements within it.

That being said, there’s one really positive element of the film which stands out: the obvious warmth between White and Orange. The film doesn’t go too in depth into the relationships between characters, but it’s clear with Keitel and Roth’s scenes together that White and Orange have formed a kinship. This is apparent in White’s interactions with Orange after he’s been shot. Orange is vulnerable enough to ask White to hold him as he believes he is dying, and White obliges. The final scene also highlights their bond. It’s the kind of masculine affection that is more readily presented on screen these days, so in some ways this was ahead of its time.

The film also introduces the audience to some of Tarantino’s filmmaking signatures. For instance, the low-angle shot of characters peering downwards which also appears in subsequent films like Inglourious Basterds and Kill Bill vol. 1. The film is also brimming with pop culture references; everything from old detective shows to the Silver Surfer and the Fantastic Four. It also establishes Tarantino’s impeccable taste in soundtracks and the homage to radio DJs of the past. In Reservoir Dogs it’s a fictional radio DJ playing hits from the 1970s, and in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood it’s an all-out celebration of KHJ Los Angeles, complete with ads for Coty fragrances and Tanya Tanning Butter.

If you’re a fan of the film, it’s definitely worth nabbing this for your collection. For the uninitiated: take this as your sign to finally see the film.

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Fans of Ti West’s New Zealand-shot X were aflutter when the surprise prequel Pearl was suddenly announced. After being rescued from a potential straight-to-digital release in New Zealand by exclusive cinema screenings by Terror-Fi Film Festival, X is now also available on Blu-Ray.

It was a genius move on the part of Ti West to keep Pearl a secret until the trailer release, the film equivalent of Beyoncé dropping a new album on her adoring Beyhive. X, the grindhouse-infused homage to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the golden age of porn, was a massive hit with horror fans and introduced the audience to the elderly, sex-deprived Pearl (Mia Goth) who goes on a homicidal rampage when she discovers her family farm is being used to film a porn film. And while we may have been satisfied with a stand-alone film, Pearl’s pathology did pique the interest of the viewer. Did seeing beautiful young people having sex and filming it suddenly flip her homicidal switch? Why was she a shut-in? What the hell had been going on on the farm in the preceding 60 years?

Thankfully Pearl delivers those answers in a tense and compelling character study. Conceived by West and Goth during the pandemic isolation period, Pearl will not only satisfy fans of X but will probably leave the viewer salivating for the up-coming chapter of the trilogy, Maxxxine.

It’s 1918 and the United States is not only participating in World War I, but has been hit by the Spanish influenza pandemic; the predecessor of the coronavirus pandemic. Pearl is an idealistic young married woman whose husband Howard (Alistair Sewell) is serving in the War, leaving her at her family’s farmstead. Despite being married, she has little agency over her own life; partly because her father (Matthew Sunderland; The Stranger, The Nightingale) is locked in his own body and completely unable to care for himself.  This leaves her and her mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright; Creamerie, Love and Monsters) to do all of the farm work as they have no farmhands available. Euth is a strict and cold maternal figure, a German-born woman in a time when German people were not looked upon kindly due to their involvement in the War.

Despite this, Pearl dreams of being famous, of dancing in the newly-fledged film industry. She views being famous as a way to not only escape the drudgery of her everyday life, but to also gain the love and acceptance she’s never really received from her mother. Another form of escape for Pearl is to actually view the films she dreams of being a part of. When she is asked to pick up morphine for her father from the pharmacist in town, not only does she sneak in a viewing at the cinema, she swigs from the morphine bottle- another form of escape. It’s then that she meets the cinema’s dashing projectionist (David Corenswet), who allows her to see the films whenever she wants.

When her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law, Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) come to the farmstead to offer a roast pig to Pearl’s mother (a gift which is subsequently declined), Misty discloses that there is going to be an audition for a church-run dance troupe that will be travelling around the state to bring cheer to audiences. Pearl sees this as her guaranteed ticket out of her drudgery. And woe betide anyone who stands in the way of her happiness…

While X had grindhouse sensibilities and was a loving tribute to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pearl takes its motifs from the golden age of cinema. It uses the types of opening titles recognisable to fans of films like Gone with the Wind. Shot transitions are screen-wipes instead of fade-ins or jump cuts. Pearl has a rather uncomfortable encounter with a scarecrow and looks very Dorothy-esque, a la The Wizard of Oz. There’s also some parallels with the psychological classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? There’s even a nod to Theda Bara, the pre-Hayes-code silent film actress who was considered America’s first sex symbol and whose film Cleopatra is playing at the theatre Pearl attends. She would also name the alligator in her family’s pond Theda; the matriarch to the alligator who would subsequently reside in the pond during the events of X.

There’s a huge benefit in actress Mia Goth co-writing the script for Pearl, as it gives her a greater stake in the character, a greater intimacy in terms of how she brings the character to life. This is clear to see in the film. Goth has shown herself to be a phenomenal talent in every role but in Pearl she truly shines. This isn’t just a standard slasher flick- it’s a psychological character study, something Goth rises to the challenge of beautifully. The majority of our questions regarding the elderly Pearl in X are answered here. Was she born a danger, or did a switch flip because of trauma? I’m not going to answer that in this review because it’s a genuine delight (and horror) to delve into the depths of Pearl’s psyche. In particular, the final act of the film is a huge revelation and an incredible showcase for Mia Goth’s talents.

It’s important to also celebrate the respective performances of the Kiwi leads, Tandi Wright and Matthew Sunderland. Wright is commanding and abrasive, sporting an impressive German accent and the kind of relationship with Pearl that will send chills down the spine of the viewer. While Sunderland’s performance is that of someone who is locked inside their own body, he is able to emote incredibly; particularly in one pivotal scene where terror is clearly apparent. That’s part of what makes his character’s situation so much more chilling. He’s witness to horrors he cannot stop, including when Pearl makes a half-hearted attempt to strangle him while she bathes.

Fans of X will also note some connections between the characters of Pearl and Maxine. Both are desperate to escape strict familial conditions: Pearl desires to get away from her strict mother, and Maxine has escaped her televangelist father. Maxine is able to enact the sexual acts on screen that Pearl was shown surreptitiously by the projectionist.

Pearl is a genuinely satisfying watch that doesn’t rely on gore to carry its story. In fact, any gore is secondary. It simmers with malice and sexual desire, contained in a child-like character whose pathology is like an unexpected cobra strike to anyone who doesn’t see it immediately. It’s highly recommended that you not only watch Pearl, but then follow it up with a rewatch of X to really soak in the entirety of the story so far while we eagerly await Maxxxine.

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Extraterrestrials have been a source of public fascination for decades, and given the recent House Oversight Committee hearing into UFOs Marc Turtletaub’s Jules feels timely.

And while it may seem like a sci-fi vehicle with an older cast, the film effectively highlights the struggles of ageing, such as isolation from adult children and cognitive decline.

Milton (Ben Kingsley) is a widower who lives in Boonton, Pennsylvania. He regularly attends his local council meetings and puts forward the same suggestions during the public comment period every session. His daughter Denise (Zoe Winters) still lives in town and works as a veterinarian, but he is estranged from his son who has moved away from Boonton. Denise is concerned about her father’s cognitive decline, something Milton is adamant isn’t a problem. Milton’s routine of watching CSI reruns every day and attending the council meetings will be disrupted abruptly when a spaceship crash lands in his backyard one night. He attempts to try and let Denise know about his unexpected visitor (and brings it up during a council meeting), but to no avail.

Soon, he will meet the owner of the crashed vehicle: a diminutive humanoid alien who does not speak but has a love of apples. The alien would have remained a secret if it wasn’t for fellow townswoman Sandy (Harriet Harris) coming over to use Milton’s printer.

Not to be outdone, another local, Joyce (Jane Curtin) snoops one evening and discovers Milton sitting at the dinner table with Sandy and the now-named Jules. And while they bond with Jules and bond with each other over their new shared secret, Denise begins to become increasingly worried about Milton’s cognitive health, especially when he casually remarks at the local market about Jules’ existence.

And while Milton, Joyce and Sandy happily bond with their new alien friend, there are major threats to his existence looming into view. The National Security Centre is tracking any intelligence regarding a crashed UFO, and when Sandy’s life is threatened Jules intervenes in a manner which is reported to police. Meanwhile, there’s also the manner of Jules’ spaceship requiring repair and a special form of fuel to help him do that…

Jules is a perfectly adequate film, with a great deal of emotion.

However, the film runs at a brisk 90-odd minutes and struggles to remain entertaining even in that short amount of time. The film is very heavily centered on the message of the struggles faced by the older members of society; and while that’s an important message to get across, many viewers may come to the film expecting far more sci-fi elements than there are. The film will also potentially be very triggering for cat lovers, so you have been warned. That being said, the three leads are definitely the beating heart of the film and their performances elicit a great deal of empathy, as does the completely silent Jules (Jade Quon).

The film feels like a respectful tip of the hat to alien-related films and television of the 80s and 90s. For instance, the town’s motto is “a great place to call home”, something which Milton believes needs to be changed because it sounds like it’s a great place to call via telephone (a wink to E.T.). Jane Curtin has previously starred as an alien in the 90s film Coneheads and also starred in the iconic alien show Third Rock from the Sun. Governmental alien-chasing feels very X-Files-esque, and Jules’ choice of fuel for his spaceship will remind 80’s kids of the comedy Alf where the titular alien ate cats. In terms of the intersection between alien contact and older people, there’s also a vibe reminiscent of the film Cocoon.

Jules is not a bad film by any stretch. It has its merits and most definitely has a heart, but it’s a film that feels less like a sci-fi and more like a gentle allegory about ageing. As long as you take that into account, you won’t be disappointed.

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It was a nightmare about being trapped in a New York subway that would be the impetus for writer and producer Bruce Joel Rubin’s script for Jacob’s Ladder, which is fitting given the surreal and nightmarish film it would turn out to be.

Jacob’s Ladder has now been released as part of the Imprint catalogue, a collection of cult classics that gives Criterion a run for its money.

This paranoia-drenched film stars a young Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer; an infantryman who serves in Vietnam.

The film opens to helicopters gliding across a blood-red sky and Jacob’s unit sharing jovial chatter before being the victim of a surprise attack; a scene frenetic enough to give Saving Private Ryan’s Normandy invasion scene a run for its money.

But there’s something bizarre going on during the attack on Singer’s unit: as soldiers are picked off, some are suffering from convulsions. Jacob himself is stabbed. This is when he wakes up on the subway and we discover his civilian life: he is a postal worker, separated from his Sarah and their two children, Eli and Jed. Their third son, Gabe (played by an early career Macaulay Culkin) died before the Vietnam War. Jacob lives with girlfriend Jezzie, short for Jezebel (an exceptional performance by Elizabeth Peña), who also works for the postal service.

The enigmatic nature of the film starts from this moment on as Jacob struggles to find an exit from the subway and is forced to traverse the train tracks; only to see frightening featureless creatures on an oncoming train. These creatures will appear again as they attempt to run him over in a vehicle. Jacob’s paranoia and seeming delusions ratchet up a notch when he attends a party with Jezzie, seeing a tentacled creature with her and spotting a vibrating entity in the crowd.

His visions could be related to a fever spiking so high that he requires an immediate ice bath to save his life- after all, that’s the rational explanation, right?

But there’s nothing rational about what Jacob is experiencing. He will wake up at one point in bed with his ex-wife Sarah, feeling cold due to her requirement for the window to be open; and the life he lived with Jezzie and the demons he witnessed just being a nightmare. But once he closes his eyes in that moment, he’s back with Jezzie and the fever has broken.

When he’s recovering from the illness, he is phoned by Paul (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who desperately wants to see Jacob. Paul is seeing the same sorts of entities Jacob has been seeing, but the reunion is short-lived as Paul is killed when his car explodes after the meeting.

This is not the first time someone Jacob knows has perished in a car explosion: he had previously tried to see his doctor at the VA hospital, only to be told that the doctor had died a month prior in that very same manner. And after gathering with fellow members of his unit at Paul’s funeral, he also discovers he’s not alone in seeing things. As all of this is happening, the film brings the viewer repeatedly back to Vietnam after Jacob is stabbed. He is discovered and transported via helicopter to receive medical help.

Jacob and his fellow veterans decide to see if they can take action against the Army for what they suspect was experimentation, only for his fellow soldiers to back down and for Jacob to escape an attempted abduction. This thwarted effort to silence him lands Jacob in hospital; but not a safe and sanitary one but one that looks like the love child of a psychiatric asylum and a Francis Bacon painting, where he is told he is dead.

There is far, far more to Jacob’s Ladder’s storyline than what I have mentioned here, and I have deliberately chosen not to reveal any more. This is because for those who have seen the film you will be aware of the intricacies of it due to its memorable nature, and for those who haven’t seen the film you need to go in relatively blind in order to soak everything in.

For repeat viewers there will always be something to draw your attention; some little allegorical reference or semiotic meaning that may alter your view of what’s going on. And the film is extremely heavily allegorical- even if you have the most basic of knowledge about the Bible you will be able to spot the little easter eggs; from the Biblical nature of character names (Jacob, Jed, Gabe, Eli, Sarah, Jezebel) to image plates in books referring to Purgatory and more.

Even decades after release, Jacob’s Ladder is captivating, mind-bending and thought-provoking. Tim Robbins’ performance is magnificent, and the film benefits from a superb supporting cast that includes Danny Aiello, Jason Alexander, Ving Rhames and Macaulay Culkin.

This 1080p high definition release of the film is exquisite, and you will be rewarded not only with how great the film looks at this definition, but also the multitude of special features. There are audio commentaries by director Adrian Lyne and acclaimed film historian and The Projection Booth host Mike White, archival interviews and several video essays that are well worth a watch.

The journey from Bruce Joel Rubin’s nightmare to the initial release of the film may have been a ten year journey, but it was worth the wait. With it’s new lease of life in high definition it’s even better.

The post Jacob’s Ladder (Bluray) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Australian film is having an excellent decade thus far; especially when it comes to crime dramas.

On the heels of such well-regarded Australian crime dramas like The Stranger and The Dry comes Matt Nable’s gritty yet emotive Transfusion.

As the film opens, we see SAS sniper Ryan Logan (Sam Worthington) and his teammate Johnny (Matt Nable, who directed and also wrote the screenplay) in action, taking out enemy combatants.

This flashback then moves forwards to Logan camping with his young son Billy (Gilbert Bradman). Interestingly, Ryan’s  bond with his son appears to hang predominantly on survival tactics like shooting a deer and sharpening a knife with a whetstone. It’s seemingly a placid and peaceful time for Ryan, with his wife Justine (Phoebe Tonkin) pregnant with their second child.

This placidity is shattered by a drunk driver running a red light, hitting Justine’s side of the car. Billy suffers a ruptured spleen and a laceration on his face, but Justine’s injuries are more severe- she has serious internal bleeding. Adding to the urgency of the situation is the fact that both Justine and Billy require urgent blood transfusions, but both have an RH blood type- the rarest type of blood to procure.

8 years later, and sadly after losing Justine and the unborn baby, Ryan Logan is a man transformed and not in a good way. In order to take care of Billy (played at 16 by Edward Carmody), he must leave the Army; something which proves to be problematic not just for Ryan but also for Billy.

Due to Ryan’s inability to sustain employment Billy has been to 6 different schools and has also been in legal trouble, including for drug possession and stealing. The transition to civilian life for Ryan has been a steep learning curve, and as well as dealing with the grief over his wife’s death he also has PTSD.  He’s not alone in his difficulty transitioning from soldier to civilian- when he meets up with Johnny again, Johnny says: “it’s hard being a soldier when you’re not a soldier. No cunt will listen to you.”

Johnny’s got a potential gig for Ryan: the robbery of a drug dealer. One night, in and out, zero rounds. After declining the gig, Ryan finds the pressure being put on him by Johnny via manipulation. First Johnny makes an unexpected visit to Ryan’s house and meets Billy, and then at the bar later he mentions a favour that was done by Johnny because he loves Ryan as a brother.

It’s a manipulation tactic that works effectively because of their bonds of brotherhood in the SAS, as well as the fact that Johnny was there for Ryan when Justine died. But what began as a single gig turns to chaos when Billy finds himself in trouble at a drunken party and Ryan is forced to in turn ask Johnny for his help.

Transfusion may feature some rather gritty action set pieces, but at its heart the film takes a measured and emotive look at the ways in which trauma impacts on a person’s life trajectory.

Nable’s script also shines a light on the difficulties military personnel can face transitioning to civilian life, especially if they have seen action overseas. There are some very subtle but effective techniques used to flesh out the characters outside of dialogue. For instance, Ryan has a red lamp in his bedroom which casts low light.

This could be seen as a throwback to his sniper days where red light was used to illuminate things without impacting on night vision. We also see that regardless of the circumstances, Ryan is trying his best to be a good father. We see this in the way he makes sandwiches for Billy.  When Billy was younger, he would make a sandwich for him and squash the bread slightly flat. He does this for Billy even when he’s sixteen. Billy has taken to self-harming, particularly to prick the finger where he suffered a cut from the hunting knife when he was camping with his Dad at 8 years old. It feels like this is Billy’s way of trying to feel the connection between himself and his father again.

Nothing in Transfusion feels forced or superficial; in fact everything both narratively and symbolically is woven together in an intelligent and satisfying way. While it is an incredibly emotional watch, it’s a film that is well worth viewing.

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