Damian Mc Carthy’s directorial debut that taps right into my heart with its psychological twists and turns that are so fractured that I can’t help but be lured in to its complexities.
This style of narration can turn some people off and get frustrated by the director’s choice. Especially with the convoluted ending to the tale.
I just lap this stuff up as if addicted to the abstract approach to fear, guilt, and paranoia.
Clearly, its tight budget constraints are on show, but Mc Carthy manages to utilse the deficits to his advantage, and wrangles everything that his actors can muster to the fore, particularly through our lead protagonist, Isaac (Jonathon French), who struggles to piece things together because he is suffering amnesia. Also, placing the setting on an desolate house on a remote island fuels the anxiety and isolation, amping up emotions of both characters and his audience.
The film is quite hard to unpack, but essentially we follow Isaac to this isolated island when hired to look after Olga (Leila Sykes), who also appears psychologically disturbed and constantly falls into catatonic states, hence the need for someone to supervise her. Our first introduction to Olga is deeply scarring as she wields a curiously freakish wind up toy, a symbol of the unhinged minds of all that enter the house.
We have to allow our minds to stretch into the realms of the unimaginable to a degree, when Issac agrees to the caveat in question, being chained into a harness that restricts him from accessing certain parts of the house; another metaphor for the ties that bind us to our past regrets. The wielder of the caveat is Olga’s uncle Barret (Ben Caplan), who comes and goes throughout the piece but his presence is always felt. As Isaac fumbles around the crevices of the ramshackled abode, more truths are uncovered but still steers us further away from transparency. The deeper he delves, the more unhinged and dangerous the characters become.
The Diagnosis:
It’s a bold and momentous achievement for a directorial debut, and while it doesn’t necessarily tick all the boxes, the performances are faultless, and the fragmented narrative are compelling enough to keep you chained to the storytelling.
It will either grip you, or grind you up.
For me, it was a well-constructed tale, that is just the right side of deranged.
When Director, Neil Marshall hit the horror scene with his debut feature, Dog Soldiers, he hit hard with a werewolf film that not only had its own identity but packed with a little humour. He then went on to prove that he wasn’t just a one-hit wonder with his sophomore outing The Descent, strengthened his position as a genre film director and won some dedicated supporters of his craft.
It would appear though, that Marshall’s magic was waning as he struggled with his third attempt to appeal to his audience with Doomsday, despite high hopes abound. And even his follow up feature, Centurion, starring Michael Fassbender stuck to average mediocrity.
By the mid 2010’s though, he managed to strike gold twice for popular tv series Game of Thrones with two of its best episodes, Blackwater and The Watchers On The Wall, which led some to believe that he still could captivate and entertain on a large scale. Those walls of expectations fell down however with the re-imagined Hellboy missing the beats once again.
Despite all this, Marshall’s name still fills me with optimism and so when it came to light that his latest feature, The Reckoning was to stream on Shudder, I was front and centre for its debut.
Unfortunately, it falls short of my expectations and struggles with a saturated introduction to its central character, Grace (Charlotte Kirk, who also co writes the screenplay alongside Marshall and Edward Evers-Swindell) whose husband falls foul to the plague and rather than become a burden to his family and possibly infect them, takes his own life. This leaves Grace to try and make her own way and find the means to support her baby. Easier said than done with a horrible landlord Pendleton (Steven Waddington) abusing his power and corruption to force Grace to drastic means.
But such is the way of the world, as soon as a woman should stand up for herself, she’s labelled a witch, taken away to be trialed for these convictions.
All this seems to take an age to get to this point and has a wishy-washy way of taking us there, coming across as made for a TV feature.
It’s such a shame as it feels so strained and without substance. In fact, it’s not until the ever-dependable Sean Pertwee makes his entrance as the witchfinder Moorcroft that the film starts to lift out of the quagmire of stales. He chomps and chews his way through each scene with glorious humour and glee, that it was a joy to watch him. By this stage I was only too relieved as I’m not so sure I could have endured anymore if his presence wasn’t made.
By the end of the movie though, it trudges to a conclusion with a thinly veiled attempt to tie this back to history, but by this point, I was beyond caring.
The Diagnosis:
I so wanted Marshall to come good with this film, as he definitely has the directing chops to pull it off.
The bang is quickly turned to a whimsical whimper though and fails to flicker on the pulsometer of fun.
It’s only appeal is Sean Pertwee, whose larger than life witchfinder is gloriously fun.
The rest of the movie however, just doesn’t resonate.
Since Steven Kostanski and the Aston-6 collective first hit the scene back in 2011 with their feature, Manborg, the Canadian outfit have been producing low-budget creature features that hark back to the movies we grew to love in the 80s Home Entertainment scene. In 2016, Astron-6 turned heads and a few tentacles with their Carpenter/Lovecraftian inspired gem The Void, but I would venture to say that their latest offering, Psycho Goreman is their most triumphant feature to date.
Infused with a perfect blend of humour and stylistic visuals that project the look and feel of 90s hit series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Psycho Goreman comes across as a dark and twisted take on a kids adventure flick.
The premise follows two siblings, bossy and overbearing Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and an overtly agreeable Luke (Owen Myre) stumble across a hidden gem buried in their backyard. Unbeknownst to them, this gem also yields absolute power over an evil monster, hellbent on bringing about the destruction of the universe. Unfortunately for this overlord, he didn’t anticipate the ignorant and cruel youth that would hold him in their grip to play stupid pranks and games, the usual silly stuff that kids get up to.
Along the way, the kids and their puppet monster that they have dubbed Psycho Goreman or PG for short, encounter The Paladins of Obsidian, PG’s former army that overthrew the Templars before he was incarcerated, the Planetary Alliance, and their two quarrelling parents, all in search for their own means of power and or corruption. This leads to an ultimate battle where they compete in a diabolical game of Crazy Ball with its confusing rules. Who will claim victory?
The Diagnosis:
Kostanski manages to direct a beautiful love song to the 90s period of home entertainment with a warped and visually appealing feature.
Psycho Goreman is peppered with humour and is the dark candy of kids sci-fi adventures of yester-year. It rekindles the energy of the visual treats we hold dear to our hearts in our childhood and garnishes it with gore-tastic moments that Kostanski and the team have made their signature style.
PG should firmly be on your genre-film pulse. Tap into this baby and enjoy its insanity.
It’s a great cinema going experience if the film in question is a sick ‘em-sock ‘em rollercoaster bash of a ride. And by that I mean, it has to be filled with peaks and valleys on a fairly regular basis.
Ie: The James Wan philosophy of “fill your boots with less scares and more tension” doesn’t really translate into 4DX currency for a movie where the tension is LITERALLY being quiet…
I mean, you’d think being in a seat that moves, blows air near your ears, thumps you in the back and wees water on you only every now and then would make each 4DX moment that much more effective – “use your bouncer sparingly” as they say in cricket. But no. All you do is stew and count the money you’ve paid to sit in a chair that – for the most part – behaves like a chair.
So there’s that piece of worldly advice we have to impart on you – don’t see it in 4DX. But should you see it at all?
Well fans of this website may recall the evening Saul Muerte and I first saw A Quiet Place back during a time before The Great Pandemic – where people could and would freely mingle about in public spaces with no face masks and no pants (I know, it sounds like science fiction…) – and we both instantly jumped online afterwards and pronounced AQP The Greatest Horror film of 2018. And we were right.
So that means/meant writer/director John Krasinski had big shoes to fill 2nd time round, made more and less difficult by the fact they were his shoes.
But what kind of elephants are we talking here? The biggest one – immediately – is that as a film, AQP is quite self contained and not really all that franchisable.
A fact supported by Krasinski who stated, when approached by The Powers That Be, that neither he, nor the other 2 co-creators of the film (Bryan Woods and Scott Beck) were really interested in continuing with another installment.
Yet (obviously) this stance soon flexed and now we have a sequel where it must be said, one didn’t naturally sit before.
Why? You may ask? Well for the simple reason there were no real dangling threads or cliffhanger moments at the end of the first film. The monsters did this. The family did that. Problems were put forth and tension and scares were aplenty as said problems were solved. There was even a noble self-sacrifice thrown into the mixl. Cue end credits.
So if we have to enter sequel territory, we must unearth (yet again) our Surgeons of Horror list of what-a-good-sequel-needs-to-be-called-a-good-sequel folder. They are…
Identify the ideas, themes & executional elements that make the first film great. Or at least good. Or at least worthy of being sequelised.
Pay homage and do not violate/ignore said ideas and themes and elements.
Introduce new/expanded themes, ideas and elements that will NATURALLY ALIGN to your first ideas, themes & elements. (Ie: Don’t use your second movie to discredit & contradict your first).
To underline point 3 – DO NOT rehash the first film and just give people “more of the same”.
DO NOT-NOT rehash the first film by giving more of the same…. BUT “BIGGER”.
Be a good enough stand-alone film by itself.
There. Six simple rules, set in cinematic stone. Follow them and you’ll have a sure fire critical and commercial hit on your hands that will age well over the decades.
So much easier said than done. Balance – as with everything in life – is key and oh-so hard to achieve.
So – where does AQP2 sit with the above 6?
Well in short it nails a lot of the above. But falls short on one. But which one?
Well – you’re gonna have to see that for yourself. But don’t splurge on 4DX.
In terms of meat and potatoes – what you see in the trailer is essentially an accurate structural portrayal of the movie (which might give a hint as to which point it failed on).
It starts with a prequel opening set up (a “Day 1” for fans paying attention during the first film) where we find the Abbott family (their surname is Abbott! Who knew!? Again… problems that crop up when your cast has to be quiet…) enjoying everyday life in everyday country town America before the killer aliens arrive.
Then we flash forward to exactly where the last film left off and Emily Blunt’s character of Evelyn (again – who knew!? Probably super fans of the first movie. You know the drill, comments below etc.) takes her 2 children (Regan and Marcus) and newly formed bubba Abbott to look for other survivors because they have a weapon to fight the aliens now (a homemade Cochlear Implant on steroids) and staying at their flooded/burnt down farm is not an option any more.
There they meet up with Cillian Murphy’s character (Emmett) as seen from the trailer and from there – well – it becomes a story of survival, scares, triumph, man’s inhumanity to man (standard for all post apocalyptic films, which is a cliche to be sure, but seeing as we are all currently living through a global horror movie – and will be for some time yet – sadly, not that unbelievable) and personal growth.
The Diagnosis:
Krasinski himself has gone on record and has (more or less) stated he wanted to focus on the heart of the film, and not so much the head. So for those of you who were invested in the character of Regan from the first movie will be glad to hear her avatar Millicent Simmonds gets to stretch her acting chops nicely this time round.
But as for the aforementioned head stuff – yes there are still hold-your-breath moments, special FX’s and peril. If there is one thing the first film did exceptionally well and does well here (with multiple characters simultaneously no less) is place people in tension filled situations where cold calculating calm is required to survive. But are they in the same league as the first film?
Well. 5 out of 6 ain’t bad. In fact it’s good. It’s very very good. Such a shame the first film was so great. What a fantastic curse, as they say.
– Antony Yee
PS: Be sure to check out our future article where we elaborate on the Six Points to make a great sequel.
The Warrens are back to conjure up the third instalment to the haunting tales based on the books written by Ed & Lorraine Warren, self professed demonologist and psychic (respectively), and the real life events of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who in 1981 stabbed his land lord to death and they had a claim of demon possession in an attempt to get him off.
Putting the real life events to the side, the film was beautifully shot and constructed with a kind of precise planning that gives the viewer the confidence to see a kid contorting its possessed ickle body to cracking sounds and not instantly think the filmmakers had resorted to child abuse, but rather consider the plethora of crazy safety protocols that must go into filming such a scene. [sigh] Gone are the carefree, guerrilla days of The Adventures of Milo and Otis.
Ed and Lorraine are portrayed once again by the talented Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga continuing to keep the heart of these films lodged comfortably in your throat. James Wan hands the reigns to Michael Chaves who brings the addition of many little homages from popular horror film culture such as The Exorcist and Re-animator while slotting in to the rhythm that keeps these movies franchising so well.
The Diagnosis:
Chaves demonstrated his understanding of the conjuring universe when he directed The Curse of La Llorona (or the Curse of the Weeping Woman) in 2019 and it seems clear that his vision for this universe aligns perfectly and will to continue tighten its hold over our fascination.
By now Zack Snyder’s Netflix feature starring Dave Bautista is a massive streaming success which indicates that it was firmly on the pulse of the average punters celluloid palette.
You can see why as the trailer promises a jam-packed action feast billed as a cross between a comrade bank heist flick with elements of Oceans 11 (The Vegas element has a lot to do with this), with a post apocalyptic zombie infested world. The films detailed prologue entails a zombie outbreak in the greed, glitz and glam of Las Vegas which is contained by huge storage containers that form a wall around the city.
Then we’re presented with the premise. There’s money ripe for the picking in the vaults of the casinos and Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) employs Scott (Bautista) to form a crack guerilla team to infiltrate the quarantined city and retrieve the bounty. It’s a mad proposition but one Scott is willing to take up for a chance to rebuild his life and possibly reconnect with his daughter Kate (Ella Purnell), who he has become estranged with since the zombie outbreak occured.
Once the carrot has been dangled, the audience then sit back and eagerly wait for the carnage to begin. But first we must endure the Mission Impossible style formation of the team and our introduction to them and possible zombie fodder. There’s two of Scott’s former associates, Maria Cruz (Ana de le Ruguera) and Vanderhoe (Omari Hardwick) the spiritual member of the group, helicopter pilot Marianne (Tig Notaro, who stepped into replace Chris D’Elia through CGI and green screens costing Snyder a fair packet of the production costs), German safecracker Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), and Chicano sharpshooter Guzman (Raúl Castillo) to name but a few.
Once the set up is established Scott’s daughter Kate, Tanaka’s associate Martin, and with the help of Lily aka The Coyote, the team sneak into the quarantined walls to carry out their mission. The catch, The Government are planning on nuking the whole city in a couple of days, so there’s no time for messing around. Plus, you know, it amplifies the tension… And of course you know that that timeline is going to shorten once said Government decide to move the nuke strike up, meaning the team have even less time to complete their task.
Here’s the thing that gets my goat though. With such a cool premise, there’s not much substance for the audience to chew on. Some may counter that with me, stating that it does exactly what it says on the tin. But I like my movies served a little cooked, not raw.
There is some humour on display and some strangled attempts at deep and meaningful chats along the way, but it’s missing some zing to tantalise us with.
Since watching the film there’s been some online discussions about Scott’s team stuck in a time loop purgatory, and this idea I can get behind and if there is truth to this theory, all of a sudden this film gets elevated a little in my reception of it. With rumours of a follow up film on the horizon and with Netflix’s success story to couple it, I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t fleshed out in some way. I just hope that they can work on the story a little more and give the characters more to work with now that they’ve been established and give the audience a more hefty and enjoyable experience.
The Diagnosis:
Snyder provides us with another gloriously shot, stellar CGI, packed with some cracking action. But it is a little half baked and rests on a small thread of an idea. Yes that’s a cool thread, but needs more time and energy spent on building up the storyline and characters to allow them to stand out more. But I guess time is the real player here. And time will tell if this story will continue and we get more from Snyder’s world or not.
Surgeons of Horror 