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Movie review: She Will (2022)

16 Sunday Oct 2022

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The sheer presence of Alice Krige on screen will always draw me in such is the weight of performance that she is guaranteed to bring to the numerous roles she plays. In horror circles she came to light in 1981’s supernatural flick Ghost Story. My own personal journey into the horror celluloid history would cross paths with Krige when I first watched Sleepwalkers to fuel my passion for all things Stephen King and was struck by the gravity and sensual portrayal of matriarch villainess Mary Brady.

For her latest venture, She Will Krige plays beautifully to age as fading film star Veronica Ghent who goes to a healing retreat in Scotland to recover from a double mastectomy. The central theme of defeminisation runs rapidly throughout this feature with most male characters using their false privilege status to choose every avenue to assert power over the female gender. Veronica’s physical scarring is the most obvious feature. There is more lurking beneath the surface however with a mental trauma hinted at and disclosed later in the narrative. 

Veronica is joined by Desi (Kota Eberhardt) who also falls prey to male assertiveness when she is hit on at a bar, and then things turn south fast when they try to force themselves upon her.

A bond is formed between Veronica and Desi that is cemented by the land in which they have come to; once a place where women were burnt as witches but through which a power is harboured by those who will vengeance.

The Prognosis:

Director Charlotte Colbert makes a worthy entry for her first foray into feature length filmmaking. With weighty performances from Krige, Eberhardt, and veteran screen actors Malcolm McDowell and Rupert Everett, she has crafted a mystical film that captures an eerie and haunting presence. This is further enhanced by Cinematographer Jamie Ramsay’s visual eye (one that has him fast rising up through the ranks behind the camera with See How They Run and Strangers) who manages to build a visceral feeling to support the characters hardship and turmoil with each frame shot.

She Will may be a slow burn, but there is enough charisma here to fuel the intrigue to a well developed narrative to fan the flames of a theme that warrants more attention.`

  • Saul Muerte

She Will  is currently streaming on Shudder ANZ.

Retrospective: Sleepwalkers (1992)

09 Saturday Apr 2022

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Sleepwalkers was one of those movies that has immersed itself in my mind and I’m pretty sure formed part of my horror film makeup. It’s probably not surprising really if I divulge a little of my personal journey through horror films. I would have been around 14 years old at the time of its release and already had sunk my impressionable mind into the works of Stephen King and knowing his name was attached to the writing credits for what would have been his first not to be based on any  of his pre-existing works (Not that I knew this at the time). It also starred Madchen Amick, hot off the David Lynch hit tv series Twin Peaks. Lynch was also integral to forming my cinephilia and with Amick’s involvement, I was already hooked. It would also be directed by Mick Garris who has since carved a name for himself in the name of horror on-screen and often using King’s work as source material.
Later, I would understand the importance that Aice Krige would play in movies having already carved a name through Chariots of Fire, Ghost Story, and Barfly. This would be my first encounter with Krige however and it’s fair to say that her role of the matriarchal shapeshifter Mary, a shapeshifting energy vampire, sets the tone for the whole movie.

Along with her son Charles Brady (Brian Krause) feeds off the lifeforce of virgin women and can transform into werecats to feed on their prey, whilst also using their powers of telekinesis and illusion to manipulate those with whom they encounter. Their only weakness are domestic cats, who are resistant to the sleepwalkers magic and can cause fatal wounds.

Madchen Amick takes on the role of Charles’ virginal interest Tanya, who is lured in by his  magnanimous charm. Before long, Tanya realises that there is more to Charles than meets the eye and must fight tooth and nail to survive.

Looking back at the film now, it still holds some allure despite some clearly aged creature effects, and the moment when Charles transforms for the first time is a great counterweight to our first impressions of his character. Throw into the mix a blink and you’ll miss Ron Perlman as Captain Soames and horror maestros Clive Barker, Joe Dante, John Landis, Tobe Hooper and even King himself cropping up at notable points, and you’ve got a lot to get your teeth into. Oh and Mark Hamill also makes an uncredited appearance which brings a smile to this cinema lover’s face. 

It is Krige however as mentioned who really comes to life as Mary and the lead antagonist of the film, with her incestous needs and devilish desires lights up every scene that she is in.
For this, Sleepwalkers is well worth a revisit.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Texas Chainsaw Massacre

18 Friday Feb 2022

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The problem with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is… Leatherface.

What? I hear you bellow and cry? Texas Chainsaw Massacre is Leatherface and that is precisely my point. Having Leatherface as the poster icon for these slasher, body torture flicks has dampened the menace that the original 1974 Tobe Hooper feature had. The torment doesn’t lie with just his heightened and physical presence but with his entire f@#$ed up family.

Family or some sense of family has been key amongst this franchise and to unsettle this dynamic leads to ruin for any who encounter it. This is evident in Hooper’s sequel, albeit through a dark comedy gaze. It’s following sequels tried to replicate this energy but somehow missed the mark and since then the franchise has had more jump starts than a shitbox car with a malfunctioning alternator.

Leatherface is iconic for a reason but without his family support network around (as dysfunctional as they all are) he will either do one of two things, become a hermit, isolated in his own filth and depravation, or become a loose cannon, destroying everything in his path. This latest feature aims for the latter and for good reason as it has become such a winning formula for David Gordon Green’s Halloween franchise revival.

There was some promise in this latest release with Directing Auteur Fede Alvarez behind the resurrection, serving as producer, and teaming up with the original writers Pat Cassidy, Ian and Kim Henkel only added to the integrity.

Legendary Pictures who had secured the rights to the franchise were putting their trust in relative newcomer David Blue Garcia with his sophomore outing in the directors chair for a feature length movie.

The focus for the film would have Leatherface holed up in a house for troubled youths, only now the only occupant along with a mother-like figure who ran what was the facility, played by the fantastic Alice Krige. The rest of the place has become a ghost town filled with dilapidated buildings and the vision of a group of influencers hoping to transform this Texas town into a bustling business venture. Cue potential victims for Leatherface to rip through as these gentrifiers get more than they bargained for.

The issue is that there’s a half-baked idea going on here, and it rests too highly on the success and brutality of Halloween (2018) to fuel Leatherface’s rage, thrusting him solely in the centre of the carnage. When the movie does go for barbarity, it often hits the right notes of repulsion but too often it falls foul of old horror tropes, having it’s leads either hiding in the closet and  under the bed or trying to kick ass against the monster.

TCM even tries to replicate the harshness that trauma has on our heroines, that featured so heavily in Halloween by having one of the leads, Lila (Elsie Fisher) a survivor of a school killing massacre. This is brought in double fold by bringing back Sally Hardesty, this time played by Olwen Fouere, to tap into the whole hardened survivor ala Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode.

Another example however that the filmmakers are content in playing familiar notes and resting on the laurels that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre name and that of its emblematic figure Leatherface brings.

The prognosis:

This latest version is aimed at a new generation of audience.

Too often though, it falls prey to the usual horror tropes and offers nothing new.

Leatherface does go full on with the kill count though going Michael Myers with some brutal deaths, especially with the bus scene which was highly satisfying.

It also had some moments of humour that didn’t necessarily hit the mark.

For veteran horror fans hoping to see some descent bloodshed will feel satiated, but ultimately let down by the lack in depth to the fold as the film struggles to add any flesh to it’s now frail bones.

The rust has truly taken hold in this franchise and it might be too hard to get that chainsaw whirring to satisfaction again without some bold new approach.

– Saul Muerte

Movie review: Gretel and Hansel

03 Thursday Dec 2020

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The story of Hansel and Gretel has gone through numerous guises over the years before it settled in the form that we know today courtesy of The Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm and Jacob, and their collection of folklore during the 19th Century. 

In fact, the initial story as we know it was told to the brothers by Henriette Dorothea Wild, who would go on to marry Wilhelm.

Throughout the years, there have been some common elements that have held true; the two siblings abandoned in the woods, the path of breadcrumbs, famine, the children’s inner strength and cunning, and of course… a cannibalistic witch. 

All of these features in Oz Perkins’ (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In Your House) third outing in the director’s chair. 

Upon the release of the film, it was noted the deliberate switch in the order of the siblings with Gretel taking top billing and for good reason, for this is her tale to tell. It also ties in with a theme that Perkins likes to dabble in, that of the suppressed female, struggling to find her identity in a strange or foreign world. 

It also combines Perkins fascination with the occult and the dark underbelly that lay under the world as we know it, waiting to ignite from the spark of curiosity, ignorance, or both.

Taking on the role of Gretel is Sophia Lillis who rose to fame as Beverly Marsh in 2017’s IT, directed by Andy Muschietti. Lillis takes the role in her stride as a girl forced to come into womanhood by an oppressive society and is required to endure total compliance on the slim chance that her family will reap the benefits. Not willing to live this kind of life, Gretel choses to steal away from her family home and the lack of love and support from her mother, taking her brother, Hansel with her.

Here the familiarity of the story sets in when Gretel and Hansel try to make ends meet in the wilderness, and Gretel continues to abate her brother’s wishes to return. 

Eventually they come across the witch’s house and the promise of new things to come. The Witch (played by the magnificent Alice Krige) is both wily and manipulative, with plans to consume Hansel, but is equally enamoured by Gretel, teaching her the ways of her craft. Will she be able to convert Gretel into her domain or can Gretel turn the tide of evil and save them from their torment?

The Prognosis:

Oz Perkins delivers another visually strong narrative, weaving a traditional folk story with a modern mindset. Perkins is a director who isn’t shy from female empowerment in his storytelling and Sophia Lillis proves once again that she can delicately handle the subtleties of human emotion that bely her years. 

If there is a hindrance is that Perkins is also a ‘slow burn’ storyteller and provides a hypnotic snail like pace to his movies. His previous two ventures suited the atmosphere that he wanted to evoke, and in some cases it works here, but equally the tempo is so slow and drawn out that it can be painful and laborious to watch.

I honestly wasn’t sure if I would write a positive account of the movie after viewing it as a result, and yet it lingers with you, which is a testament to the director and his visual playground. 

  • Saul Muerte